When I was writing the Third Edition of the Readers' Advisory Guide to Horror, I originally had over 20 annotated choices per subgenre appearing in chapter 4-13. However, for word count sake, I had to reduce each lists to a well packaged dozen. Obviously making the cuts was hard, but I was able to include the tittles of those deleted annotations in an appendix at the end of the book with a promise that the annotations would run here on the blog.
And that promise begins today. Each list will be posted on the blog over a series of 10 weeks, every Tuesday, beginning June 1, 2021 and running through August 3, 2021. This weekly series will serve to promote the book's upcoming release in August of 2021, but I have also created an archive of all of the lists that will live here. That page is the official index of this bonus content.
In the book, my top three choices in each list are marked to denote Becky's Picks. I will also do that in these lists to give you a place to begin as you suggest. Just like the titles in the print book, every title appearing here is a great options for all public libraries. You can use these lists for collection development, displays, lists, and suggestions. Each subgenre has an essay discussing its history and appeal in the book which you can order here.
Chapter 6: Zombies
[+] Denotes Becky’s Picks
+Bodine, T. L. River of Souls. 2019.
The zombies are among us, but thanks to science, their condition is manageable. As long as the zombies take their meds, their worst urges are suppressed, but for many it turns them into a “vegetable” who needs constant care. Teenager Davin, has been left caring for his undead Dad, and vibrant, younger sister, but the hard work is wearing on him, so Davin jumps at a chance to put Dad into a facility where he will get a new secretive treatment. But then, something happens and Davin finds himself in his own undead situation. This is a zombie adventure with heart and hope. It has moments of gore, as zombie fans expect, but there are also quirky characters and plenty of humor to provide readers a reviving take on a trope they know and love.
Brooks, Max. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. 2006.
In this future, alternative history, Brooks recounts a world war fought against a zombie uprising. This novel is written in a journalistic style as a series of fictional first person accounts of the survivors. The readers see firsthand how governments conspired to withhold information; people lost their loved ones to infection, and entire societies collapsed, all in a fairly short time period. This book’s unique construction takes some getting used to, but its intimate style sucks you right into the action and the pure terror.
Browne, S. G. Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament. 2009.
This romantic zombie comedy opens in the middle of the story. Andy is lying on the floor of his kitchen staring at a refrigerator packed with the chopped up parts of his parents. Andy takes the reader back to explain how he became a zombie and how he just wants to be accepted for who he is. However, Andy’s attempts to gain equal rights for zombies hilariously backfire as he, and his group of friends, begin to realize their true natures. While the laughs quickly stack up throughout the novel, the ending is as chilling as any horror novel included in this book.
Carey, M.R. The Girl with All the Gifts. 2014.
Melanie is a child genius; however, she is also a zombie. When the zombie apocalypse came, 90% of those infected became unthinking, hungry monsters, but some, like Melanie and her fellow muzzled students in the military base where they live, are still able to learn. Melanie knows no other life than that at the base, so when it is overrun by shambling hordes of the undead and she escapes with her favorite teacher and the scientist who has been studying her, she is excited for her life to begin in the real world. That is, until she begins to realize how different she is from the other survivors. An intricately plotted and cinematic tale dripping with atmosphere, but also filled with great zombie action, this is a terrifying and exciting novel with superior character development and world building. The Boy on the Bridge is a standalone novel set in the same world.
Demonaco, James and Evenson B.K. Feral. 2017.
In this feminist take on the zombie trope, an accident at a pharmaceutical plant releases a virus that only attacks those with Y chromosomes, turning genetic males into violent monsters. After Allie’s father kills her mother, Allie and her sister manage to escape his wrath and find safety in one of the many female-only colonies popping up all over the country. Three years later. Allie is a warrior who protects the colony and ventures out to gather test subjects for the doctor who is looking for a cure. On one of her excursions, Allie meets someone whose very existence might be the key to saving humanity. Told through multiple perspectives and featuring an action and tension fueled, fast pace, Feral has everything zombie fans want plus a touching finale.
+Grant, Mira. The Newsflesh Trilogy; begins with Feed. 2010.
Part political thriller, part zombie apocalypse story, Feed imagines a world where the cure for the common cold mixed with the cure for cancer has caused a very large zombie problem. 20 years later, civilization has found a way to endure with very strict protocols, and our protagonist’s siblings Georgia and Sean, along with their partner Buffy, run a popular news blog syndicate. When they are picked as the first bloggers to be given press credentials to follow a Presidential candidate, they uncover a plot to spread the virus in order to allow another candidate to win. With an engaging, first person narration from Georgia, a mixture of world building details, political intrigue, and some of the best zombie action sequences ever, this novel, from 2010 feels uncomfortably more realistic ten years later. Feed ends in a huge plot twist cliff hanger, but it is also the first book in the Newsflesh series, so readers can move right into Deadline and beyond.
Kenemore, Scott. Zombie, Ohio: A Tale of the Undead. 2011.
In this mystery-horror combo, Peter wakes up after a car accident to find that he is now a member of the undead, but unlike most zombies, he can pass for living, albeit a living person who also is hungry for brains. Determined to reunite with his girlfriend and figure out who used the accident to kill him, Peter’s journey leads him to the helm of a zombie horde out to get evil and out of control breathers. Zombie, Ohio is in equal turns amusing, thought provoking and terrifying, filled with plenty of snarky, social commentary, and it is the first book in a trilogy.
Langan, Sarah. The Missing. 2007.
When a teacher takes her class of fourth graders to visit a deserted town, they are infected by a disease that turns them into living zombies. They have not died, but they are ravenous for human flesh all the same. As the virus spreads throughout the town, tension builds, and the reader watches as the characters we come to love succumb to the virus, one after another. It is not pretty, but it is so compelling that it is almost impossible to look away. This is a tense tale with the worst of the gore left to the reader’s imagination.
Lindqvist, John Ajvide. Handling the Undead. 2005.
Building a name for himself as the Swedish Stephen King, Lindqvist tries his hand at the zombie novel to great acclaim. After an unexpected heat wave, the streets of Stockholm are filled with the risen dead. Various characters are followed, some who are trying to outrun the zombies and others who are hoping their loved ones are reanimated. This is a psychological, character-driven story that brings up questions and issues about the human condition which will haunt readers long after they finish the novel.
+Marion, Isaac. Warm Bodies. 2010.
Rather than tell a zombie story of how people are surviving after zombies rise up and destroy life as we know it, Marion instead focuses his original novel on R, a zombie who cannot remember the man he was and his friend, Julie, the human, who is helping him heal. Yes, heal. Told entirely from R’s perspective, readers watch him learn to be human again, are introduced to the remarkable world building, where civilization has retreated to rebuild inside giant sports stadiums, and are treated to scenes that range from gruesome action to intense unease. Thought-provoking and told with a steadily increasing pace, this is an unexpected and highly satisfying entry into the subgenre. Warm Bodies has a prequel, The New Hunger, as well as two sequels, The Burning World and The Living; it was also made into a major motion picture.
Priest, Cherie. Boneshaker. 2009.
In this steampunk, alternative history, zombie tale, our two narrators, a mother, Blue, and her son, Zeke, take turns telling readers their story of life in an apocalyptic Civil War era Seattle. Many years before, Blue’s husband created a machine called the Boneshaker, which dug under the city causing most of it to collapse, but to make matters worse, it released a gas that turned many of the survivors into zombies. Now the remaining humans live in a walled city but Blue is holding on to secrets that could put all in jeopardy and Zeke is determined to find out the truth. Featuring strong world building, and fun, action packed story, with a dread filled atmosphere permeating every page, Boneshaker presents a great start to the Clockwork Century series.
Turner, Joan Frances. Dust. 2010.
Jessica has been dead for nine years. She is a zombie who can remember her past life, can feel emotions, but is unable to communicate with the living. Things are rough until Jessica joins a zombie gang. Just as her life improves, a strange disease begins to attack humans and zombies. It is at this point that this original, subtle, psychological, and haunting novel really begins.
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