About Living-Dead
Welcome fellow horror lover! If you've never been here I want to welcome you! This site is the realization of a dream I've had in mind since 2003. Living-Dead.com was one of the first ever horror movies databases that allowed users to review movies, have discussions, see screengrabs and sound clips from their favorite horror movies (and the others too...). I worked hard on building that community over a period of years before bringing the project to a close in mid-2003.
As I've gotten older and rediscovered my love for horror I've grown increasingly interested in bringing this site back from the dead. One thing has always stopped me, a lot of time has passed and the ways people use the internet has changed. What made Living-Dead.com unique has become fairly commonplace and I knew if I were going to bring it back I would have to find new ways to engage with people and new features that would make LivingDead.app worth using.
My dream is to grow this into a community of horror fans. I want to tell you how I feel about my favorite and least favorite movies and I want to hear about what you love, too! So, let's get started! You'll probably be able to tell that this is very much in beta. There's some functionality in place but lots more to come. In the meantime I encourage you to create an account and get started! Let's do this!
Note: This was originally written back in 2003. I've preserved it here for posterity. The references to Living-Dead.com refer to the original domain for this project which has since changed to LivingDead.app.
History
Okay, this is the part where I tell you a little about Living-Dead.com. The story is simple, I am Evan Agee the webmaster/Editor and 1/3 owner of Living-Dead.com. I have 2 business partners, Jim McCormick and Ryan Adams. We are all 3 horror movie fans.
Technical Details of the Site
I decided to start Living-Dead.com after I had let my past horror movie site just lie stagnant realizing that no one wanted to come and visit my site, so there was no reason to update it. I (for some unknown reason) decided to start a new horror movie site, and actually put some MAJOR time into it. I wanted to create a site that would bring people in young and old. Now, we have Living-Dead.com.
It is important to note that this site has gone through several phases. Initially there was nothing more than movie database for people to look around at. That was cool, but there wasn't enough to actually draw people in. So, I did some research to find out what was missing from most horror film related websites and the first thing I noticed was there was NO interaction between the website and the visitor. So, I started working on a website that allowed visitors to submit their very own review of each movie, this was a huge task...
The initial version of the website was setup such that I couldn't easily update every movie page at one time, I had to painstakingly go through EVERY SINGLE PAGE and update whatever had to be changed. So, I started learning about how databases work.
Fast-foward a half year or so and you have the first version of database-backed Living-Dead.com. This feat alone was enough to push it to the front of the line in the eyes of the horror community. Having a database for the movie information to be stored in allows you to display and manipulate that data easily and quickly.
UPDATED!
Fast-forward ANOTHER year and a half or so, and you have the current version of Living-Dead.com. This current version is the best-ever and by far the most feature rich. Having just completed the user system, Living-Dead has entered into a whole new world in terms of service and quality. Member personal page, member profiles, movie favorites lists, comment watching and other exciting features are amongst the newest additions and there are more coming :).
Another update that has recently been implemented is the addition of the articles section. Based off an idea to create an online magazine, the articles section has become a vital part of Living-Dead and has added a new dimension to the offerings of Living-Dead.
END UP UPDATE
So, here we are about 5 versions later and you're looking at the product of hundreds of man hours of work. There have been other subtle updates over time, but the improvements/additions to the data in the database has been the largest amount of change that has gone on at Living-Dead over the years.
Site Owners
Initially, Kristen and I were the only two people working on the website. I was the editor and she was the co-editor. Basically I did all of the web work and she did all of the writing, checking, proofing, etc. We were a good team, but eventually the site was way too big for us to handle alone. Enter Jim McCormick.
Jim McCormick is a long-time visitor to Living-Dead.com. He has been with us nearly since the beginning. He started out as a moderator in the forums, and soon was "promoted" to adding movies into the database and helping to grow the large list of movies on Living-Dead.
Ryan Adams emailed me one day and told me that he had an interview with a big horror movie star. I have known Ryan since nearly the beginning of Living-Dead's existence and he's always been a great contributor to the growth and success of Living-Dead. He started out doing interviews only, but is now 1/3 owner with Jim and I.
So, the three of us contribute our time, talents and energy to the site hoping to make it a place that horror fans from around the world can enjoy. Kristen still does a lot of administrative work around the site such as moderating forums, and doing a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff that no one really ever sees.
The Future of Living-Dead
Well, for the first time in the existance of Living-Dead.com it's a challenge to think of ways to improve it. We've attained every goal that's been set since the beginning of the site back in 2000, and now the quest for ideas for improvement has become as daunting as ever.
One idea that will more than likely happen in the near future is tha addition of Rock/Metal music bands to the site for your reviewing pleasure. This pages will more than likely contain music clips and other media.
Once I know more, you'll know more. :)