Novel Review: ZOMBIES! an ILLUSTRATED HISTORY of the UNDEAD by Jovanka Vuckovic

Ever wanted to know about the history of the zombie genre as it relates to film? Well, this is where Zombies! An Illustrated History of the Undead by Jovanka Vuckovic comes in. This book goes into the zombie genre like few other books before it have. Broken up into six chapters Vuckovic's book takes the zombie genre apart from its earliest films like "White Zombie" (1932) and the origins of voodoo to the iconic and zombie defining film "Night of the Living Dead" (1968) to the more modern "28 Days Later" (2002) and even the remake of "Dawn of the Dead" (2004) and foreign films "REC" (2007) and "Dead Snow" (2009). Vuckovic also manages to touch upon how the zombie has influenced Pop culture in other ways such as literature (i.e. The Mammoth Book of Zombies Edited by Stephen Jones and the novels of Max Brooks and Brian Keene), video games (i.e. Resident Evil and Dead Rising and House of the Dead) to the music of The Misfits, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Rob Zombie. Vuckovic also shreds a little light on the evolution of the zombie in comic books from "Tales from the Crypt" and "Creepshow" to the modern day hits "The Walking Dead" and "Marvel Zombies." Vuckovic leaves no stone unturned.

There is plenty to be had in this book as Vuckovic delves into all aspects of the genre citing many films that fans are very familiar with while adding those not so much. Her tone throughout the book is very conversational making the book an easy and enjoyable read for both die-hard zombie fans and the casual reader. She provides a staggering amount of photos, posters, illustrations and other promotional materials for almost every film discussed giving readers a bigger eye from which to view many of the films discussed. One of the book's greatest accomplishments to providing material that may not be as widely associated with the film as there are many foreign posters of films, lobby cards, behind the scenes photos , and much, much more. This book is packed from beginning to end with a wealth of interesting facts and knowledge about the genre.

Those looking for film critiques will be sadly remise as that is not the function of this book. This book is in very much the same tone as the magazine Rue Morgue, which Vuckovic was a writer. This is a great addition to any horror fans library.