I like tarot of the macabre, tarot that is different and as you see from my Haunted House Tarot Review, I like tarot that has a theme out of the ordinary. So lets get into the 1940’s Style Zombie Tarot review!
When shopping for something different, I did see the Zombie Tarot listed under ‘things you might like’ which excited me as it was like Amazon knew what I was thinking.
This is not your ‘typical’ deck and the themes are not grotesque, rather they are more comedic and retro (1940’s style).
With that said, let’s get stuck into the review.
1940’s Style Zombie Tarot Review
About the deck
This deck is inspired by horrors such as The Night Of The Living Dead but with a twist!
Based on a similar RWS based system, but fitting in very well with the theme of the deck.
Published by a small, independent company called Quirk Books, who only have 2 decks so far, including The Housewives Tarot which I really enjoyed.
Created by Stacey Graham and Headcase Design and contains 78 cards and also includes a full-colour booklet.
Now, this is a 1950’s inspired zombie deck. Think of the 1950’s era of horror movies, then this is the deck you are looking at!
Most would consider them cheesy, gory and I love them!
They have that quirky 1940’s style cartoonesque look to them!
I mean, if you love tarot and old movies, especially horror, you will love the 1940’s Style Zombie Tarot deck.
Around the packaging, you get quirky things and each time you look at them, you find something new and fresh about the deck!
Packaging and Quality
This tarot deck comes in a very thick cardboard box and nestled inside is plastic with a velvet coating that holds the cards snugly. It helps with keeping the cards safe and looks quite good.
The cards in the Zombie Tarot are very thick and have a smooth, almost matte surface so they can be shuffled with ease. They can withstand some serious shuffling which is an important aspect of the cards.
Considering the price, they are of really high quality and I have enjoyed using them immensely.
The booklet that is with the cards is amazing, I actually think it’s really good. It’s wide and short in length, so it looks like a coupon or ration booklet.
Even the layout of the writing suits the era it was designed for.
The paper has a look and a feel that it is also very old, which was a nice little addition.
It’s so fitting of the brand and the design of the cards.
The Design and illustrations!
Of course, we have the striking 1059’s Zombie apocalypse feel to this and some old fashioned comedy.
Touching on the back of the card, they are black with a zombie style reader with a few stars, moon and a planet in grey. Each corner has a suit on too.
The swords for example, are more combative actions using axes, guns and things you would see in a zombie apocalypse.
We have a range of ideas here from newspaper cuttings to your typical zombiesque film stylings. I had a good chuckle at a lot of the cards.
I’m blown away how they are so detailed and it’s like reading a comic as you shuffle through the cards. I think there is everything you can think of that you would see in the 1940’s during a zombie apocalypse.
The Zombie Tarot is different and you really need to have a look through the cards to see whether this fits your aesthetic.
Even if you don’t read tarot, it’s a fun thing to collect and show people. Just because of the detailed artwork.
Guide Book
I absolutely admire the instruction booklet that comes with it as it looks like a 1940’s instruction booklet.
Each page is shaded around the edges to make it look old. This is such a good touch to make it feel authentic.
Coming in a rectangle shape, it has a bit of a coupon feel to it. I would imagine this is how coupon books would be back in the day.
Each page has the card printed so you can see the design, as well as keywords and a statement about that card, but with a twist. It reads like an excerpt from a book.
Now the print of the book is like a newspaper which is one of the first prints available, Times New Roman style.
In the back of the Zombie Tarot book, there is a page that has Zombie related advertisements that are highly amusing.
Full of light-hearted, slapstick comedy and intriguing stories related to the meaning of the card, the book will keep you interested in the tarot for a long time!
Zombie Tarot Review
The guidebook as above is funny, interesting and something you could simply read alone just for enjoyment.
One aspect I wanted to mention is that the pentacles/coins suit is Hazards, which really fits within the deck, rather than coils/pentacles. The rest of the cards are named the same as Rider Waite Style decks.
It’s fun, quirky and not for everyone! But as I am obsessed with the 1940’s aesthetic and horror, especially horror similar to this, of course, the 1940’s Style Zombie Tarot fit right in!
The packaging has so much fun around the box, with little fun things like ‘For use in surviving the undead uprising’ and anecdotes about using the deck during a zombie attack.
With the cards being so thick, the only issue I had was shuffling them given that I have small hands. But if I shuffled them sideways, I found it wasn’t too bad. So if you have small hands, you may come a cropper with shuffling. But you will find a way to make it work. Trust me, they are that good!
I found I could read them just fine. However, I made a little joke here and there with the details from the guidebook. We had a lot of fun when reading these!
Aesthetically, they are kitsch, 1940’s and the theme never fails. Sometimes you get a deck and the theme is wishy-washy or find that they are waning towards the end. This is not the case with this deck! It’s strong from beginning to end and even in the middle!
Final Thoughts
I just wish there was more collections from the 1940’s. I can imagine there would be loads of ways you could do this!
Overall, I love it and use it when called for. But it’s not one for every day reading unless you have a theme of 1950’s going on. Then it can be used every day!
After quite a few uses, there has been no wear to the cards. Usually, I see signs in many by now but there is nothing!
If you love zombies, 1940’s or collect unusual or quirky tarot decks, then the Zombie Tarot one is for you!
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This deck was not sent to me to review, rather I purchased this with my own money and the review is of my own wording.
