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mariesreads's review
5.0
A wonderful collection with some real gems. "The Family Business" and "The Storm Door" in particular stand out.
shan198025's review
3.0
Pretty good. Loved the Max Brooks, World War Z story. The Jonathan Maberry story was excellent. Cant wait to read the book. Some of the stories were bad, one didnt even have zombies in it.
theaceofpages's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This is a very mixed set of stories. A lot of them were just okay, I hated some and others were absolutey incredible. Even if I didn't enjoy them all, I loved that most of the stories strayed from the typical "surviving the apocalypse" trope. Ratings (and content warnings) are provided for each story below.
Lazurus (1.5/5)
A religious take on zombies. I didn't find it all that interesting but I'm sure others would.
Content warnings:
Minor: body horror, blood
What Maisie Knew: (3/5 but very disturbing)
Content warnings:
Graphic or moderate: violence(chopping up and mutilating reanimates - not that bad but also reactively graphic)
Moderate: sexual content and rape(including necrophilia during which they seem to become conscious and strip clubs) , death, body horror, selling of (dead) women, cursing
Minor: blood, pregnancy, alcohol, suicide
Copper: DNF
Just couldn't get into it
CW unknown
In the Dust (2.5/5)
It was just okay. Nothing particularly memorable in my mind
Content warnings:
Moderate: Cursing, body horror
Minor: Death
Life Sentence (4/5)
Ooh this was an interesting one. A lab is experimenting with zombification to allow people to live beyond death. They are experimenting on people to try to get rid of the nasty side effects - no self control, decomposition, an inability to move, etc. I enjoyed the concept and the ending was chilling.
Content warnings:
Moderate: Medical trauma
Minor: Cancer, animal cruelty(lab animals) , blood, terminal illness, body horror
Delice (2.5/5)
Content warnings:
Minor: Body horror, physical abuse, slavery, murder, fire
The Wind Cries Mary (3/5)
A man talks about his undead wife.
Content warnings:
Moderate: Suicide
minor: body horror
Family Business (3.25/5)
I've seen that a lot of people love this one but it was just okay for me. A bit more of your typical zombie story compared to what I've read so far.
Content warnings:
Minor: violence, death
The Zombie Who Fell from the Sky (3.5/5)
Another one with slightly more violent zombies. Definitely more graphic than most of these works so far!
Content warnings:
Minor: Blood, cursing
Moderate: Violence, gore, body horror, death, animal death
My Dolly (2.25/10)
Our narrator seems somewhat obsessed with obtaining a specific corpse who has been frozen to prevent her from walking around
Content warnings:
Moderate: death
Minor: cursing, violence, blood
second wind (4/5)
A man carries out the plans he made for after he dies.
Content warnings:
Moderate: death, cursing
Minor: body horror(think someone preserving themselves) , sexual content
Closure, Limited (2.5/5)
An after death care/experiment facility
Content warnings:
Minor: death
Among Us (2.5/5)
Content warnings:
Minor: Cannibalism , animal death
Ghost trap DNF
CW unknown
The Storm Door (4/5)
A paranormal investigator talks about people coming back to life. This one gets pretty dark!
Content warnings:
Graphic: death
Moderate: Chronic illness, body horror
Minor: Terminal illness, cancer, child death
kids and their toys (4.5/5)
A group of twelve year old decide to interact with what they think must be a corpse.When they realise it's reanimating they decide to hide it for later fun.A rather dark exploration of human cruelty and the ending... Well, that just hits hard. Probably my favourite story so far
Content warnings:
Graphic: torture, physical abuse(directed towards the zombie who may or not actually feel pain)
moderate: body horror, violence, gore
minor: death, body horror, war, anti Semitism
Shooting Pool (1/5)
Yeah, this one was just uncomfortable. Definitely didn't hold up to the previous one (although I did take a break between the two)
Content warnings:
Moderate: Gun violence, death, ableism(frequent use of the R word)
Minor: Racial slurs(one use of the N word)
Weaponised (3.75/5)
Zombies are used as a cheap army. Told from a journalist's perspective
Content warnings:
Graphic: War, colonisation(people being split up by foreigners coming in and setting up infrastructure for their own benefit)
Moderate: Death, gore(a lot of smell stuff too)
Twittering from the Circus of the Dead (DNF)
Just not into the Tweet format.
CW include cursing
Lazurus (1.5/5)
A religious take on zombies. I didn't find it all that interesting but I'm sure others would.
Content warnings:
What Maisie Knew: (3/5 but very disturbing)
Content warnings:
Graphic or moderate: violence
Moderate: sexual content and rape
Minor: blood, pregnancy, alcohol, suicide
Copper: DNF
Just couldn't get into it
CW unknown
In the Dust (2.5/5)
It was just okay. Nothing particularly memorable in my mind
Content warnings:
Minor: Death
Life Sentence (4/5)
Ooh this was an interesting one. A lab is experimenting with zombification to allow people to live beyond death. They are experimenting on people to try to get rid of the nasty side effects - no self control, decomposition, an inability to move, etc. I enjoyed the concept and the ending was chilling.
Content warnings:
Minor: Cancer, animal cruelty
Delice (2.5/5)
Content warnings:
The Wind Cries Mary (3/5)
A man talks about his undead wife.
Content warnings:
minor: body horror
Family Business (3.25/5)
I've seen that a lot of people love this one but it was just okay for me. A bit more of your typical zombie story compared to what I've read so far.
Content warnings:
The Zombie Who Fell from the Sky (3.5/5)
Another one with slightly more violent zombies. Definitely more graphic than most of these works so far!
Content warnings:
Moderate: Violence, gore, body horror, death, animal death
My Dolly (2.25/10)
Our narrator seems somewhat obsessed with obtaining a specific corpse who has been frozen to prevent her from walking around
Content warnings:
Minor: cursing, violence, blood
second wind (4/5)
A man carries out the plans he made for after he dies.
Content warnings:
Moderate: death, cursing
Minor: body horror
Closure, Limited (2.5/5)
An after death care/experiment facility
Content warnings:
Among Us (2.5/5)
Content warnings:
Minor: Cannibalism , animal death
Ghost trap DNF
CW unknown
The Storm Door (4/5)
A paranormal investigator talks about people coming back to life. This one gets pretty dark!
Content warnings:
Graphic: death
Moderate: Chronic illness, body horror
Minor: Terminal illness, cancer, child death
kids and their toys (4.5/5)
A group of twelve year old decide to interact with what they think must be a corpse.When they realise it's reanimating they decide to hide it for later fun.A rather dark exploration of human cruelty and the ending... Well, that just hits hard. Probably my favourite story so far
Content warnings:
Graphic: torture, physical abuse
moderate: body horror, violence, gore
minor: death, body horror, war, anti Semitism
Shooting Pool (1/5)
Yeah, this one was just uncomfortable. Definitely didn't hold up to the previous one (although I did take a break between the two)
Content warnings:
Moderate: Gun violence, death, ableism
Minor: Racial slurs
Weaponised (3.75/5)
Zombies are used as a cheap army. Told from a journalist's perspective
Content warnings:
Graphic: War, colonisation
Moderate: Death, gore
Twittering from the Circus of the Dead (DNF)
Just not into the Tweet format.
CW include cursing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, War, Death, Torture, Violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Ableism, Animal death, Cursing, Gore, Suicide, Chronic illness, and Rape
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Terminal illness
trudilibrarian's review
3.0
I'm giving this three stars because overall, the stories are okay and several are completely forgettable. But I also encourage you to pick up this anthology because a few are outstanding and it would be a crying shame if you missed them.
Making it to Outstanding:
"What Maisie Knew" by David Liss:
At turns creepy, sick and disturbing; absolute compelling reading. If this premise has come up before, it was new to me and I loved it. The zombies are not the monsters of this story. The squick factor is off the charts.
"Kids and Their Toys" by James A. Moore:
Think [b:The Body|11574|The Body|Stephen King|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GA9179Y2L._SL75_.jpg|2334601] meets [b:The Girl Next Door|179735|The Girl Next Door|Jack Ketchum|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298460378s/179735.jpg|1109091]. There is a reason why children shouldn't play with dead things. I haven't been this creeped out since reading "Children of the Corn".
"Twittering from the Circus of the Dead" by Joe Hill:
Mr. Hill hasn't totally blown me away with his novels, but his short stories are EPIC and this one is no exception. If only all Twitter feeds were this engrossing and suspenseful! What starts out as a young girl's whiny bitch-fest in installments of 140 characters or less, morphs into heart-stopping terror.
"Family Business" by Jonathan Maberry
Easily my favorite of the bunch just because Maberry took what were the ingredients of a major story and turned it into a kick-ass novel called [b:Rot & Ruin|9314359|Rot & Ruin|Jonathan Maberry|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1284640139s/9314359.jpg|7443037]. Read the novel first though because the short story contains major spoilers.
Making it to Outstanding:
"What Maisie Knew" by David Liss:
At turns creepy, sick and disturbing; absolute compelling reading. If this premise has come up before, it was new to me and I loved it. The zombies are not the monsters of this story. The squick factor is off the charts.
"Kids and Their Toys" by James A. Moore:
Think [b:The Body|11574|The Body|Stephen King|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GA9179Y2L._SL75_.jpg|2334601] meets [b:The Girl Next Door|179735|The Girl Next Door|Jack Ketchum|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298460378s/179735.jpg|1109091]. There is a reason why children shouldn't play with dead things. I haven't been this creeped out since reading "Children of the Corn".
"Twittering from the Circus of the Dead" by Joe Hill:
Mr. Hill hasn't totally blown me away with his novels, but his short stories are EPIC and this one is no exception. If only all Twitter feeds were this engrossing and suspenseful! What starts out as a young girl's whiny bitch-fest in installments of 140 characters or less, morphs into heart-stopping terror.
"Family Business" by Jonathan Maberry
Easily my favorite of the bunch just because Maberry took what were the ingredients of a major story and turned it into a kick-ass novel called [b:Rot & Ruin|9314359|Rot & Ruin|Jonathan Maberry|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1284640139s/9314359.jpg|7443037]. Read the novel first though because the short story contains major spoilers.
viprholmes's review
4.0
some really creative takes on the zombie-fication of earth. If you're tired of the 'apocalypse', this is a great remedy - still zombie, but with more imagination.
vivelaviv's review
5.0
Excellent short stories - not your typical zombie fare. There are a couple of stories in this anthology that are really thought provoking.
catladylover94's review
3.0
really short stories, not alot of thought to them, a couple of good ones,, butnot enough to rate a 5 star
jasonsweirdreads's review
3.0
All stories within The New Dead are well done, but there are four that blew me away, for one reason or another--typically because they managed to frighten and/or disturb me. They are:
Lazerus by John Connolly
What Massie Knew by David Liss
Kids and Their Toys by James A. Moore
Twittering From the Circus of the Dead by Joe Hill
I'd also like to mention Family Business by Jonathan Maberry. Although this one did not disturb me, I found it very interesting and entertaining.
I was surprised that I liked the Joe Hill story so much, considering how it was written. Hill is so frigging talented, though, that he can make even the telling of an entire story in Twitter Tweets unsettling and frightening.
I recommend this anthology for these stories, if nothing else.
Lazerus by John Connolly
What Massie Knew by David Liss
Kids and Their Toys by James A. Moore
Twittering From the Circus of the Dead by Joe Hill
I'd also like to mention Family Business by Jonathan Maberry. Although this one did not disturb me, I found it very interesting and entertaining.
I was surprised that I liked the Joe Hill story so much, considering how it was written. Hill is so frigging talented, though, that he can make even the telling of an entire story in Twitter Tweets unsettling and frightening.
I recommend this anthology for these stories, if nothing else.
ryoflame's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
As with all short story anthologies it was a very mixed bag, but there's some real gems in there for sure. Was delighted to read Joe Hill's story which I'd previously seen the Creepshow animated special of! Definitely enjoyed the more emotional, serious works more than the silly ones.
socialpsysteph's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
I have really struggled with short story collections in the past but I think I have started to find my groove with them, horror short stories. A horror story just works in a short story format so much better than a lot of other genres for me.
I really liked a lot of the stories in this collection. Nine of these stories I rated 5 stars (the overall rating is lower because there were a few that I really didn't like and that drug the whole rating down some). Overall though, definitely recommend for fans of zombie stories. Lots of fun.
This book counts for r/Fantasy Bingo 2022 for a book with two or more authors and for the Magical Readathon: Orilium for the Autumnal Equinox 2022 for a D in Spells and Incantations for a book that I annotate.
I really liked a lot of the stories in this collection. Nine of these stories I rated 5 stars (the overall rating is lower because there were a few that I really didn't like and that drug the whole rating down some). Overall though, definitely recommend for fans of zombie stories. Lots of fun.
This book counts for r/Fantasy Bingo 2022 for a book with two or more authors and for the Magical Readathon: Orilium for the Autumnal Equinox 2022 for a D in Spells and Incantations for a book that I annotate.