Custom Zombie's Undead Ramblings: Q&A with AlreadyDead

Love sugar skulls? Zombies? If you answered “Yes” to either of those you HAVE to see this shop! Anything Shayna Nelson (the artist behind Already Dead) gets her hands on gets transformed into something macabre – from porcelain cherubs to religious plaques. Read on for the juicy details, then be sure to check out her links!

CZ: Tell us a little about yourself!
AD: I am a boring single mom of 2 who doesn’t look like it! I live in Virginia and I'm a TOTAL hermit. I don't do anything except shop at thrift stores pretty much. Poking around for more stuff to paint! I love thunderstorms and I HATE spiders!

CZ: What type of items do you sell?
AD: I sell mostly Day of the Dead type art and kitschy religious stuff. I love bright colors so most of my items are DOTD looking anyway, without even trying. I love making plaster ornaments and sardine tin nichos are pretty much an instant satisfaction art!

CZ: What is the inspiration behind your shop and what keeps you motivated?
AD: I have NO motivation what-so-ever most of the time. It just hits me in spurts I guess. Most of the time I just want to jump off a bridge or something. Halloween is an obvious reason to make more creepies, but the few $'s I make from it just funds another thrift store trip!

CZ: What is the greatest compliment you have received about your work?
AD: "Never seen anything like it before!" ...that's pretty darn cool.

CZ: When did you first realize that you weren’t “like the other kids”?
AD: In Sunday school. When all the other kids were gaping mouthed, listening to a story of the Angel Gabriel coming out of the flames...I was like...."So.....wait a minute, you are telling me that this man was fireproof?" All the other kids HATED me from then on and I was politely asked to leave the class. The rest of regular school sucked a** so bad... I think I blocked it all out.

CZ: What’s a typical day in the life of this Dark Sider like?
AD: Rip myself out of bed at 7am to get my daughter in school...gargle, wash, and rinse with coffee....entertain the 2 year old so I can paint a bit WHILST fending off attacks from my bird, Tika. Listen to children scream and yell and throw fits until bed...more painting or not...depending on how much the kids screamed....then poke around online a bit and niters.

CZ: Do you prefer zombies or vampires?
AD: I don't prefer either I guess. It would suck to meet either, but I like painting zombie stuff way more.

CZ: Which horror character do you identify with most and why?
AD: None. I'm a cross between Tank Girl and Mrs. Cleaver.

CZ: Which elusive creature do you believe is more likely to be real: El Chupacabra or Sasquatch?
AD: Oh poo. Neither, that's all crap. BUT there is some SCARY SH*T living down deep in the ocean! And those are really real. Really.

CZ: Who is more likely to enslave the human race - aliens or robots?
AD: Robots. Aliens would just be like..."Oh look we missed one”, and zap us.

CZ: What scares you?
AD: Spiders. Kids screaming. And zombie sheep. They were in a movie I saw recently and they scared the SH*T out of me.

CZ: When my undead masses take over will you be with us or against us?
AD: I will have used my self-destruct button at that point. I will be of NO use or help to anyone.