People expect certain things at a science fiction convention. Star Trek, Dr. Who, cosplay, lectures by published authors. OSFest, the annual Omaha sci-fi convention had those things, but the organizers added something that might not be expected: zombies.

Taking advantage of the active membership in the Omaha chapter of the Zombie Research Society, OS-

Fest featured three days of panels on a variety of zombie topics including the history of the zombie, zombie self-defense, zombies in pop culture and surviving the zombie apocalypse.

Mikey Taylor, ZRS global chapter lead and president of the Omaha chapter, said the he himself was a little surprised when the group was invited to take part in the convention.

“OSFest is billed as a sci-fi convention, but they always offer something for the fandom community. They have a tendency to attempt to expand the experiences of attendees,” Taylor said. “The simple answer I got when I asked this same question was ‘Geeks love zombies.’ I’ll take that.”

Last year was a trial run of sorts with the ZRS chapter hosting only three panels. This year that number increased to nine panels and included appearances by two national ZRS Advisory Board Members, founder Matt Mogk and Tara Smith Ph. D., Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa.

This article appears in its entirety in Zombie Apocalypse Monthly Issue 3 and can be downloaded for free at http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/421912.