Dead of Night

September 5, 2011
Maberry (The King of Plagues) combines visceral horror and psychological terror in this bleak zombie thriller. When smalltown Pennsylvania police officers Dez Fox and JT Hammond respond to a break-in at a funeral home, they discover several bodies that refuse to stay dead. The bioengineered disease soon turns other locals into ravenous monsters. Meanwhile, Dez’s estranged ex-boyfriend, reporter Billy Trout, investigates the strange case of the missing corpse of executed serial killer Homer Gibbon. With the National Guard under orders to maintain quarantine at all costs, Dez, JT, and Billy are the only ones who can protect those untouched by the plague. Maberry grounds the story with scientific confidence, spares no attention to detail, and presents the undead as more than faceless targets, but despite clever usage of social media and a unique take on “zombie zero,” this is mostly a rehash of familiar elements.