Review: Ten Little Zombies

Andy Rash, 2010, Chronicle Books

There are, perhaps unsurprisingly, a great many 'novelty' zombie books doing the rounds at present - further evidence (if any was needed) that zombies now represent serious money to publishers - and Ten Little Zombies is one of the more amusing of the bunch. Subtitled 'A Love Story', this small, 40-odd-paged hardback book comprises nothing more than a simple rhyme (recited to the meter of 'Ten Little Indians') detailing the flight of the narrator and his lady love from the zombies of the piece. To whit:

'Ten little zombies walking in a line
'One stepped in a campfire. Now there are nine.'

And so on. Illustrated throughout with black and white (and red!) cartoons, the book concludes with a rather clever and macabre zombie-related twist that appealed sufficiently to my twisted sense of humour for me to purchase a copy.

If you dislike novelty zombie-themed publications on principle, you'll probably dislike this book too. On the other hand, if you don't take your zombies too seriously, and appreciate a bit of black wit, then Ten Little Zombies is worth adding to your personal library, if only to coax a 'WTF?' out of visitors.

(Ten Little Zombies is distributed in Australia by Hardie Grant, via Random House Australia).

Review: Night of the Living Trekkies

Kevin David Anderson & Sam Stall, 2010, Quirk Books

Jim was the world's biggest Star Trek fan - until two tours of duty in Afghanistan destroyed his faith in humanity. Now he sleepwalks through life as the assistant manager of a small hotel in downtown Houston. But when a local Trek convention devolves into a genuine zombie apocalypse, Jim finds that everything he learned from Star Trek just might be enough to deliver a ragtag crew of fanboys and fangirls to safety. Or not.

I'll state right from the outset that Night of the Living Trekkies is a cracking good read, injecting as it does a welcome dose of good old-fashioned fun back into the zombie genre: the plot is engrossing and well-paced, with a great balance of laugh-out-loud humour and genuine horror, while some great characterisation drives the bulk of the action throughout. The character of Jim in particular - a man who knows almost everything there is to know about Star Trek, yet views 'Trek fandom with something very close to contempt - allows the authors to pull off the impressive trick of poking serious fun at the more obvious absurdities of fandom on the one hand, while nonetheless treating the fan community with a high degree of respect on the other, It's in no small part due to this balancing act that - just as Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (also published by Quirk, who obviously know when they're onto a good thing) has proven equally popular with fans of both Austen and zombies - Night of the Living Trekkies will appeal to both fans and non-fans of Star Trek, and most definitely to fans of apocalyptic zombie mayhem.

(Night of the Living Trekkies is distributed in Australia by Random House).

Pop Culture: Zombies Are No Laughing Matter!

...although the good folk over at Cracked.com - 'America's only humour & video site, since 1958' - might disagree. The site features a number of excellent zombie-related articles, ranging from the insightful to the downright hilarious. Check out the link below, and enjoy the irreverence!

http://www.cracked.com/search/search.php?sa=search&q=zombies

Review: The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten

Harrison Geillor, 2010, Night Shade Books

The town of Lake Woebegotten, Minnesota, is an ordinary little town, populated by ordinary little people. Or so it appears, until the zombie apocalypse arrives, after which it becomes apparent - given the local population includes an ex-military dominatrix, a gun-crazy conspiracy theorist, a car-humping Mayor, a born-again Norse fundamentalist, a housewife who dreams of becoming a serial killer, and an actual serial killer (and septuagenarian mayoral candidate), among others - that, even without the walking dead to contend with (zombie bears, even, you betcha!), Lake Woebegotten has never been a remotely ordinary little town. Still, the townsfolk are going to have to put all that aside if they hope to survive the coming zombie onslaught...assuming they can survive each other, of course...

The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten is, quite simply, one of the funniest, most enjoyable books I've ever read. If George A. Romero and Stephen King had collaborated on the novelisation of Fargo, you'd probably get something pretty close to Geillor's novel: the prose and dialogue are a joy to read, and rich with gentle, observational humour; the plot twists and turns along at a satisfying pace; the wonderful characters - while undoubtedly comic - never quite stray into the realm of stereotyping or outright lampoon. And the zombies do what zombies do best: kill and feed, in as gory and entertaining a manner as possible.

If you only read one zombie novel a year...then you're not reading enough zombie novels. Regardless, put The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten up the top of your Want List: it's absolutely brilliant, and (dare I say it?) my pick for an instant classic of the zombie genre.

Pop Culture: Ford Launches World's First Zombie-Proof Car

Ford is cashing in on the popularity of zombies with this neat ad...

Review: Zombies for Zombies

David P. Murphy, Sourcebooks Inc., 2009


So you've been bitten by a zombie. Bummer. But there's no need to panic. Yes, your life will be undergoing a major transformation, but this doesn't have to be the end-all it once was when the Disaster first hit...

Following a recent unfortunate incident - widely reported - in which Australian horror writer Robert Hood was viciously mauled by zombies, I immediately rushed out to buy myself a copy of Zombies for Zombies, a publication that serves both as a motivational- and a 'life'-skills guide to those making the often painful and confusing transition from life to undeath; chiefly because Rob knows where I live, but also because this handy tome - completely coincidentally set out in the style of (and even visually resembling) the famed Dummies' Guide series - is the guide you want by your side when those weird brain-cravings start to hit.

Among the many aspects of zombie existence covered extensively in this publication are:

* How to dress for your new lifestyle.

* Fitness ideas for keeping you somewhat energetic.

* New skin-care regimes to help ward off that 'rotten flesh' look.

* How to overcome that damned zombie social stigma. And;

* Sex.

You'll also find a wealth of information that may, confusingly, appear at first to be little more than a vast mass of infomercial and product placement, but which is, in fact, Highly Useful Brand Information aimed exclusively at Undead Consumers. Honestly.

Any reviewer mistaking this guide for a work of fiction would no doubt comment upon the 'fact' that the author has managed to inject a genuine sense of unease into this publication, due largely to some deft world-building that goes well beyond the 'same old' established by previous 'apocalyptic' zombie fiction and cinema, as well as via increasingly-common and heavily-veiled 'suggestions', as one progresses through the guide, that all is not as sunny as one might believe in this 'fictional' world. Fortunately, of course, this book is non-fiction, so we can completely discount any comments by the author regarding 'communication failures' at an increasing number of Containment Facilities. Ha-ha-ha. Ahem. Nothing to see here.

Zombies for Zombies is a damn good read (and none of its myriad sponsors have paid me to say that), so run out and buy a copy while you can still run.

Must go. Doorbell. That'll be Rob...