How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse is the number one web show for DIY tips and tricks for living through the tough times. Each episode we’ll explore the ins and outs of the wasteland, including the best weapons, first aid and food production techniques that will help you and yours see another day. Survive. Stay alive. With Guns ‘n Gardens.

There’s not a whole lot over at Guns n’ Gardens yet, but this series certainly looks like it has potential.

Zombies and Toys are running a Zombie Gift Guide all this month to help you find something for that special zombie lover in your life. Starting with some t-shirts and hoodies from Sourpuss and Zombie Liquorice, Zombies and Toys have exclusive discount codes to get your bloody clothing for less.

If clothing isn’t your thing there are also guides to more mainstream products at Thinkgeek or exclusive and unique items from Zombiehead Etsy and Kiddo47, you can be sure that this guide will help you find the perfect present.

Head on over to Zombies and Toys now to see what the latest ideas are.

In Zombieland, Columbus survives by following his set of very specific rules. In the film we only get to see 8 of them but thanks to various videos and general piecing together we’ve collated a further 5.

If you have a rule for Zombieland or can fill in the missing 20+, then head over to ZombielandRules.com and help us prepare for the zombocalypse.

Since Zed Fred first turned ZC Barry into a zombie we’ve come across other sites offering to the same thing in a variety of ways. We have a quick look at the options available and what you get for your money.

Where possible we’ve used the same picture of ZC Barry staring bizarrely into the camera.

This will haunt your souls.

Turning Zed
Our first venture into going zombie was provided free of charge by Zed Fred at Turning Zed.

Fred does custom images from $5 and is the cheapest of the hand edited options. You may have seen the results before but here it is again.

This is what you’ll remember on your death bed.

Here’s Fred’s description of what was done:
First, it [the image] came with a stark background that nicely allowed me to add a zombie rampage in the background. It worked out well. I mean, if you’re going to be a zombie you should at least have zombie friends.
Second, it was clear I needed to do the eyes really well. They were a pronounced feature of the source image, and they zombied up quite nicely.
The splotchy burn effect on the face was good, but I think I over did it a bit. Oh well.

Fred’s a great guy and is open to requests for whatever your zombifying needs are. Head on over to check out his celeb zombies (from Hillary to Britney) and to find out more.

Zombie Me

This was the second site we came across and provides 2 options. First is a do it yourself option for free (our favourite price) and second is a hand edited option from $9.99 to $49.99. The differences between them can be seen here (standard, express, light and original).

The free option allows users to upload their own image and add zombie effects, such as cuts and gashes. Here’s our effort.

Same plastic surgeon as MJ.

Unfortunately there’s no discolouration options with the free version so despite the wounds ZC Barry still looks remarkably fresh. Check out the site for more examples or watch their promo video below.

Zombie Portraits

The last option we’ve come across doesn’t involve photo manipulation but illustration!

Done by Rob Sacchetto, potential zombies can pay $80 to have an image hand illustrated in a 9″ x 11″ print. The most stylized of all the zombie image services Rob can spend as long as 15 hours doing a single image.

Some great examples can be seen over on the site and Rob explains the whole process of capturing likenesses and bringing out a person’s inner zombie.

As the process is so unique we’ve not managed to get an example of what ZC Barry would like like if he becomes an illustrated zombie but check out the sort of results you can expect.

If you know of any other zombification sites why not leave us a comment and we’ll check it out and give our opinions.

Zombie Command swung by the blog the other day to see how she was getting on only to discover there was some swag to be had by leaving a comment, which we duly did. So arriving in the office today was a pick’n'mix sweet bag inside a Jiffy envelope. Here’s what we found

Alright, by Sarah’s own admission it’s not brilliant and she’s hoping to get better promo items next year but it is the first freebie that’s popped through our door (still waiting on Ryan’s Zombie Apocalypse DVD to arrive) so warrants a mention.

Sarah is also a keen archer in addition to her running and we’ve managed to persuade to give us some tips on how to develop our flabby girths fitness levels before the zombies come and hopefully how to use a bow and arrow.

Zombie Command were proud to be the sponsors that helped Sarah reach her target donation but, if you can, why not help more by visiting her Just Giving page or follow her progress on Twitter.

I think you’ll admit the above picture is pretty damned terrifying, not necessarily because of the zombification but more so the source material. I have no idea what I was originally doing in the picture but regardless you would not want to see that staring back at you during the zombie apocalypse.

So why am I showing you this? Our friend over at Turning Zed recently offered on Twitter the opportunity to become zombified for free and, despite only having the above photo to send across, we took him up on the offer.

Fred runs the site at Turning Zed and is a one man army making these images on his computer.

The Turning Zed site was put together as a fun way for me to spend my time doing something I enjoy. Zombies are just a good time. Whether they’re fast movers or slow, they tend to pop up when you least expect them.

If you’re interested in having Fred turn you or your friends into a zombie why not drop him a line on orders@turningzed.com or follow ZedFred on Twitter.

If you’re brave enough why not check out the full size image below on our Flickr stream.

[flickr]photo:3563772610[/flickr]