I’ve been reading horror books and watching horror movies since I was entirely too young to do either—thanks to my father’s collection of Stephen King books and my uncle’s love of horror movies. Now I’m a horror writer and wake early each morning to make blank pages darker. Zombies remain one of my favorite horror sub-genres. There’s something relentlessly compelling about these mindless ghouls linking inside each of us waiting for some triggering event to set them loose. Maybe it’s the resulting chaos. Maybe it’s the gruesome horror. Mostly, it’s how such tales show us the fragility of our civilization and the darkness of our own nature.
Monster Island is the first book in the first book in Wellington’s Zombie Island Trilogy, followed by Monster Nation and Monster Planet. I loved it because while it starts as a traditional zombie apocalypse novel, Wellington takes the story into some exciting new areas. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but one of the zombies becomes more than a mindless flesh-eater. Much more. Suffice to say, Wellington provides readers with a very fresh take on zombies. A lot of horror trilogies start with a strong first book and then go downhill from there, but the Monster Island saga proved to be a solid story from start to finish.
It's one month after a global disaster. The most "developed" nations of the world have fallen to the shambling zombie masses. Only a few pockets of humanity survive -- in places rife with high-powered weaponry, such as Somalia. In New York City, the dead walk the streets, driven by an insatiable hunger for all things living. One amongst them is different; though he shares their appetites he has retained his human intelligence. Alone among the mindless zombies, Gary Fleck is an eyewitness to the end of the world -- and perhaps the evil genius behind it all. From the other…
Originally released in ten parts as a horror serial, The Resurrected is a real treat. For starters, the zombie virus has a unique origin. The planet is hit by a series of freak storms. In the aftermath, strange flowers bloom, spreading a virus that transmits across humanity. The shocking action that follows is told from a shifting array of characters with many of their stories intertwining. My favorite thing about this book is Hart’s visceral description. Her sensory details will transport the reader right into each moment. It’s a wicked read, and features the best zombie sex scene you’ll ever read!
The Resurrected, The Compendium, includes the entire contents of the original serial, parts 1-10. Some content has been revised or updated and may differ from the original. When a series of freak storms sweep across the world, they leave behind something more than devastation. First come the swift-growing flowers, smelling like heaven and dying as quickly as they bloom. Next comes the infestation as the flowers breed and multiply inside their hosts. After that, chaos, mayhem and death. And after that...resurrection.
I know, I know. Lots of people are over The Walking Dead. I have a love/hate relationship with the television show, as well. But I’ve read every chapter of the comic book series, and I have to tell you that zombie fiction doesn’t get much better. Kirkman’s epic spans 22 collection editions comprising 193 total comic books, and it’s pure dark magic from start to finish. He populates his tale with compelling characters and terrifying zombies. The tension is palpable and absolutely no one is safe. One of the hallmarks of this series is the shocking, unexpected deaths of key characters, which made all the more impactful because Kirkman makes us feel genuine emotions for them all.
The world we knew is gone. The world of commerce and frivolous necessity
has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility. An epidemic of
apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed
on the living. In a matter of months society has crumbled: no government, no
grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. In a world ruled by the dead, the
survivors are forced to finally start living.
Technically Cell may not be a pure zombie novel. Instead of traditional flesh-eating undead zombies, King’s zombies are people who have been transformed by their cell phones into savage berserkers. This occurs during an event known as the Pulse, in which everyone using their cell phone becomes a “crazie.” We get to experience the resulting downfall of society through the eyes of artist Clayton Riddell, and we follow him on his quest to reunite with his wife and son. Zombie apocalypse stories often start in the midst of the apocalypse. This one starts at the beginning of society’s collapse, and it’s a truly terrifying spectacle.
'Civilization slipped into its second dark age on an unsurprising track of blood but with a speed that could not have been foreseen by even the most pessimistic futurist. By Halloween, every major city from New York to Moscow stank to the empty heavens and the world as it had been was a memory.'
The event became known as The Pulse. The virus was carried by every cell phone operating within the entire world. Within hours, those receiving calls would be infected.
A young artist Clayton Riddell realises what is happening. He flees the devastation…
The Girl with All the Gifts has a lot of intelligence and plenty of heart. In this tale, civilization has succumbed to a fungus that transforms people into cannibalistic “hungries.” Unlike traditional zombie viruses, this one is passed by blood, saliva, and airborne spores. The story opens in a remote military research base established to capture and study child hungries who, unlike other hungries, retain some semblance of their normal selves. These children still eat human flesh and can still be driven into a frenzy by normal humans. The heart of this story centers around Helen Justineau, a psychologist and teacher at the base, and one of her students Melanie, an intelligent 10-year-old hungrie. Not only does this book take a unique approach to zombie lore, but it also spins an entirely compelling tale with real characters and genuine emotion.
'ORIGINAL, THRILLING AND POWERFUL' - Guardian 'HAUNTING, HEARTHBREAKING' - Vogue The phenomenal million-copy bestseller that is also a BAFTA Award-nominated movie
NOT EVERY GIFT IS A BLESSING
Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite. But they don't laugh.
Melanie is a very special girl.
Emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end, THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS is the…
The angry young dwarf named Grouchy has long dreaded this day. His abusive father raised him to hate humans, yet when a troubled human girl named Snow sought sanctuary at the home for wayward young dwarfs, Grouchy fell in love with her. Snow now lies in cursed slumber. When a smitten Prince arrives to kiss her awake, Grouchy feels as though his world is about to end. He has no idea how right he is. Snow wakes up, but she doesn’t wake up right.
Now a deranged zombie, Snow infects both the Prince and the dwarfs’ elder leader. It’s up to Grouchy and his friends to find a cure for her malicious curse to stop That Risen Snow...
My book is fantastical historical fiction about two characters who're wrestling with the monstrosity of their grief.
It takes you into London high society, where Ambrose tries to forget about how much he misses Bennett and how much he dreads becoming as cold as their Grandfather. It takes you to the family's country manor house, where Mattie isolates and old ghosts start to come out of the woodwork.
It's a story about loss and depression; it's a story about friends who don't let you walk through the valley of death alone.
Ambrose Bancroft returns to London society with his younger sister, hoping they'll leave ghosts of memory behind. They have only each other left. While Ambrose attempts to draw Mattie out, dragging her to balls and threatening to seek suitors for her, his sister recoils from his meddling. Finally, when Ambrose compels her to attend art class before she's ready, Mattie paints something horrific enough to banish them from society in public disgrace.
At Linwood Manor, Mattie and Ambrose aren't as alone as they think. Taking advantage of Mattie's desperate need to find freedom, a vanishing room lures Ambrose's sister into…
