Zombies! Quarterly is a journal dedicated to research, commentary, and literature associated with ghouls, revenants, and other manifestations of the walking dead. In a world inundated with hordes of both zombies and zombie literary magazines, we have striven over the past 18 years to separate ourselves from the pack through our dedication to quality writing, groundbreaking scientific analyses, and the world's most renowned zombie photography. Our stated mission, to which we continually rededicate ourselves, is to unite zombie researchers, theorists, artists, scholars, and (when necessary and appropriate) hunters under one roof, behind barricaded doors and windows, where we can safely and relatively calmly share our perspective, knowledge and experience of the World Undead.

In a world awash with disposable zombie scholarship, we pride ourselves on telling the tales too subtle for the shallow glamour of Z-TV, too controversial for the Mainstream Media, and too short for books. Some shortsighted experts and critics have called for an "end" to the zombie "crisis", and much of the current literature is dedicated primarily to this goal. Here, too, we stake our claim to an unrivaled purity of purpose, for we resolutely have no desire that the "crisis" should end. Indeed, in the bloodthirsty return of the dead we see the great and defining metaphor for our times.

This is no publication for the shrill barbarians who call for a nuclear showdown with the walking dead. Although we recognize the danger that zombies inherently pose, it is our professed opinion that only through understanding can a lasting and sustainable human-zombie relationship can be maintained. And understanding -- that most primal human faculty -- will only be fully realized through the mutual and simultaneous contributions of all of humankind. Although our circulation must necessarily fall short of that ideal (if only because very few zombies read or write quality commentary), we accept with open arms the work of all those who, like us, hold up a mirror to the rotting faces of the undead and see a bit of themselves.

Hopefully, not a bit that is being eaten by zombies.