News: Zomfic Up for Hugo Nominations

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!

Review: The Loving Dead

Amelia Beamer, 2010, Night Shade Books

Kate and Michael, twenty-something housemates working at the same Trader Joe's supermarket, find themselves thoroughly screwed when their friends start turning into zombies, infected by an STD that transforms sufferers into shambling, horny, undead killers. Thrust into extremes by the unfolding tragedy, Kate and Michael are forced to confront decisions they've made and fears of commitment - but can they stay alive, or even human, long enough to benefit from such insights?

There's been a great deal of hype over the sexualising of zombies in The Loving Dead, with many people describing the novel as zombie erotica; I was a little surprised, therefore, to find that Beamer's novel really only contains about as much erotic content as the average Mills & Boon - very little of which directly involves the undead - and certainly far less than the average paranormal romance novel. That's not to say there isn't a focus upon sex in the novel; the zombie virus, after all, is sexually transmitted. But full-blown erotica? Not so much. I can only assume that the presence of any erotica whatsoever in a zombie novel provides a convenient point of difference to market.

That said, The Loving Dead is a rather brilliant piece of work; a slow-burn creepfest that examines in uncomfortable detail exactly what motivates people during a crisis. Beamer's highly-realistic, post-modern, Romero-savvy characters don't run for the hills upon realising that the zombie apocalypse is coming, but instead take short-term steps to minimise the personal inconvenience the disaster poses. As might be expected, such behaviour does as much to drive the plot as the unfolding epidemic, and Beamer additionally cultivates a real sense of impending doom that nicely contrasts the self-centred and largely ineffectual behaviour of her characters.

Joining a growing list of recent zombie novels that focus more upon analysis of the human condition than upon gore-for-gore's-sake, The Loving Dead is an engrossing and memorable read, and one that any zomlit fan who delights in the continually-expanding boundaries of the subgenre should devour.

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.

Review: The Living Dead 2

Ed. John Joseph Adams, 2010, Night Shade Books

About a year back, I reviewed Night Shade's The Living Dead, and proclaimed it the best zombie anthology I'd ever read (HorrorScope review here). Well, there's a new anthology due in September that actually surpasses The Living Dead - and it's The Living Dead 2!

I just want to take a moment to emphasise what an amazing achievement this is: where the original anthology comprised reprints of classic zombie tales, thereby guaranteeing a top-quality publication, The Living Dead 2 includes only original and recently-published work. Editor John Joseph Adams (who also compiled The Living Dead) demonstrates a brilliant understanding of exactly what makes a damn fine zombie tale, and deserves major kudos for the same.

As with its predecessor, TLD2 includes contributions from a veritable Who's Who of zombie fiction, including Robert Kirkman, Cherie Priest, Mira Grant, David Wellington, Jonathan Maberry, Carrie Ryan and John Skipp, among many, many others. The tales cover a range of themes, with plenty of new takes on familiar tropes, and all are of a standard that prevents me from singling out any particular favourites.

Having said that, I must make mention of one particular tale - S. G. Browne's 'Zombie Gigolo' - which, in a subgenre that has become progressively darker and more serious over the past few years, provides a joyfully disgusting reminder that zombies can sometimes just be fun. A warning, though: this story is far, far sicker than it sounds.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that The Living Dead 2, and all who contributed to her, will be be well-represented across the various genre literature awards over the next year. In the meantime, zombie afficianados should place this publication at the very top of their Want List, above firearms, bottled water, and chainsaws.

Review: The Living Dead

Ed. John Joseph Adams. Night Shade Books, 2008


According to the cover blurb, The Living Dead gathers together some of the very best zombie-themed short fiction from the past three decades, and covers a broad spectrum of types of zombie, from Romero-style flesh-eaters to traditional Haitian revenants to psychological zombies, and everything in-between.

All I can say to this is: believe the hype.

The Living Dead is absolutely the best zombie anthology I've ever read (and I've read many), which should not come as a shock, given that the editor has included some of the very best stories from some of the very best zombie anthologies (as well as various collections and magazines) previously published, including such revered tomes as Skipp's The Book of the Dead and Lowder's The Book of All Flesh. The contributor list alone reads like a 'who's who' of award-winning horror writers, which in my opinion makes it a worthy addition to the collection of any genre afficianado.

If you have even a vague interest in zombie fiction, you MUST buy this book (which, by the way, is also very reasonably priced for a publication running to almost 500 pages). Grab a copy now, before They rise and walk.