Travis Langley - The Walking Dead Psychology: Psych of the Living Dead

B ehind any book, youll find a lot of brains.

I thank every contributor to this book for such thoughtful work. The writers, illustrator, photographers, and editorial staff put a lot into this project and put up with me. Because I met most of them at conventions or through our Psychology Today blogs, I must thank Matt Smith (not the timey-wimey one), whose research led me to my first Comic-Con, and Kaja Perina, my editor at PsychologyToday.com. Eddie Ibrahim, Sue Lord, Adam Neese, Gary Sassaman, and others who run Comic-Con International have provided valuable opportunities for us to meet and, through convention panels, cultivate our ideas on the psychology of popular culture. I cant thank Chris Jansen and his fellow Wizard World organizers strongly enough for all their help. Through events like theirs, New York Comic Con, and Comi-ConWay, Ive gotten to discuss the psychology of a zombie outbreak with tellers of zombie tales (George A. Romero, Max Brooks, J. Michael Straczynski, Robert Kirkman, Frank Darabont, Gale Anne Hurd, S. G. Browne) and too many actors to name here. Among those actors, though, I must specifically thank Norman Reedus (Daryl) and Andrew J. West (Gareth).

Even though my graduate research under my mentor, Ed ONeal, at Tulane University focused on media, my love of fantastic fiction stayed separate from my work in psychology for a long time. Communication professor Randy Duncan introduced comics studies at Henderson State University, where we both teach, long before I got involved. Things have grown. Now we offer a Comics Studies minor. Active, enthusiastic students in the Comics Arts Club, the Legion of Nerds, and related classes keep the educational experience exciting. Our library maintains a healthy graphic novel reading collection, so its a good thing librarian Lea Ann Alexander welcomes my weird acquisition requests. We are truly fortunate to work at a university where administrators such as President Glen Jones, Provost Steve Adkison, and Dean John Hardee support creative teaching methods and help us meet our goals. Linda Mooney, Millie Bowden, Denise Cordova, Ermatine Johnson, Carolyn Hatley, Renee Davis, Sandra Johnson, and many other staff members make sure the essentials get done. Our faculty writers group (Angela Boswell, Martin Halpern, Vernon Miles, David Sesser, Michael Taylor) reviewed portions of this manuscript. My fellow psychology faculty members offered endless encouragement, and I enjoyed hearing my colleague Paul Williamson explain The Walking Dead to our department chair, Aneeq Ahmad.

A brain trust of nonpsychologists provided important perspectives and invaluable input: Jenna Busch, Action Flick Chick Katrina Hill, and Alan Sizzler Kistler. Katrina wrote some entertaining sidebars. She and Alan make fine editorial assistants. Although wikis are tricky because any idiot can edit them, Ive seen no idiocy at walkingdead.wikia.com, where conscientious contributors create an outstanding, ongoing resource. Wed always go the original source, but the wiki often helped us double-check the correct issue, episode, or game.

So many others helped set me on the path toward this books creation. My mom introduced me to comic books. My sons plotted antizombie survival strategies with me long before the zombie boom of recent years. My dad provided the weapon references for this books illustrations. My wife Rebecca supplied caffeine, proofread drafts, and offered insight as a therapist and psychology instructor. Austin Biegert, Eric Bailey, Len Barnhart, David Bateman, Renee Couey, Brett Culp, Christine Dickson, Kieran Dickson, Athena Finger, Danny Fingeroth, Tanner Gibson, Marko Head, Brian Keene, Elizabeth Ann Kus, Shaunna Murphy, Marc Nadel, Tom Savini, David Stoddard, Patricia Tallman, Janey Tracey, Michael Uslan, and many others deserve recognition for reasons diverse and occasionally bizarre. I do not, however, thank Noah Webster, who stuck us with the stupid-looking American spelling of the word