ARGGGHHH ZOMBIES

Its  Halloween next month so this week I have decided to write about my best picks for Zombie related books in case your in the mood for a little horror.  I have a love for horror and the poor zombie has a special place in my heart.  No brains and an insatiable hunger, just like me before I go in to work my graveyard shift. And these books are definitely creepy enough for a little Halloween reading.

WORLD WAR Z

Author:  Max Brooks, the guy who wrote "The Zombie Survival Guide."

World War Z as a book is brilliant, in a way that might not be immediately apparent. The thing that is genius about this book is that it presents the story in a more realistic way. Something I have noticed about the Zombie genre is that the more realistic the story and how it is told is the easier it is to suspend the disbelief that the dead have returned as mindless eating machines.

Max Brooks has done this in a brilliant way. He has turned the book into an investigatory document. It is a series of interviews. Each person interviewed in the story had a unique view of the zombie war and how it progressed. And because the novel is written as a series of documented interviews it gives an immediacy and a realism that I have not seen often.

The story is not about the zombies which I might add is the other thing he has done right. It is about the governments, and the people, and what they decide to do when the world as they know it ends. You meet a range of different people in the story and each has a piece to contribute to the whole. Children, adults, regular guys, army, and military, lots of different walks of life are represented. Each characters perspective is different and some even are a little contrary. It reminded me of reading first hand accounts and primary sources in my history classes at college. And that is why this is my number one zombie book. It gets a PG 13 Rating for language and it is pretty dark in a few accounts this is not a warm fuzzy book. (Now that I think about it, I think most of my picks will have the same rating for the same reason, hard to find good horror books without tons and tons of language.)

NEWSFLESH TRILOGY
Author: Mira Grant

My number two pick for Zombie brain munching awesomeness is the Mira Grant series that begins with the book “FEED.” Once again the book isn’t about the zombies but around the world that is filled with the undead brain munchers. “Feed” takes place in a world after the zombie apocalypse. And even though the worst already happened just like any other natural disaster, life continued. There are zombie protection systems that include never ending blood tests given by a modified version of a diabetic tester. There are laws governing safe and unsafe behaviors. And the Internet reigns supreme in a world where walking outside might be the last choice you make. So of course the main character is a blogger who is going to accompany a presidential candidate on campaign. I won’t tell you more because I will ruin it for you. But I will tell you there are a lot of twists and turns in this one and it’s worth the read.

This one also gets a PG 13 for language throughout.

MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL

Author:  Larry Corriea

The Monster Hunter books are quite frankly one of the funnest book romps I have ever had. They are not really Zombie books, but there are tons (literally I think there might be tons) of zombies in the series. These books are funny, full of paranormal monsters, and feature lots and lots of guns and stuff going boom. They are the literary equivalent of a smart action movie. The story centers around Owen Zestava Pitt, not so mild mannered CPA who after pushing his boss, a turned werewolf out a window is picked up by a secret organization that hunts monsters for bounties from the government. It is funny and clever. And once again features lots of Zombies as well as other creepy monsters. There is more to it then that, but once again I am not going to give you much because, I don’t want to spoil it. This one is also a PG13, for language again.

ELANTRIS

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Elantris is number four. Technically it’s not a book about zombies but I classify it so because the Elantrians are neither dead nor are they really alive. So they are sorta Zombies. I admit I could have included other Zombie books here but really none of the others I have read are good enough to make the cut. (I admit I havn’t read every zombie book but still) Anyway. The Elantrians were once worshiped as Gods, but all that changed ten years before the start of the book. I won’t tell you too much about the book for fear of giving something away but I will say that Sanderson has done something rather brilliant with his magic system and with the Elantrian’s here and so I recommend it. This is probaply also the only book that will recieve a PG rating.

 I hope you all enjoy these as much as I have.

Tracee McClellan