Book of the Dead

An excellent zombie-themed anthology from the height of the Splatterpunk movement, and a decade or so before zombies would explode into modern popular culture. Some excellent stories within by some highly respected authors. Read this back in the nineties, so specific names and titles don't spring immediately to mind, but I still remember this book as one of the best horror anthologies I have ever read. Get it.

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Ken McKinley's review Sep 07, 14 · edit
4 of 5 stars
bookshelves: horror, own-paperback
Read from May 27 to August 24, 2014

In the 1980s, the only person that was doing anything significant with zombies was the Godfather himself, George Romero. In horror fiction, zombie stories were as dead as the zombies themselves. Then, in 1989, this little gem of a collection came along and among it's pages were some heavy hitters from the horror and sci-fi genre. If you're looking for chills and scares, keep moving. You won't find them here. But, if you're looking for good, campy fun ala Tales from the Crypt types of zombie stories, by all means, sink your teeth into this perverted bag of goodies. And I mean perverted. Many of these stories show more have either zombie sex or the biting off of penises in there somewhere. Two stand out tales for me that left me crying laughing were On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks by Joe Lansdale and Jerry's Kids Meet Wormboy by David Schow. Those two alone were worth the price of admission. Here's my take on each one.

Blossom - Chan McConnell

The dangers of hooking up with someone you don't know and having an exotic fetish all while the zombie apocalypse is beginning. Enjoyed the irony of this one.

4 out of 5 stars

Mess Hall - Richard Laymon

It's never good to be a serial killer and be around your victims when the zombie apocalypse happens. I've had issues with the two Laymon novels that I've read being extremely juvenile with unbelievable characters or story lines. But, this short story was the exact opposite. In fact, I loved this short story so much that I'm going to give his novels another try.

5 out of 5 stars

It Helps If You Sing - Ramsey Campbell

Door-to-door Jehovah's Witness zombies + Haiti voodoo = a bad day. Just ok. Not my favorite.

2 out of 5 stars

Home Delivery - Stephen King

Maddie Pace is the most indecisive woman you'll ever meet. Trying to determine what can of soup to buy out of all those choices on the shelf will send her running from the store without buying anything. But when the dead begin to rise on Genneseault Island, Maddie has already forced herself to cope. Good characters but felt incomplete. It seemed more like a snippet from a longer story.

3 out of 5 stars

Wet Work - Philip Nutman

Soldiers are clearing out a school during the zombie apocalypse. These soldiers aren't doing what you think they are. Nice little twist.

4 out of 5 stars

A Sad Last Love at the Diner of the Damned - Edward Bryant

The small town of Fort Durham, Colorado is experiencing the days after the dead turned. Martha is a waitress at the local diner and the focus of many of the male residents lustful attention. But, pretty Martha only has eyes for the young deputy sheriff, Bobby Mack, and the other men don't like this. They don't like it at all. And when things go to hell, they come to take what they want.

5 out of 5 stars

Bodies and Heads - Steve Rasnic Tem

Either I completely missed the point of this story or it's a mess. Elaine is the nurse in a hospital where they have patients that rapidly shake their heads back and forth (as if they're saying no, no, no) and they have to restrain them from shaking as they try to feed them. But, they don't eat or attack them and then the one rips his own head off at the end. Hey, if you "get" this story, please explain it to my dumb ass.

1 out of 5 stars

Choices - Glen Vasey

Dawson writes his thoughts down in a spiral notebook as he's going through the trials and tribulations of the zombie apocalypse. It was little more than a boring set of philosophical ramblings. A slight twist at the end that was too little too late to turn this yawn-fest around. An absolute chore to get through.

1 out of 5 stars

The Good Parts - Les Daniels

Zombie sex. Who would've thought? Pretty ridiculous even for a zombie story. But it had an interesting hypothesis on what happened to the zombies over time.

2 out of 5 stars

Less Than Zombie - Douglas Winter

A twisted spoof of Less Than Zero, zombie style. Totally rad. Totally.

3 out of 5 stars

Like Pavlov's Dog - Steven R. Boyett

An assault on an Ecosphere project in the Arizona desert with trained zombies. Nice writing style and character development.

4 out of 5 stars

Saxophone - Nicholas Royle

The zombie apocalypse was started as a result of a war breaking out between old communist block Europe and the Allies (you have to remember this book was written in the late 1980s) when the Allies retaliated with chemical weapons. The zombies can think and begin to wage their own war. Lots of interesting ideas in a story of irony about a zombie who was previously a jazz saxophonist. Good stuff.

5 out of 5 stars

On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks - Joe R. Lansdale

A bounty hunter is bringing his fugitive across the desert when they run into a whacked out cult leader who also happened to have caused the zombie apocalypse. I Loved Lansdale's writing and it actually made me LOL at least a half dozen times.

5 out of 5 stars

Dead Giveaway - Brian Hodge

Even zombies enjoy game shows, but it's all about the ratings, baby.

4 out of 5 stars

Jerry's Kids Meet Wormboy - David J. Schow

The morbidly obese kid that was the butt of all the jokes in high school squares off against a television evangelist and his army of disciple zombies. A piss-your-pants hilarious story.

5 out of 5 stars

Eat Me - Robert McCammon

Two zombies find love in a singles bar. Warped fun.

4 out of 5 stars show less

A great collection of zombie stories, published toward the end of the big 80's horror boom. Stories commissioned for the collection in order to take the foundation of Romero's zombie movie ideas in as many new directions as possible. At the time, some conservative horror buffs found this to be a little arch, and it's true it won't give you the same kind of fix as watching Dawn of the Dead. But it's an invigorating mix of splatterpunk (if anyone remembers that whole idea) and slightly transgressive envelope-pushing. Also, great variety of writing styles.

Wonderful collection of zombie stories. My two least favorite were Less Than Zombie and Jerry's Kids Meet Wormboy. My favorite would be A Sad Last Love at the Diner of the Damned.