“The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology” edited by Christopher Golden

I’m over that rough bout of Zombie Fatigue from a couple Halloweens ago.  The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology proved a fantastic and refreshing tonic for this Halloween.

Every piece is a gem.  No matter what kind of zombie story you like, there’s probably one here for you.  A few stood out to me as particular favorites: Lazarus by John Connolly, Family Business by Jonathan Maberry, and The Storm Door by Tad Williams.

The melancholy Lazarus, about the man Jesus brought back from the dead, is deeply affecting.  It’s not often you get to hear Lazarus’s side of the miracle, the way Connolly writes him it’s tough to feel anything but pity.  He’s a man who has been pulled back from the great mystery, and he’s no longer fit for the living world.

Jonathan Maberry’s Family Business, a tale of brotherhood and loss and growing up in the Rot and Ruin made me cry.  Benny’s brother Tom is a zombie hunter, but not in the way other bounty  hunters are in this universe.  Instead, Tom works for families, and his motivation isn’t the money or some kind of blood lust.  While the idea that zombies are just people with a terrible, devastating disease has been done elsewhere, I don’t think I’ve ever read it done with such emotional truth.  The character voices and the descriptions of the zombies, as well as the sense of place of the Rot and Ruin, are also great. (Learn more about the Rot and Ruin series here)

And finally, The Storm Door by Tad Williams.  Atmospheric (right down to a thunderstorm!), creative, dark, and genuinely frightening, this is a spin on zombies I haven’t seen before, something more in the line of possession.  Wonderfully done with a classic horror feel.

As I said, though, every piece included in this collection is wonderful, each piece unique.  What Maisie Knew by David Liss is creepy and disturbing and sad, Twittering from the Circus of the Dead by Joe Hill is scary and stylistically interesting, Delice by Holly Newstein is a gory old-fashioned revenge tale.  Kids and Their Toys by James A. Moore is suitably gross and is pretty bleak, with a Stand-by-Me sort of vibe.  But with a zombie.

Whatever kind of zombie story you like, whatever kind of horror you’re into, whatever style appeals to you, The New Dead has probably got it.  If you too have grown tired of zombies, you might find this collection as refreshing as I did.

–Marie

Marie’s Re-Reading A Christmas Favorite

My personal Christmas favorite, anyway.  It’s got love, friendship, reunions, an angel, zombies, lasagna, and a Christmas Miracle.  What’s not to love?

The Archangel Raziel is on a special Christmas mission: He is to find one child and grant a Christmas wish.   And little Josh Barker has a very special wish: for Santa to come back from the dead.  Throw in just about every other Christopher Moore character you can think of, and you’ve got a chaotic Christmas party in the little town of Pine Cove.

Admittedly, Moore’s style isn’t for everyone.  But if you’re one of the people it’s for, like me, then you’ll love this.  The bawdy humor, the ear for dialogue, the wonderful characters, the creativity, and the genuine sweetness and affection for the characters.

And yes, shovels to the head.  And talking fruit bats.  And Zombie Santa.

Hey.  You keep Christmas in your own way, let me keep it in mine.

Happy Holidays!

–Marie

“The Missing” by Sarah Langan

Here’s my capsule review of Sarah Langan’s The Missing: I had to put the book down when bedtime approached and read Terry Pratchett’s Small Gods before sleeping just so I wouldn’t drift off with bad images in my head.  Which, as you all know, means a quality piece of horror fiction.

Marie’s Favorite Scary Books, Part III: The Revenge of the Scary Book

The first one’s usually pretty okay.  Perhaps some concepts or ideas you haven’t encountered before.  Then there’s a sequel, and most people are in one of two camps: “Yay, they’re making another one!” or “Ugh, they’re making another one.” By the time the third one rolls around you know what to expect.  Usually this is the one that continues all the motifs, maybe wraps some things up, but mostly it’s what you’ve seen before.

My third scary books list is no different.   The same things that freaked me out years ago freak me out now.  It’s just that I find them in different books every year.

So here you go, the third installment of my favorite scary books!  I’ve also got print copies of my favorite scary books lists on my Horror Display at the library.

The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
A creative, gory, and enjoyable zombie read.  I talked about it on the blog here.

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
A ghost story reminiscent of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, but with a chilling magic all its own.  Click here to read more.

Severed by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft, art by Attila Futaki
Human horror at its finest.  A tale of a monster on America’s highways, searching for victims.  The artwork is brutal but gorgeous, striking a distinctive and effective balance.  This is the blog post about it.

Scowler by Daniel Kraus
A tale of abuse and survival, and the monsters that lurk inside all of us.  Thinking about it gives me a bad taste in my mouth.  You’ll understand when you read it and get to the end.  This one set me so sideways I never wrote a post, so here’s the Goodreads page.

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
Let’s end on a relatively peppy note!  Read my blog post about this inventive, scary, and clever new title here.

I’m not going to say “The End,” because I want to leave the door open for a fourth installment in October 2015.  Maybe I’ll set it in outer space.   Or somehow go back in time and do a prequel list.

During Horror Time, the possibilities are limitless.

Marie’s Reading: “The Girl With All the Gifts” by M.R. Carey

Still more zombies?  It’s 2014, and there are still waves of the undead?  I guess the zombie scourge never really goes away, does it?  Even when we think we’re safe and rebuilding society.  Most of the marketing for this novel is hiding the fact that it’s a zombie story, but I’m not going to play along.  You figure it out pretty early on.

But there is some good news.  The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey is original and refreshing, supplies sufficient gore and sufficient heart, and actually has believable science behind the explanation for zombies.

“I Walked With a Zombie.” I Couldn’t Help It. They’re All Over the Place.

You cannot swing an undead cat in pop culture right now without hitting a zombie.

Whatever genre you’re in the market for, there’s a zombie for it.  There are horror zombies.  There are romantic comedy zombies.  There are existential crisis zombies.   There are medical thriller zombies.  There are political thriller zombies.  Sad zombies, happy zombies, funny zombies, terrifying zombies.  Zombies who are metaphors for apathy, zombies who are metaphors for racism.  Zombies who aren’t metaphors for anything, but exist to fuel gun-totin’ survivalist fantasies.

Shamble with me after the jump for some zombi-riffic (zombo-riffic?) Halloween Reads.

Katy Towell: Childrin R Skary

Two weeks to go until Halloween, folks.  If you’re anything like me, you’re already watching scary short films on YouTube late at night, just before bed, just to get that delicious thrill of terror to send you into nightmareland.

In my scary film travels, I found Katy Towell.   She is a writer and animator, and her work is brilliant.  You can see it here, at her website.  Her stories are dark little gems–creepy, affecting, and delightful all at the same time.  I’m eagerly awaiting her novel, Skary Childrin and the Carousel of Sorrow.  It promises to be a prose version of her short films–eerie, melancholy, atmospheric, with more than a touch of the folktale about them.

Last Halloween I talked about my deep and abiding love for Chris Priestley, and Towell’s work reminds me very much of his, particularly in tone and the feel of her writing. But she’s got a style all her own, both in her prose and in her art.  Watch this:

That’s pretty indicative of her style.  Creepy little stories simply told, usually with little girls as the protagonists.  Her humor is quirky and of the dark variety.  Perfect for Halloween!

In advance of my next post, enjoy one of the very best short films about zombies I have ever seen, courtesy of the brilliant Katy Towell.  Do be advised if you’re squeamish, though–there’s blood and guts.

–Marie

Marie’s Reading: The Newsflesh Trilogy by Mira Grant

Everyone who follows this blog knows that if a book’s cover art has that distinctive blood-spatter motif, I’ll probably give it a look.

Note the judicious use of drippage on the feed icon.

I’ve been hearing and reading about Mira Grant’s Newsflesh trilogy since the first, Feed, came out.  And due to my generally “meh” opinion on zombies, I didn’t pay all that much attention.  Until last week, when a fellow librarian mentioned how much she’d enjoyed it–specifically mentioning that it’s more about media, news reporting, and conspiracy than it is about zombies.

Just goes to show how much of a difference framing makes when you’re trying to sell a book to someone.  “Walking dead zombie threat oh no!” will leave me cold.  However, “Massive conspiracy and indictment of mainstream media, with two great main characters…also there are some zombies” is a whole different idea.

I tend to enjoy zombie books and movies where the zombies are rather incidental.  Like one recent book I loved, The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell.  That’s a Southern Gothic psychological suspense novel with zombies.  I’m also a big fan of The Zombie Autopsies, which is a medical thriller about investigating zombies.  The Passage by Justin Cronin was also very good, as it was about conspiracies and medicine and zombies (oh, I know in the book they’re called vampires, but please–they’re zombies, for all intents and purposes).

None of the titles I’ve mentioned are horror novels.  Feed and its sequels aren’t horror novels, either.  They’re political thrillers. With mummies.

Oh no, wait.  Zombies.  Political thrillers with zombies.

Halloween Read: “The Zombie Autopsies: Secret Notebooks from the Apocalypse” by Steven C. Schlozman

Here’s a great horror novel for people who enjoy their horror closer to the science fiction side of the spectrum…or for those who watch Night of the Living Dead and wonder, “Why does a dead thing need to eat?  Why does it take destroying the brain to kill a zombie?  How do zombies actually work?”