You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News

Background

Cracked.com was founded in 2006 and currently receives over 300 million monthly page views. Cracked.com publishes at least one 2,000 – 3,000 word article every day of the week, most of which are read by over a million people. Their longtime editorial staff includes original editor-in-chief Jack O'Brien, David Wong who was added as an associate editor later in 2006, and Oren Katzeff who became *Cracked.com'''s General Manager in November 2007 after running business development for Yahoo Media Group.

The title was inspired by one of *Cracked.com'''s most popular articles called "5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen". Michael Swaim, a Cracked writer, notes that "*Cracked.com'' has really been built on tricking you into learning stuff and [the book] is just a very natural extension of that."

Synopsis

The comedy trivia book is composed of 38 articles, including 20 of the site's most popular articles. The additional 18 articles are exclusive to the book. The topics include the Zombie apocalypse, disgusting facts about bugs allowed in your food by the Food and Drug Administration, the secret menace that is dolphins, and other such facts. The book is written in *Cracked.com'''s popular "listicle" format.

Reviews and reception

You Might Be a Zombie was profiled by The Huffington Post and Forbes, with an endorsement from Spider-Man and X-Men creator Stan Lee. The book was described as "Smart, funny, and cool" by critic Roger Ebert and comedian Sarah Silverman noted that there was "finally a book that will tell you the truth about the things you need to know."

The book reached #9 on The New York Times Best Seller list, #13 on The Los Angeles Times Best Seller list, and sold more than 40,000 copies. As part of the marketing campaign, Cracked.com encouraged fans to post pictures of themselves alongside the book with 50-word captions.

Contributors

You Might Be a Zombie has over 2,500 contributors, including:

• Nathan Birch
• Robert Brockway
• Adam Tod Brown
• Tim Cameron
• Erica Cantin
• Rory Colthurst
• Travis Corkery
• S Peter Davis
• Jacopo della Quercia
• Ben Dennison
• Justin Drops
• Robert Evans
• Tomas Fitzgerald
• Ian Fortey
• Alexandra Gedrose
• Gladstone
• Christina Hsu
• Peter Hildebrand
• David King
• Ben Joseph
• Richard Kane
• Jeff Kelly
• Stuart Layt
• Alex Levinton
• Daniel O'Brien
• Jack O'Brien
• Colm Prunty
• Tom Reimann
• Ned Resnikoff
• Levi Ritchie
• Seanbaby
• Michael Swaim
• Brian Thompson
• Brian Walton
• David Wong
• Winston Rowntree (illustrator)
• Anthony Clark (illustrator)
• Jordan Monsell (illustrator)
• Ben Driscoll (illustrator)
• Manuel Rebollo (illustrator)
• Shannon O'Brien (illustrator)
• Christopher Hastings (illustrator)
• Matt Barrs (illustrator)
• Brendan McGinley (illustrator)
• Brian Patrick (illustrator)
• Michael Swaim (illustrator)
• Randall Maynard (illustrator)

References

References

1. (2014). "You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News: Shocking but Utterly True Facts". Cracked.com.
2. Kung, Michelle. [https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/08/01/cracked-com/ Cracked.com Grows Up]. ''Wall Street Journal''. August 1, 2011.
3. [http://www.sunherald.com/2012/05/01/3919433/demand-media-wins-two-peoples.html Demand Media Wins Two People's Voice Webby Awards]. ''Sun Herald''. May 1, 2012.
4. {{usurped
5. Osburn, Paige. [http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2012/04/12/26009/the-pratfall-of-cracked-magazine-and-the-rise-of-c The (prat)fall of Cracked Magazine-- and the rise of Cracked.com]. ''89.3 KPCC''. April 12, 2012.
6. [http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_IAP9617 Tricking People into Reading Again]. ''SXSW''.
7. Humphrey, Michael. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelhumphrey/2011/10/19/cracked-writers-room-jack-obrien-describes-how-to-crowdsource-laughs/ Cracked Writers' Room: Jack O'Brien Describes How To Crowdsource Laughs]. ''Forbes''. October 19, 2011.
8. Weinroth, Adam. [http://www.demandmedia.com/blog/interview-a-zombie-oren-katzeff-cracked-com/ Interview with a Zombie: Oren Katzeff of Cracked.com] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-05-06 . ''Demand Media''. December 28, 2010.)
9. Wong, David and TE Sloth. [http://www.cracked.com/article_15643_5-scientific-reasons-zombie-apocalypse-could-actually-happen.html 5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen]. ''Cracked.com''. October 29, 2007.
10. Nunziata, Nick. [http://www.chud.com/28781/interview-michael-swaim-daniel-obrien-you-might-be-a-zombie/ Interview: Michael Swaim & Daniel O'Brien (You Might Be A Zombie)]. ''Chud''. January 7, 2011.
11. O'Brien, Jack. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jack-obrien/you-might-be-zombie-cracked_b_821012.html#s237443&title=Zombies_Are_Scientifically Cracked.com: 'You Might Be A Zombie,' And 7 Other Pieces Of Bad News (PHOTOS)]. ''Huffington Post''. February 10, 2011.
12. Weigel, David. [http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2012/05/01/five_ways_to_spot_a_bogus_story.html Five Ways to Spot a Bogus Story]. ''Slate''. May 1, 2012.
13. Krangel, Eric. [https://archive.today/20120709040148/http://articles.businessinsider.com/2009-02-01/tech/29975313_1_mad-magazine-website-cracked-com Cracked.com Taunts Ailing MAD Mag: Ever Hear Of The Internet?] ''Business Insider''. February 1, 2009.
14. [http://www.demandmedia.com/press-releases/2011/01/20/crackedcoms-new-book-named-best-seller-by-the-new-york-times-and-los-angeles-times Cracked.com’s New Book Named ‘Best Seller’ by The New York Times and Los Angeles Times]. ''Demand Media''. January 20, 2011.
15. [[Ryan Holiday. Holiday, Ryan]]. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanholiday/2012/04/16/exclusive-how-comedian-daniel-obrien-turned-one-joke-into-a-major-book-deal/ How Comedian Daniel O'Brien Turned One Joke Into A Major Book Deal]. ''Forbes''. April 16, 2012.
16. Schuessler, Jennifer. "Hardcover". The New York Times.
17. [http://projects.latimes.com/bestsellers/titles/you-might-be-zombie/ You Might Be a Zombie]. ''The Los Angeles Times''. January 16, 2011.
18. Shields, Mike. [http://www.digiday.com/video/demand-medias-unlikely-success-story/ Demand Media’s Unlikely Success Story] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-09-06 . ''[[Digiday]]''. October 14, 2011.)