NecroScope

News: NecroScope on Hiatus

2011-11-29T11:30:00.000+11:00

NecroFans may have noticed a certain level of inactivity on the NecroScope website of late. The staff and management of NecroScope wish to apologise for any inconvenience (or indeed, boredom) this has caused. Unfortunately, behind-the-scenes developments (albeit positive ones) have made the consistent updating of the site impossible for the time being. While there are no plans to close the site completely, it's likely that NecroScope will be on hiatus at least until early next year.

In the meantime, any expressions of interest regarding the submission of reviews or news to NecroScope should be directed to the NecroKeeper.

Music: The Little Black Bottles

2011-10-10T15:02:00.000+11:00

More zombie-themed musical goodness this week! Founded by Jackie and Myke Fedyk as a two piece, the Little Black Bottles have taken their rollicking, ukulele-driven tavern sound and blown it out into a signature style that manages to range from country to rock and everything in between. Inspired chiefly by horror, sci-fi and classic literature, many of the band's songs will certainly appeal to fans of the fantastical, the bizarre and the Gothic. Below is a link to one of their undead-themed tunes, Zombie Romance. We thoroughly recommend that you check it out. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQkCXOah0uc

Review: Eden: Resurrection

2011-10-10T13:43:00.000+11:00

Tony Monchinski, 2011, Permuted Press

Twenty years after the living dead swept the globe, the zombie wars are over. Whole continents have been cleared of the undead, but left uninhabited due to nuclear fallout. Humanity has begun to regain its footing in small, isolated communities around the globe. When a stranger carrying hints of Anthony's past walks into the tiny settlement of New Harmony, Anthony and his friends must set out on a life-changing trek that will swiftly degenerate into a brutal struggle for survival, as they come up against zombies, mutants, and the evil that humans still visit upon one another.

There is little I can say about Eden: Resurrection that I've not already said about Tony Monchinski's previous works (these being Eden, and Eden: Crusade): the plot is fast-paced, brutal, and completely engrossing; the characters wonderfully flawed, unique, and completely empathic (if not necessarily sympathetic); the prose and dialogue a joy to read. Also, rather than giving us 'more of the same', Resurrection refreshingly removes most of the focus from the zombie menace, and places it instead upon some of the more unpleasant human elements that have managed to thrive in the predatory vacuum left by the diminished undead population. Throw in a cliffhanger conclusion, which promises one hell of a follow-up novel, and you have what I can only refer to as an 'instant classic' of the genre.

Regardless of the almost ridiculously large volume of zomfic being produced nowadays, there's a comparatively small number of authors whose work falls almost exclusively into this genre, and a smaller number still who consistently produce work of truly literary quality (in the most admirable sense of the word). Tony Monchinski is definitely one of these authors, and his work should be compulsory reading for serious fans of zombie fiction.

Review: Generation Zombie

2011-10-10T12:38:00.000+11:00

Essays on the Living Dead in Modern Culture

Ed. Stephanie Boluk & Wylie Lenz, 2011, McFarland Publishers

Generation Zombie is a collection of 18 essays examining the effects of the popularity of zombies upon modern culture (and vice-versa), through fiction, movies, electronic games, and so on. Written by a wide range of experts, enthusiasts and academics, these essays cover numerous themes that should engage the interest of most zombie enthusiasts; 'Cyberpunk and the Living Dead', 'Zombies as Internal Fear or Threat', 'Ztopia: Lessons in Post-Vital Politics in George Romero's Zombie Films' and 'The National Strategy for Zombie Containment: Myth Meets Activism in Post-9/11 America' are just a few of the specific topics covered herein.

Generation Zombie is a terrific read, and highly recommended to those whose interest in zombies and the zombie phenomenon extends beyond the short-term thrill of fiction and media.

Review: The Zombie-Driven Life

2011-10-10T11:33:00.000+11:00

David Wood, 2011, Gryphonwood Press
High school nobody Kenan is doing just fine in the midst of the zombie apocalypse, thank you very much. But when his dream-girl, Katy, comes stumbling around the corner, Kenan finds his world turned upside down as the two of them embark on a nightmarish road-trip that will ultimately lead to a confrontation with the very person responsible for the plague of the walking dead...

The Zombie-Driven Life is a well-written and highly entertaining Young Adult novella, in which the story moves at an almost ridiculous pace, yet remains grounded by the POV narrative of the everyman protagonist. Great dollops of black humour and some wonderful characterisation round out this extremely enjoyable romp. Definitely one to add to the private library.

News: Dymocks Southland Bestselling Zombie Titles for September 2011

2011-10-04T10:28:00.000+11:00

A rather sad post, as this will be the final 'bestseller' post for the foreseeable future, as NecroScope's Keeper of the Dead leaves his crypt at Dymocks Southland for mouldier pastures. It seems fitting, then, that September was, again, a bumper month for sales of zombie-related fiction.

1. Dead Island (game novelisation) - Mark Morris
2. The Fear (The Enemy #3) - Charlie Higson
3. Alone #1: Chasers - James Phelan
4. Rot & Ruin - Jonathan Maberry
5. Dog Blood (Hater #2) - David Moody.
6. Feed (Newsflesh #1) - Mira Grant
7. The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten - Harrison Geilor
8. Deadline (Newsflesh #2) - Mira Grant
9. Flip this Zombie (Married With Zombies #2) - Jesse Petersen
10. Flesh Eaters - Joe McKinney

New arrivals in store include Ex-Patriots (Peter Clines), Eden #3: Resurrection (Tony Monchinski), Pay Me In Flesh (K. Bennett), Drop Dead Gorgeous (Wayne Simmons), Working Stiff (Rachel Caine), and Zombies Sold Separately (Cheyenne McCray).

Subscription Competition Winner!

2011-10-03T10:20:00.000+11:00

Well, we didn't quite make it to 50 new Shamblers, but obviously a great many of you took the threat of No Prize seriously, as we did end up with a whole bunch of new zombies shuffling our way. And hey, you all knew we weren't really going to keep that prize pack for ourselves, didn't you? Eh?

Our lucky prize-winner, chosen at random by The Pointing Finger of Death was...Greg Chapman, from sunny Queensland, Australia! Congratulations, Greg - your prize will be arriving via hearse soonish.

To all our non-winners, commiserations - but stay tuned. There are plenty more goodies gathering dust in the NecroScope prize vault, and we'll be sure to have another clean-out soon...

Review: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

2011-09-19T14:56:00.000+10:00

A Look at the History and Influence of Zombies on Popular Culture

Ed. Christopher Wortzenspeigel, 2011

Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse is something of an oddity: a book on zombies composed entirely of articles, links and references taken from Wikipedia, presented almost exactly as they would appear online. This obviously results in a fair amount of repetition of information (as certain articles reference the same sources), which - in a publication of a mere 125 pages - doesn't exactly scream 'value for money'. Additionally, the lack of any major effort to reformat and expand the information for print, in order to more obviously justify republishing free web content in a physical, comparatively expensive format, does beg the question of whether doing so has any real point.

This is not to suggest that online content can't make for a great printed book, as evidenced by the works of David Wellington, Madeleine Roux, and others. However, there's a world of difference between reading a self-contained piece of fiction in book form, even one that has been wholly transposed from the Internet, and reading a piece of non-fiction containing references and links that the reader is incapable of immediately accessing (or, if they own a mobile device of some sort, fully access...which again begs the question of why the book was needed in the first place).

At the end of the day, Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse certainly contains some intelligent and fascinating information...but ultimately there seems little point in purchasing what amounts to a hard-copy printout of a bunch of Wikipedia articles. I'd suggest that even the publishers are aware of this shortcoming, as the back-cover blurb fails to mention zombies at all, instead waxing lyrical over the 'convenience and utility' of a 'real book' that 'utilizes the unique characteristics of the Internet - relying on web infrastructure and collaborative tools to share and use resources in keeping with the characteristics of the medium'.

Hmm...

Review: Field Combat Manual For Zombie Slayers

2011-09-19T13:57:00.000+10:00

Marc Sherman, 2011, Rebecca J. Vickery (publisher)

Field Combat Manual For Zombie Slayers is a slim volume falling into the 'survivalist' subgenre of zomfic, and which leans more to the serious side of the market, containing bona fide advice on survivalist techniques with genuine everyday applications. While there is a background story provided against which the necessity for zombie-slaying info is set, this background is not explored in any great depth. There's also a fair bit of authorial intrusion, as the 'character' of the author often mentions personal experiences that support specific pieces of advice, and also tends to sermonise at length (with religious fervour) on the destiny of humanity to reclaim civilisation, etc. Ultimately, the book fails to satisfyingly balance the fictional and non-fictional aspects, although there is certainly entertainment value here.

In a nutshell, Field Combat Manual For Zombie Slayers is one for the die-hard survivalist types only. For a more inventive, entertaining and in-depth take on similar topics, stick with Roger Ma's The Zombie Combat Manual.

Reminder: Subscription Drive Ends Soon!

2011-09-19T13:37:00.000+10:00

Just a reminder to all our loyal (and new) Shamblers that our 'anniversary' subscription drive ends very soon! Only eleven days are left in which to sign up 50 new subscribers (or else forfeit a fantastic prize-pack), and thus far we're well shy of that number! Remember: all you have to do is convince your friends, family, colleagues, enemies, and so on, to sign up, and you'll automatically be in the running to win a heap of goodies, so get to it, folks!

Review: The Zombie Handbook

2011-09-12T12:06:00.000+10:00

An Essential Guide to Zombies and, More Importantly, How to Avoid Them

Dr. Robert Curran, 2011, Barrons

The Zombie Handbook is a handsomely-bound 'zombie primer' aimed squarely at readers with only a basic knowledge of the subject matter, but which should nonetheless be of interest to more serious collectors of zombie lore. Focusing almost exclusively upon traditional voodoo zombies - as well as mummies, golems, and revenants from various folklores - this volume provides some fascinating information on the subject, although it must be said that most of the material herein is explored in greater depth and detail in Curran's earlier publication, Zombies: a Field Guide to the Walking Dead. Nonetheless, The Zombie Handbook is a lovely publication in its own right - hardbacked, and beautifully illustrated - and certainly worth both reading and owning.

Review: The Gathering Dead

2011-09-12T11:29:00.000+10:00

Stephen Knight, 2011, Severed Press

The zombie Apocalypse has begun, and Major Cordell McDaniels is given the most important mission of his career: lead a Special Forces team into New York to rescue the one man who can cure the reanimation virus. But as a violent storm renders airborne extraction impossible, the team finds itself trapped and facing not merely a growing horde of undead citizens, but also the zombified members of another Special Ops. team...who appear to have retained their military skills...

The Gathering Dead is a full-blown military action/horror novel that hits the ground running from page one, and doesn't let up for a moment. While there's perhaps not as much attention paid to individual characterisation as in other recent, similarly-themed novels (such as Tooth & Nail), Knight does a terrific job of balancing action and tight plotting against a vast amount of military detail and terminology, which - in less competent hands - could well have disrupted the flow of the tale. Some nicely original touches - such as the possibility of 'muscle memory' being retained by certain individuals after zombification - further contribute to a highly engrossing and enjoyable narrative that should please most fans of the zombie/military subgenre.

News: Subscription Competition! Win Stuff!

2011-09-05T19:22:00.000+10:00

To celebrate our thirteen-month 'anniversary', NecroScope is holding a subscription drive, with one fabulous prize-pack to be won!

The drive will run from now until September 30, 12pm EST, with one lucky Shambler chosen at random, as our winner, by The Pointing Finger of Death. All Shamblers will be eligible to win, whether you are an existing subscriber or have signed up during the drive, and regardless of whether you live in Australia or overseas.

In other words, the only thing you have to do in order to be eligible to win is to sign up as, or continue being, a NecroScope Shambler (either here on the home blog or on Facebook - see the menu on the right hand side of this page).

'Too easy!' we hear you cry. And you're right. There is a catch. And that catch is, we require a minimum of 50 new Shamblers by the end of the drive; if we don't get 50 new Shamblers, no prize. Simple as that. Oh yeah - we're tough! What this means, of course, is that if you're already a NecroScope Shambler, you need to urge all of your zomfanatical friends and family to sign up to NecroScope in order to be in with a chance of winning that fabulous prize pack.

And what exactly does this fabulous prize pack comprise? We're so glad you asked...

* A beautiful hardback edition of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead Book #1 (collating issues #1-12 of the cult graphic novel series)

* Copies of the 'modern classic' zombie novels Day by Day Armageddon (J. L. Bourne), The Forest of Hands & Teeth (Carrie Ryan), and The Enemy (Charlie Higson).

* Copies of Zombies For Zombies: The Play & Werk Buk (David P. Murphy) and How to be a Zombie (Serena Valentino), for the biotically-challenged amongst you.

* A copy of Real Zombies: The Living Dead and Creatures of the Apocalypse (Brad Steiger).

* For the movie buffs, copies of Chanbara Beauty and Zombie Honeymoon.

A pretty damn good haul, we think you'll agree!

So: at the time of posting this item, the NecroScope blog boasts 48 Shamblers, with 69 subscribers on Facebook. Time to get busy, fellow zomfans! 'Cos we'd hate to have to keep all of those zombolicious prizes for ourselves...

News: Dymocks Southland Bestselling Zombie Titles for August 2011

2011-09-05T16:20:00.000+10:00

In the lead-up to Fathers' Day (Australia), zombie titles sold extremely well (what this says about the sort of people raising the next generation is possibly an issue best ignored). Thusly, this month we present our Top 15 bestselling titles, rather than the usual Top 10.

1. Chasers (Alone #1) - James Phelan
2. Dog Blood (Hater #2) - David Moody
3. Survivor (Alone #2) - James Phelan
4. The Dead (The Enemy #2) - Charlie Higson
5. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies - Austen / Graeme-Smith
6. Breathers - S. G. Browne
7. World War Z - Max Brooks
8. Cell - Stephen King
9. Deadline (Newsflesh #2) - Mira Grant
10. The Walking Dead Compendium - Robert Kirkman
11. The Reapers are the Angels - Alden Bell
12. Zombie Apocalypse! - ed. Stephen Jones
13. Rot & Ruin - Jonathan Maberry
14. Pet Sematary - Stephen King
15. The Zombie Autopsies - Steven C. Schlozman, MD

Recent zom-flavoured arrivals in-store include (takes a deep breath) The Zombie Handbook (Dr. Robert Curran), Gruesomely Grimm Zombie Tales (Grimm/Brown), Generation Zombie (ed. Stephanie Boluk & Wylie Lenz), Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse (ed. Christopher Wortzenspeigel), My Life as a White Trash Zombie (Diana Rowland), Alice in Zombieland (Carroll/Cook), Field Combat Manual for Zombie Slayers (Marc Sherman), Working Stiff (Rachel Caine), A Zombie's History of the United States (Dr. Worm Miller), Play Dead (Ryan Brown), Zombie, Ohio (Scott Kenemore), Zombie Pulp (Tim Curran), and Zombie Christmas Carol (Dickens/Thomas).

Nope. Still no sign of that zomfic bubble bursting...

Editorial: NecroScope Celebrates 13 Months Online!

2011-08-29T15:54:00.000+10:00

Thirteen months! Over 200 posts! It's been a busy unlife for the staff at NecroScope since we started blogging from the crypt, and the popularity of zombies in literature, film, TV, gaming, and pop culture in general shows absolutely no sign of waning anytime soon!

Your friendly NecroKeeper would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us over this past 'year'; our staff and guest contributors, those who sent us notifications and material for review, and especially our slowly-growing horde of loyal Shamblers, who dutifully devour every new offering - either here on on our FaceBook page - and offer feedback and encouragement. Keep it coming, zomfans - you're the reason we keep running this freakshow, and - with the next year looking to be an even more massive one for zombie culture - we look forward to giving you more of what you've come to expect from NecroScope.

Review: Dead Men Walking

2011-08-29T13:26:00.000+10:00

Tales of Zombies and the Living Dead (Fantasy and Horror Classics)

Various, 2011, Read Books

Dead Men Walking is one in a trilogy of zombie-themed anthologies from Read Books focusing exclusively upon more traditional zombies, particularly those of the Vodou or 'dead seeking vengeance' variety. Overall, this volume is a pretty decent showcase of zombie fiction, comprising such well-known classics as W. B. Seabrook's 'Dead Men Working in the Cane Fields' and G. W. Hutter's 'Salt Is Not For Slaves', along with lesser-known offerings such as 'The Hollow Man' by Thomas Burke and 'White Zombie' by Vivian Meik.

That said, Dead Men Walking may be more for the literary collector than the serious zombophile, even those whose tastes run more to the traditional, as not all of the pieces in this anthology have aged well since original publication during the early Twentieth Century. It's also worth noting that this volume is pretty pricey (AU$25) for such a slim publication (a mere 130-odd pages, comprising nine stories), and that the other two existing volumes in this series each include more than half of the stories already printed in Dead Men Walking. Odd, that.

Nonetheless, a sufficiently decent publication to warrant reading, although maybe one to pressure your local library for.

News: Get Zombified In A Comic!

2011-08-22T18:27:00.000+10:00

Talented zombie-portrait artist Brendan Halyday has the following exciting news for fans of zombies, and comics. And comics about zombies...

Have you ever wanted to appear in a comic book, as a zombie?? Now is your chance! I am illustrating an OzZombie story for the Horror comic anthology DECAY. The story is currently slated to appear in issue 10 (scheduled for release Nov/Dec this year). For $100 you can get yourself (or someone you love) drawn into a comic as a zombie that will get published and bought by loads of people. You will also receive a signed copy of the comic, after it is published. The original artwork for the comic will also be available for purchase at a price of $200 per A3 page of original art. Spaces are VERY limited so get in touch asap to take up this offer!

To get in contact with Brendan regarding this offer, as well as to view examples of his zombie-themed portraiture, you may visit his website at http://brendanhalyday.blogspot.com/ (where you'll even find a pic of your own NecroKeeper! See if you can pick him out...)

Music: Pray For Daylight

2011-08-15T00:02:00.000+10:00

Yet more music for the zompocalypse! Pray For Daylight is a folk album that explores the global zombie uprising, love, loss, and other grisly stuff. Chris Kiehne, the artist responsible, says of his work:

'I’ve always felt that the particular element of zombie films that elevates the sub-genre is that first moment of transfiguration, where a character ceases to be him/herself and commences being something other. It’s a really profound moment, insofar as it represents the simultaneous presence of polar opposites, which is otherwise a practical impossibility. You’re standing there, watching your wife rise up from a pile of dirt, and she is right then two opposing things: she is both her and not her, alive and dead. It’s a debilitating situation and demands really devastating moral decisions. It requires Helen to murder her daughter, Shaun to murder his mother, Francesco Dellamorte to murder his fated lover. I guess in a way it’s sort of an allegorical examination of a diseased relationship, too. But it’s mostly just about zombies.'

Pray For Daylight is currently available for free download, no strings attached, via mediafire.

Review: The Living End

2011-08-14T14:41:00.000+10:00

James Robert Smith, 2011, Severed Press

There are approximately 60 million domesticated canines currently living in the United States. When the walking dead rise, when society collapses...what happens to the dogs?

This is just one of the central issues uniquely addressed in The Living End that make this novel such a powerful and refreshing addition to the zompocalyptic genre. Simultaneously delving deeply into the role of religion in creating (or demolishing) societies, the feral dog thread - mostly presented from the POV of one of the canine pack-leaders - is utterly engrossing and original, not to mention genuinely frightening at times. There's an all-too-convincing nihilism to The Living End that puts one in mind of the excellent Eden novels, and Smith's take on the zompocalypse is right up there with Tony Monchinski's work.

Convincing characters, excellent dialogue and prose, and a tension-packed plot that keeps the reader guessing all the way...I'm not going to use the phrase 'instant classic', here, but I will say that this is a zombie novel that deserves to be read.

In conclusion, The Living End is one of those tales that proves, once again, that skilled authors can keep cooking up the 'same old' zompocalypse, provided they can season each new dish with unique and exciting condiments. James Robert Smith has managed to do just that.

The Living End is available to Australian readers via Severed Press, or through selected bookshops.

News: Run For Your Lives

2011-08-08T17:37:00.000+10:00

In fiction, movies and games, zombies provide major motivation for the lead characters to keep moving in order to survive. So maybe it was always just a matter of time before someone came up with the bright idea of introducing zombies to stamina-based sports.

Welcome to Run For Your Lives - a genuine sports event being held in Baltimore this October...

Protect your brain and run for your life. This is one race where your legs giving out are the least of your problems. Run For Your Lives is a first-of-its-kind event, one part 5K, one part obstacle course, one part escaping the clutches of zombies — and all parts awesome. Runners will navigate a series of 12 obstacles throughout a 5K course in an attempt to reach the finish line — all while avoiding zombies. At the end of this adventure race, you get to celebrate survival (or zombie transformation) with live entertainment and music, local celebrities, vendors, food, and of course, beer!

Get your running shoes on and start training up now, sports fans. You'll need to be fast by the looks of it...

(Reported by Jessica Post)

News: Dymocks Southland Bestselling Zombie Titles for July 2011

2011-07-31T19:16:00.000+10:00

1. Survivor (Alone #2) - James Phelan
2. Deadline (Newsflesh #2) - Mira Grant
3. The Walking Dead Compendium - Robert Kirkman
4. Feed (Newsflesh #1) - Mira Grant
5. World War Z - Max Brooks
6. The Zombie Combat Manual - Roger Ma
7. Zombie Apocalypse - ed. Stephen Jones
8. Rot & Ruin - Jonathan Maberry
9. Apocalypso (Xombies #3) - Walter Greatshell
10. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies - Austen / Graeme-Smith

It's worth noting, for the delectation of our Australian readers, that the highest-selling zombie title was penned by a local boy (James Phelan), while our second highest-selling general horror title for the month (the highest being Kiwi Paul Haines' The Last Days of Kali Yuga) was Brett McBean's collection, Tales of Sin and Madness, which just happens to contain several excellent zombie tales.

Review: Flesh Eaters

2011-07-31T18:08:00.000+10:00

Joe McKinney, 2011, Pinnacle Fiction
Out of the hurricane-flooded streets of Houston they emerge. Dead. Rotting. Hungry. With the city quarantined to halt the spread of the walking dead, Emergency Ops sergeant Eleanor Norton has her work cut out for her. But as things go from bad to worse, Eleanor must focus solely upon the people she loves; her daughter and husband. Because if she can't get them out of the quarantine zone, they'll all be dead meat...

Flesh Eaters is the third in a loose series of novels (beginning with Dead City and Apocalypse of the Dead), and is - in my opinion - the very best of the three thus far. Initially opting for chills and tension over action and gore, the tale opts for an approach - rare in zompocalyptic fiction nowadays - hearkening back to more traditional horror, with the protagonists utterly failing to even notice the zombie threat until a good third of the way into the book - and for a damn good reason. McKinney has his zombies emerge directly from the overwhelming aftermath of a natural disaster, where an already-decimated population is understandably more concerned with the utter lack of clean drinking water and medical assistance than with unsubstantiated rumours that some 'survivors' have been observed displaying cannibalistic behaviour....

As in previous offerings, McKinney backs up a gripping plot and great prose with highly engaging characterisation. Nobody writes cops quite as well as McKinney, and his use of a female officer (who also happens to be a wife and mother) as chief protagonist adds yet another fresh touch to this hugely engrossing and engaging novel.

Flesh Eaters - along with the preceding novels in this series - is an absolute must-read, and is guaranteed to be enjoyed equally by Romero purists and those who applaud fresh takes on the zompocalypse.

News: 'The Walking Dead', Season 2 Trailer

2011-07-27T06:59:00.000+10:00

Presented with no other comment than: October seems far too far away!

Review: The Complete History of 'The Return of the Living Dead'

2011-07-25T16:31:00.000+10:00

Christian Sellers & Gary Smart, 2010, Plexus Publishing

Welcome to the franchise that won't stay dead...

For fans of that other famous zombie movie series - the one that gave zombies their own catch-cry ('Braiiiiiiiins!') - The Complete History holds a wealth of fascinating information on the conception, creation and release of all five Return movies to date. The behind-the-scenes story is presented chiefly through interviews with the cast and crew, with each individual step of production reflected upon in turn; a brilliant way in which to format such a book, as it not only gives the reader a real sense of the dynamics involved in making these movies, but also provides an engrossing (and often painfully honest) insight into the emotional investment of those involved.

Whether you love or hate the Return of the Living Dead movies (and I'm personally not a big fan), The Complete History is certainly one of the best behind-the-scenes tie-ins - for any movie - I've ever read. Definitely worth adding to the collection.

Review: Xombies: Apocalypso

2011-07-25T15:38:00.000+10:00

Walter Greatshell, 2011, Ace Books

The Agent X plague infected women first, turning them into mindless killers intent on spreading their disease. Now, Lulu Pangloss and the Xombified crew of the USS No-Name are wandering the seas on a 'mission of mercy' - converting every mortal human they can find into an immortal Xombie...the better to survive the coming Apocalypse. But now a group of women immune to Agent X is being gathered, and - if they can be kept safe - the secret of their immunity may provide a cure. If Lulu doesn't find them first, that is...

Xombies: Apocalypso is the third in the acclaimed Xombies trilogy (beginning with Apocalypse Blues and Apocalypticon), and certainly rounds off the series with one hell of a bang. Frankly, there's no easy way to describe this tale: if Apocalypse Blues leaned mainly towards horror, and Apocalypticon towards post-Apocalyptic science-fiction, then Apocalypso is a macabre, gonzo blend of both, with a plot that hits the ground running from the very first page and doesn't slow down for a second. With rich lashings of deliciously bizarre humour, and obvious nods to such classics as John Carpenter's The Thing, 28 Days Later, and Greg Bear's Blood Music, Apocalypso is a novel to delight the discerning zomfan. And if you thought that Romero's Bub and Big Daddy represented the pinnacle of 'zombie evolution', well, you ain't seen nothing yet!

The entire Xombies trilogy is one that no true zomfan should overlook, being a collective classic of the genre. If you've not yet discovered Walter Greatshell, be sure to pick up this series right away. Or we'll send the Shamblers 'round...

Review: The Official Zombie Handbook Australia

2011-07-23T13:30:00.000+10:00

Dr L. Jon Keioskie & Sean T. Page, 2011, Severed Press

Since pre-history, the living dead have been with us, with documented outbreaks from Ancient Babylon and Rome right up to the present day. But what if we were to suffer a zombie outbreak in Australia today..?

In this extensively and perceptively rewritten edition of the original overseas publication, The Official Zombie Handbook Australia is a terrific read for anyone who really appreciates the 'survival guide' niche of the zomfic market. The book is presented in dossier-like format, with very basic text formatting and bold black-and-white illustrations, and is written in a relatively dry, serious matter, all of which wonderfully supports the conceit that this is, in fact, an official governmental publication. Additionally, the authors have certainly done their research into Australian political and military concerns, law, culture, topography, and so many other topics that might impact upon the survivors of a zombie uprising; as a result, there's a genuine wealth of fascinating (not to mention quite alarming) information within, that may well have Australian readers reassessing their current survival plans.

The Official Zombie Handbook Australia is a must-have for any zomfan, and undoubtedly the very best zombie survival guide yet produced for an Australian readership. Available directly from Severed Press, or from selected Australian bookshops.

News: 'Remains' Comes To TV

2011-07-23T12:39:00.000+10:00

Well, it was only a matter of time before the success of AMC's The Walking Dead spawned further zombie-related TV shows. The US-based Chiller TV is set to broadcast an adaptation of the Steve Niles' graphic novel Remains, which sees the residents of a small town facing off against a horde of 'fast' talking zombies. No pre-buzz on this one yet, although the trailer certainly emphasises the action element of the show.

(via Blastr)

Music: LMFAO

2011-07-12T20:07:00.000+10:00

We at NecroScope enjoy a good zombie-movie-pastiche-video-clip as much as the next person (possibly influenced by the NecroKeeper's own past life as a club DJ), and the clip below - for Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO - must surely be counted as a worthy addition to the genre. If you needed further proof that zombies are now an inescapable element of modern pop culture, here it is. Enjoy!

Review: Empire

2011-07-11T16:28:00.000+10:00

David Dunwoody, 2008, Permuted Press (Gallery Books ed. 2010)

Humanity stands on the edge of extinction, as the crippled US government and military begin to give up the century-long fight against the undead plague. But even as they do, the zombie hordes - born of an unholy mix of supernatural energy and man-made virus - suddenly find themselves up against an enemy whose touch they can no longer defy: Death himself. The Grim Reaper....

It's taken me a few years to get around to reading this reputed classic of the zomfic genre...and I'm delighted to find that reputation extremely well-deserved. The plot - which slowly coalesces through a series of at-first seemingly unconnected vignettes - is atmospheric and totally engrossing (not to mention refreshingly unique, offering a dark science-fantasy spin on the zompocalypse), with instantly empathic characters, great dialogue and prose, and an emotive and satisfying conclusion.

Empire is absolutely a novel for any zomfan who appreciates strong literary fiction and creativity within the genre. A truly great read.

Review: Best New Zombie Tales Vol.2

2011-07-10T13:31:00.000+10:00

Ed. James Roy Daley, 2010, Books of the Dead

As with its predecessor, Best New Zombie Tales Vol 1, Volume two of this anthology series collects numerous excellent zombie tales (19 in all), and certainly lives up to its claim of 'Best' (although, once again, 'new' seems inaccurate, given the original publication dates of some the stories. Maybe I'm just being picky, though).

Particular highlights, for me, included Rio Youers' 'Bury Me Not', an effectively creepy piece in the vein of Ramsey Campbell; Steven A. Roman's 'Laundry Day', which puts a nice twist on the 'folks are the worst of all monsters' trope; Narrelle M. Harris' 'The Truth About Brains', a sly piece of dark humour that brings magic (and consequences!) back to the genre; Nate Kenyon's 'Gravedigger', which isn't quite the anti-drugs tale it seems to be; Cody Goodfellow's 'We Will Rebuild', which reminds us that the difference between Right and Wrong is always a matter of perspective; and Mort Castle's 'The Old Man and the Dead', which is quite possibly the most beautifully literary piece of zomfic I've read since Tony Burgess' Pontypool Changes Everything.

Best New Zombie Tales Vol.2 is a worthy addition to any zomfic collection, with the ongoing BNZT series of anthologies definitely one to keep track of. A great read.

News: Dymocks Southland Bestselling Zombie Titles for June 2011

2011-07-02T16:48:00.000+10:00

After the boom of May's International Zombie Awareness Month promo, sales of zomfic dipped somewhat in June. Nonetheless, zombie-related titles continued to perform well, despite competing with various new-release paranormal titles (such as Lauren Kate's Passion).

1. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (Austen / Graeme-Smith)
2. Feed (Mira Grant)
3. Deadline (Mira Grant)
4. The Dead-Tossed Waves
5. Marvel Zombies 5
6. The Zombie Survival Guide (Max Brooks)
7. Apocalypse of the Dead (Joe McKinney)
8. Flesh Eaters (Joe McKinney)
9. Chasers (James Phelan)
10. Breathers (S. G. Browne)

New arrivals in store this month include Deadline (Mira Grant) and Survivor (James Phelan).

Review: Deadline (Newsflesh #2)

2011-06-29T17:08:00.000+10:00

Mira Grant, 2011, Orbit

(Warning: the following review contains spoilers for the first book in the Newsflesh Trilogy, Feed.)

Shaun Mason is a man without a mission. Not even running the news organisation he built with his sister has the same urgency it used to. Playing with dead things just doesn't seem as fun when you've lost as much as he has. But when a researcher from the CDC fakes her own death and appears on Shaun's doorstep with a horde of ravenous zombies in tow, Shaun finds a new purpose in life; because it seems that, while the man who murdered Shaun's sister is dead, the conspiracy behind that act is far from buried...

Deadline is, of course, the highly-anticipated sequel to the spectacular Feed - and I'm truly overjoyed to report that Mira Grant has delivered a novel every bit as brilliant, engrossing, and downright terrifying as its predecessor. Shaun Mason provides a fascinating replacement as narrator for the ill-fated Georgia, being a deeply damaged, self-destructive and, frankly, mentally ill character (holding animated conversations with his dead sister, among other things). The plot gallops along at breakneck speed, through numerous twists and turns, to deliver a twist that - while perhaps not as shocking as that which concluded Feed - is nonetheless superbly powerful, and will whet the appetite of any reader for the final installment of this series.

Perhaps the most wonderful thing about Deadline is how Grant, as in the first book, maintains an atmosphere of 'mundane dread' - the feeling that the terrors of the tale are part of everyday existence for her characters - while keeping actual zombie appearances to a minimum; her perfectly-extrapolated future society is one in which everything the characters do is in some way regulated by the constant threat of death and/or zombification. It's emotionally exhausting to read at times, yet absolutely riveting, and one of the most rewarding pieces of zomfic to hit the shelves since...well, Feed.

I'm not going to ask you to go out and buy a copy of Deadline. I'm telling you. Do it, and do it now. And pick up a copy of Feed also, if by some miracle you've not done so already. This is not negotiable.

And if you don't...well. I know where you live. And I'm real hungry...

Review: Zombiesque

2011-06-29T16:01:00.000+10:00

Ed. Stephen L. Antczak, James C. Bassett & Martin H. Greeberg, 2011, DAW Books

DAW have always done a fine job of tapping into emerging and resurgent trends in speculative fiction with their anthologies, as evidenced by recent collections of space opera, steampunk and Lovecraftian short fiction. Zombiesque is certainly no exception, being an anthology not merely of zomfic, but of tales told specifically from the zombies' point-of-view, which is just now becoming a popular trope within the subgenre.

The sixteen original tales comprising Zombiesque are all, without exception, highly entertaining, and run the full range of cross-genres from humour, to horror, to romance, drama, and everything in between. Of particular note, for me, were Nancy Collins' 'At First Only Darkness', which really does take the reader inside the head of a creature driven only by hunger; Tim Waggoner's 'Do No Harm', which uniquely posits the sort of society zombies might evolve in the relative absence of humanity; Richard Lee Byers' 'Zombie Camp', in which holidaymakers actually pay to briefly experience 'life' as zombies; Jim C. Hines' 'In the Line of Duty', in which intelligent zombies are successfully (kinda) integrated into the field of Special Ops; Del Stone Jr's 'Zero', which draws emotive parallels between zombies and the homeless; S. Boyd Taylor's 'A Distant Sound of Hammers', which hideously depicts the ultimate fate of those who survive the inevitable zombie uprising; and Laszlo Xalieri's 'The Confession', a terrifyingly creepy and gruesome piece of fiction that will have you checking the locks tonight...

In short, Zombiesque is a rather brilliant little anthology showcasing some brilliant authors, some of whom will be familiar to fans of the genre, others not. This is definitely a publication to be read and cherished by zomfans of all stripes, and is available to Australian readers through Penguin Australia.

Review: Best New Zombie Tales Vol. 1

2011-06-17T19:34:00.000+10:00

Ed. James Roy Daley, 2010, Books of the Dead

Best New Zombie Tales is a reprint anthology comprising 19 short stories and one comic strip, and - I'm glad to report - very much lives up to its claim of including the very best in zombie fiction, although 'new' is perhaps inaccurate, as the publication dates of the tales herein go back as far as 2002. Regardless, there are some absolute gems to be found here, few of which appear to have been previously anthologised, Particular highlights, for me, include Jeff Strand's 'Immunity', Robert Swartwood's 'In the Land of the Blind', Gary McMahon's 'Nowhere People', 'Darkness Comprehended', by Harry Shannon & Gord Rollo, and Kim Paffenroth's 'On the Usefulness of Old Books' - all of which present fresh takes on tropes familiar to fans of zomfic - but really, there isn't a dud anywhere in this collection.

In short, Best New Zombie Tales is an absolute 'must own' for the zomfic aficionado. A great read.

Review: Survivor (Alone #2)

2011-06-13T19:10:00.001+10:00

James Phelan, 2011, Hachette Australia

Twelve days after the missiles fell, pursued by predatory Chasers, menaced by mysterious military personnel, Jesse finds unexpected friendship in three other survivors: Felicity, a girl he meets via home video; Rachel, more concerned with the animals in her care than with people; and Caleb - angry, disillusioned, and maybe even dangerous. But friendship comes at a price in a world where nothing can be relied upon. Will Jesse's new mates really stick by him if he decides to flee New York City...or is he destined always to be alone?

Survivor is, of course, the sequel to the highly-successful YA infected-zombie tale Chasers, and like its predecessor, it's an absolute cracker. With the appearance of other survivors comes a raising of the stakes, not least in the face of an incursion by local military forces that may not have the interests of our protagonists at heart. Phelan successfully alternates moments of beautifully-crafted creepiness with those of adrenalin-pumping action and violence, and his characters are all sufficiently empathic to drag the reader - unwillingly, perhaps - along for the ride.

While the Chasers/zombies play second-fiddle to other hazards in Survivor, this is nonetheless a zompocalyptic tale to stand with the best of them. The proof of the pudding, for me, is that - again, like its predecessor - Survivors will be included in the Australian Government's Get Reading! - 50 Books You Can't Put Down campaign for the coming year.

In short, Survivors is a brilliant read that will leave you hungry for the third installment of the Alone trilogy, due out later this year.

Review: Tooth and Nail

2011-06-10T20:07:00.000+10:00

Craig DiLouie, 2010, Schmidt Haus Books
"I mean, is this, like, supposed to be the end of the world?"
"The Army has given me no such order."

As a new plague turns millions of Americans into violent, flesh-eating maniacs, Lieutenant Todd Bowman must guide a unit of hardened veterans across New York City in order to secure a research facility that may - may - hold a cure. But when the army is forced to turn their weapons against the very people they have sworn to protect, even Bowman begins to ask the question: is anything truly worth this?

Let me say, right from the outset, that there are few pieces of zomfic that have ever truly moved me as effectively as Craig DiLouie's Tooth and Nail, and this may be because Tooth and Nail - while undoubtedly a zombie novel - is also one of the most emotive, character-driven, realistic and nihilistic war novels I've ever had the privilege to read. DiLouie combines his obvious insider knowledge of military procedure and terminology seamlessly with breathtaking action, emotive character studies, and a plot that will keep the reader on the edge of their seat from beginning to end. The horrors of having to 'put down' the very people one is entrusted to protect - in this case, ordinary American citizens - is examined more deeply and movingly than in any previous movie or publication I can name, and the end result is a stunning exploration of the hell that is war, and one that - in my opinion - should be read by everyone.

I'm hereby making the call: Craig DiLouie is an author with an incredible future ahead of him, and one whose publications are now and forever on my 'must read' list. If you hunger for the absolute best in zomfic - or any fiction, for that matter - you must track down this book - along with DiLouie's subsequent publication, The Infection - and read it now. Brilliant and absolutely unforgettable.

Review: Hungry For Your Love

2011-06-06T17:52:00.000+10:00

Ed. Lori Perkins, 2010, St. Martin's Griffin

Even as someone who has been quite vocal in championing la difference in zomfic, as a means of keeping the genre continually fresh and entertaining, I've never been totally comfortable with the whole zombie/romance crossover concept. It always seemed to me that, once you move past the basic idea of a human/human romance perhaps set against the backdrop of a zompocalypse (as in Amelia Beamer's The Loving Dead), then you're potentially entering either fluffy-bunny or major 'ick!' territory, neither of which floats my boat, particularly.

That said, Lori Perkins' excellent anthology, Hungry For Your Love, has pretty-much forced me to change my thinking on this point. Comprising twenty-one zombie-related tales that range all the way across the romantic spectrum - from pure Mills & Boon stuff to, as Perkins herself puts it, 'smut' - there is literally something here for everyone. The zombies, also, run the gamut, from humorous to genuinely horrifying, voodoo to Romero-esque. Such is the variety offered - almost every individual story claiming its own niche somewhere along the available spectrum - that it's pointless for me to pick out any favourites; suffice to say, this is one of the best zombie 'crossover' titles I've come across in a while, and well worth reading.

News: Dymocks Southland Bestselling Dark Fiction Titles for May 2011

2011-06-04T16:11:00.001+10:00

May being International Zombie Awareness Month, sales of zombie-related titles went through the roof. For this reason, our usual Top 10 list has been extended to Top 20.

1. Breathers (S. G. Browne)
2. Feed (Mira Grant)
3. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (Austen/Graeme-Smith)
4. P&P&Z: Dreadfully Ever After (Steve Hockensmith)
5. Warm Bodies (Isaac Marion)
6. Alone #1: Chasers (James Phelan)
7. Monster Nation (David Wellington)
8. Zombie Apocalypse! (ed. Stephen Jones)
9. P&P&Z: Dawn of the Dreadfuls (Steve Hockensmith)
10. Marvel Zombies 5
11. The Zombie Combat Manual (Roger Ma)
12. The Walking Dead Compendium (Robert Kirkman)
13. Patient Zero (Jonathan Maberry)
14. The Walking Dead Book #1 (Robert Kirkman)
15. Rot & Ruin (Jonathan Maberry)
16. Xombies: Apocalypso (Walter Greatshell)
17. Flesh Eaters (Joe McKinney)
18. Zombiesque (ed. Greenberg/Antczak/Bassett)
19. Eden (Tony Monchinski)
20. The Zombie Survival Guide (Max Brooks)

New titles arriving in-store this month include Xombies: Apocalypso (Walter Greatshell), The Reapers Are the Angels (Alden Bell), and The Zombie Autopsies (Steve Schlozman).

Review: The Reapers are the Angels

2011-05-21T18:44:00.000+10:00

Alden Bell, 2010, Pan Macmillan Australia

Older than her years and completely alone, Temple is trying to live one day at a time in a post-apocalyptic world, where the undead roam endlessly, and the remnants of mankind seem, at times, to retain little humanity themselves. When she comes across the helpless Maury, she sets out to return him to his family in an attempt to redeem herself for some of the terrible things she's done. Meanwhile, in a world gone mad, one vengeful man has decided that the one thing that makes sense is to kill Temple...

The Reapers are the Angels is one of the most nihilistic, emotionally draining, and marvellously satisfying zombie novels of recent times. Held together by the simple, central plot of redemption and revenge, the details of Temple's tale comprise a series of seemingly disconnected vignettes describing her encounters with various people, some good, some bad, as she travels cross-country in search of Maury's kin. Bell's matter-of-fact prose and quote-less dialogue contributes strongly to a beautifully-maintained sense of a day-by-day Armageddon, a bleak joyless grind stretching out forever before our protagonists. While minor niggles include such things details as derelict suburban stores still having edible supplies on the shelves after a quarter-century, the formidable strengths of this novel absolutely make up for any such weaknesses.

Gripping, tragic, and one of the most brutally uncompromising zombie tales since Mira Grant's Feed, The Reapers are the Angels is a novel that will stay with the reader long after the final page is turned, and should be considered an instant classic of the genre.

Review: Chanbara Beauty

2011-05-21T17:17:00.000+10:00

Dir. Yohei Fukuda, 2008, Madman Entertainment

Bikini-clad samurai chick, Aya, roams a chaotic and desolate future world where the streets are filled with zombies. In search of her sister, she meets a mysterious gun-toting leather outlaw named Reiko. Teaming up, they take on the marauding hordes of zombies - and their evil creator - in an all-out war.

Based upon the cult electronic game Onechanbara, Chanbara Beauty is a typically Asian piece of cinematic silliness: hot chicks in fantasy outfits, over-the-top violence and bloodshed, superhuman stunts, and plenty of mid-action flashbacks substituting for actual plot or character development. That last comment isn't to suggest that Chanbara Beauty isn't an enjoyable movie - it's actually quite entertaining, and (curse my sexist soul) Eri Otoguro, playing Aya, is very easy on the eye - but viewers are advised to disengage their brains a little in order to get the most out of the experience. While there's relatively little in the way of zombie content overall, the occasional frenetic samurai-chick-against-the-horde action scenes do compensate somewhat. Worth watching on your next 'B-grade movies with friends, pizza and beer' night.

News: Jason Fischer Debut Collection Due

2011-05-16T18:28:00.000+10:00

As our regular readers would be aware, we at NecroScope are huge fans of Jason Fischer, one of Australia's premiere zombie authors; so the following press release from Ticonderoga Publications is a source of great excitement to us...
Press Release
Ticonderoga Publications is proud to announce the forthcoming publication of a collection of stories by the writer of the future Jason Fischer.

Adelaide-based Fischer is a Clarion South graduate and recent winner of the Writers of the Future competition.

The collection is titled Everything is a Graveyard, and is scheduled for publication in late 2013. The exact contents are still to be finalised.

The collection will revolve around Fischer’s critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic and zombie-themed work. Everything is a Graveyard will also include new stories original to the collection.

“Jason Fischer taps into the darker sides of human nature like few other writers,” Ticonderoga Editor Russell B. Farr said. “His work blends raw emotion with an honest sense of mortality.”

The collection is scheduled for publication in October 2013. The collection will be available in limited edition hardcover, ebook and trade editions.
You can be sure that NecroScope will be keeping you up to date with the publication of this collection, so stay tuned!

Review: Zombies: The Recent Dead

2011-05-16T14:46:00.000+10:00

Ed. Paula Guran, 2010, Prime Books

Zombies: The Recent Dead is a reprint anthology comprising twenty-three 'new millennial' zombie stories by many current heavyweights of the zombie and horror genres. While a number of the tales may now be overly-familiar to zombie obsessives like myself, due to their inclusion in numerous recent anthologies, editor Guran has done a wonderful job of casting the net wide and including a range of lesser-known, though still quite excellent pieces of short fiction. From modern classics such as Neil Gaiman's 'Bitter Grounds', Scott Edelman's 'The Last Supper' and David J. Schow's 'Obsequy', to rarer gems such as Tim Lebbon's 'Naming of Parts', Alice Sola Kim's 'Beautiful White Bodies', and Gary McMahon's 'Dead to the World', there's truly something here for every reader.

Zombies: The Recent Dead is a must-read for zomfans, and a terrific addition to the genre.

Review: Dead Set: A Zombie Anthology

2011-05-15T19:45:00.000+10:00

Ed. Michelle McCrary & Joe McKinney, 2010, 23 House Publishing

We were once a race seven billion strong. But today, our world has become a wasteland overrun by the living dead. Rivers of zombies flood the streets. They never rest. They never relent. Their hunger for the living is insatiable. And with every careless mistake we make, their numbers swell.

Dead Set comprises twenty original tales of the zompocalypse, the running order of which loosely charts the event from origin to end. As with many zombie anthologies currently available (apart from a few notable exceptions) the quality of the individual tales is a little mixed. Specifically, a number of offerings felt more like vignettes from some larger work than stories in their own right, lacking the punch of a strong central plot or conclusion; not terrible, by any means, but somewhat unsatisfying.

That said, there were certainly some gems also: 'Biting the Hand that Feeds You' by Calie Voorhis vividly takes the reader into the mind of a 'turning' zombie, as does David Dunwoody's 'Ruminations from the Tri-Omega House'; Joe McKinney's own offering, 'Survivors', deals effectively with the theme of survivors' guilt; 'Recovery' by Boyd E. Harris uncomfortably poses the question of whether the rehabilitation of zombies is necessarily of benefit to anyone; Nate Southard's 'In the Middle of Poplar Street' delivers an original take on the 'man's inhumanity to man' theme; 'Inside Where It's Warm' by Lee Thomas is another emotive tale from (ultimately) the zombie's POV; and Mark Onspaugh's 'Good Neighbour Sam' reminds us that there's still a place for human...oddities...in a world overrun by the living dead.

Overall, Dead Set is an extremely worthwhile anthology, and a fine addition to the genre. Definitely one to add to the home library.

Music: Feral Familiar

2011-05-15T14:43:00.000+10:00

With International Zombie Awareness Month well underway, Ace Elliott has alerted us to the following recent musical celebration of the zombie in popular culture. The clip for Enough Blood to Keep 'Em Coming comes courtesy of Andrew Jackson's Feral Familiar. Enjoy!

News: The Australian Speculative Fiction Blog Carnival May 2011

2011-05-15T11:36:00.002+10:00

NecroScope is extremely proud to present this month's Australian Speculative Fiction Blog Carnival, an ongoing initiative of the Australian Science Fiction Writers' Association. Zombie-related news from the land down-under was relatively thin this past month, but there were plenty of other developments across the local specfic community...

A great article on the Australian Voice in Fiction

Fangoria Magazine reports on Sydney's 'Night of Horror'.

The ABC report on the death of actor Elisabeth Sladen, who was best-known for playing fan-favourite Doctor Who companion, Sarah-Jane Smith:

...with related postings by various Australian specfic authors who grew up watching Sladen on TV:

Alan Baxter
Jon Blum
Lee Battersby
Chuck McKenzie

Christopher Green's fantastic online serialised zombie novel, Arizona Afterwards just keeps getting better and better. And more and more disturbing...

And still on zombie-related news, Scott Wilson reported that the April issue of The Fringe Magazine is now out, featuring stories by MJ Wesolowski, Darrin Albert, Michael Casey, Kevin Bennett, and Chris Edwards, plus interviews with authors, Madeline Roux and Jessica Shirvington.

And I'd be remiss not to mention the Dymocks Southland Zombie Jamboree, being held on May 28th. Authors Bob Franklin, Kirstyn McDermott and James Phelan will be signing books, while an in-store Zombie Shuffle will be held from 1-2pm, with a prize pack for best-dressed zombie.

Gillian Pollack on Annoying Categorisations in Speculative Fiction.

Tansy Rayner Roberts reports on, well...The Festival of Tansy!

A round-up of Swancon 36 reports by Fablecroft Publishing.

And in sad news for the local specfic publishing community, a veritable flurry of closures...

The closure of Eneit Press was reported back in March. Close upon the heels of this announcement came the following rally-cry from author Mary Victoria, urging folks to support the small-press publisher however they can. Old news, but worth repeating.

This month, Brimstone Press - the publisher behind NecroScope's parent site, HorrorScope - also closed their doors. This report from author Martin Livings. Sadly, the closure has also necessitated the closure of the HorrorScope site, which provided an invaluable resource for fans of dark fiction over the past five years.

And finally, Terra Incognita Speculative Fiction posted its final podcast today. Visit the site to download or stream any of the 30 excellent podcasts available.

In happier news, Talie Helene announced the line-up for the forthcoming The Year's Best Australian Fantasy & Horror, due soon from Ticonderoga Publications.

And the winners of the 2010 Australian Shadows Awards were announced.

As were the winners of this year's Ditmar Awards.

Plus the finalists in this year's Aurealis Awards, the winners of which will be announced on May 21st.

The Emerging Writers’ Festival in Melbourne will be presenting Get Into Genre: SpecFic on May 31st. It’s an opportunity to hear from our speculative fiction writers and industry professionals.

Review: Undead or Alive

2011-05-09T12:04:00.000+10:00

2008, Dir. Glasgow Phillips

In the wake of the highly successful (and lucrative) Shaun of the Dead, it appears that the 'zombedy' has become a subgenre in its own right. And, as is so often the case, the majority of available product is pretty dreadful - and not in a good, horror-related way.

Having said that, this straight-to-DVD movie is a rarity, in that it's actually pretty damned good, mixing elements of Romero zombie flicks with those of traditional westerns and absurdist comedy.

As the movie begins, we're informed via captions that the Native-American guerrilla leader Geronimo, prior to his death at the hands of the US cavalry, just happened to lay down a curse upon a certain area of the New Frontier - a curse that would cause the afflicted to hunger after the flesh of their fellows. Pretty grim stuff. Then the captions go on to inform us that the bit where we have to read these captions is nearly over, and the tone of the movie is irrevocably set. Two lads on the lam team up with a Native-American stunna as they attempt to escape a posse of local lawmen while simultaneously chasing down the regiment responsible for the death of Geronimo, who happens to be the uncle of the stunna. Still with me? Now throw some zombies into the mix, and stand back.

The premise doesn't sound especially promising, but there's a lot here to like: the humour, while fairly broad, is surprisingly low-key for a US production, and - brace yourselves - is actually quite funny. There's also fair attention paid to historical accuracy (often in the smallest of details), some decent acting, dialogue and characterisation, plenty of blood for the gorehounds, and even some genuine moments of creepy tension and a couple of scares. And - just in case you needed more - there's some extremely nice cinematography (including a couple of those brilliant sunset shots that are par the course for any decent western), plus eye-candy in the form of James Denton (from Desperate Housewives) for the ladies and Navi Rawal for the lads.

Sure, there are a couple of plot holes you could ride a lynchin' party through, and - as happens in even the best Romero flicks - the zombies seem to alter the 'rules' of their existence to facilitate the needs of the plot/action. But, all in all, this is a really good, funny, gory, enjoyably silly zombedy.

A word of warning, though: as I've suggested, this movie defies quite a few expectations, and this carries right on through to the very end of the movie. I'll say no more. You'll see what I mean. Enjoy!

(Originally posted to HorrorScope, 2008)

Review: Fido

2011-05-09T11:59:00.000+10:00

2008, Dir. Andrew Currie, Starring Carrie Anne-Moss, Billy Connolly, Dylan Baker

I’ve mentioned before how, in the wake of Shaun of the Dead, the ‘ZomCom’ seems to have become a subgenre in its own right. On my last visit to the DVD rental store, I found around half-a-dozen on the shelves, all with ‘funnier than Shaun of the Dead’ emblazoned on their covers. In the case of Fido, the description was ‘Shaun of the Dead meets Pleasantville’, which didn’t inspire confidence. Comparisons are odious, particularly in hindsight when the pitch fails to live up to the reality, and I have to say that – having watched recently some particularly bad ‘funnier than Shaun’ ZomComs – I was tempted to give Fido an extremely wide berth.

Well, thank God for cheap Thursday rentals. Because Fido is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

I’ll say it again.

This is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, bar none.

I’d be quite happy to leave it at that, and allow the reader to discover the delights of Fido all by themselves. But on my HorrorScope salary (all the brains I can eat), I’m expected to provide a little more content, so here goes:

In Fido, the zombie uprising has come and gone. Circa 1939 (by my reckoning), the dead rose, were fought and contained, and now (in the late 1950’s) have become a social commodity, fitted with electronic collars that subdue their hunger for human flesh, allowing them to be utilized as a cheap, reliable workforce.

America is still the America of the 50’s that we’ve always known and loved – and yet, it’s not quite the 50’s of Leave it to Beaver and Pleasantville. It’s far more realistic than that, with all of the complications and issues of everyday life. Sure, it’s an era of hats, martinis, Hawaiian shirts and educational films. Less pleasantly, though, it’s also an era of sexism, McCarthyism, governmental conspiracies and emotional constipation. Furthermore, extrapolating social developments following the zombie war, it’s an era in which suburbs are fenced in to keep ‘wild’ zombies out, criminals are banished to the unprotected zones, and old people are secured in prisons. Just in case. Funeral plans (complete with ‘head coffin’) are a mark of social status, and primary school children are taught in class how to shoot zombies through the head (although they’re not allowed to actually own a gun themselves until they turn twelve).

It’s this sort of attention to the details of what is, after all, an ‘alternate history’, that underpin the success of this film. The alternate facets aren’t pushed in our faces – they’re simply there, presented as normal aspects of existence. This also successfully sets up the horror element of the film: the sense of horror in most zombie flicks is generated through the introduction of the unthinkable into the midst of ordinary everyday life. In Fido, the unthinkable has become a part of everyday life, and is all the more unsettling for it. Here, the audience is credited with intelligence, and the pay-off is magnificent.

The plot itself is nothing new – it’s essentially the tale of A Boy And His Dog, with Lassie homages aplenty (right down to the obligatory ‘Go get help, boy!’). Average American Timmy Robinson and his Mom and Dad take on a zombie (Connolly, in an unusually ‘straight’ role) to assist with household chores, and a special bond develops between boy and corpse. Bad things happen, and Timmy embarks upon a quest to save his new best friend. However, what could have been a very ordinary concept is raised well above standard fare by some truly brilliant dialogue, and wonderful performances from all the leads. Nothing is overplayed here. The people populating this reality are real people. There are no good guys or bad guys (perhaps excepting the nasty old bitch who lives across the road). Dad is distant and emotionally-retarded, yet thinks of himself as a good father (on being told that his wife is pregnant, his immediate response is: “On my salary, I don’t think I can afford another funeral”). Mom is a shallow social climber who nonetheless demonstrates her commitment to her family’s best interests. Timmy is a sensitive lad with a great deal of sympathy for zombies, yet, like any ten-year-old, is capable of unthinking acts of selfishness and bigotry. Again, none of this is pushed in our faces – it all comes out through dialogue and body language. And, unusually, very little of the comedy – either situational or dialogue-driven – is obviously played for laughs, which gives the film a rich black quality.

Yes, there are a number of messages presented here – it wouldn’t be a 50’s-style film without them – but, as so often happens in real life, we’re mostly left to figure them out ourselves. The characters don’t experience any sudden epiphanies, and the various less-pleasant issues raised are more often simply acknowledged rather than actually dealt with. As Dad advises Timmy in one wince-inducing father/son chat, “Feeling’s not important. Being alive is what counts”.

If you love zombies, romantic comedies or just really good pithy dialogue, you must see Fido. For once, here’s a ZomCom that is at least as good as Shaun of the Dead. Just different.

(Originally posted to HorrorScope, 2008)

Review: Resident Evil: Extinction

2011-05-09T11:53:00.000+10:00

2007, starring Milla Jovovich & Oded Fehr

Following on from the events of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the T-virus has spread worldwide, drying up the lakes, rivers, and continents while infecting the majority of the population. After five years, almost every living creature has become a zombie, and the world itself is on the verge of extinction. Alice, the Umbrella Corporation's greatest bio organic weapon, is now alone in the desert wastelands of the US after learning that the corporation has the ability to track her location via satellite. She has super-human strength and psychic abilities gained from her imprisonment by Umbrella, and the corporation wants her back…at any cost.

I never dreamed, after the major disappointment that was Resident Evil: Apocalypse, that I would actually enjoy Resident Evil: Extinction. And my dream came true. I didn’t.

Stereotypical characters in stereotypical locations find themselves in stereotypical situations, which they deal with in stereotypical ways whilst spouting stereotypical dialogue. There is absolutely no grounding in reality (how the hell can a virus dry up lakes and rivers?), and the audience are credited with not one iota of intelligence (although perhaps deservedly, as this film did pretty damn well at the Box Office). Boring, derivative crud. Oh, and Mr Romero? If you’re reading this, you might be interested to know that much of the plot involves military and scientific forces skulking in underground installations, experimenting with the possible domestication of zombies –

In a nutshell (if you haven’t guessed already) don’t bother. It’s not even ‘so bad it’s good’ – RE:E is just bad, full stop.

(Originally posted to HorrorScope, 2008)

Review: Plane Dead

2011-05-09T11:48:00.000+10:00

2007, Dir. Scott Thomas

Okay, here’s the plot: shady scientist-type experimenting with a virus that can resurrect dead tissue smuggles the infected wife of one of his colleagues onto a fully-booked passenger jet, narrowly evading The Authorities who have gotten wind of his unethical scheme. That done, the scientist-type relaxes, because of course – in the best of horror-movie traditions - nothing can possibly go wrong…

Here’s the thing: I do take my zombies fairly seriously, but I don’t take them too seriously, if you know what I mean. Let’s face it, zombie flicks – by their very nature – don’t often stand up to serious scrutiny. The concept of dead folk running around (okay, okay – shambling around) eating the living doesn’t make a lick of sense, and the very best zombie flicks really only get away with the vast hole in logic either by approaching their monsters from a metaphorical/satirical angle (as in Romero’s films), or by showcasing a level of production and scriptwriting that so captures the viewer that suspension of disbelief is achieved (as in Shaun of the Dead).

In other words, good story, good script, good characters, and a bit of realistic gore doesn’t go astray.

Two out of four is not a particularly good result. The story is promising, in a cheesy kind of way, and the production values aren’t bad either. But the script is, quite frankly, dreadful. And the characters -

Oh, the characters!

Here’s a tip to aspiring horror film makers: if you want to engage the interest of the viewer, if you want to genuinely scare them, you must, must, MUST introduce characters that the audience can actually relate to. You know – ordinary folks, with the range of dreams and aspirations we all share. Further, there should be at least a couple of characters that the audience will actually like – otherwise, who gives a damn whether they get eaten or not? And there goes your suspenseful mood…

Maybe it’s just me, but I couldn’t relate to a single one of the characters (read ‘zombie fodder’) on that plane. From the sports star heading for marital breakup, to the two vacuous partner-swapping couples, to the hero and heroine of the piece (their roles made obvious by the fact they are notably less repellant than their fellow passengers, and share an unspoken attraction), not one skerrick of anything other than 2D clichéd personality or motivation was offered to make these folks seem even vaguely real.

Result? Not a great film. Visually, pretty damn entertaining, though – the scene where the nun gets her legs chewed off was a gem, and possibly tells you more about my tastes than you’d prefer to know. In short, I’d recommend it to anyone, as long as they watch it with the Mute control on.

(Originally posted on HorrorScope, 2008)

Review: The Zombie Diaries

2011-05-09T11:43:00.000+10:00

Dir. Michael Bartlett & Kevin Gates, Accent Film Entertainment, 2006

The Zombie Diaries is an independent, low-budget UK movie (just released in Australia on DVD), dealing with the variety of zombie apocalypse beloved by George Romero and his ilk. In this instance, it’s all due to a Bird-Flu-like pandemic that sweeps Asia before hitting England, and the movie is constructed from ‘found footage’ shot on video by three separate groups of people struggling to survive the crisis.

On the one hand, this is a pretty good little film. Even without taking into consideration the budgetary limitations, it’s mostly well-shot, and as tightly-plotted as a ‘constructed’ film can possibly be. The atmosphere is extremely creepy, with a nice sense of growing tension from beginning to end. The acting, too, is reasonably good, aided by some (mostly) natural-sounding dialogue and interesting characters.

On the other hand, having picked out this movie solely because it was an apocalyptic zombie flick (a subgenre I’m unapologetically obsessed by), I was rather disappointed to find that it wasn’t really about zombies at all. Sure, there are zombies in the movie, but the movie isn’t about the zombies themselves; rather, it’s about the behaviours people adopt when faced with extreme situations. Of course, previous zombie movies – such as Dawn of the Dead, etc - deal with similar issues; however, in such movies it's the unique nature of the zombies themselves that drives the action and character development (ie – how would you cope having to destroy a zombie that used to be a family member?), whereas in The Zombie Diaries the undead threat could be interchanged with any other extreme situation (war, disease, natural disaster, etc) to achieve the same dramatic effect. Here, the zombies fade into the background as the plot unfolds, and even the occasional gory zombie-attack moments are rendered ineffectual due to shaky POV camerawork and nighttime shooting.

So, in conclusion, a pretty good horror movie, but not necessarily a good zombie movie. Worth watching.

(Originally posted to HorrorScope, 2008)

Review: Dead Snow

2011-05-09T11:09:00.000+10:00

Dir. Tommy Wirkola, 2009 (DVD release 2010, Madman)

Eight medical students heading off to a boozed-up weekend in an isolated Norwegian cabin find themselves under attack by frozen Nazi zombies intent upon recovering stolen gold - which has been conveniently hidden under the cabin. Using only their wits and a stash of surprisingly-lethal ski equipment, the students must fight to escape and to stay alive.

It may astound the couple of you who follow my reviews (Hi Mum!), but I don't actually watch many zombie movies, and this is because I (rather foolishly) have the same expectations of zombie movies as I do of zombie novels; they have to be good. Good plot, good characters, and so on. Which means, of course, that I don't watch many zombie movies, and actually enjoy fewer still.

How amazed was I, therefore, to find Dead Snow one of the most enjoyable zombie flicks I've seen in recent times? Extremely. Because, even in comparison to other B-grade horror movies, the plot makes about as much sense as a dancing can of Spam. Normally I'd expand upon that last comment at great length - but I won't, because I do actually want you to go and watch this movie. Why? Because the whole thing is played so tongue-in-cheek and over-the-top (knowing references to - and cliches from - famous horror flicks are peppered throughout), with excesses in gore and WTF? moments that would leave Peter Jackson green with envy, that even a po-faced stick-in-the-mud like myself was able to completely overlook the shortcomings and thoroughly enjoy the ride, laughing all the way. Ho, ho, ho.

So. Watch it. Love it. It's just plain Fun. And the special effects and (as far as I can tell, for all that I don't speak a word of Norwegian) the acting are pretty decent.

(Originally posted to HorrorScope, 2010)

Review: Outpost

2011-05-09T11:04:00.000+10:00

Dir. Steve Barker, 2008

In present-day war-torn Eastern Europe, a group of mercenaries are hired to safely escort their client to a long-forgotten WWII bunker. Amid much talk of Nazi gold, the group quickly locate and unseal the bunker – where they are forced to take refuge after being fired upon from the surrounding forest. Once inside, however, things quickly go from bad to worse. Crumbling film spools reveal details of a Nazi experiment to create super-soldiers. Shadowy figures are glimpsed flitting about the darkened corridors. Ghosts? Zombies? Or some time-bending effect produced by the strange machine being investigated by the client? And then the deaths begin.

This is a terrific little horror film, high on tension and fright, low on SFX (although there’s a fair amount of realistic gore). The script is simple and engrossing, and the acting is simply superb, with each and every character portrayed with gritty realism (no clichéd Hollywood soldiers-of-fortune, here). The greatest compliment I can give this production is that, while watching the DVD in the reassuring comfort of my own home, I actually had to walk out of the room during one particular scene in order to steady my nerves.

This is a definite must-see; one of the better horror flicks I’ve seen in the past few years.

(Originally posted to HorrorScope, 2009)

Review: Pontypool

2011-05-09T11:00:00.000+10:00

Dir. Bruce McDonald, 2009

Recently fired from a top-rating gig, the only job shock-jock Grant Mazzey has been able to secure is the early morning show at a tiny radio station in the small, snowbound town of Pontypool. What begins as just another average, crappy day soon turns deadly, however, as sporadic reports begin to come in of crowds of locals developing strange speech patterns and evoking horrendous acts of violence. As the station itself falls under siege, Mazzey fights to stay on-air and keep whatever remains of his audience informed. But what if the broadcast itself, or even the act of speaking, is actually responsible for the transmission of this bizarre illness..?

Adapted from the brilliant novel Pontypool Changes Everything (reviewed here) by Tony Burgess (who also scripted the movie), Pontypool is a highly unsettling thriller that is bound to attract a cult following. The lead actors all turn in wonderful performances; Stephen McHattie in particular is terrific, his rich voice giving credibility to his role as a radio DJ. The single-set location, and the fact that virtually all information on the atrocities occurring outside is imparted via radio and phone only, generates a highly claustrophobic and creepy atmosphere.

One of the minor quibbles I do have with Pontypool is that the skillfully-crafted atmosphere is undermined slightly by a couple of (admittedly necessary) verbal infodumps late in the piece, which serve purely to let the audience know what's really going on. Of course, time restraints preclude the script from addressing such issues as organically and satisfyingly as in the novel; by the same token, we're also denied much of Burgess' wonderful literary imagery, internal dialogue and character backstory that simply wouldn't survive the leap from prose to celluloid. That said, Burgess has cunningly skirted the need for such things by not scripting Pontypool as a literal adaptation of his novel, but rather a 'meanwhile, on the other side of town' sidebar to the existing text, and as such the movie stands extremely well as a stand-alone product.

This is definitely a movie that all fans of dark fare should see. The DVD release is currently available for hire in Australia, and makes perfect - if unsettling -winter viewing.

(Originally posted to HorrorScope, 2010)

Review: Zombie Strippers

2011-05-09T10:55:00.000+10:00

2008, dir. Jay Lee, starring Jenna Jameson and Robert Englund

(Disclaimer: this review has been carefully screened for puerile smut by an appointed government censor. Any apparent double-entendres are purely a figment of the reader’s imagination).

When an experimental government re-animation virus gets accidentally released (snort!) into an illegal strip-club, there can be only one result – zombie strippers! And as the first zombified dancer begins to demonstrate a crowd-pulling (hoo!) lack of inhibition in her routines, it’s only a matter of time before the remaining girls begin to think about ‘crossing over’ themselves. Now, if only they could control their urges (fwoar!) to eat (giggle!) the patrons...

Hands up (ooer!) if you thought Zombie Strippers was bound (cor!) to be a juvenile piece (fnarr!) of boobs-out exploitation aimed at sad, sweaty blokes with porn addictions? Well, you’d be right. But it’s also a great deal of fun, simply because it revels in its own trashiness. The plot is ridiculous, the acting way over the top, and the jokes (it’s a comedy, after all) are of truly hospital-grade quality. And yet, it works. There is not the slightest hint that anyone involved in this production is taking things (chortle!) seriously, and this is what makes it so great to watch. It’s laugh-out-loud stupid. Additionally, the horror quotient is actually pretty high, with the sort of gory effects you’d expect from a big (oh, stop!) budget fright-flick. And, believe me, the titillation derived from watching nekkid women strut their stuff (narf!) on the screen wears off very quickly once the girls begin to, well, decompose (and if you don’t agree, then there is obviously something very wrong indeed with you, and you should seek professional help).

In a nut(choke!!)shell, this is an extremely enjoyable comedy, a pretty decent horror movie, and a great entry (!!!!) to the zombie flick subgenre. More like this one, please!

(This review originally posted to HorrorScope, 2009)

Review: Dead Set

2011-05-09T10:44:00.001+10:00

Channel 4 UK, 2008, script by Charlie Brooker, dir. Yann Demage

When the dead begin to rise and attack the living, when civilisation begins to crumble, a small number of people remain completely unconcerned. This is understandable, however, as these folks are the last remaining contestants in the UK Big Brother house. Safely cocooned from the outside world, and blissfully ignorant of the impending apocalypse, the BB housemates continue to go about their daily, meaningless routines. Then eviction night arrives...

To begin with a possible spoiler, Dead Set is undoubtedly the most dark and nihilistic outing into zombie-apocalypse territory I've ever seen. It's also one of the very best I've ever seen. Shot on a low budget, the five-episode TV series nonetheless benefits from high production values (including some shockingly realistic SFX). The relatively small cast all turn in wonderful performances guaranteed to make the viewer invest in the fates of the characters they play. Scripting is excellent, and the much-touted satirical element of the series is handled with a surprising amount of subtlety; sadly, I suspect that most Australian viewers won't truly appreciate the cameo roles played by UK BB host Davina McCall and various real-life former housemates.

The true genius of the concept behind this series isn't simply the 'unique' location of the BB household: it's the fact that this location allows scriptwriter Charlie Brooker to take the standard zombie-apocalypse plot - small band of mismatched folk seeking shelter in order to survive - and turn it on its head. Our survivors actually begin their journey in the safest place on earth, and rely for their survival upon their ability to not merely get along with one another, but to transcend the fact that they have all been specifically selected to not get along with one another. To put it another way, these are the sort of people who would already have been eaten in the first reel of any other zombie outing, and there's an horrific fascination in watching the usual banal behaviour of Big Brother housemates play out in a manner that has consequences beyond in-house bitchery.

For fans of horror, zombies, or even just a damn good teledrama, Dead Set is required viewing. The DVD is currently available in Australia from most applicable retailers.

(This review originally posted to HorrorScope, 2008)

Pop Culture: Zombies for Hire!

2011-05-07T12:12:00.000+10:00

Have you ever organised or attended a special event and thought to yourself 'Gee, what this event really needs is a couple of zombies'? Well, now there's an Australian outfit offering exactly such a service!

ZombieHire.com supplies zombies for events - simple as that. Whether you're looking for that unique touch for your wedding or funeral, or just trying to draw customers into your Mexican restaurant, ZombieHire.com can supply heavily-sedated zombies (almost completely guaranteed kiddie-safe) for any promotional occasional you can think of.

The ZombieHire website will be going live on Halloween this year, but you can book services and lodge queries via the ZombieHire FaceBook page in the meantime. Because everything goes better with zombies.

(Reported by J.B.)

Review: Apocalypse of the Dead

2011-05-04T14:02:00.000+10:00

Joe McKinney, 2010, Pinnacle

Two years: that's how long it's been since the hurricanes flooded the Gulf coast, and the dead rose. The cities were quarantined, the infected contained. But now a boatload of refugees has made it out of the quarantine zone - and the horror is unleashed again. As civilisation falls, disparate groups of survivors find themselves converging upon a single refuge, deep in the North Dakota Grasslands. But is this place, run by a self-appointed preacher of fierce conviction, truly the sanctuary it appears..?

A loose sequel to McKinney's excellent Dead City, Apocalypse of the Dead contains all the same elements that made the former title such a brilliant read. The plot canters along at great pace, and - while certainly 'ticking the box' on many familiar zompocalyptic themes and tropes - remains fresh and engrossing thanks to a cast of unique characters and McKinney's focus upon issues and elements previously only touched upon in previous zompocalyptic fiction.

In short, Apocalypse of the Dead is a great addition to the genre: familiar enough to please those readers who prefer not to reach too far beyond the Romero template, sufficiently inventive and original for those who look for something new. A very satisfying read indeed.

News: International Zombie Awareness Month at Dymocks Southland

2011-05-02T16:31:00.000+10:00

When: May 10 – 31, 2011

Where: Dymocks Southland, Shop 3067/8, Westfield Shopping Centre, Cheltenham, VIC, Australia 3192
Tel: 03 9584-1245

Dymocks Southland will be running its second annual International Zombie Awareness Month promotion during the month of May, with great deals on a huge range of zombie-related books, giveaways, prize draws, and even a ‘zombie shuffle’!

Deal #1: Purchase any three zombie-themed books or graphic novels (including paid pre-orders), and receive a FREE copy of David Moody’s Dog Blood (valued at $27.95) only while stocks last.

Deal #2: Purchase any four zombie books, receive a free copy of Dog Blood, and enter the draw to win a fantastic prize-pack, thanks to our friends at NecroScope (details below).

Plus...

• Sat 14th May: Join us for a group signing of exciting authors from LegumeMan Books – specialists in ‘extreme horror fiction’. Featuring Brett McBean, R. Frederick Hamilton, Andrew Gallacher, Matthew Revert and Steve Gerlach. 12 noon - 1pm.

• Sat 28th May: The Dymocks Southland ‘Zombie Jamboree’, featuring:

11am – 12 noon: Local horror authors - and winners of this year's Australian Shadows awards - Kirstyn McDermott (Madigan Mine) and Bob Franklin (Under Stones), signing copies of their books. Be afraid!

12 – 1pm: Bestselling novelist James Phelan will be signing copies of his YA zombie novel Alone #1: Chasers (and his adult thriller books!). Pre-order Alone #2: Survivor, and James will personalise your copy when it’s released on June 30th! PLUS you’ll go into the draw to win a personalised, one-off, bound manuscript of an Alone short story, AND have a character named after YOU in James’ upcoming, top-secret, thirteen–book series due from Scholastic in 2012! (Winner drawn upon release of Alone #2, and notified by phone).

1 – 2pm: Zombie Shuffle! Turn up to Dymocks Southland in full zombie costume for your chance to win a magnificent The Walking Dead prize-pack (details below), thanks to our friends at Madman Entertainment. Best costume wins, prizewinner announced 2pm.

Dymocks Southland: where zombies are just a way of life...

NecroScope prize pack comprises:
- Feed poster, autographed by Mira Grant
- Dead Earth: The Vengeance Road by David T. Wilbanks & Mark Justice
- Virus by Sarah Langan
- Nekropolis by Tim Waggoner
- After the World: Gravesend by Jason Fischer
- Zombie Flesh Eaters DVD
- The Zombie Diaries DVD
- Jelly Brains jelly mould (Mmm! Braiiiiiiiiins!)
- Genuine Vodou good-luck charm (disclaimer: not effective against genuine zombies)
(Winner drawn at close of business May 31st, and notified by phone).

The Walking Dead prize pack comprises:
- The Walking Dead baseball cap
- The Walking Dead tote bag
- Issue #1 of The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye
- Madman Entertainment t-shirt
- Xombies: Apocalypse Blues by Walter Greatshell
- Generation Dead by Daniel Waters
- Dead Set DVD
- Grace DVD
- Biomega #1 manga comic

News: Dymocks Southland Bestselling Zombie Titles for April 2011

2011-05-02T13:50:00.000+10:00

1. Feed - Mira Grant
2. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After - Steve Hockensmith
3. Dead City - Joe McKinney
4. The Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks
5. Pet Sematary - Stephen King
6. Rot & Ruin - Jonathan Maberry
7. Pontypool Changes Everything - Tony Burgess
8. World War Z - Max Brooks
9. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies - Austen / Graeme-Smith
10. The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten - Harrison Geillor

New arrivals in-store include the UK edition of Breathers (S.G. Browne), Zombies: The Recent Dead (ed. Paula Guran), and The Complete History of The Return of the Living Dead (Christian Sellers / Gary Smart).

News: 'Breathers' Hits Australian Bookshops

2011-04-28T20:40:00.000+10:00

One of the major disadvantages of living in Australia - aside from the apocalyptic weather and deadly wildlife - is the fact that relatively little of the great wealth of zomfic published overseas gets picked up by local distributors; or, if it does, it arrives here months (or even years) after its UK or US release. A bit like the First Fleet, in that respect. For every local release of a major title like Feed, Patient Zero or Dead City, there's a dozen equally-laudable titles, like Pontypool Changes Everything or Eden, that simply aren't made available to Aussie readers who still prefer the experience of visiting a physical bookstore*. And that just ain't right. So it's always a cause for celebration when a zombie novel deserving of wider readership finally makes it to our shores.

To whit, today marks the official release of S. G. Browne's Breathers by Hachette Australia, in the handsome UK edition. Why are we at NecroScope so damn excited about this? Because Breathers is - in our opinion - still one of the very best zombie novels of the past few years, hitherto only available direct from the US. So: we're urging all serious Australian zomfic fans to run out and purchase a copy right now from their local bookstore. And if your local bookstore doesn't stock Breathers, demand they order it!

* So you'd think at least one Australian bookstore would wise up and make the effort to actually stock some of these hard-to-get zombie titles. Oh, wait...)

Fiction: The Mark of His Hands

2011-04-24T08:53:00.000+10:00

Today being Easter Sunday, it seemed only right to offer up the following tale, just to set the appropriate mood. 'The Mark of His Hands' was first published back in 2003, in Orb Speculative Fiction, and comes to you courtesy of your very own NecroKeeper, Chuck McKenzie. So, sit back, ease up on the chocolate, and - if you're so inclined - Pray Not to Wake, Should the Lord Your Soul First Take...

The Mark of His Hands

Call it a confession, if you like…

   We brought the capsule down among the hills three kilometres south-west of the Antonia Fortress, and immediately scanned the surrounding area for signs of incursion. For obvious reasons, Church had suspected this event would be an ideal target for extremists, but – much to our relief - we detected no anachronisms. Fulci and I donned our costumes, cloaked the capsule, and set out for the city.
   Long before we reached the Jaffa Gate, we found ourselves caught up in an ever-growing throng of locals heading in the same direction, and ended up being virtually herded towards the marketplace as we entered the city. It was fortunate, then, that our secondary objective was to document that area; our primary objective being to observe the entombment itself, and whatever might occur afterwards.
   You are surprised, of course, that Church would sanction such an operation. In the event we might disprove the story once and for all, what would happen to the faith upon which Church is founded? I myself had no such qualms; a Christian, yes, but a believer only in the historical facts of the event. My role on this expedition was as doctor and historian, Fulci’s job being to verify the actuality – if any – of divine activity at this event, and good luck to him. We live in an age where most, like myself, take the stories not as truth but as parables, examples of the great things achievable through adherence to the moral codes He set down for us. To disprove the story would not be as devastating a revelation as one might expect, as Church well knew.
   And besides, were the event to be shown to be fact… Ah! What that would mean!
   The Sepulchre of Joseph lay half a kilometre back the way we had come, but He would not be taken there for many hours yet, giving us plenty of time to explore the marketplace, which had been hitherto undocumented. Our recordings would add valuable information to the existing files, giving Church a more complete picture of what had occurred in the city on this day.
   And so we activated our nanocorders, and entered the market.
   Those who have never Jumped can scarce imagine the shock of immersing oneself in the culture of another era. For us, it was not merely the experience of unfamiliar surroundings; the immersions prepare you for that. What they don’t prepare you for is the sensory overload that comes with the reality of being in another place and time. The very air smelt different - tasted different - as long-extinct species of plant and animal were boiled for broth. Peoples’ skins had an odd texture. Clothes comprised strange fabrics, textures and colours. Strange languages, some of them perhaps never recorded for future study, assailed our ears. There was the sound of braying animals, sandals against stone, wind whistling through pre-Biblical architecture. The experience could not be any stranger, I would imagine, had the capsule deposited us upon some alien world a billion light-years from Earth.
   But we were professionals, and strolled through the market acting as though this were a common experience for us. Less-experienced agents might have preferred to operate cloaked, but Fulci and I knew the best recordings came through interaction with the locals. And so we moved from stall to stall, chatting to vendors in the local dialect, never buying, politely rejecting the spruikers.
   We had been there perhaps an hour, when Fulci nudged me pointedly. “Hey Savini, look – we seem to have caught somebody’s attention. Over there.” He nodded surreptitiously.
   Without turning my head, I glanced in the direction indicated. Piercing brown eyes glared back at me from an ebony countenance, heavily lined by weather and age; teeth bared in a savage grin; thin, with painfully-hunched shoulders. “The Negro in the tan tunic?”
   “That’s him. Giving us a good looking-over. Why so interested, I wonder?”
   “A pickpocket, perhaps? Sizing us up?”
   Fulci frowned. “Something almost … malevolent about the way he regards us.”
   I sighed inwardly. Seeing demons in the shadows already. “Unpleasant, I grant you, but - ah, he’s realised we’ve seen him. Look, there he goes …”
   Fulci nodded slowly. “Yes. Off to find an easier mark, no doubt.” He did not sound convinced.
   We wandered around for another hour or so, running a casual commentary between ourselves for the benefit of the ‘corders. Occasionally, news runners would jostle their way through the crowds, shouting the progress of the Event. Surprisingly few people seemed to take an interest – surprising only from our retrospective point-of-view, I suppose - but with each report a few would amble off in the direction of the city gates.
   By noon, we felt that we had exhausted the possibilities of the market. The entombment was still several hours away, but there was no harm in getting there early. We were making our way back to the gate, when Fulci grabbed my arm and hissed, “He’s back!”
   Startled, I looked around and caught sight of a black face flanking us from a few metres away, staring intently.
   “There’s something wrong about him.” Fulci’s face was troubled. “I can feel it. Can’t you?”
   I peered at the Negro again. “Well, not wrong - but now that you mention it, he’s obviously no pickpocket. Look at the quality of his clothes. Besides, a good pickpocket wouldn’t make his attentions so obvious, and a bad pickpocket wouldn’t live past the age of ten around here. A slave, then. Or a freedman, more likely.”
   “Still doesn’t explain his interest in us.” Fulci shot me a look. “Perhaps he noticed something in our behaviour that marks us as … anachronistic?”
   A chill ran down my back. “An enemy agent? You’re getting paranoid.”
   Fulci didn’t reply, but as we passed through the gate he drew me swiftly aside, and we watched as the Negro passed us by, vanishing amongst the stream of pedestrians heading towards Golgotha.
   Relief flooded over me. “There you go - an agent wouldn’t have allowed us to lose him so easily.” I was beginning to feel angry now, ashamed at how completely I’d allowed my imagination to run wild.
   Fulci was still staring towards Golgotha. “We need to follow him.”
   “What?” I looked at him incredulously. “Fulci, we don’t have time -”
   “We have plenty of time. Anyway, what if you’re wrong about the Negro? You know the rules.”
   “This is pointless! The scan -” I stopped. Absence of anachronistic technology didn’t guarantee an incursion-free zone. Enemy agents wouldn’t need a staser to ensure the fall of western civilisation; a locally-made blade between the ribs before He reached Golgotha would be just as effective. Of course, to assassinate Him at this point in the day would have virtually no impact upon futurity, given that He was only hours from death anyway. But the rules were very clear; any suspicion of incursion, no matter how slight, must be investigated.
   And so we walked to Golgotha.
   There was a fair crowd gathered when we reached the site, mostly camped out upon rugs, looking for all the world like picnickers on a Sunday outing. On the outskirts, people stood in huddled groups, socialising casually. A few solitary souls gazed at the spectacle below; faithful followers, no doubt, come to witness the death of their leader. Soldiers paced back and forth through the crowd, hands upon their hilts, alert for trouble. And in the centre of all this…
   I had seen the excellent Romero-Coscarelli recordings, of course – indeed, like ourselves, those two would currently be mingling with the crowd at very moment – but nothing could compare to seeing it with my own eyes;
   He hung limply from the crucifix, His face blank and drooling. The agony must have shattered His mind long before we arrived. Massive, wrought-iron pegs had been driven through His wrists, transfixing Him to the patibulum of the crucifix. The crown of thorns had lacerated His temples as effectively as the scourging had lacerated His back. Flies swarmed over Him, His body black with dried blood.
   Below Him, on the edge of the crowd, a woman and a boy clung to one another, united in anguish. Mary and John. At His feet, soldiers played dice in the dust. Above their heads, the titulus; unreadable from where we stood, but I knew the words by heart.
   Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.
   Tears stung my eyes. Can you imagine having to witness such an atrocity, knowing His suffering was necessary to forge the world we take for granted? With our technology, we might have prevented this - and to even think such a thing, the insanity of it, brought me out in a cold sweat…
   Fulci was weeping like a child, no doubt for different reasons than I. What was he thinking? That he gazed upon the personification of his God? That to witness this event somehow brought him closer to the Almighty? The thought irritated me immensely. Brushing my eyes dry with my sleeve, I glanced around the site until I found what I was searching for. “There!” I pointed. “Do you see?”
   Fulci blinked away his tears and looked. At the back of the crowd, off to the far left of the site, some enterprising food-vendors had pitched their tents, and in the shadow of one of the nearer stalls stood the Negro, speaking animatedly with one of the soldiers. The soldier, armed with a long spear, was nodding slowly, which seemed to please the Negro greatly. With one hand he rummaged under his tunic, producing a small bottle. With the other hand he held out a small cloth bag, hefting it invitingly. From the way its contents shifted, I guessed it to be full of coins. The soldier smiled, took the bag, then stepped back a few paces and lowered his spear, pointing it towards the Negro’s feet. The Negro grinned, squatted down, and slowly drew the palm of his hand across the bladed edge of the spear, coating the metal in blood. Without bothering to bind the wound, he then unstoppered the bottle and poured its liquid contents over the tip of the spear. The soldier watched the procedure with a blank look on his face; no doubt there were stranger sights to be seen elsewhere in the empire. Apparently finished, the Negro tucked the bottle back under his tunic, bowed to the soldier, and slipped away into the shadows.
   Fulci stepped forward, obviously intending pursuit, but I stopped him. “Wait! Look!”
   The soldier stood for a moment, gazing bemusedly at the tip of his spear. Then he raised the weapon, and walked towards the crucifixes. Reaching the foot of His cross, the soldier exchanged a few words with the attendant guard, who stood back, nodding agreeably. The soldier carefully positioned himself beneath the cross, braced himself, then stabbed upwards with his spear.
   There was a half-hearted cheer of approval from the section of the crowd nearest the action. Further back, somebody cried out as if in pain. Fulci shuddered.
   There was no reaction from Him. Comatose, He had not even felt the wound that would hasten His death.
   The pre-chrono historians had got it wrong, of course; they weren’t supposed to have speared Him until after he died, as Romero and Coscarelli had gleefully pointed out. But now, a further development: “Interesting,” I said. “Looks like the Negro bribed the soldier to administer some sort of poison – though the whole thing had the look of a spell, didn’t it? Blood and potions.” I turned to regard Fulci. “Which, I submit, proves the Negro is just some pagan local, not an enemy agent.”
   Fulci’s expression was sullen. “Possibly. But we should still follow him. There’s something evil going on here…”
   And suddenly, I understood.
   I have never believed in Good and Evil, except as philosophical concepts, but Fulci certainly did. And far from believing the Negro to be an enemy agent, he had obviously raised the idea purely to justify following an individual he believed to be supernaturally malign. And in doing that, he had landed a ringside view of the crucifixion – a diversion from our schedule that Church would never have condoned, had we not had the ‘excuse’ of surveilling a possible enemy agent.
My face burning with anger, I grasped Fulci’s wrist as hard as I could, and was gratified to see his face blanch in pain. “When this operation is concluded,” I hissed, “my official report will include a recommendation that you be submitted for disciplinary action!” Fulci opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off. “Until then, we will adhere exactly to the mission schedule, and if you so much as suggest another deviation…” I left the threat hanging. In truth, I could not think of anything sufficiently terrible to threaten him with. “Is that understood?”
   Fulci nodded tightly.
   There was nothing more to say on the matter, so we turned and began walking north-west towards the Sepulchre of Joseph.
   Soon after, darkness fell briefly in the middle of the afternoon. We stopped, bowing our heads, until the sun appeared again in the sky. Oddly, I felt nothing. Out of sight, out of mind. I did not look at Fulci to see his reaction.
   By the time we arrived, there were already a couple of guards posted – locals rather than soldiers, probably sent by the Pharisees – so we were obliged to cloak in order to enter the sepulchre. For some reason, one tends to think of His tomb as little more than a cave, but the interior was surprisingly spacious; perhaps ten by ten metres, with a beautifully-carved sarcophagus resting upon a block of stone in the centre. We inspected the tomb for a while, for the benefit of the ‘corders, then sat down on the clean-swept floor in the furthermost corner and waited. After what seemed an eternity, we heard the sound of wailing and crying in the distance, growing slowly closer. Eventually, with the sounds of mourning right outside the tomb, two burly men entered carrying a body in a linen shroud. With obvious haste, they laid out the body inside the sarcophagus and left, pausing only to spit upon the floor. Moments later there with a great grinding sound, and the light vanished.
   We waited for a while, then stood up, de-cloaked and activated our IR implants. Moving over to the body, I proceeded to tear the shroud open along the seam. The stench of preservative spices filled the tomb. Fulci gagged.
   “Are you ready to do this?” I asked.
   He nodded unenthusiastically.
   “Okay, then.” I cleared my throat. “Subject is male. Thirty-five years old. Medium build. Approximately one-hundred and eighty centimetres tall.” I pulled my medscan from the pouch at my belt, activated it, and held it over the body. He was definitely deceased, with no sign of pulse or respiration, and livor mortis had already begun to set in. Cause of death was orthostatic collapse; renal failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium. Blood loss due to multiple lacerations had also contributed. Not to mention… I moved the ‘scan to cover the single, deep stab wound under the left-hand ribcage. “Hah.”
   “What?” I could hear the tremor in Fulci’s voice. No doubt he objected to me treating His body so irreverently, and I derived a certain mean pleasure from that.
   “That stuff the Negro put on the blade. Weird concoction. Puffer-fish venom, belladonna, a few herbal extracts. Highly narcotic, likely to induce psychotic delirium, slow respiration and heartbeat. Not very effective as a poison, but in His weakened state I suppose -” I glanced at the ‘scan again. “Ah. Hematohidrosis. Ruptured blood vessels in his sweat glands.” I gave Fulci a look. “Makes it look as though he was sweating blood prior to death.”
   Fulci nodded bleakly. Another mystery solved, for what it was worth.
   “Nothing else unusual,” I continued. “Healthy, for the age he lived in. And we already know what his last meal comprised -”
   “Sh!” Fulci interrupted. “What was that?”
   We stood motionless in the dark, listening.
   “There!”
   The sound of grinding stone, accompanied by the grunt of human exertion.
   “Cloak!” whispered Fulci, and I followed his lead as the stone rolled aside. Of course, I had expected this intrusion - after all, if He had not risen from the dead, then somebody must have taken the body – but I was surprised to find it occurring so soon. Another of my pre-conceptions, that the body had vanished on the third day. The report of the holy women three days hence would obviously result from sheer hysteria over the theft, rather than from anything they might actually see.
    There was a pause. Then, the jingle of coins, instantly explaining how the grave-robber had managed to get past the guards. And they, no doubt, would support the tale of resurrection as a means of hiding their involvement in the crime.
   A figure appeared at the tomb entrance, face illuminated by the light of a flaming torch, and I felt Fulci stiffen beside me.
   It was the Negro.
   He walked confidently into the tomb, torch raised high to illuminate the interior. Then he noticed the open shroud and stopped dead in his tracks, peering around suspiciously. He seemed to pause as his gaze swept over us – impossible, of course, as we were completely invisible – and I chided myself for an overactive imagination. And yet, for a moment, it truly seemed that his gaze met mine. I blinked, and this seemed to break the spell.
   Muttering to himself, the Negro moved over to the sarcophagus and examined the body intently, pulling the eyelids open to inspect the sightless orbs. Apparently satisfied by what he saw, he reached beneath his tunic and withdrew a small leather pouch, tied with a drawstring. Stepping back, he squatted down on his haunches, pulled the bag open, and tipped the contents out onto the floor; tiny bones – chicken bones, perhaps – which the Negro began to arrange into a small circle. That done, he produced a piece of chalk, and began to draw something within the circle. It took me a moment to recognise the design.
   A pentagram.
   Immediately sensing what Fulci’s reaction would be – to rush forward and destroy the offending scrawl with his sandal - I put out an arm to hold him back. The Negro turned slightly, as though aware of movement behind him, grinned, and resumed his ceremony. We watched as he dug a palmful of yellow powder from a pouch at his waist, sprinkling it over the pentagram, then touched his torch to the circle. The powder began to smoke, a musty odour filling the room, and my head seemed to spin. Clearly the powder had narcotic properties.
   The Negro began to chant, a weird rhythmic babble that rose and fell in pitch and volume. And suddenly I felt a chill. Not a physical chill, but the feeling of something fundamentally wrong. Even as I berated myself for such foolishness, an unreasoning horror gripped me, and with it, a sudden dread certainty that we had been chosen as players in this obscene ritual, lured in by our misdirected suspicion of the Negro – for what dark purpose?
   Numbed by fear, I was only vaguely aware of the chanting reaching a crescendo as the Negro produced a handful of crimson powder from another pouch, and flung it into the smoking circle. There was a flash of violet flame, and the torch was suddenly extinguished.
   At the same instant, my implant crashed. I spun around, groping blindly in the dark.
   What occurred next –
   Well, let me tell it as I remember.
   As the powder ignited, the shadows in the tomb leapt and twisted, making the body in the sarcophagus appear to writhe with unholy life. Disoriented by the sudden darkness that followed, I sought Fulci’s arm, and heard a malicious cackling, followed by a scuttling sound. Somebody gasped loudly; Fulci, I assumed - although later I would think how it had sounded not so much like a gasp of shock, more a desperate sucking of breath into lungs bereft of oxygen. Then, the tearing of fabric, and the thud of unshod feet hitting the floor. The Negro shouted something from the entrance.
   I had a sudden sense of someone passing in front of me. And there was an odour; nothing I could identify exactly, although I was instantly reminded of the smell of old leaf-litter. Again, a chill. Physical, this time, as though a refrigerator door had opened before me. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. Something wrong.
   And then, something in the darkness beside me hissed.
   At that, Fulci shrieked. Briefly. Choked into silence. Something heavy fell against me, knocking me to the floor. I lay there, hugging myself in terror. From outside the tomb, the sound of raised voices, frightened and querulous. Another shout from the Negro.
   Slow, listless footsteps shuffled past my head towards the entrance. The chill and the smell receded. Somebody outside screamed in fright, and I heard the sound of running feet vanishing into the distance.
   A few seconds later, my implant came back online…

And so, thirty years on, here I am. Comfortable, I grant you, my every desire attended to, bar one. Freedom. But I understand. Church cannot take a chance upon my silence. If the full truth of this matter were ever revealed -
   As I say, I am well looked-after, although I feel sure the subject matter of the reading material I request – which is always unquestioningly delivered – must raise eyebrows; Haitian history and culture, with particular focus upon the practice of so-called ‘zombification’. I don’t know quite what I am looking for; perhaps an indication that this practice can in some way be reconciled with God’s great design. But the information in these documents is of little assistance, invariably describing a process by which the living attain the appearance of the dead, held in thrall to evil masters via administration of noxious compounds.
   But He was dead.
   And being dead … cannot die?
   When I watch omnet, images beamed in from across the globe, I find myself examining the faces. A cast of millions. And always I concentrate, searching desperately for a single visage that I hope, paradoxically, I shall never see…
   I will die here, quite soon I think. And surely then I will find peace. If there is a God – and surely, if such supernatural evil can exist, then so, I feel, must the Almighty – surely He, in his infinite mercy, will allow me to forget -
   - the expression on Fulci’s dead face, lying beside me as my implant came back online. The marks around his neck.
   The mark of His hands.

END

(Artwork copyright Daryl Lindquist)

Review: Allison Hewitt is Trapped

2011-04-22T11:40:00.000+10:00

Madeleine Roux, 2011, Hachette

'They are coming and I don't think we will ever get out. If you're reading this, please call the police. Call them now. I can't promise we will be here tomorrow or the day after, or the day after that, but tell them to rescue us before it's too late. Tell them to try. If they ask for a name, tell them my name is Allison Hewitt...'

So writes Allison in her blog, as the walking dead close in. There's a great deal to like about Allison Hewitt is Trapped; the plot, despite comprising many standard zompocalyptic themes and situations, rises above the 'same old' due to its unflagging energy and momentum. The central protagonists, and particularly the character of Allison herself, are depicted with discomforting realism; fallible, damaged, and as capable of truly dreadful acts as of selfless ones. Overall, this is a great read, and a worthy addition to any zomfan's personal library.

That said, however, I do have one fairly major criticism of the novel:

'Diarised' zompocalyptic novels are quite common within the genre, and for good reason: the individual entries, describing snippets of recent action on an ongoing basis, give such tales an immediacy that puts the reader right in the thick of that action. Furthermore, with the 'author' in such cases relating the tale on (generally) a daily basis, rather than writing up the entire manuscript upon completion of the adventure (and therefore obviously having survived that adventure) there's never any guarantee that the author will actually survive from one entry to the next, which creates and maintains a pleasing level of tension. This certainly should have been the case with Allison Hewitt is Trapped. Unfortunately, the novel is prefaced by a letter - addressed to a publisher collecting biographical essays by famous public figures from the time of the zombie uprising - that essentially acts as a massive spoiler on that count. To add insult to injury, the letter (along with the 'answering' letter at the conclusion of the book) is of the 'as you know, Bob...' variety, explaining at length certain information that the recipient of the letter would apparently already know. It's a clumsy, unnecessary piece of writing that undermines the whole novel to some degree, and may actually discourage particularly impatient readers from reading on - a tragedy, since the letter is in no way representative of the quality of the remaining novel.

My advice regarding Allison Hewitt is Trapped, then, is this: Read it, absolutely. It's a great book. But bypass the preface and endpiece entirely, or at least leave them until after you've finished the novel itself.

Review: Z is for Zombie: An Illustrated Guide to the End of the World

2011-04-18T11:44:00.000+10:00

Adam-Troy Castro, illus. Johnny Atomic, 2011, HarperCollins

A is for Apocalypse,
B is for Buried,
C is for Cannibalistic...

Well, you get the idea. Z is for Zombie is an extremely fun read that plots the entire course of the zompocalypse from, well, A to Z, with each entry followed by a detailed explanation (delivered tongue-firmly-in-rotting-cheek) of the applicable word or phrase, and bleakly illustrated in suitably gory colour.

O is for Omigod Omigod Oh Jesus Get it Off Me Get it Off Get it...Aaaarrrrgggh

See? Fun and informative, if not necessarily inspiring. My personal favourite?

J is for Just a Few Random Survivors: [...] it would be genuinely convenient if the folks you found yourself trapped with were an elite and heavily armed paramilitary force [...] But random choice dictates that you will spend your last days fighting alongside a mobile phone salesman, a zither player, a sommelier, and a guy who knows the world is ending but still can't talk about anything but his favourite episode of Star Trek. Try not to be bitter. They're probably just as upset to be stuck with you.

Z is for Zombie is a great addition to any zombie survivalist's bookshelf; hey, when the end comes, at least you'll go out chuckling...

Review: The Infection

2011-04-17T20:04:00.000+10:00

Craig DiLouie, 2011, Permuted Press

Millions fall down, screaming, as a mysterious virus strikes across the globe. Three days later the victims awake with a single, psychotic purpose: spread the Infection. As civilisation crumbles, a small team of survivors fight their way towards a massive refugee camp, seeking protection. But cannibalistic zombies are not the worst things standing in their way; some of the Infected are beginning to change...

The Infection is a page-turner of the highest order, with a plot combining elements of 28 Days Later and The Mist. The prose is written in a dry, matter-of-fact manner, often in the present tense, and there's a resulting immediacy to the action that allows the reader to completely suspend disbelief and plunge into DiLouie's world of survival horror; the characters, also, are Everymen (and women), gloriously damaged and fallible, whose every misfortune hits the reader hard; all of which makes The Infection one of the most emotional, unsettling, and satisfying takes on the zompocalyse yet to see print.

On the back of The Infection, I'm hereby citing DiLouie as a must-read author. Here's hoping for an extremely short wait to his next published offering.

Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After

2011-04-11T13:14:00.000+10:00

Steve Hockensmith, 2011, Quirk Books

When Fitzwilliam Darcy is nipped by a rampaging Dreadful, his bride, Elizabeth Bennet, knows that the only proper course of action is to behead him. But when she learns of a miracle cure being developed in London, she will stop at nothing for one last chance to save the man she loves - even if it means playing into the hands of Darcy's hateful and calculating aunt, Lady Catherine!

If you've enjoyed the first two books in the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies series, you'll certainly enjoy this third (and supposedly final) installment, penned by the author of the second book, Dawn of the Dreadfuls. As with Dawn, Dreadfully Ever After recounts the continuing adventures of the zombie-killing Bennet sisters in a manner that perfectly captures the tone of Austen's original text, albeit with an at-times OTT satirical edge (which isn't a criticism, by the way). Hockensmith goes all-out to give the series a worthy send-off, delivering a fast-paced plot filled with intrigue, action, gore, and masses of zombie- and ninja-related action. The familiar themes of class and social expectations are revisited, with additional issues of race, feminism and politics examined in rather more detail than in the previous books. The characters, as always, are pure Austen - zombie-killing aside - with much of the humour derived from setting such folk against the backdrop of a zombie-infested England. In short, Dreadfully Ever After is an extremely fun read, and one I'd recommend to anyone who doesn't take their zomfic too seriously.

It's safe to say that, in the literary mash-up subgenere created by the original Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, this trilogy stands head-and-brains above all other such titles, and is well worth reading, regardless of how one may feel about mash-ups in general.

News: Dymocks Southland Bestselling Zombie Titles for March 2011

2011-04-03T20:20:00.000+10:00

While March was a fairly slow month for sales in Dark Fiction (horror, paranormal and dark fantasy) in general, zombie titles fared quite well, with a sharp influx of both new and 'classic' undead titles arriving in store, many of which made it onto the month's bestseller list.

1. Pontypool Changes Everything - Tony Burgess
2. Chasers (Alone #1) - James Phelan
3. Eden - Tony Monchinski
4. The Walking Dead (Book #1) - Robert Kirkman
5. The Mammoth Book of Zombie Comics - Various
6. Dead City - Joe McKinney
7. Rot & Ruin - Jonathan Maberry
8. Apocalypse of the Dead - Joe McKinney
9. The Dead (The Enemy #2) - Charlie Higson
10. Zombies: Encounters With the Hungry Dead - ed. John Skipp

Other new arrivals include Dead Set (ed. Joe McKinney & Michelle McCrary), Best New Zombie Tales (volumes #1 & #2, ed. Roy Daley), Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After (Steve Hockensmith), Empire (David Dunwoody) and Hungry For Your Love (ed. Lori Perkins).

Review: Married With Zombies

2011-03-23T21:07:00.000+11:00

Jesse Petersen, 2010, Simon & Schuster

Sarah and David are on the verge of divorce, and of the opinion that their weekly marriage counselling sessions simply aren't going to save the relationship. Today, however, they've noticed a few odd things on the way to their appointment: the lack of cars on the highway; a missing security guard; the fact that their counsellor is eating the previous client... Now Sarah and David are fighting for survival in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. But just because there are zombies, that doesn't mean your other problems go away, and if the zombies don't get them first, there's still a very real chance that Sarah and David are going to end up killing each other...

Married With Zombies, which is billed as 'a romantic comedy with braiiins', is an enjoyable romp. While the plot largely comprises a list of standard apocalyptic set pieces, the novel overall is raised well above the same-old by some extremely empathic protagonists, not to mention snappy dialogue that recalls the style of Buffy or Gilmore Girls. Although clearly aimed at a Paranormal Romance readership, the tone of the novel - while lighter than most zompocalyptic tales - is certainly darker than that of the average rom-com, and Petersen never undermines the bleakness of her protagonists' situation (including the state of their relationship) with flippant humour.

Even if you're no particular fan of romantic comedy, paranormal or otherwise, Married With Zombies has sufficient depth, drama, and zompocalyptic mayhem to satisfy even the pickiest zomfan on a whole bunch of levels. A worthy read.

Review: Rot and Ruin

2011-03-10T14:33:00.000+11:00

Jonathan Maberry, 2011, Simon & Schuster

Benny Imura was only a toddler on First Night, but his last memory of his parents is tainted by the image of them becoming zombies, and he blames his older brother, Tom, for not saving them. Now Benny is fifteen, and Tom wants them to put their difficult relationship behind them and work together in the 'family business': as zombie killers. It's the last thing Benny wants to do, but he needs a job and thinks it'll be an easy ride. But when they head into the Rot and Ruin that surrounds their township, Benny soon realises there's more to the job than just killing the undead. And, as he's confronted by the grim realities of the world around him, Benny makes the most terrifying discovery of all: that sometimes the worst monsters you can imagine are human...

In this Young Adult expansion of Maberry's novella 'Family Business', which appeared in Christopher Golden's brilliant Zombie: An Anthology of the Undead, Maberry once again demonstrates why he's deservedly regarded as one of the greats of modern horror fiction, and especially of zombie fiction. His plotting maintains great momentum, navigating various twists and turns, to deliver a tense, atmospheric and action-packed post-apocalyptic 'coming of age' horror tale. The characters all elicit a great degree of empathy, if not necessarily sympathy, demonstrating a range of complex emotions, motivations and flaws that readers will immediately recognise and identify with. Maberry is also a master at using the blank canvas of the zombie hordes (thematically speaking) as a means to highlight aspects of human nature central to the plot.

Rot and Ruin is a fantastic read, and one that will appeal to both YA and adult readers. Expect an Australian release in early April.

Music: Aaron Stoquert

2011-03-07T10:10:00.001+11:00

From musician Aaron Stoquert comes the haunting EP, Run For Your Life, featuring five acoustic songs sung from the perspective of the walking dead. The EP is available for download from Aaron's website, and we at NecroScope would urge you to visit, check out all the tracks, and think about purchasing a copy.

(With thanks to S. G. Browne)

Review: Passing Strange

2011-03-06T12:44:00.000+11:00

Daniel Waters, 2010, Simon & Schuster Australia

Karen DeSonne always passed as a normal teenager. And now that she's dead, she's still passing - this time, as alive. But when her dead friends are accused of a high profile murder and forced into hiding, it's up to Karen to prove their innocence. Which means doing the unthinkable, and becoming the girlfriend of bionist zealot Pete Martinsburg, who she suspects of framing them. But if Pete finds out who - and what - Karen really is, the consequences could be far worse than death...

Passing Strange is the third in Daniel Waters' series of YA zombie-themed books - beginning with Generation Dead and Kiss of Life - and is an absolute cracker, building on all that has gone before, and upping the ante as the plot races towards what might well be the conclusion of the trilogy. The change, from previous installments, from a living third-person viewpoint character to a dead first-person POV, provides a great deal of uncertainty as to where the narrative might be heading, and - for all that the book is aimed at a YA readership - Waters certainly doesn't shy away from addressing some extremely dark themes, such as religious, racial and sexual bigotry, human rights abuses, and the nature of hatred and fear in general.

Passing Strange is an excellent addition to an excellent series; a truly gripping read, and one that can be enjoyed equally by teens and adults. A brilliant addition to the 'zombies as the disenfranchised' subgenre.

Pop Culture: Interactive Zombie Movie...Pizza Ad?

2011-03-04T18:27:00.000+11:00

There are some things that just naturally go together: fish and chips, bald spots and comb-overs, pizza and...zombies? At least, that's what New Zealand's Hell Pizza chain figured, and who are we to say they're wrong? Check out the following awesome interactive movie/ad from Hell Pizza, and tell us it doesn't make you want to order a meatlovers straight away...

News: Dymocks Southland Bestselling Zombie Titles for Feb 2011

2011-03-01T21:21:00.000+11:00

February was a slow month for zombie fiction (no pun intended), although - as always - key titles moved strongly throughout the month.

1. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies - Austen / Graeme-Smith
2. The Proper Care and Feeding of Zombies - Mac Montandon
3. The Walking Dead Compendium #1 - Robert Kirkman
4. The Walking Dead Book #1 - Robert Kirkman
5. Warm Bodies - Isaac Marion
6. World War Z - Max Brooks
7. Marvel Zombies: Dead Days - Robert Kirkman
8. Generation Dead (series) - Daniel Waters
9. Night of the Living Trekkies - Anderson / Stall
10. Zombies: Encounters With the Hungry Dead - ed. John Skipp

New arrivals include Apocalypse of the Dead (Joe McKinney) and Hungry for Your Love (ed. Lori Perkins), with the next few months promising a bumper crop of zombie goodness, including new works from Mira Grant and Jonathan Maberry, the long-awaited local release of S. G. Browne's Breathers (hurrah!), and Madman Entertainment and Hachette picking up local distribution rights to The Walking Dead and Marvel Zombies graphic novels, respectively.

Review: Nerd Do Well

2011-02-28T15:11:00.000+11:00

Simon Pegg, 2010, Century

The importance of the movie Shaun of the Dead in kick-starting the current massive popularity of zombies in popular culture simply can't be overstated. Released in 2004, and narrowly preceding a number of similarly influential movies and books such as 28 Days Later, World War Z, Monster Island and Xombies, Shaun perhaps provided more momentum to the craze than any other single release, due to its simultaneous appeal to both Romero devotees and mainstream audiences; here was a brutal, cult-style horror movie masquerading as a mainstream slacker/buddy/satirical romantic britcom (or vice versa), the sort of movie a vast cross-section of different moviegoers could - and did - enjoy, and one that drew those with no prior interest in the zombie subgenre inexorably into the fold.

Nerd Do Well is the autobiography of the man behind Shaun - both the movie and the titular character; actor, comedian and writer Simon Pegg - and focuses upon the amazing circularity of Pegg's life, from a childhood spent immersed in the trappings of geekdom to a man now famed for his direct involvement with, and influence upon, geek culture.

The book is written in a manner every bit as amusing as one might expect (in reading it on the train, my constantly having to stifle fits of laughter lead some of my fellow travellers to think I was having a conniption fit), and provides an engrossing and entertaining insight into Pegg's formative years and beyond. His childlike glee in finding himself, as an adult, shooting a zombie movie, acting in both the Star Trek and Doctor Who reboots, meeting George Lucas in the flesh, being directed by George A. Romero, and so on, provides an extremely satisfying payoff to the tale of a nerd made good. Zombie fans in particular are well catered to, with a wealth of behind-the-scenes information provided on Shaun of the Dead specifically.

Nerd Do Well is a really fun, satisfying and engrossing read, and one that stands head and shoulders above most other autobiographies. A must for geeks of all stripes.

Review: Warm Bodies

2011-02-20T21:59:00.000+11:00

Isaac Marion, 2010, Random House Australia

'R' is a zombie. He has no memory of his name, or of his former life. His entire existence, along with many of his kind, consists of endlessly shambling around the local airport, mimicking the routines of the living. Only the occasional scavenging forays into the nearby city, hunting for warm, living flesh, bring anything close to genuine emotion into R's sterile life. Until the day he meets a living girl, and - for reasons that will haunt him thereafter - saves her life, spiriting her away to his airport hideaway to be his companion. The status quo is beginning to change. The rules are being broken. But will R's strange evolution bring peace to a shattered world, or only tragedy to those he is beginning to care about?

Warm Bodies is a tremendous novel that turns the zombie genre on its head, minutely examining the human condition - an oft-explored theme in zombie fiction - entirely from the zombie's point of view. Marion's undead protagonist is painted as something of an autistic savant - capable of intelligent observation and rationalisation, yet unable to truly comprehend the behaviour and motives of the living (or even his fellow dead, for that matter), himself operating on a mental level that would be incomprehensible to the reader, were it not for the power and clarity of Marion's writing. The plot explores numerous philosophical and ethical issues at a deeply intellectual level, whilst remaining engrossing and entertaining throughout. There's also plenty of violent mayhem and flesh-eating action for the old-school zomfans, with a nifty explanation as to why zombies have to eat flesh, and why brains might offer more than just a tasty treat.

Warm Bodies is among the best of the best of the current crop (shamble?) of zombie novels. Zomfic enthusiasts absolutely owe it to themselves to read it - and to then pass it on to those who disdain the genre, but love a deeply literary affair. And thus, the sickness spreads...

News: NecroScope Open for Ditmar Nominations

2011-02-14T07:30:00.000+11:00

NecroScope is currently eligible for nomination for the 2011 Ditmar Awards, which recognise excellence in SF, fantasy and horror by Australians.

The relevant categories for nomination are:

* Best Fan Writer (Chuck McKenzie, body of work including reviews in NecroScope and HorrorScope)
* Best Fan Publication (NecroScope, Chuck McKenzie)
* William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review (Chuck McKenzie, for Horror reviews in NecroScope and HorrorScope)

If you've enjoyed the ongoing body of work published by NecroScope since its inception in July 2010, and are eligible to nominate, do please consider casting a vote for us (because zombies need validation too!). Nominations are accepted only from natural persons active in fandom, or from full or supporting members of the national convention of the year of the award (full Ditmar rules may be found here).

News: Zombie Movies Screen at ACMI

2011-02-14T06:27:00.000+11:00

ACMI - the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne - will be screening some great zombie flicks over the coming month, as part of their regular Freaky Fridays program.

Feb 18/25: Colin
Mar 04: La Horde
Mar 11: ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction

Bookings may be made via the ACMI website, or by calling (03) 8663 2583.

(Reported by Rob Jan)

Review: Dead Earth: The Vengeance Road

2011-02-14T05:56:00.000+11:00

Mark Justice & David T. Wilbanks, 2010, Permuted Press

Invaders from another world have raised an unholy army of the living dead, laying waste to human civilisation. The 'Necros' destroyed Jubal's home and everyone he loved - now the only thing that matters to him is payback. Leading a ragtag group of armed survivors, Jubal is now making his way across the desert towards Area 51 - the Necro base - heading for a showdown that nobody may walk away from...

Dead Earth: The Vengeance Road is a fun read. While undermined slightly in places by some fairly clunky dialogue and prose, the central plot is sufficiently inventive and exciting to keep the reader turning the page. There's a distinctly Western-style atmosphere to the whole thing, with the tale essentially amounting to a series of stand-offs and engagements between the forces of Good (lead by Jubal) and Evil (a plague of zombies, controlled by a psychotic, brainwashed biker) as they head towards a final showdown. It's not the perfect zombie novel by any means, but there's a lot to like here, and those who enjoy the unfettered action and imagination of Pulp-style fiction should grab themselves a copy.

News: Art of the Mash-Up Competition

2011-02-12T20:05:00.000+11:00

In the lead-up to the release of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After, Quirk Books have announced the following exciting competition.

Eric Smith reports:
'Recently, some of the Quirk team took a trip to New York City to meet with our friends at the Bridgeman Art Library. For those of you unfamiliar with Bridgeman, they’re the world’s leading source of fine art and historical images available for reproduction… and we’ve worked with them on all of our Quirk Classics titles, including Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Dawn of the Dreadfuls, Android Karenina, and the upcoming Dreadfully Ever After.

'We've teamed up with Bridgeman to present the Art of the Mash-up Design Competition. To celebrate the March 22nd release of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After, we’re giving Quirk fans and designers the opportunity to craft their own mash-up book covers for a chance at fabulous prizes.

'The contest is inspired by the iconic cover from our 2009 New York Times best-selling book Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. That cover features a zombified version of the once-genteel portrait of Marcia B. Fox, which our designer Doogie Horner acquired from Bridgeman Art Library. Horner transformed the original artwork by repainting portions and merging the changes in Photoshop. The resulting mashed-up image was voted Amazon’s Best Book Cover of the Year in 2009. You can check out all the before and after images of the five Classics, here on Bridgeman’s website.

'The prizes are pretty fantastic. The grand-prize package, includes entrance to the HOW Design Conference in Chicago and a feature in GD USA Magazine! Our favorites will be featured in a First Friday gallery show at Brave New Worlds in Philadelphia. For more information and to enter, visit http://www.bridgemanart.com/competitions.'

This competition closes March 11th, so aspiring artists should get in ~~Quirk~~ quick!

Pop Culture: Stand By For A Party Political Broadcast...

2011-02-11T20:40:00.000+11:00

You know that zombies have really tapped into the zeitgeist when a major political party uses them as the central theme in a campaign advertisement. For NecroScope's overseas readers, The Greens - who have bankrolled the following ad - are Australia's major environmentalist political group. We present the following, which will hit TV in the lead up to the next NSW state election, without further comment (political or otherwise).

(Reported by Kyla Ward).

Review: Zombies For Zombies: The Play & Werk Buk

2011-02-07T12:41:00.000+11:00

David P. Murphy, 2010, Sourcebooks

Just when you thought brains couldn't get any more appealing, Z4Z: The Play & Werk Buk gives you, the recently turned zombie, a range of new ways to maintain your sentience and minimise your inclination to moan and shuffle. Packed with games, puzzles, stories, quizzes and other ways to embrace and improve your new zombie life, this book is a great inactivity guide for the whole morgue...

There's not much that can be said about The Play & Werk Buk that isn't covered in the blurb above. Basically, it's an activity book for zombies (taking cues from Murphy's previous darkly satirical publication, Zombies for Zombies), and, as such, is as irreverent, funny, grotesque, and downright disturbing* as one might expect. The Play & Werk Buk is an enjoyable and funny read, and a worthy addition to the range of 'novelty' zombie publications currently on the market.

* Perhaps the most disturbing thing about The Play & Werk Buk is that - according to Mrs NecroKeeper, who is currently completing her teaching degree (hey, the undead are entitled to an education, too!) - the majority of the book's content has genuine educational applications for primary-age kids.

News: Dymocks Southland Bestselling Zombie Titles for January 2011

2011-01-31T09:12:00.000+11:00

Zombie fiction continued to trade strongly into the new year after a bumper Christmas season, with the popularity of The Walking Dead TV show additionally boosting sales of Zed-related graphic novels.

1. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies - Austen / Graeme-Smith
2. Zombie Apocalypse! - ed. Stephen Jones
3. Marvel Zombies #1 - Kirkman / Phillips
4. The Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks
5. Zombies vs Unicorns - ed. Larbalestier / Black
6. Boneshaker - Cherie Priest
7. Night of the Living Trekkies - Anderson / Stall
8. The Dead (The Enemy #2) - Charlie Higson
9. The Zombie Combat Manual - Roger Ma
10. Pariah - Bob Fingerman

Recent arrivals include David P. Murphy's Zombies for Zombies: The Play and Werk Buk.

Fiction: Arizona Afterwards

2011-01-24T11:35:00.000+11:00

In the fine tradition of bestselling authors such as David Wellington and David Moody, who rose to prominence through posting their zombie fiction free online, Australian-based author Christopher Green currently has a full-length zombie novel underway over at www.arizonaafterwards.com

Arizona Afterwards is a novel of survival. Of love and pain and struggle. And zombies. Four chapters have been posted thus far, with a new chapter posted every weekend throughout 2011, completely free of charge to readers. Zomfic fans who wish to reimburse Christopher for his excellent work, however, may do so via the on-site Paypal Donation button.

Christopher, whose award-winning short fiction has been published in Dreaming Again, Edge of Propinquity, Midnight Echo and Aurealis (among others), also maintains a writing blog at christophergreen.wordpress.com, and NecroScope recommends that you take the time to check out Christopher's wider body of work.

Review: The Dead (The Enemy #2)

2011-01-22T18:49:00.000+11:00

Charlie Higson, 2010, Penguin Australia

A terrible plague is striking down everyone over the age of fourteen, and those that survive now roam the streets as mindless animals, hunting, seeking human flesh. Jack and Ed are best friends, but their battle to stay alive tests their friendship to the limit as they go on the run with a mismatched group of kids - nerds, fighters, misfits - and one solitary adult, who claims to be immune to the disease...

Charlie Higson's sequel to The Enemy takes the central premise of the first book - what if everyone over the age of fourteen suddenly became a flesh-eating zombie? - and explores the ramifications to their fullest and most terrifying potential. With The Dead focusing upon a completely different group of central characters from those in The Enemy, Higson has the opportunity to examine the same overall situation from a totally different angle, and indeed manages to put a new spin on certain events from the first book, which hints at some intriguing and - again - terrifying possibilities for the next book in the series. The plotting is tight, the forward momentum of the story never flagging for a moment, and Higson's characters are empathic studies of the average tween, an uneasy (often contradictory) blend of childlike immaturity and adult intelligence.

It should be noted that, despite The Dead being pitched squarely at the Young Adult market, Higson pulls no punches when it comes to depicting realistic violence, gore, and other dark aspects of post-apocalyptic life, although it's difficult to say who will find such content more disturbing: teens or adults. Far from being a bad thing, I'd cite this as just one of the major reasons that The Dead will stay with readers long after they've turned the final page (and possibly visited the advertised website, about which I'll say no more).

In a nutshell, The Dead is a bleak, emotionally draining and completely riveting installment in what is shaping up to be a brilliant zompocalyptic series. A must-read of the genre.

Review: Zombie Apocalypse!

2011-01-21T22:37:00.000+11:00

Ed. Stephen Jones, 2010, Scribo Australia

In near-future London, construction work on an old church releases a plague that turns its victims into flesh-hungry ghouls. As 'The Death' begins to sweep across the country, and then the entire globe, civilization collapses. Told through a series of interconnected eyewitness narratives - text messages, emails, blogs, letters, diaries and transcripts - Zombie Apocalypse! is an epic tale of a world plunged into chaos as the dead battle the living for total dominion...

Comprising dozens of individual pieces contributed by many talented authors (credited only at the back of the book, to emphasise the 'found footage' nature of the anthology), Zombie Apocalypse! details the titular event from seemingly-innocent beginnings to ultimate end, with often-understated evidence of bureaucratic bungling, governmental cover-ups and military failures contributing to the atmosphere of dread and impending doom that builds throughout. While some of the more irreverently light-hearted pieces seemed a little out of place against the overall darkness, most contributed strongly to the overall story. It's been a long time since I've been genuinely frightened by a zombie tale, but several pieces in Zombie Apocalypse! (such as Paul Finch's deceptively dry policeman's report of the Night From Hell) were so effectively disturbing that - I'm ashamed to admit - after reading this anthology in a single sitting, I was reticent to leave the safety of my brightly-lit lounge room and traverse the darkened house to go to bed.

Shared-world anthologies can often be a mixed bag, but Zombie Apocalypse! offers a wonderfully cohesive, engrossing, and truly horrifying vision that should keep most readers turning the page into the wee small hours of the morning. A great, if disturbing, read.

Review: Real Zombies, the Living Dead, and Creatures of the Apocalypse

2011-01-11T11:43:00.000+11:00

Brad Steiger, 2010, Penguin Australia

'Real Zombies... is an antidote to the dozens of Hollywood films that monotonously portray the lurching, reanimated dead. True zombie traditions are vast and multicultural, and they have been almost completely overlooked by the popular media...'

Non-fiction paranormal and occult reference books can be a something of a dodgy proposition; the very best ones out there balance entertainment value with at least a modicum of well-referenced and accurately-reported information; the worst are given over completely to sensationalism, with nothing in the way of 'hard evidence' - at least as far as it's possible to provide hard evidence on matters paranormal - to engage the interest of vaguely-skeptical readers.

Real Zombies falls somewhere in the middle, with Steiger speculating heavily on such matters as Hitler's attempt to create a zombie army, and occasionally stating as fact such things as the popularity of 'zombie brides' in the American South following the Civil War. It's certainly entertaining stuff, but, when offered without any backing historical and/or reputable evidence*, it occasionally feels as though Steiger is asking us to take a little too much on faith alone**. That aside, there's a great deal of fascinating information to be found here, with chapters on such things as zombies as heralds of the Apocalypse, eating flesh as a religious experience, governmental experiments to create zombies, and of course much exploration of vodou culture. On balance, there's also a fair bit of material that seems to have little to do with the central topic; reports on 'real-life' sightings of swamp monsters and lycanthropes, tales of urban demon-worship, and information on flesh-eating mythological creatures from around the globe. Ultimately, though, Real Zombies is an entertaining and informative read; whether you take is as fact, fiction, or a mixture of the two, however, will be largely up to you.

* Possibly I'm expecting too much here, the nature of the topic again not necessarily allowing for academic referencing and the like. On the other hand, though, stating as fact something that - to the best of my knowledge - is not generally accepted as fact requires at least some backing evidence, such as, say, the tentative opinion of some little-known historian. Even a simple disclaimer along the lines of 'So-and-so believes that...' - which immediately identifies the information as honest speculation - is generally sufficient.

** As a practicing vodouissant myself, I certainly have no issues with taking things on faith, so don't imagine for a moment that I'm rubbishing anything related to belief in the occult (or religion, etc). However, again, if an author is going to present such matters as non-fiction, rather than as either fiction or an obvious trapping of Faith (such as a religious text), it falls to the author to provide more than just their personal statement of fact.

Review: My Zombie Valentine

2011-01-08T21:03:00.000+11:00

Katie MacAlister, Angie Fox, Marianne Mancusi & Lisa Cach, 2010, Scribo Books Australia

Tired of boyfriends who drain you dry? Sick of guys who stay out all night howling at the moon? You can do better. Some men want you not only for your body, but your brains. Especially your brains...

My Zombie Valentine comprises four novellas, each penned by one of the authors named above, and it should come as no surprise - given the blurb above, not to mention the title - that all four fall squarely into the 'paranormal romance' genre. Overall, I found all four pieces enjoyable (despite them being very obviously pitched at a female readership, which I am not); MacAlister's 'Bring Out Your Dead' revolves around a unique counsellor unwillingly drafted to care for a rather unusual child, while dealing with various Undead Issues of her own; Fox's 'Gentlemen Prefer Voodoo' is the tale of a practitioner/shopkeeper who utilises her faith to secure a lover; Mancusi's 'Zombiewood Confidential' gives us movie stars and romance against the backdrop of a Romeroesque uprising; and Cach's 'Every Part of You' pits our female protagonist against a madman and his army of...well, you can guess.

There's nothing particularly deep or gory to be found here, just light, entertaining fluff, mostly well-written and, yes, pleasingly sexy (definitely no 'ick' factor). If you enjoy paranormal romance in general, it's likely you'll enjoy the contents of this anthology; if head-shots and flesheating is more your thing, possibly not so much.

Review: Dead City

2011-01-08T15:42:00.000+11:00

Joe McKinney, Pinnacle Books, 2006 (reissued 2010)

In the wake of a series of cataclysmic hurricanes, a deadly virus has spread along the Texas Gulf Coast. The dead are rising, with an insatiable hunger for human flesh, and police officer Eddie Huston must fight off the savage hordes in a race to find and save his family. But time is running out, and Eddie doesn't yet realise the price he may have to pay for failure...

I must admit to being absolutely delighted to see Joe McKinney's Dead City being reissued - with one sequel recently released and another two forthcoming, plus a (be warned, somewhat spoiler-ish) related short tale in the recent anthology, The Living Dead 2 - as this is a novel that (in my opinion) lead the initial 'boom' not merely in zomfic, but in really good zomfic, when it first appeared back in 2006.

The plot is a simple one, with our protagonist struggling to survive in a city overrun by the living dead; pure Romero, although the stakes are raised above the same-old by the specific nature of Eddie's 'quest' - to not merely survive, but to track down his young family and get them to safety. Factor in a sympathetic, though pleasingly imperfect protagonist, and McKinney's concise and descriptive prose, and you have what can best be described as a 'page-turner'.

Dead City is a damned good read, and one guaranteed to please a range of readers well beyond the zomfic fans. Again, it's fantastic to see another bona fide classic of the genre re-issued (Walter Greatshell's Xombies is another recent example) for the benefit of those who have only come lately to the growing zomfic horde, and I'm greatly looking forward to reading the sequels, Apocalypse of the Dead, Flesh Eaters, and The Zombie King.

Dead City is available in Australia through Penguin Books.

News: the 2010 (Genre) Bookselling Year in Review

2011-01-05T20:33:00.000+11:00

...or, at least, one Australian bookseller's take on it.

Follow the link below to access a frank report on sales of SF, fantasy, paranormal fiction and horror (including a dedicated 'bestselling zombie titles' list!) at Dymocks Southland over the past year, posted by NecroScope's own Keeper of the Dead.

http://chuckmck1.livejournal.com/35428.html

News: Zomfic Up for Hugo Nominations

2011-01-04T08:35:00.000+11:00

One of the highlights of 2010, in terms of zomfic, was the utterly brilliant The Living Dead 2 anthology from Night Shade Books, edited by John Joseph Adams. Now, as nominations open for the annual Hugo Awards, zomfans have an opportunity to show their appreciation for the contribution that Adams - and a whole bunch of extremely talented authors - have made to the zombie fiction subgrenre.

From John's personal blog:

2011 Hugo Awards Nomination Period is Now OpenThis year’s Hugo Awards nomination ballot is now online. The 2011 Hugo Awards will be presented in Reno, NV during Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction Convention (August 17-21). Deadline for nominating online is March 26, 2011 23:59 PDT.

Anyone who has a supporting or full membership of Renovation as of January 31, 2011 and all members of Aussiecon 4 (last year’s Worldcon) may nominate works. If you didn’t attend Aussiecon, and you don’t plan to attend Renovation, you can still nominate by purchasing a supporting membership.

Already registered? Go and nominate your favorite works!

A full list of works edited by John that are eligible in the various Hugo categories (including stories from The Living Dead 2) is up at: http://www.johnjosephadams.com/2011/01/2011-hugo-awards-nomination-period-is-now-open/

Don't be shy, folks - let's get some top-notch zomfic up for the Hugos in 2011!

Editorial: the NecroKeeper's Xmas Haul

2011-01-02T17:36:00.000+11:00

So, what did Santa bring you for Xmas?

Xmas is a brilliant time for zomfans: aside from the ever-increasing list of great zombie publications available to give and receive, there's a veritable cryptful of zombie-related products out there to pick and choose from at this special time of year. In this special NecroScope Editorial, we give you a peek at all the Yuletide goodies received by our very own Keeper of the Dead and his family...

Here, the NecroKeeper models a couple of awesome t-shirts purchased from Redbubble (by Mrs NecroKeeper).

While Zombie Jr. scored these great PJ's.

And MiniZom looks ready to take on the horde in this appropriately-themed romper suit (thanks, Miss Alice!).

Zombie Jr. also scored this great Cuponk zombie game (from Santa). The idea is to bounce a ball (painted to look like an eyeball) into the cup via a specific pattern of bounces, as dictated by a card selected. Surprisingly addictive.

A zombie feltie for the NecroKeeper, courtesy of one of our regular customers at Dymocks Southland (thanks, Liz!).

And what Xmas would be complete without calendars for the following year? Here's an official Max Brooks Zombie Survival Guide 2011 desk calendar (cheers, Tate!), and a brilliant Fold-Your-Own-Zombie 'zombigami' wall calendar (once again, thanks to the awesome Miss Alice!).

All in all, a bumper haul for the NecroFamily, and hopefully a few cool zombie gift ideas for you all for Xmas 2011.

Review: Home

2011-01-02T12:28:00.000+11:00

Dir. Cameron McCulloch, Starring Jamie McDowell, 2010

Deep in the Australian bush, a lone young woman emerges periodically from her rickety shack to thin the hordes of encroaching zombies. But is she truly alone? And will the dark secret she keeps ultimately be the cause of her undoing?

Home is a short film, written and directed by Cameron McCulloch, and shot on a budget of just AU$2,000, which took out first prize at the Made in Melbourne film festival last month. Zombies have always lent themselves to low-budget film-making, but rarely are such films so polished and gripping as Home. The simple plot is taut and engrossing, despite dealing with themes familiar to most zomfans, and McDowell's dialogue-free performance as the sole living character is excellent. The backdrop of the inhospitable Australian bush is used to great effect, with some stunning cinematography, minimal and effective use of music, and understated SFX similarly underscoring the 'mundane' horror of the piece.

Home is an absolute gem among zombie shorts, and one I'd urge zomfans to track down and see if possible. The film will be doing the rounds of various festivals in the near future, and of course NecroScope will keep our readers posted on forthcoming screenings. In the meantime, to whet your appetites, here's the official Home trailer.

Review: Pariah

2011-01-02T10:02:00.000+11:00

Bob Fingerman, 2010, Tor

A global plague has vanquished mankind. In NYC, eight million zombies pack the streets, shoulder to shoulder, waiting for their next meal of human flesh. The residents of an upper east-side apartment block have banded together to survive, but - trapped in the safety of their fortress - soon find themselves starving and at one anothers' throats. And then one day a girl appears outside - a girl who can walk unmolested among the living dead...

Truly good zomlit - as with most great apocalyptic fiction - is never really about zombies; it's about people, and how people react to a crisis. This being the case, there's really no reason why each and every apocalyptic zombie novel shouldn't be fresh, unique and engrossing, as there is literally no limit to the number of different human characters an author can throw together to produce vastly differing behaviour and reactions, either to the zombies or to each other. Pariah is certainly a novel that ably demonstrates this truism, the central characters including some aging Jews, a couple of aggressive jocks, a younger white married couple, a black locksmith, the local 'cat lady' type, a sensitive artist, and the rather odd teenaged girl who enters their lives. Tensions within the group are inflamed by ongoing grudges and rivalries, lust, jealousy and extreme boredom, while the surreal threat of the zombies surrounding the building is counterbalanced by the utterly mundane and more immediate threat of starvation and dehydration, since the residents are unable to leave the building to forage. Fingerman's prose is pure poetry, and right from the outset the narrative simmers with a mix of escalating tension and dark observational humour, leaving the reader in little doubt that things cannot possibly end well here.

Pariah is one of the most enjoyable and engaging reads - in any genre - I've had in a year packed with enjoyable and engaging reads. This is a zombie novel one can safely recommend to literary pundits who wouldn't pick up a zombie novel under any circumstances. Brilliant, brilliant stuff, and a novel that all zomlit fans absolutely must read.

News: Dymocks Southland Bestselling Zombie Titles for December 2010

2011-01-01T21:02:00.000+11:00

Christmas was a bumper month for sales of zomlit at Dymocks Southland this year, no doubt due to customers wishing to show their respect for the original zombie himself, JC.

1. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies - Austen / Graeme-Smith
2. Alone (Chasers #1) - James Phelan
3. Night of the Living Trekkies - Anderson / Stall
4. The Zombie Combat Manual - Roger Ma
5. I Am Scrooge - Adam Roberts
6. Feed - Mira Grant
7. Zombie Felties (!) - Tedman / Skeate
8. Dead City - Joe McKinney
9. Undead - John Russo
10. Zombies vs Unicorns - Larbalestier / Black

New zed-flavoured arrivals this month included Zombie Apocalypse! (ed. Stephen Jones), Warm Bodies (Isaac Marion), and Code of the Zombie Pirate (Scott Kenemore).

Christmas Competition Winner!

2010-12-25T20:17:00.000+11:00

A huge 'thanks' to everyone who took the time to pitch their idea for a zombie TV show based upon a book or short story. We had a bunch of great concepts sent in, ranging from the latest bestsellers to half-forgotten cult classics, with suggestions for one-off telemovies, ongoing seasons, limited series, half-hour 'specials', and more.

Unsurprisingly, recent releases lead the field, with novels such as Jonathan Maberry's Patient Zero and Mira Grant's Feed nominated numerous times. Older works that received multiple nominations included Joe McKinney's Dead City, Z. A. Recht's Plague of the Dead, Kim Paffenroth's Dying to Live, Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Daniel Waters' Generation Dead, J. L. Bourne's Day by Day Armageddon, and Sarah Langan's Virus (aka The Missing).

Both Max Brooks' The Zombie Survival Guide and Roger Ma's The Zombie Combat Manual were suggested as serialised 'mockumentaries', and Adam Roberts' I Am Scrooge was a popular choice as a one-off Christmas special.

Short fiction received fewer nominations in general, although several classic tales were suggested. David J. Schow's 'Jerry's Kids Meet Wormboy' and Jennifer Brozek's 'A Bite to Remember' both received several nods. A couple of individual suggestions that really piqued our interest were David Wimberley's (Aust) nomination of Clive Barker's 'Scape-Goats' as a telemovie, and Steve McKenna's (UK) vision of Scott Edelman's 'The Last Supper' as a half-hour special.

Ultimately, though, there could only be one winner, and NecroScope would like to congratulate Guilherme Matsumoto (Brazil), whose passionate pitch for a six-episode miniseries based upon Brian Keene's apocalyptic novel, Dead Sea, came complete with suggested cast and crew (and valid reasons for those suggestions) and a clear vision of what the series should achieve.

Guilherme, a prize-pack filled with all manner of zombie-related goodies will shortly be winging it's way to you from darkest Oz. Congratulations once again.

To all our non-winners, commiserations. Remember, though, that there will be plenty more opportunities in future to win fabulous prizes simply by being a zomfic fan, so stay logged in to NecroScope in the meantime.

Fiction: Goodnights to Heaven

2010-12-24T07:49:00.000+11:00

By way of thanks to all the zomfic fans who subscribe to or regularly visit this blog, NecroScope is extremely proud to offer the following Yuletide treat: an original piece of fiction from Australia's own zombiemeister, Jason Fischer (author of, among other zombie-related goodness, After the World: Gravesend). If you enjoy the following tale (as you doubtless will), be sure to chase up some of Jason's previous zombie-related work via his official website (http://jasonfischer.com.au/).

In the meantime, grab a glass of Christmas Cheer, ease yourself into a comfy chair, and prepare to be thoroughly moved, unsettled and entertained by 'Goodnights to Heaven'.

Don't turn your back on the chimney, though: you never what what might come down it...

Goodnights to Heaven

by Jason Fischer

It was spotting the man on the roof that made her change direction, and probably saved their lives. He was obviously a lookout, some poor frozen bugger lurking in the mess of old chimneys and tiles, anorak up around his ears. There was no other reason for a breathing body to be sitting up there in the cold.
   ‘Back this way, Toby,’ Mary whispered, pulling the little boy back around the corner, holding him close. Her heart was racing. Were we seen?
   ‘I’m tired, Mummy,’ the boy whined softly.
   She led him away from that reasonable looking street, a row of terrace houses with most of the windows intact. She pictured the untouched larders, clean beds, maybe left over toys and books for her son. And then she remembered that man on the rooftop, and knew that where one man watched, others waited, and that soon enough this place too would be stripped bare.
   They trudged back into streets long since picked over, endless blocks of waste, the houses all cracked open like eggs and open to the elements, doors flapping or off their hinges, windows broken by angry starving kids. And always, always the stacks of bodies, thick on the ground here and putrid, but at least they weren’t up and walking about.
   The sun was starting to sink through the rooftops, a thin watery orb sliding down that freezing clear sky. With an eye to the remaining daylight, Mary found a semi-detached house, less damaged than its neighbours. Stepping gingerly over an eviscerated corpse, spread out and rotting on the doorstep, Mary took the boy inside, looking at the thick layers of dirt coating the floors, noting how every corner and nook had trapped the autumn leaves, blown in through the destroyed windows.
   ‘See that,’ she whispered to the boy, pointing at the grimy floors. ‘No tracks, nothing for a long time. We can stay here.’
   ‘Mummy, I’m hungry,’ Toby grizzled, looking up at her. His eyes were sunken, his cheek bones far too pronounced. She’d dressed him in several layers of clothes and he still looked like a ghost on legs.
   The last of their food had been taken from them at knife-point, by a sad-eyed man who tried to apologise for robbing them, even as he was doing it. He’d left them a can of dog-food, which they’d bolted down as soon as he left, Mary gagging on the gelatin slime. Between them they ate every mouthful, scraping the sides of the tin clean.
   That had been three days ago.
   They looked through the cupboards and shelves, even checking the mess of drawers that had been pulled out and dumped onto the lino floor. The place had been picked over, and good. Feeling around underneath the kitchen sink, she cried out triumphantly. A single can had fallen behind the drain pipes, overlooked by the human locusts who’d last visited.
   “Halved Pears in Syrup!” the faded label read. Hands shaking, Mary worked her can-opener, mouth running when she saw the fat slices of fruit, bobbing in thick liquid. Even though her stomach growled, Mary made sure that Toby ate every single mouthful, saving only a little of the juice for herself.
   ‘My tummy hurts,’ Toby said, a few minutes after wolfing down the pears. He danced on the spot, clutching at his stomach, which gave an ominous rumbling sound. The toilet stank like a morgue, with a rotting body still clutching the bowl, so Mary helped her son squat over a large saucepan, the boy sobbing as his meal ran right through him.
   ‘My poor darling, my sweet boy,’ Mary said, wiping his brow. They had a little clean water left, and she let him drink it all. ‘I know, my heart, I know.’
   They found a thick quilt in the linen cupboard, and slept in the top of the garage, a converted stable complete with the old hay-loft. With the ladder pulled up they were safe enough, if a walking dead thing should sniff them out.
   ‘I can see the stars,’ Toby whispered, pointing out through the dusty louvre windows. ‘I’m gonna do my goodnights to heaven.’
   Mary clutched her boy close, tucking the quilt in around them. The boards beneath them were hard and cold, and the backpack made for a poor pillow. Her limbs ached with exhaustion.
   ‘Goodnight Grandpa, and Daddy, and Sally, and Moggy. I love you lots and lots.’ He ended the ritual with a blown kiss, the way he’d always done. Cradled in his mother’s bony arms, the boy was asleep in seconds. Stifling her sobs, Mary cried and cried.

#

   ‘It’s a special day today,’ Mary told Toby, pointing to her diary. She always recorded temperature, locations visited, numbers of undead seen, her general condition and Toby’s. Bevan had told her she was an obsessive diariser, ‘a mad Samuel Pepys, except you’ve got nothing interesting to write about.’
   In the early days of this feral new world, he sure changed his tune as to the usefulness of a diary, and then he was bitten and had to be put down (this event marked in a somewhat shaky hand as having happened on the 5th of February, 2014), marking the end of married life and all of its comfortable nitpickings.
   ‘It’s Christmas day,’ she said. ‘You might have been too little to remember it, but we used to put up a big tree with lights on it, with presents underneath and everyone would come over for a big roast lunch.’
   Toby chewed his lip for a long moment. He always looked thoughtful whenever Mary spoke about the world that once was, as if she was telling tall tales, making things up to keep him cheerful.
   ‘I do so remember Christmas,’ Toby said. ‘We ate a tin of pudding last year. Daddy put a fire on and he gave me my colouring book.’
   ‘That’s right. But I’ve got something better for you this year.’
   They left the semi-detached, Mary making a careful note of its position in her diary, wrote “A SAFE PLACE?”. The two walked through the streets, pausing only once to hide from a small pack of zombies, leathery corpses weaving all over the street like drunks.
   Roughly twelve corpses, when last month they’d run from a mob in this neighbourhood that was three hundred strong. Suits me fine, Mary thought. Move on, you smelly buggers.
   They waited in an abandoned combi van for the mob to pass, and Mary tipped a sprinkling of vinegar onto herself and Toby. It would mask their scent, confuse the keen senses of the undead. If they kept out of sight, they would be fine.
   We creep through this strange new world like a pair of mice, Mary thought. Licking her cracked lips, she eyed off the vinegar, perhaps two fingers worth left in the bottle, but wrote it off as a bad idea. It will only make us thirsty, and we need every drop of this stuff, need it to move around safely.
   When the last faint moan had faded into the distance, they slid out of the van, walked quickly. Once, Mary heard arguing, a man and a woman, and lingered on the corner of main street, wondering if it was worth the risk. It would take them straight to where they were going. A moment later and there was a gunshot, the sharp crack like a fat hand swatting the life out of something.
   There was no scream, and the angry words had stopped. Mary scooped Toby up into her arms and ran back the way she’d come, changing streets, slipping down quiet alleyways, doubling back on herself until she was thoroughly lost. The young boy trembled in her arms, and she felt the warm trickle of his urine as it soaked through the seat of his pants.
   ‘It’s okay mate, we won’t see any of the bad people,’ she said, stroking his hair. ‘We’re okay now.’
   The street directory gave her an alternate route, through the old industrial area. They’d passed through about nine months ago (9th November, 2013 to be precise, “STUFF ALL HERE” Bevan had added to her brief jottings), and the place was of no interest to anyone alive – all the fuel was gone, as well as anything useful.
   A handful of the rotting walkers spotted them in the old cement plant, and gave limping chase through the tank farms and plant rooms. Mary dabbed on the last of the vinegar, making sure to rub the last few drops into Toby’s face, behind his ears, all over his hands. Befuddled, the slavering monsters shuffled past their hiding spot, close enough that Mary could see the fat bloat of rot pushing at leathery skin from the inside, eyes frosted like a fish hooked and bled out.
   Look at them. They’re having trouble walking, Mary thought. Their joints are all fused together or something. A fat chunk of maggot-ridden flesh slid off a zombie’s back, dropping onto the floor at their feet. Gagging quietly, Mary fought the churning rebellion in her empty stomach.
   The stink of the undead things washed over them, the decomposed corpse smell that no-one should ever have to breathe in, and that time did not improve. She held Toby close, covering his eyes and ears, barely daring to breathe. Her boy shook, but he was smart for his age, knew how to hide from the undead.
   Slipping through a chain-link fence the woman and boy were across a vacant block, sneaking through the car-choked ruins of the old highway, stopping still when the gusting wind rocked a dead car on its springs. There were infected bodies in some cars, too stupid to get themselves out, quiet enough to snatch you should you pass too close.
   ‘There’s the city,’ Mary said, pointing at the mess of skyscrapers, the glass edifices peppered with broken windows, some of the buildings burnt out in their entirety. ‘I’ve got a nice surprise for you Toby, but you have to keep close and be very quiet. It’s dangerous here.’
   ‘I know, Mum,’ Toby sighed. ‘I’m not stupid.’
   'Look at me,’ Mary said, kneeling down so that her face was level with the boy’s. ‘I don’t mean to nag at you. I just don’t want to see you get hurt, okay?’
   ‘’kay,’ Toby mumbled.
   ‘Just keep your eyes open and tell me if you see anything,’ she said. ‘It might be a bit smelly in there, so try to breathe through your mouth.’
   Smelly was the understatement of the year. The streets were carpeted with bodies, and little bones crunched with every step. In some places the footpaths was slick with gore, and it was all Mary could do not to slip over. She tried her best not to think about the diseases they were wallowing through, promised them both a bath the moment she could boil up enough water.
   Where are all the zombies? she thought. The last time they’d looked at the place through Bevan’s binoculars, it was a hive of dead things, an enormous tomb. Millions of dead things, hungry for human flesh, and no point dropping in to Tesco’s if you didn’t want to be nibbled on.
   But now, there were only a handful of zombies walking the street, and they were in bad shape. A body that was little more than sinew and bone was standing in a doorway, swaying gently, and another was in an alleyway, knocking the bins over, moaning in confusion.
   ‘Look, they’re sick Mummy,’ Toby said. What was once a nun dragged herself down the front steps of a shop, nothing left to her but the top half and a little tail of spine. Its descent was laborious, and when it reached the bottom it lay down with a sigh, eyeing off mother and son with malevolence. But apart from one shuddering attempt to rise, it did not move.
   ‘That bloody nun should be chasing us to the ends of the earth,’ Mary said. ‘Maybe it’s kicked the habit.’
   Toby looked at her with confusion.
   ‘Don’t worry, it wasn’t that funny. Come on.’
   Some minutes later they stood hand-in-hand before a huge shopping complex, the car-parks completely coated with rotting flesh. Ignoring the smell and the flies, Mary led Toby towards an enormous store, with an enormous giraffe mascot blazoned on the side of the building.
   The glass sign had been smashed, but there was enough left to spell out TOYS in ten foot high letters. When Toby saw this, a gap-toothed smile shot out across his filthy face, and he darted forward, dragging his mother by the hand, shouting at her to hurry up.
   ‘Merry Christmas Kid,’ she laughed.

#

25 December, 2014:
The zombies are dying out, pun intended. Looks like we’re the first ones game to come back here. A horrid smell everywhere, someone needs to fire the maid! Found two cans beans, one box ramen noodles, one can of Glen 20 to disinfect EVERYTHING.

Toby had a V. good day, all the bikes had been pinched months ago but no-one wanted the other stuff. Found a box of batteries and he had the time of his life – I’ve never seen so many robots and dinosaurs walking around.

Turns out that happiness still is a kid in a toy store.

THE END.

Review: Undead

2010-12-21T20:50:00.000+11:00

John Russo, 2010, Penguin Australia

As a zomfic fanatic, one of the things that most gladdens my heart about the current boom is - as I've mentioned in previous reviews - that many older zombie-related publications are being re-released, and in many cases finally garnering the readership they deserved the first time around. The latest of these is Undead, a two-fer from Night of the Living Dead scriptwriter John A. Russo, which comprises Russo's original 1974 novelisation of the movie he co-wrote with George A. Romero, plus Return of the Living Dead, the original novel that later became the basis for the 1985 movie of the same title.

I'll begin by stating that Undead is a book all self-respecting zomfans should own. I mean, it's John A. Russo, after all. As far as the contents go, if you've seen NotLD, you already know the tale, although Russo certainly makes an effort to flesh out the characters a little more, to introduce some backstory. Return of the Living Dead is written as a continuation of the same story - bearing almost no resemblance to the blockbuster movie - taking place a decade after the events of NotLD, and indeed featuring at least one of the original characters.

While NotLD is an enjoyable enough read, I must admit to being somewhat disappointed with Return: Russo's dry, almost completely unemotive writing style perfectly recalls the documentary-like style of the NotLD screenplay, but without a similar cinematic template to ensure similar reader expectations of Return, the latter novel comes across as a bit boring: events are reported matter-of-factly, with little apparent attempt to engage the emotions of the reader. There's also no evidence whatsoever of the biting black humour that runs right through Russo's wonderful 1985 novelisation of the Return of the Living Dead movie, which is a great loss. That said, there's certainly sufficient inventiveness and momentum of plot to ensure continued page-turning, but ultimately Return of the Living Dead reads like a pastiche of classic zombie movies.

Still, worth reading, nonetheless. Buy and read it for the nostalgia value, and in the knowledge that the profits will actually go to the rightful party (and if you know your NotLD history, you'll understand what I mean).

Review: Dave: Zombie Hunter #1

2010-12-19T21:37:00.002+11:00

There are two well-worn approaches a creator can take when it comes to zombies: 1) the serious, splattery approach, often with a between-the-lines critique of modern society, or 2) comedy (or more accurately, zomedy). Dave: Zombie Hunter, the brainchild of writer Stewart Cook and artist Timothy Ide, sits firmly in the second camp. Not only is it humorous, Dave: Zombie Hunter is downright strange in places.

The path to publication for issue #1 has taken fourteen years and some false starts according to the author's message at the end of the comic book. The concept began as a film script, but after illustrator Ide became involved by drawing up storyboards for the proposed film, writer Cook liked the art so much, he suggested the comic book format instead. Fortunately for Cook, this decision has paid dividends because the story as filmed would have been firmly entrenched in Z-grade obscurity without a decent budget for effects and experienced actors, whereas Ide's skill as an artist brings to life many of the script's over the top moments in a manner comparable to the best comic book artists in Australia.

The story itself is surprisingly engaging and avoids the cliche of other zombie comic book stories, which tend to be a haze of run-action-run scenes with little in the way of surprises or character development. The plot is brisk and the action segues nicely into a number of comedy set pieces, which is no mean feat in just 21 pages.

Protagonist Dave is your typical Aussie loser, a man who runs 'Dave's Zombie Hunting and Grocery Delivery Service'. Unfortunately for Dave, the zombie apocalypse proves to be all too real, and the mysterious Dr Magus (who might have some insight into the nature of the zombie threat) calls for his assistance, setting Dave off on his quest. For a bloke who added the 'zombie hunting' side to his business as a joke, he proves surprisingly adept at dispatching the undead.

Humorous highlights of the issue centre on Dave's best mate Chuck (although the name is purely coincidental, I like to think it's a reference to our very own Keeper of the Dead, Chuck McKenzie), who manages to seduce a zombie chick he'd had a crush on without realising she was undead, and who later, brings an electric carving knife to a fight - without an extension cord! There's another moment towards the end where Dave's sexy girlfriend Vera goes all Bruce Campbell on the zombies, right down to the part where she demands 'some sugar' from Dave.

The plot takes a dip into the bizarre at the end with the arrival of 'The Montys', a sixties-style flower power family in the mould of The Partridge Family, and events descend into a weird apology singalong. The whole thing is just downright bizarre, but you know what? It works!

The downside to Dave is that the story sits somewhere between an Australian and American audience - and suffers for it. An Aussie larrikin, with references to Australian cultural icons such as Rove, Dave also totes a .45 automatic and heads for a place called 'Apple County' (an allusion to California's Orange County, perhaps?). This is a minor criticism, but without the story being grounded in a clear cultural identity, it feels a little generic, which is often a danger with zombie fiction. If Dave had been even more of a sexist Aussie bloke (a tough call, to be sure!), with a clear local setting, this would have enhanced the story's appeal.

Another, admittedly minor, complaint is the cover, which would have been more striking as full-colour poster art rather than upsized black and white panel art. The artwork inside, however, is top notch for an Aussie indie. Full marks to Tim Ide for bringing the story - and the humour - to life. It's a difficult job to make horrific art humorous, but Ide does it with ease.

Part 1 (of what appears to be a two-part story) sets the pace, introduces all the elements and key players, and then throws a couple of curve balls to keep the reader guessing about what's in store in part 2. I'm genuinely looking forward to the conclusion of Dave: Zombie Hunter - and to how Cook ties up the plot threads. One thing can be certain: there will be blood and more than a few laughs.

Dave: Zombie Hunter can be purchased from the creators' website.

This review is part of the 2010 Australian Horror Comics review series by Shane Jiraiya Cummings. To read other reviews in this series, search HorrorScope for the Labels 'Oz Horror Comics'.

Review: Grace

2010-12-13T14:43:00.000+11:00

Dir. Paul Solet, 2009, Madman Entertainment

While eight months pregnant, Madeline's dream of motherhood becomes a nightmare when an horrific car accident leaves both her husband and her unborn child dead. Refusing to acknowledge the tragedy, Madeline brings the child to term - only to discover that, impossibly, baby Grace has survived. But is it truly a miracle, or something rather more sinister? For Grace is a strange child, with unthinkable needs. And baby needs to feed...

Grace is one of those utterly uncompromising horror movies - and I can think of few other movies that so absolutely deserve the epithet of 'horror' - that begins immediately with the more mundane horrors of strained spousal and stifling familial relationships before graduating to the truly awful horror of the death of a child, and onwards to the supernatural horrors at the centre of the plot. The script is tight and almost unbearably tense throughout; the cast performances are all excellent and masterfully understated; production values are superb.

There's likely to be some argument amongst fans of the walking dead as to whether Grace is truly a zombie movie; to my mind, though, any film revolving around a dead (and apparently decaying) child who requires blood (and more) to survive certainly qualifies.

In a nutshell, Grace is one of the most genuinely horrific and emotionally upsetting pieces of cinematic horror I've ever seen, and one likely to become regarded as a minor masterpiece by those who appreciate style and substance over in-your-face scares and gore.

Christmas Competition: Pitch a Zombie TV Show!

2010-12-13T12:53:00.000+11:00

Last week, AMC's premier season of The Walking Dead concluded with a ratings bonanza, and the news that a second season will be hitting TV screens next year...in distant October. Still, zombie fans everywhere must be hoping that somewhere, in rival TV stations across the globe, commissioning executives are saying to themselves: 'Hm. Zombies, eh? Maybe that's where the money is. Anyone got that Maberry guy's phone number?'

So: for our final competition of the year, we're giving YOU the chance to pitch your zomfic TV adaptation concept!!! Just to us, admittedly, which means very little in terms of getting the thing actually made. Still, you never know, maybe some televisual bigwig will shamble past the site and...

But enough of pipe dreams. Details! Prizes! Rules!

What we're looking for is your suggestion of a zombie-related book, short story or graphic novel that you think could be successfully adapted for TV, and - just as importantly - why you think it'd be a sure-fire winner. Be sure to mention whether you envision the production as a series, miniseries or telemovie, and feel free to suggest such details as cast, crew, scriptwriter, location, etcetera.

The suggestion that most appeals to us here at NecroScope will score an awesome prize-pack (too late for Christmas Day, but that's slow zombies for you), comprising a selection of zombie-related books, DVDs, comics, and other gruesome offcuts.

Rules are:

# Competition is open to anyone and everyone, not just Followers (although we do hope you'll sign up as a Shambler - see right-hand menu - if you enter)

# Entries to be submitted in the body of an email (via the NecroScope address), preferably no more than 500 words long, with your full name and postal details included.

# Competition closes December 24th, 5.00pm EST. The winner will be announced here on Dec 26th. A selection of worthy, non-winning alternative suggestions will also be posted at that time.

Gotta be in it to win it, zomfans, so start thinking zombies on TV right now!

Review: Z

2010-12-12T16:07:00.000+11:00

Michael Thomas Ford, 2010, Random House Australia

Josh is by far the best zombie-torcher around - at least, in his online virtual-reality zombie-hunting game. Zombies haven't existed in the real world for more than fifteen years, and the battle to contain the epidemic is now the stuff of history lessons. Or so it seems. But when Josh accepts an invitation to join a secretive gamers' club, he discovers that gaming in the real world isn't as harmless as he'd expected. Real blood is being spilt, members of the team are disappearing, and the android zombies in the game are behaving oddly. And then there's the matter of a mysterious drug called Z...

For all that Z is aimed squarely at younger teens, and therefore written in a style that adults may find somewhat simplistic, older readers will nonetheless find plenty to enjoy in this novel. Presenting new spins on several well-worn tropes of YA fiction, the plot rolls along at a decent pace, and offers some mature commentary on a range of social issues; the characters are well-defined, interesting, and sufficiently 'real' to instill a sense that nobody in this fictional world is immune from harm; the prose and dialogue flow easily, adding to the momentum of the plot. In deference to its target audience, the book forgoes any major forays into gore, instead opting for short, sharp scares and some unsettling cut-aways.

For zomfic fans of any age, Z is definitely a novel worth reading, and one which ably showcases the versatility of the zombie in literature.