Coming To a Theater Near You

Whenever my three favorites (books, paranormal and movies) come together, I get a little bit anxious and a whole lot of excited. Can there be anything more thrilling than seeing your beloved characters coming to life before your very eyes? I know at times it can be a major letdown when there's bad casting or if favorite scenes are cut, but you have to keep in mind that there is a time limit to how long you want your butt placed in that uncomfortable chair while stuffing your face with junk. While the books cover every little detail, on the big screen we are given the bare bones.

With the plethora of upcoming flicks I have discovered in the past few weeks, I just may explode. Here is a rundown of the three that have me fan-girling like a fool:

Warm Bodies

Since I am looking forward to this movie the most, it's up first. A Twitter friend told me a while back to read this book. I put it in my queue and kind of forgot about it. Then the movie trailer came out and I was totally kicking myself for not listening to my friend sooner. I devoured this delightful read in a matter of a few days and became a big fan of Isaac Marion. I wrote my own zombie book The Day Zombies Ruined My Perfectly Boring Life when I was craving something unusual and wanted a realistic heroine who wasn't prepared to shoot guns and run for her life. Warm Bodies takes the unusual one step further by telling it from the point of view of a zombie who only goes by "R" (he doesn't remember everything from life before he turned). When he meets a girl (and eats the brain of her boyfriend, thus absorbing some of his memories) he slowly begins to evolve into a regular human again. The book had some very light-hearted and comedic parts to it, but there was a deeper story of humanity and love that really sucked me in. If you haven't read the book, I suggest you drop everything and do so now. The trailer makes it appear that they did a good job of following the story in Isaac's book.

World War Z

Interestingly enough, I recently started reading this book and can't get into it as much. Part of the problem was probably that I just finished Warm Bodies, which is more of an adventure while this book is told as a report of events as they happened. Still, the preview for the movie look insanely good. I read somewhere that the creators of this movie felt zombies would have a primal instinct, much like a lioness chasing her prey, and let me tell you, these zombies definitely have that! If you haven't seen the trailer yet, these zombies are crazy fast. While I lack any kind of athletic skills, I still think I could outrun the traditional zombie so long as I wasn't injured. If I saw a zombie coming at me on a dead run, however, I ask to be shot by someone immediately. This movie has potential to be a big blockbuster, considering the growing number of The Walking Dead fans. And it doesn't hurt that Brad Pitt is looking as hot as ever with his long hair, either.

The Mortal Instruments

Again, this was a book I couldn't really get into. It was okay, but I think that I had just read a string of paranormal books and was getting burned out by them. After seeing the trailer, however, I've decided to give it another chance and have returned it to my to-read list. The movie looks to have a bit of a Constantine feel to it (one of my all-time favorite movies), only the main characters are young. I love the idea that there are certain things in this world others can't see. As an added bonus, there is a battle with honest-to-goodness vampires, not the sparkling kind who want to be your boyfriend.

I'll admit, I'm both thrilled and insanely jealous to see these books come to the big screen. After all, having your story come to life is the ultimate compliment. Are any of these movies on your "must see" list, or are there other book adaptations coming out in 2013 that you are looking forward to?