Permuted Press and author Travis Adkins are celebrating Halloween by giving away the novel Twilight of the Dead for free! The book will be serialized with new chapters released each week on their blog. They even make it easy for you with an mailing list where you can sign up to be reminded when the new chapters are posted. Go check it out - it’s good reading material!
In the world of underground fiction, few novels can compare to J.L. Bourne’s Day by Day Armageddon. Self-published in 2004, it was a print adaption of the author’s ongoing web blog. I was lucky enough to be a regular reader on the site and bought a copy of the book as soon as it was published. Good thing too - it’s highly sought after now and can easily sell for $50-$100.
Written in a journal style, Day by Day Armageddon follows the life of a Naval pilot as he slowly learns of a growing zombie epidemic. He initially holes himself up, but as things get worse and the living seem fewer and fewer, he finds new ways to survive. It manages to provide a realistic, rather than sensationalized portrayal of survival but still manages to be an exciting page-turner. Bourne makes wonderful use of his own background (a military man himself) and provides an insider’s view on how the military might actually react. The only downside is that it abruptly ends (it was originally supposed to multi-volume series).
The good news is that if you missed out on it’s original print run, Day by Day Armageddon is going to be re-printed soon by Permuted Press! Volume 2 is also on its way. You can find out more information on the author’s website here. You can also read the first chapter of the book and see how great it is for yourself.
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While looking for some new zombie literature to sink my teeth into, I came across this five-part short story series on Amazon called How to Make Love Like a Zombie. It’s only available through Amazon, so you’ll have to go there to check it out. Here’s a blurb from it’s author Nathan Tyree:
I have always wanted to write a novel in the zombie genre, and when this story occurred to me I could not resist writing it. This is the first part of a serial novel. In it zombies attack a small town. Several survivors of this zombie holocaust come together and begin an attempt to find safety. They soon discover that these zombies are very different from the ones they have seen in movies.
HTMLLAZ is availble for $.49 each, five parts total.
Who would’ve thought that we could learn so much from zombies? Quite a bit, as it turns out according to Scott Kenemore - author of The Zen of Zombie: Better Living Through the Undead. His book attempts to condense the innate wisdom of the zombie into practical lessons for living.
At first glance I was skeptical - honestly I thought this book would be another in a long line of books hoping to cash in on the latest fad. But when the review copy arrived in the mail, it was immediately apparent this was something special. The cover, pages, and illustrations are all high quality with many color pages and red accents on each page.
Whatever the quality of the binding, the value in The Zen of Zombie is clearly in the contents of the book itself. The book is divided into two parts: “The 24 Habits of Highly Effective Zombies” and “Your Guide to Complete Zombification in 90 Days”. Interspersed throughout are little blurbs of “Zombie Tips” and boxes that say “Remember” with a severed hand and emphasize important points.
The “24 Habits” listed in the book are each hilarious and some are downright laugh-out-loud funny. Kenemore writes with all the authority of an undead Dr. Phil, blending real life lessons with humor and parody. I could’ve never imagined that zombies could teach us so much. The “Complete Guide to Zombifcation” is equally hilarious, going through real-life scenarios and thought experiements in an attempt to see life through the slowly decomposing eye of a zombie.
The Zen of Zombie manages to be great at not only parodying those worthless self-help books but also provide some real food for thought. That is the true genius of this book - it works on several levels. If you don’t find enlightenment after reading this book, at least you had a good time reading it.
Rue Morgue #71 is out now and includes a great cover feature on Return of the Living Dead, including awesome interviews with Dan O’Bannon, Linnea Quigley, Allan Trautman (TheTarman!) and Dinah Cancer (singer of 45 Grave). It also includes an interview with the zombie-freindly band Balzac. Check it out.
Sci-Fi Wire has a write-up on sci-fi/fantasy writer Chris Roberson’s newest novel, Set the Seas on Fire, which he describes as a…
…Napoleonic-era nautical adventure and a love story—with Polynesian zombies.
Not really sure where to go with that. Â
 
I recently picked up two issues of a great zine called Brains. Awesome reading, especially if you dig your zombies with your punk. All prose, with a few spot illustrations, this is a definite must read. It’s a few years old, but issue 1 & issue 2 are still available from Microcosm Publishing. I couldn’t top this portion of review from a 2005 issue of the punk zine Slug & Lettuce:
“This zine is hilarious. It takes place in a fictional world where cops, yuppies, McDonald’s employees, and Nazis are zombies (wait, that’s kinda like reality) and punks are the heroes who hunt them. I’m not a horror or zombie aficionado but these storeis are immensely entertaining for both their depiction of the punk scene and their setting of a zombie world where drunk spanging punks stand up against them.Â
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Skullring.org has an interview with Max Brooks, author of The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z. Brooks offers some interesting insight into how he researched for the books and how the movie and graphic novel based on his works are going.
Max Brooks’ World War Z recently made our “X(ombie)-Mas” list. I’ve been trying to pick up a copy of this book, but my local bookstore have been chronically out of stock for the last few months. I really enjoyed his last book, the classic Zombie Survival Manual - Complete Protection from the Living Dead.
Phil Reisman has written an excellent review of World War Z. He also mentions in the article that Brad Pitt has optioned the movie rights, just in case it ever makes to the big screen.
Here are some last minute gift ideas for all your zombie-lovin’ friends and family (living or undead)…
…for the Romero purists: Dawn of the Dead Ultimate Edition
…for the fan of European films: Zombie (aka Zombi 2), The Blind Dead Box Set
…for the fan of Asian films: Wild Zero, Stacy
…for the fan of classic films: Val Lewton’s I Walked With a Zombie
…for the musician: zombie guitar picks
…for the comic book reader: The Walking Dead Book One
…for the comic book reader (who’s fluent in French): The Zombies That Ate the World
…for the zombie fanatic: The Zombie Survival Guide, World War Z
…for the ultimate zombie fanatic: The Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema
Everyone should own this book, it comes with the highest recommendation.
Now go get your zombie-lovin’ fanatic something they can really sink their teeth into…BRAINS!
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