Maker's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Defend Your Base with Simple Circuits, Arduino, and Raspberry Pi

by Simon Monk

October 2015, 296 pp.

ISBN-13:

9781593276676

"When the zombies come for your town, this helpful guide will protect your delicious brain. The book's DIY projects—like creating a generator using a car alternator and a bike—may come in handy in less-apocalyptic times, too."
—Keith Blanchard, The Wall Street Journal

Survive the zombie apocalypse the DIY way. The Maker's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is featured on CNET!

"I devoured this book (metaphorically speaking) from cover to cover, and it's 100% recommended for readers ranging from teenagers to grizzled old engineers."
—Max Maxfield, EE Times

Watch Simon Monk's interview on This Week in Tech with Leo Laporte!

Where will you be when the zombie apocalypse hits? Trapping yourself in the basement? Roasting the family pet? Beheading reanimated neighbors?

No way. You’ll be building fortresses, setting traps, and hoarding supplies, because you, savvy survivor, have snatched up your copy of The Maker's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse before it’s too late. This indispensable guide to survival after Z-day, written by hardware hacker and zombie anthropologist Simon Monk, will teach you how to generate your own electricity, salvage parts, craft essential electronics, and out-survive the undead.

Take charge of your environment:

Monitor zombie movement with trip wires and motion sensors
Keep vigilant watch over your compound with Arduino and Raspberry Pi surveillance systems
Power zombie defense devices with car batteries, bicycle generators, and solar power

Escape imminent danger:

Repurpose old disposable cameras for zombie-distracting flashbangs
Open doors remotely for a successful sprint home
Forestall subplot disasters with fire and smoke detectors

Communicate with other survivors:

Hail nearby humans using Morse code
Pass silent messages with two-way vibration walkie-talkies
Fervently scan the airwaves with a frequency hopper

For anyone from the budding maker to the keen hobbyist, The Maker’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is an essential survival tool.

Uses the Arduino Uno board and Raspberry Pi Model B+ or Model 2

Author Bio

Simon Monk is a full-time author and maker, mostly writing about electronics for makers. Some of his better-known books include Programming Arduino: Getting Started with Sketches, Raspberry Pi Cookbook, and Hacking Electronics. He is also the co-author of Practical Electronics for Inventors and wrote Minecraft Mastery with his son, Matthew Monk.

Table of contents

Chapter 1: Apocalypse Basics
Chapter 2: Generating Electricity
Chapter 3: Using Electricity
Chapter 4: Zombie Alarms
Chapter 5: Surveillance and Raspberry Pi
Chapter 6: Add Remote Access and Detect Open Doors
Chapter 7: Environmental Monitoring
Chapter 8: Building a Control Center for Your Base
Chapter 9: Zombie Distractors
Chapter 10: Communicating with Other Survivors
Chapter 11: Haptic Communication

Appendix A: Parts
Appendix B: Skills
Appendix C: Arduino Primer

View the detailed Table of Contents (PDF)
View the Index (PDF)

Reviews

Simon Monk hosted an O'Reilly Webcast. Watch now to learn how to use Arduino and Raspberry Pi to survive the zombie apocalypse.

The Maker's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is featured on Dread Central, Daily Dead, and Wired Germany.

"Simon Monk's The Maker's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is a dead serious hands-on survivor's guide to life in a post-apocalyptic world. Simon takes us on a technological tour, improvising a survivor's electric supply from scavenged auto parts, building zombie alarms, and adding remote access and devices that will detect open doors. I highly recommend this book for readers at all levels of expertise."
—David Herres, author of The Homeowner's DIY Guide to Electrical Wiring

"The Maker’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is chock-full of cool projects for people who like tinkering, building, and programming—or for people who want to learn those things."
—Daily XY

"The Maker’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse by Simon Monk is a fun way to learn about basic preparedness and how to craft some essential electronic contraptions to survive the horde."
—Amazing Stories Magazine

"Simon Monk's The Maker's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse stands out from the rest of the survival guides...you'll learn practical things like how to draw zombies away from your location or how to communicate with your scavenging team while you're at your home base. You won't be disappointed."
—Horror Talk

"I recommend this book to anyone thinking about getting into hobby electronics. Simon Monk does an excellent job of providing great detail and information about general electronics, Arduino and Raspberry Pi."
—Manhattan Book Review

Read an interview with Simon Monk about The Maker's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse on Dread Central.

“The book is fun to read and lovely illustrated; all in all, The Maker’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse gives a great introduction into making and is one of the best books for encouraging young people to become makers.”
—Knight of Pi