Handling the Undead

July 26, 2010
Swedish horror author Lindqvist moves from vampires (Let the Right One In) to zombies in this gripping, subtle tale. Stockholm is overtaken by the undead after a period of strange weather, and the uprising has surprising consequences for several people, including David, a comedian whose dead wife comes back to life; self-harming psychic teenagers Flora and Elvy; and journalist Gustav Mahler, whose only hope of saving his daughter and himself from grief lies in exhuming his young grandson and hoping the boy will be reanimated. Lindqvist's character-driven narrative is at times slow and confusing, but pop culture references keep the story relevant and interesting. This intelligent look into the psychological side of the undead will entice longtime zombie fans eager for a subversive examination of some of the horror genre's most recognizable monsters.

Starred review from August 1, 2010

Bright lights in a big city herald the return of the dead in Swedish horrorist Lindqvist's second novel, after Let the Right One In (2007), a vampire tale that was later turned into a movie.

This time the author replaces vampires with zombies, a switch that effectively accents his expressive, unnerving writing. In the process he offers a unique and humanistic take on the undead that has a place alongside thoughtful horror novels like World War Z. The story begins in Stockholm with a subtle natural phenomenon. The country, deep in its winter twilight, experiences a collective headache that threatens to drive its sufferers mad. Next, the city is struck by a massive short circuit, a reverse blackout that powers up every appliance. Then Lindqvist introduces his cast: David, a stand-up comedian and loving husband; Mahler, a suicidal journalist who mourns the untimely death of his grandson Elias; and Elvy and her granddaughter Flora, quietly acknowledging the new telepathy that has emerged between them. When the dead do come back, the book delivers believable terror. The most disquieting scenes come early. David rushes to the hospital, where his beloved wife Eva has died in a car accident. As he cries with despair, his wife suddenly grasps his hand, opens one gruesome dead eye and croaks his name. Anyone who can drop off to sleep after this passage has nerves of steel. After photographing a newly reanimated morgue, Mahler rushes to his grandson's grave, where he disinters the child's body and carries the desiccated corpse home to bathe it. What's interesting about what follows is the way that it's handled—not with Romero-esque sarcasm and blood-spattering gunplay, but with sincere reflection on what would happen if the dead arose. How would the government respond? What does it mean to be human if death is not the end? And perhaps most importantly, how would we feel if those we loved and lost were suddenly returned to us?

A philosophical story about fears to which no beating heart is immune.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from September 1, 2010

In Stockholm, the power grid has gone mad, and in the wake of an odd power surge, the recently dead reawaken. In the confusion, a grandfather waits excitedly to see whether his grandson will return, and a husband is horrified at his beloved wife's reanimation. At turns funny and macabre, this second novel by the best-selling Swedish author of Let the Right One In gives horror readers a new twist on an old trope, asking us how far we might go for love, what happens when those we lose want to come home again, and at what point we let go of our dead. VERDICT Horror fans will love the fresh take on the old zombie story, and paranormal fiction fans will appreciate the psychological thrill of exploring where love and death collide. At the top of his game, Lindqvist gives Stephen King and John Saul at their best a run for the money. [The U.S. remake of the Swedish film adaptation of Let the Right One In will be released this October as Let Me In.--Ed.]--Colleen S. Harris, Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga Libs.

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