Top 5 Zombie Novels

I think I cannot possibly say it enough: I love all things zombie. There are zombie movies, zombie video games, dancing zombies in music videos and zombie novels. I even adore Rob Zombie! Seriously, what could be more creepy than having to fight and elude creatures that were once normal people? They could even be a family member or friends. Whether they are undead zombies or just infected humans who have lost the ability to reason, it would be horrible to destroy them in order to save yourself. There are many books with various types of zombies that you can curl up and read on a cold, dark night to heighten the experience. The following books are my favorites.

In Stephen King's Cell, there is an example of zombies who are not reanimated corpses. The main character, Clay, is a small town teacher and artist who goes to Boston to secure a deal for a graphic novel. After he secures the deal, he is a witness to several people in his vicinity who go insane and get violent while talking on their cellular phones. Clay meets Tom, and eventually Alice. They escape to Tom's house, and observe a flocking tendency in the people who were changed. They also notice that the zombies are not out at night. Clay is determined to return to his home to find his son and estranged wife. Tom and Alice go with him. Through a series of events, they learn that the zombies are organized and possessed of psychic abilities. There is a lot of action, a lot of sad moments and an underlying desperation of a parent trying to find his family. I find the idea of zombies with extrasensory abilities seriously disturbing. Once again, Mr. King has successfully written a story that is logical in its premise and has created characters that are superbly realistic. This book is a page-turner.

Another book about zombies takes several jabs at the current governments in the world and politics is The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead. Max Brooks has compiled six chapters concerning a zombie take-over. The chapters include information on the basic rules, how the zombies were created and different kinds, defense of a stronghold, how to travel through infested areas, how to attack them efficiently, and what to do if the world is overrun by zombies. I really like this approach, since I am a nut who has contingency plans should zombie hordes every come visit my neck of the woods. I like the historical accounts and the directions for discovering a cover-up in your area. The blank journal pages just give that added kick to make it seem serious.

I know, I should expand my horizons, but Brooks wrote another excellent book called World War Z. Again, I like the realistic spin. The journal-style entries, written as interviews with various people around the world makes it seem so real. The point-of-view of the writer as he documents the events ten years after they occurred is absorbing. It creates the feeling that the stories are real, or as real as oral stories tend to be after so many years. Brooks paints a picture of an enemy who is not affected by political or military weapons. As in The Zombie Survival Guide, there are some not so veiled jabs taken at our current world governments and policies and how unprepared the world would be for something like this. I found this book though-provoking and intense.

Monster Island by David Wellington has a refreshing style and a different twist. Unlike many zombies in fiction, the theory that the undead lose their ability to use their brains or retain any semblance of their personalities is caused by oxygen deprivation between death and the transition to a zombie. I found it interesting that the young medical student was able to become a zombie, but by medical science was able to retain his personality and self-control. The urgency of the father, Bekalb, is palpable as he races to get the AIDS medication so desperately needed by the Somalian war lady who is holding his daughter hostage. This is a good story that was well-reasoned, and I enjoyed it tremendously.

A seriously creepy and disturbing story is The Rising, by Brian Keene. Personally, the demons possessing the dead and having access to the dead person's memory gave me the heebie-jeebies. Once again, there is the story of a man trying to find and rescue his son. I can completely sympathize with Jim. The particle acceleration experiment opening a door to another dimension was interesting. I can see the arrogance of science bringing the supernatural into our world. It may not be the kind of supernatural experience we want, but it is a respectable plot-line. The characters were believable, and I could sympathize with them. I like the combination of a father, a preacher, a scientist and a prostitute banding together to succeed. My only real beef is the possession of the animals. However, it did bother me, and I consider that to be a tribute to the author's skills of pulling a person into the story.

I do love my zombies. It was difficult to narrow my favorites to only five, but I feel that these authors have given new and inventive twists to the genre. I hope you will be inspired to read them and enjoy them as much as I have. Besides, it is the season to be scary. Get into your pajamas, hot chocolate (or tea), your zombie book, and have a good fright!

Sources:

Cell. Stephen King. 2006.
Monster Island. David Wellington. 2004.
The Rising. 2003. Brian Keene.
World War Z. Max Brooks. 2006.
The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead. Max Brooks. 2003.

Personal opinion.