Product Review: The Zombie Tarot

by: Paul Kepple and Stacey Graham

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:
You’ve never seen tarot cards quite like these. Imagine the celebrated “Rider Deck” infused with the horrors of Night of the Living Dead, and the result is The Zombie Tarot—a crazy, campy interpretation of a classic divination system.

In this zombified parallel universe, wands become limbs, pentacles are biohazard symbols, and the Major Arcana is full of shambling corpses. Along with the 78-card deck, readers will receive instructions in a 96-page full-color book; its contents explain how to survive the zombie apocalypse and forecast your future using one of three different card layouts.

The secrets of The Zombie Tarot await you!

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I know Zombie's are all the rage right now, so a Zombie Tarot isn't too surprising. But this is such a unique spin. The art has a 1950s post-atomic-bomb-apocalyptic feel. It was perfect right after the Housewives Tarot. They balance each other.

It comes in a pretty heavy-duty cardboard box similar to the Housewives Tarot. The cards are made from a thick cardstock that seems like it will last forever!

I adore the artwork but the numbered cards didn't always make logical sense. Look at the Seven of Swords above, there are no swords or knives, there are 8 zombies...see, there's no number tie-in. I'm not enough of an expert to know if this is a problem or not, after all the cards are clearly labeled. And from what I've read in the booklet, the pictures can pull you toward their meaning.

It's a little gory without being too off-putting. These are so kitschy, you just gotta love them even if you don't read the tarot. But what better deck to learn from than one that makes you laugh and you enjoy looking through. In one tarot book I've read, the author says you should play with your cards to learn them better. This deck encourages much play, even my children keep digging into it, and they have their very own tarot deck.