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giraffefightinggravity's review
3.0
This really isn't very holiday themed at all, but it was a good read. Some of the stories are much better written than others- some have a surprising number of grammatical mistakes- and some are wildly more interesting, but it was fun.
thatjasonpace's review
3.0
Like most short story collections, there are some good and some bad. Mostly it is that every author has their own take of what a zombie is and some of those I didn't enjoy. But, all in all, a net positive read.
5hadow_girl's review
5.0
I R&R'd this a couple of years ago, when I was just starting to do reviews and discussions on Zombie Fiend.
I did my review story by story, (I still use that style today). The majority of the authors were also ZF members :) and I got to chat with them while I read [b:Holiday of the Dead: Zombie Anthology|21608607|Holiday of the Dead Zombie Anthology|Wild Wolf Publishing|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397223709s/21608607.jpg|40924442]. I'm still friends with most of them - (uh-huh, online friends DO TOO count!), and I always look forward to reading their work.
Sadly, I wasn't backing up any files back then. This is on my list to re-read & review - (right after I review the new ZF anthology, [b:Feast or Famine: A Banquet of Tales for the Zombie Prepper|22664454|Feast or Famine A Banquet of Tales for the Zombie Prepper|Eve Bellator|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404522670s/22664454.jpg|42164040]!)
Check out the rebirth of Zombie Fiend!
I did my review story by story, (I still use that style today). The majority of the authors were also ZF members :) and I got to chat with them while I read [b:Holiday of the Dead: Zombie Anthology|21608607|Holiday of the Dead Zombie Anthology|Wild Wolf Publishing|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397223709s/21608607.jpg|40924442]. I'm still friends with most of them - (uh-huh, online friends DO TOO count!), and I always look forward to reading their work.
Sadly, I wasn't backing up any files back then. This is on my list to re-read & review - (right after I review the new ZF anthology, [b:Feast or Famine: A Banquet of Tales for the Zombie Prepper|22664454|Feast or Famine A Banquet of Tales for the Zombie Prepper|Eve Bellator|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404522670s/22664454.jpg|42164040]!)
Check out the rebirth of Zombie Fiend!
xterminal's review
3.0
David Dunwoody (ed.), Holiday of the Dead (Wild Wolf Publishing, 2011)
Sometimes themed collections get ridiculous. Holiday of the Dead is exactly what you think it is—zombie stories that focus on people on, well, holiday. It's an amusing conceit, though Dunwoody probably carried it on a bit too long (thirty-eight stories?); this would have worked better at about half the length, as well as cutting out some of the chaff. For this is the other usual problem with anthologies—there's a quality variance that seems almost unavoidable. I've always put it down to the editor having different tastes than the reader. Which explains it, but doesn't lessen the problem.
To be fair, the good stories in here are very good. They're usually the ones that take the holiday conceit and do something with it that's just a little bit off; Vallon Jackson's “Apocalypse Noo” is exemplary at this, Thomas Emson's “Where Moth and Rust Destroy”, and of course one expects great things from contributors like Tony Burgess, David Moody, and Joe McKinney (and of course gets them). And I'll go out of my way to say it—I'm not usually a fan of authors publishing their own stuff in anthologies they're editing, but Dunwoody's own contribution to this effort, “Roman Holiday”, just plain rocks, even if he did take the conceit straighter than I'd have liked.
In other words, it's a typical short story collection: some good, some not so hot, and themed, so if you like the theme, you should like this collection (or most of it anyway); if you don't, you probably won't. But who doesn't like vacations? And zombies? ***
Sometimes themed collections get ridiculous. Holiday of the Dead is exactly what you think it is—zombie stories that focus on people on, well, holiday. It's an amusing conceit, though Dunwoody probably carried it on a bit too long (thirty-eight stories?); this would have worked better at about half the length, as well as cutting out some of the chaff. For this is the other usual problem with anthologies—there's a quality variance that seems almost unavoidable. I've always put it down to the editor having different tastes than the reader. Which explains it, but doesn't lessen the problem.
To be fair, the good stories in here are very good. They're usually the ones that take the holiday conceit and do something with it that's just a little bit off; Vallon Jackson's “Apocalypse Noo” is exemplary at this, Thomas Emson's “Where Moth and Rust Destroy”, and of course one expects great things from contributors like Tony Burgess, David Moody, and Joe McKinney (and of course gets them). And I'll go out of my way to say it—I'm not usually a fan of authors publishing their own stuff in anthologies they're editing, but Dunwoody's own contribution to this effort, “Roman Holiday”, just plain rocks, even if he did take the conceit straighter than I'd have liked.
In other words, it's a typical short story collection: some good, some not so hot, and themed, so if you like the theme, you should like this collection (or most of it anyway); if you don't, you probably won't. But who doesn't like vacations? And zombies? ***
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