THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

This truly epic book delves deep into the history of Zombie fiction and mythology, pulling out no fewer than 35 spooktacular, horrifying, dramatic, action-filled and down-right mind-mending tales to keep even the most hard-to-please Zombie lover entertained. The book also contains previously unseen essays from chronicler John Skipp, charting the turbulent history of the undead.

MY VERDICT:

Zombies: Encounters with the Hungry Dead is a short story anthology book of truly massive scope, featuring tales from even before George Romero changed the living dead forever with his 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead. Unfortunately, the overall quality of the book does not match the humongous page range. Obviously, some stories are better than others; A Case of the Stubborns and Great Wall: A Story from the Zombie War are two highlights, the latter being an exclusive look at one of the 'interviews' left out of Max Brooks' legendary World War Z. However, while there are no true stinkers, there are just not that many "stand-out" tales that stick with you after finishing the collection; largely because of the huge number on offer - by the time you've got to the end, you will struggle to remember where it all began. There are also quite a number of the dreaded typo, not so much as to ruin the fictional journeys but, rather annoying all the same. These setbacks are only minor though so I do recommend this epic book to any diehard Zombie fan; the appendix detailing the rise of Zombies through culture in all forms, from music to art, is a very welcome feature. For those of you who do take the plunge; heed my advice and dip into this tome-like collection from time to time instead of trying to read it from cover to cover in one hugely-long reading session.