The best zombie and monster books with alternate realities

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up in Chicago, I’ve always had a fascination for history, (even if it was sometimes a bit gory!), from Capone and the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre to reading about monsters and the unique worlds created by favorite author Stephen King. So, it’s probably not too surprising that I combined both interests and offered a new solution to the infamous Lizzie Borden axe murders of 1892 in my own book series. I enjoy reading, and writing, the serious to the not-so-serious, often incorporating touches of humor, or at least the absurd, where and whenever I can. 


I wrote...

Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter

By C.A. Verstraete,

Book cover of Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter

What is my book about?

One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an axe and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy, and greed. But what if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become… zombies?

Thrust into a horrific world where the walking dead are part of a shocking conspiracy to infect not only Fall River, Massachusetts, but also the world beyond, Lizzie battles to protect her sister, Emma, and her hometown from nightmarish ghouls and the evil forces controlling them. Read the continuation in Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter 2: The Axe Will Fall!

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

C.A. Verstraete Why did I love this book?

One of my favorite “monster” books offers an unusual, but plausible, “unknown-until-now” history of one of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln. This is a gripping tale of intrigue, exposing an undercover world of vampires that I couldn’t stop reading about! This is definitely one of those books I (and you) also won’t hesitate to reread with pleasure. And you can’t beat being introduced to another character who knows how to use an axe!

By Seth Grahame-Smith,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Abraham Lincoln as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

It's Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother's bedside. She's been stricken with something the old-timers call 'Milk Sickness'. 'My baby boy ...', she whispers before dying. Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother's fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire. When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, 'henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have…


Book cover of Zombie-In-Chief: Eater of the Free World: A Novel Take on a Brain-Dead Election

C.A. Verstraete Why did I love this book?

Whatever your take on politics and elections, I thought this was a truly original addition to the zombie world. Funny, and often true-to-life in an alternate reality, this book offers another interesting and sometimes horrific view of the crazy world of politics in a year that was far from the norm.

By Scott Kenemore,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Zombie-In-Chief as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Bestselling author Scott Kenemore is back with a hilarious, over-the-top, and bloodthirsty send-up of the 2016 political season. In the tradition of Joe Klein's Primary Colors and Richard Condon's The Manchurian Candidate, Zombie-in-Chief: Eater of the Free World is a compelling and dramatic story with characters and events that may resemble familiar, real-life elections a little too closely! After all, who better to perform an autopsy of the American political system than an expert on the undead?

When a tycoon and reality TV star improbably wins his party's nomination for the presidency, pundits and analysts are as baffled as they…


Book cover of Seeking Supernatural Justice

C.A. Verstraete Why did I love this book?

I can’t recommend a more fun and imaginative book than this one where lawyers Thomas Brock and Evelyn Love represent the new (and sometimes newly dead) supernatural residents of San Francisco’s famous Haight-Ashbury district. I love the touches of humor and the unique monsters, from ghouls to zombie-like creatures, ghosts, and even a talking gargoyle! Who’d think the law could be so interesting and even funny? But even the dead (or undead) deserve justice! Love these characters!

By Jean Rabe, Donald J. Bingle,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Seeking Supernatural Justice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Supernatural beings are willing to fight for their legal rights!

Since the Summer of Love, the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco has been known for attracting weird and unconventional souls, but things got even stranger when the monsters moved in. 

Magic has returned to the world and with it a host of supernatural creatures—not just vampires and ghosts, but sentient gargoyles, ghouls, sprites, faeries, and more. The frightened citizenry, holier-than-thou bigots, headline-seeking reporters, and harried police refer to them as OTs (Other-Than-Humans), but Thomas Brock and Evelyn Love believe even supernatural creatures have legal rights. 

Delve into their case files…


Book cover of Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter

C.A. Verstraete Why did I love this book?

If you love reading about English royalty and history as I do, then it’s not too hard to let go of reality and let the legendary Queen of England, Queen Victoria, take on an even larger role in her vast empire. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather see keep the kingdom free from zombies and demons than a strong-willed Queen willing to vanquish evil with her scepter.

By A.E. Moorat,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Queen Victoria as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For all the rabid fans who devoured Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, comes A.E. Moorat’s Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter! This outrageously entertaining and deeply irreverent tale of palace intrigue and bloody supernatural mayhem features the most unlikely monster-slayer ever to go toe-to-toe with the living dead. It’s George A. Romero meets the Bronte sisters—it’s Max Brooks’s World War Z in Victorian garb! Watch out flesh-eating zombie scum, it’s Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter!


Book cover of The Vampire's Violin

C.A. Verstraete Why did I love this book?

While there are better-known vampire novels from the classic Dracula by Bram Stoker, to Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, this was a story that mesmerized me with a perfect combination of history, music, and vampires. In this story of one vampire’s unquenchable desire to possess a particular violin, I found the supernatural elements and historic details as riveting as the haunting music this priceless violin is said to make.

By Michael Romkey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Vampire's Violin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Listen to its haunting, angelic sound

After centuries of life, the Vampire has just two passions left: blood and music. The blood of innocents is plentiful and easily attained—it is his other passion that torments him. Many years ago he owned and lost a violin that sang with the voice of the angels. Now this unearthly monster will do anything to press the instrument once more against his neck.

As it summons a hellish creature of the night

Maggie O’Hara was a talented if unremarkable violinist—until the day her grandfather gives her a violin he had brought home from World…


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The Woodland Stranger: A Fairy Tale with Benefits

By Jane Buehler,

Book cover of The Woodland Stranger: A Fairy Tale with Benefits

Jane Buehler Author Of The Ocean Girl

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Storyteller Introvert Romantic Norm avoider Backyard birdwatcher

Jane's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Burne’s been hiding out in the forest since deserting the King’s Guard. Each time he tries to return to the village, he begins to panic. And then one day, he encounters a handsome stranger picking flowers and hides behind a tree instead of talking.

He wants to be braver—and he’s about to get another chance. Because the stranger is Gray, a fairy and master of illusions who’s now following Burne home. And Gray’s got more on his mind than talking. Would a fairy that beautiful ever want someone like him? Stranger things have happened.

The Woodland Stranger: A Fairy Tale with Benefits

By Jane Buehler,

What is this book about?

Whoever said, Don't talk to strangers?


Burne hid behind a tree. He wanted to talk to the handsome man picking flowers at the edge of the forest, but he'd only flub it if he tried-he'd stumble over his words and blush bright red. And now the man is gone.


He tries to continue on to the village, but the same thing happens as always: his hands start shaking and panic wells up inside him. What if he runs into the bullies who tormented him in the King's Guard last spring? Ever since he deserted, he has hidden out in the…


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