Are there any good zombie books out there?

January 6, 2005 10:24 PM

I've watched plenty of zombie movies, and I've read Monster Island, but are there any good zombie books out there?
posted by cmonkey to Writing & Language (14 answers total)

I don't know if you're a comics fan, but The Walking Dead is an excellent read. There are currently two trade paperbacks, Days Gone Bye and Miles Behind Us, available, as well as monthly pamphlets. I don't know of any straight prose, though. Maybe zombies don't work all that well in non-visual media?
posted by lesingesavant at 11:06 PM on January 6, 2005

I was given The Stupidest Angel as a Christmas gift, and (although you wouldn't know it for most of the book's first half) it is about zombies. You will learn what a typical zombie's #2 desire (I'm sure you can guess #1) upon walking the earth is.
posted by kevspace at 11:13 PM on January 6, 2005

Response by poster: I am a comics fan, and I'll definitely be picking those two up.

Thanks!

Maybe zombies don't work all that well in non-visual media?

I think they should, "Monster Island" creates a great zombie narrative out of just text, so it's not impossible.
posted by cmonkey at 11:17 PM on January 6, 2005

What about real-life zombies? The Wade Davis book The Serpent and the Rainbow has always been considered a classic. (The Amazon link also includes other zombie books people have ordered.)

It also got turned into a (presumably fiction) Wes Craven movie.
posted by LeLiLo at 11:58 PM on January 6, 2005

...some people consider Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend" to be a pretty good zombie book, even if the zombies in it are afraid of crosses.
posted by Jairus at 3:40 AM on January 7, 2005

Some zombie novels I've read that weren't too bad are The Rising by Brian Keene and Reign of the Dead by Len Barnhart.

I suggest reading Xombies only if you really hate yourself or if you need a good laugh.

And if you haven't read the Zombie Survival Guide, then you might as well label yourself "Zombie Lunch" right now. It's definitely an informative and amusing read.
posted by tastybrains at 5:21 AM on January 7, 2005

George R. R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series features some really, really creepy zombie action. It's a fantasy series (and one of the best, if not THE best I've ever read) and the zombies aren't what you'd call the main focus of the book, but they're around, and you never forget it.
posted by picea at 5:57 AM on January 7, 2005

posted by tastybrains at 5:21 AM PST on January 7

i believe you people have just been given recommedations by a true expert... this is great. however, i suggest backing away very quickly whilst holding on to your braaaaiiiiiiinnnnnnnssss...!!!
posted by t r a c y at 6:00 AM on January 7, 2005

Hmm... Monster Island looks intriguing, would you recommend it?
posted by GeekAnimator at 7:15 AM on January 7, 2005

I haven't read it, but I've heard good things about I Am Legend, which The Omega Man is based on.
posted by revgeorge at 7:54 AM on January 7, 2005

Lucias Shepard's Green Eyes is the best I've read, thoug admittedly it was a long time ago.
posted by rtimmel at 8:46 AM on January 7, 2005

It doesn't have roving packs of shambling flesh-eaters, but Stephen King's Pet Sematary is all about the dead rising from the grave.
posted by jjg at 1:11 PM on January 7, 2005

I'll second the recommendation for The Stupidest Angel, but then I would recommend anything by Christopher Moore.
posted by tdismukes at 2:19 PM on January 7, 2005

This is in a completely different vein, but my favorite zombie story is The Zombies by Donald Barthelme. You can read the whole story at that link.
posted by jessamyn at 2:33 PM on January 7, 2005