Summary from the Goodreads website . . . . .
When the zombie apocalypse comes, it's not just those crusty old folks who will struggle against the undead, it's young people. What happens when you come of age during the zombie apocalypse?
Zombie Stories has the answer to that question.
Zombie Stories gathers together some of the hottest zombie fiction of the last two decades, from authors including Kelly Link, Jonathan Maberry, and Catherynne M. Valente. These stories focus on those who will inherit a world overrun with the living dead: a young man who takes up the family business of dealing with the undead, a girl dealing with her abusive father... who has become a zombie, a poet who digs up the wrong grave, and a Viking maiden imprisoned with the living dead...
This 2011 collection reprints 10 zombie-themed short stories that appeared in various publications from 1993-2010 plus one original story. There's enough variation here to avoid being bored by reading one zombie story after another. The Maberry, Schweitzer and Edelman stories are especially good. Z:Zombie Stories is an above average collection with only two of ten stories that fail to leave a mark.
The collection opens with "Family Business" by Jonathan Maberry, a good choice for starters. I've never been bored by anything from Maberry. "Family Business" is set in his Rot and Ruin universe. Benny doesn't want to go into the family business of killing zombies. However, in this post-catastrophic world almost every job opportunity is zombie-related in one way or another. Benny takes an internship with his brother and learns that all is not what it seems like. This was an extremely engaging story told with great flow and rhythm. It's also the first zombie tale I've read that I would call "heart-warming and touching"! Five stars.
Kelly Link pens an amusing story in "The Wrong Grave" wherein a third-rate poet seemingly deposits his best verses within the casket of a recently deceased girlfriend as a parting tribute to her. Later he needs to dig up the grave to retrieve his poems and gets a surprise. More of an 'undead' story versus true 'zombie' tale, but I'll gladly allow that. Four stars.
In "The Days Of Flaming Motorcycles" Catherynne M. Valente seems to be using zombies to symbolize the devastation of aging (senility, lethargy, Alzheimers, dementia, strokes, etc) and the effect on a daughter living and coping with an elderly father. Zombies in this story, set in the sleepy town of Augusta Maine, are essentially harmless and go about their days in a state of confusion, unable to form words beyond guttural moans. The narrator gives enough detail to share her anxiety and anguish but there's a kind of complacency that fails to earn my empathy. The story just ends with more symbolism that serves to blunt the original message. Two stars.
"The Barrow Maid" by Christine Morgan is an epic Viking tale of revenge from beyond the grave. You just can't keep a good Viking warrior down. Written in vivid epic descriptions. Four stars.
A young man and his father hole up inside a church during a zombie invasion in "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Scott Nicholson. It's engaging reading until the end when it falls apart a bit and gets confusing. Two stars.
An undead emaciated boy is kept for entertainment and abusive purposes and hidden in a wooded hideaway by a gang of young thugs in "The Dead Kid" by Darrell Schweitzer. The first person narration by the now adult (who was eleven when these events occurred) is a warm coming-of-age tale of a troubled youth who tries to blend in with the wrong gang. Five stars.
"Seven Brains, Ten Minutes" by Marie Atkins is grisly amusing at the same time the depiction of human cruelty in the name of entertainment during tragic times is a disturbing commentary. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Four stars.
I was expecting a satisfactory revenge tale in "The Third Dead Body" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman and the ending surprised me. A prostitute is resurrected during the night of the living dead and goes out in search of the john who murdered her. Four stars.
"The Skull Faced Boy" by David Barr Kirtley puts a different spin on the living dead. If you died during the zombie infestation but were not killed by a zombie bite, then you are returned with a functioning brain. Two friends killed together take two separate directions in their second chance at life. Four stars.
In "The Human Race" Scott Edelman tells of a grieving daughter mourning the death of her family, and contemplating her own suicide just as the zombie event occurs and the dead return. She seeks to revive her father and has to make some difficult choices. Five stars.
The most entertaining story in the anthology is the original by Thomas S. Roche. "Deepwater Miracle" is all action as it centers on the efforts of two brothers to survive the zombie event while stranded in the ocean. Four stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment