21st Century Dead

May 28, 2012
Bearing out Golden’s contention that zombie fiction is a tool for processing the fear of death, the 19 new stories in this uneven follow-up to The New Dead approach the theme from a great man angle. Gore-gulping zombies rampage through Ken Bruen’s “The Dead of Dromore” and S.G. Browne’s “Reality Bites.” Zombies are a part of the everyday landscape in John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow’s “All the Comforts of Home,” and a learning tool for children in Mark Morris’s “Biters.” The walking dead serve as a metaphor for negligent parents in Orson Scott Card’s “Carousel,” the cancer-ridden in Jonathan Maberry’s “Jack and Jill,” and conscienceless soldiers in Rio Youers’s “The Happy Bird and Other Tales.” Only Dan Chaon’s “How We Escaped Our Certain Fate,” a poignant meditation on love, loss, and mourning, is notably original. The others, competently written, will please casual readers but may not do much for passionate zombie enthusiasts.

January 1, 2013

New York Times best-selling author and anthologist Golden (The New Dead) gathers more shorts offering a variety of views of contemporary and future zombies from 19 authors, including fanfic favorites Jonathan Maberry, Amber Benson, and Simon R. Green. Most of these stories focus on pathos--the tragedy of losing a loved one or oneself to the horrors of the undead. The walking dead usually cause, or are caused by, an apocalyptic event that adds to the bleak outlook typical of the genre. An exception in this group is Chelsea Cain's "Why Mothers Let Their Babies Watch Television," which offers a quirky definition of a different kind of zombie. Good use of the 13 readers such as Scott Brick and Cassandra Campbell helps vary some of the gloomy tone that threatens to overwhelm listeners. VERDICT Recommended for the many fans of undead tales. ["Including contributions by Simon R. Green...and other contemporary authors, this collection...should appeal to fans of zombie horror," read the review of the Griffin: St. Martin's pb, LJ 6/15/12.--Ed]--Deb West, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA

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