Book: The New Dead

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

Although I’ve written countless
essays about English literature and reviewed a couple of hundred horror
movies and video games, I’ve never actually written a book review.
Luckily for me, The New Dead was right up my alley and is exactly what
I look for in a book.

I’m not the kind of guy who can
read a lot of fiction unless it pertains directly to something I really
like. Fortunately, I happen to really like zombies, and I liked ’em
before they were cool (yeah, that’s right). I’m a really busy guy.
Between a full-time teaching gig, another part-time job and my dvd/game
reviews, I don’t have a lot of time for the written word (at least not
for pleasure, anyway). I do love a good book though and when a book
grabs me, I like to be able to blaze through it.

Rise From Your Grave!

This may be one of the reasons
I loved this book so much. I truly dig and appreciate the anthology
format, which syncs up well with my lifestyle. Any time I was in a long
commute or had a moment to myself, I could crack this sucker open and
rip through a tale. 

I have to give some real props
to this book for selecting such different sorts of stories as well.
I’ve read quite a few zombie books and stories and I was a little
worried that an entire anthology would become redundant and trite
rather quickly. I mean, how many different ways can you spin a zombie
tale? Let me tell you- there are about 19 different ways you can do so
and this one really lets the zombies run the gamut of emotions from
laughs to anger and tears.

A Handsome Portrait!

It would be impossible for me
to review all of the stories in this book, but I have to touch on a
few. This book kicks off with a really heavy tale called “Lazarus”
written by John Conolly, This one is a contemplative retelling of
Lazarus’ rise from the dead (for those unfamiliar with contemporary
religion, it is said that Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead four days
after his own death). It might sound a little far-fetched but the story
is written very seriously and has a really dark and sad tone.

I absolutely loved “What Maisie
Knew” by David Liss. It tells a story about zombies becoming
mass-produced human servants. One man is telling his tale about how he
bought a black-market zombie servant to cover up a past mistake. The
story is thoughtfully written and has a fantastic twist that left me
hungry for brains.

M.B Hombler checks in with
another awesome tale called “The Zombie who Fell from the Sky”. This
one is a thoughtful piece that deals with Romero-esque human cruelty
issues. A great companion piece to this story is “Kids and Their Toys”,
which comes off like a Stand By Me homage with zombies. The latter
story really resonated with me and I thought it would make a great
film. Really descriptive and involving stuff.

The last story in the book,
“Twittering from the Circus of the Dead” by Joe
Hill is a perfect closing piece that deals with a family that runs into
an entire carnival of the undead while coming home from vacation. It’s
written in Twitter-ific style but serves as a great little slice of
cultural zeitgeist both from technology and zombie standpoints.

Gunslinger Zombie!

This is a book that isn’t
written ‘safely’. The New Dead isn’t a jumble of lame stories tossed
together to make a buck. Almost every story is worth reading at least
once, and I read several a couple more times. For those familiar with
Max Brooks, even he contributes a tale here (and if you’re not familiar
with him, he’s the author of the kick ass novel World War Z, one of my
favourite books ever). The stories are controversial, thought
provoking, fun, nasty and thrilling. The book is thick, running 400
pages long and has a low price point which makes it a great value for
your money.

Do yourself a favor- assume the role of your favorite zombie and tear
this one’s brains apart!

Grade: 3.5/4

CLICK HERE TO BUY THIS BOOK NOW!!!