Filmmaker Chris Eilenstine: Writer & Director of "The Soulless"

Chris Eilenstine wants you to forget everything you know about the living dead. The Soulless is a post-apocalyptic story about a father and daughter surviving a zombie apocalypse that has wiped out most of humanity. The two main characters are David his daughter Nicole. Their story begins on Z Day, when the plague is released and most of humanity is wiped out. Nicole and her father find they have special immunities and abilities; and the zombie population doesn’t attack them. They can walk among the zombies without fear of being eaten. The story becomes about two people forming strong family bonds and surviving together, learning what it means to be a father and a daughter in a way that few people ever do. The word zombie first appeared in The Oxford English Dictionary in 1819, but the first introduction of the word into the English-speaking world was an 1889 article in Harper's Magazine called The Country of the Comers-Back by journalist Lafcadio Hearn. While learning local customs of the Caribbean, Hearn came across a legend of corps cadavres or walking dead. The fear of zombies was tied to the practices of voodoo where it is possible for their idea of a soul to be removed and replaced by a god or sorcerer. Voodoo was deeply connected with the forced work and slavery of the people of the Caribbean; the main fear was that it'd be possible after death for a sorcerer to reanimate your corpse into an obedient drone. Meet Filmmaker Chris Eilenstine and find out more about his interest in all things zombie. After the interview, visit After Hours at Jersey Coastal Live for more information.