The Zombie Apocalypse
By: Michele Lee
Up until recently the zombie was one of the few monsters to remain the sole dominion of horror. Vampires made it big in romance, werewolves became stand-ins for alpha males instead of civilized folk tortured by their baser instincts. And ghosts? Oh, they were gone in the old days with Casper.
But zombies—ambulatory rotting corpses—could be nothing but a horror creature. And as much as Romero revolutionized and built the mythos, he also damned it, spawning decades of authors, artists and film makers all trying to recapture the feeling Romero brought to the creature. Zombie fiction soon became equated with cult readers, the niche audience inside a niche audience. But the thing about zombies is you can’t contain them for long.
In the last few years a metamorphosis has begun that has zombies threatening the mainstream. All those zombie-classic mash ups are just one front of attack (though they are the most visual right now).
Zombies are no longer just about a plucky band of survivors being cut down one at a time. We’re no longer trapped in Rambo fantasies or zombie apocalypse tales. Here’s a few stories that have something different to offer zombie fans.
by Kim Paffenroth
Throw any ideas of “low brow” out the window with this book. Written by a professor of religious studies and consummate zombie fan, this incredibly readable series (now hitting three books) understands readers want intelligence and flesh-eating with their zombies. Paffenroth profiles a community trying to adjust to the new world, asking all the deep philosophical questions, while also dodging cannibals—of both the undead and still living kind. A stand out in the field, Paffenroth is a skilled writer, suggesting a vision of zombies and the future while still delivering a dyed in the wool horror tale.
: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
Yes, it’s one of those dreaded literary mash ups—sort of. Don’t be fooled, Dawn of the Dreadfuls is not a classic with monsters squished into its pages. Instead Hockensmith has borrowed the Pride and Prejudice characters and written a completely original prequel that pits a family of young (familiar) girls against ninja training, society’s judgments against them, and yes, the undead. What makes this one worth picking up is the combination of a completely repressed, uptight society, clichés gone horribly wrong and a beautiful razor wit to slice it all to ribbons. It’s like someone paid Hockensmith to snark the whole literary trend, and let readers come along for the ride. After all, if you’re going to have to see Moby Dead in a place of honor on the bookshelves you might as well enjoy some part of it.
edited by Kim Paffenroth (anthology)
Yes, Paffenroth makes the list twice, but in this case it’s the authors of this historical zombie anthology that deserve praise. The variety of undead present is astonishing and unique, including the “real” events that started the great Chicago fire (that’s right, zombies), science fiction zombies created by Thomas Edison and the tale I found most terrifying features zombies that don’t even eat people (they eat gold, but set in the Wild West this doesn’t go over any better). This is the anthology that got me interested in zombies as more than just things to be killed. Filled with haunting, unexpected tales it’s also a great introduction to some of the lesser known names in the field.
by Stacey Jay
What’s a cheerleader to do when she finds herself dead, shipped off to zombie school and doomed to live a life slurping fried chicken brain bites? Worse, what does she do when the totally hot hunk from school might just be the one carving the brains out of her fellow Zombie High Schoolers? Fun, a little silly and yet totally true to the horror spirit this young adult book goes way over the top at times, but it provides a different take on the zombie legend. For readers who like a good creepy tale, but squirm at the gore, Jay’s sassy style makes reading (and brain eating) fun.
by B.J. Barrow
This one’s a tried and true horror tale, but here the zombies are intelligent (but rotting), very dead (but no less human), and in true human (American) fashion when they become the newest minority in the country they turn to politics to get accepted. Barrow manages to stride a three point line between classic zombie tale, sarcastic humor story and sharp political and racial commentary. The Changed is not the deepest book in the world, but neither is it another shallow, flat Z-poc book looking for a quick slice of cash.
by Richard Matheson
No commentary on off-beat zombie tales would be complete without this one. A timeless classic, it’s a matter of opinion on whether Matheson’s monsters are zombies or vampires or something else altogether. The force behind this one is stunning. It has the corpse-like monsters, and has the apocalypse in spades, following the last man on Earth’s decent into madness in his loneliness. Don’t settle for the movie versions (not even the most recent, despite the pleasant surprise of Will Smith‘s performance—I suspect the man is one of us, a spec fic fan boy at heart). Read the short, unforgettable tale that not even Hollywood had the balls to fully tell and I guarantee you’ll see what zombies can be outside the realm of knock offs and mash ups.
So I’ve showed you mine, now what stories let zombies get under your skin?
Michele Lee writes horror, science fiction and fantasy from the relative safety of her haunted house in the oldest section of Louisville, Ky. She’s also the Zombie Review Editor for MonsterLibrarian.com, a proud member of the truly awesome Apex Blog Team, a freelance reviewer for Dark Scribe Magazine as well as an autism activist. You can learn more about Michele and all her works by visiting her website.
Day is a dreamer who has never met a stranger. She is fearless and will talk to anyone and read anything! She taught music and dance and was a singer/actress for years, performing on stages both nationally and overseas. Now married with children, she spends less time singing on stage and more time writing songs at home. But, family life has not completely slowed this chick down. She still loves an adventure and learning new things. She resides in Texas with her family, Great Dane (Sophie), Labradoodles (George & Cosmo) and Chihuahua (Juan Carlos).
Doll Day
Very interesting. Thank you so much for sharing Michele. There are some titles there I hadn't heard of.
Michele – thank you for sharing your zombie book picks – I'm new to the genre and some of these sound really interesting (and hilarious!)
Thank you for taking part in Zombie week!
I am Legend is amazing!!! I haven't read the others but they look good. Thanks
Never a big zombie fan, I can see where this new line of thinking is taking the genre and it seems I've lost my last reason to avoid them. *sigh* *stacks zombie books on TBR pile* See what you started? LOL
Thanks so much for sharing your picks with us, Michele! They seem like a really thoughtful and wide-ranging array of choices. Like Mona, I seem to have lost my last reason to avoid the genre. I thought zombies were just about gore with a serious Ick Factor, but this week has already shown me differently!
The Changed looks really good, so does the "Dark Futures" anthology by Lee. I'm definitely adding those to my shopping cart.
I was not aware of most of the books. I've not read any zombie fiction yet, but do have Mark Henry's Amanda Feral books in my TBR stack.
I Am Legend is one of my favourite speculative fiction stories. And yes, I own all three movie adaptations, even though none live up to the original. :-D
Glad I could point some new stuff out to everyone. There is still a lot of the hard core gore and guns zombie fiction out there. But a lot of people are taking zombies in new directions too.
I am Legend is definitely, and always will be, one of my favorites!