Scan barcode
cjburright's review
5.0
Undead: Ten Tales of Zombies is a diverse collection of short stories ranging from humorous to poignant, thought-provoking to disturbing. Each tale held an unexpected twist ending and more than a few times I laughed out loud or cringed. I enjoyed every one of the stories, but if I had to choose a favorite, it would be a tie between Furzby Holt and Feeding Frenzy. Furzby Holt was downright scary and Feeding Frenzy was a perfect blend of horror and humor.
vikingwolf's review
2.0
1. IMMUNITY by Jeff Strand
What if the body’s immune system can shake off the infection?
A man is bitten by a zombie and his friend prepares to kill him before he turns. The bitten guy decides he's immune and better just kill his friend first. Then he turns zombie and kills someone. And that's it. The end. At one and a half pages it was too short and underdeveloped to be a decent read. Just damn I'm bitten, hey don't kill me I'm immune, RARG I've killed someone. (1 star)
2. GREYWALKER by Rayne Hall
A dying man will pay any price to gain time.
A dying man wants a chance to tell his former wife that he's sorry he beat her and makes a deal with a witch for more time as a temporary zombie but he must kill himself within a time limit before he eats people. This was ok but I'm not a fan of these historical, middle age village kind of settings for stories so not really my thing. Nicely written though. (2 star)
3. LAST CHANCE TO SEE by Tracie McBride
You have twenty-four hours before death becomes permanent.
After her death Sharon is reincarnated for 24 hours to say goodbye to her family and friends. At her 'party' people are too busy fighting or watching TV to take advantage of those last few hours with her and one relative finds it funny to poke her with a fork to see if it hurts. It was a sad but slightly scary story as you can imagine technology of the future allowing this to happen. Lets just hope you don't have relatives like Sharon! (3 star)
4. FURZBY HOLT by Jonathan Broughton
Collecting census information in this English village should be an easy job.
A census taker goes to a remote village to find the residents are all undead and can't fill in the forms. This was ok but the side story of the fight with his girlfriend distracted the reader from what was a quirky story. It was ok. (2 star)
5. ANOTHER OLDIE BUT GOODIE by Paul D. Dail
Retirement home resident Margaret is hearing music that no one else can hear.
Margaret can hear the singing of her beloved dead husband and knows he is coming to claim her for the grave but with help from a care home assistant, she has another plan. This one was clever and had a decent little twist which I won't spoil. You get a good background to their life together in with the creepy aspect of the ghost story. (2.5 star)
6. ZOMBIE MOTHER-IN-LAW by Tara Maya
Mama lives in the basement.
This was a great wee story about a couple who have Marlie's dead mother locked in the basement and a dead neighbour who keeps escaping his family to come and annoy them. Frank wants to kill the zombies who were created by giving dead relatives an immortality serum but Marlie can't imagine life without Mother. Frank is funny and his comments about Poo Tube made me laugh while Marlie wonders if hashtags are a new kind of hash brown. Not the smartest pair in the world and not great at staying safe! Nice story! (4 star)
7. I’LL LOVE YA, FOREVER, BUT… by April Grey
Faithful to a fault, that’s my Fred.
A houseproud woman is horrified when her newly risen zombie husband comes home and starts leaving slime trails around the house. This was quite an amusing story as she tries to coax him away from her carpets and back to the grave. (3 star)
8. DECISION OF THE COUNCIL by John Hoddy
The year is 2225. Is it safe to reanimate a person from the barbarous past?
In the 23rd century a reanimated man will ever be allowed to live and be studied, or be terminated after a council meeting. This was far too technical for me with info dumps about cryogenics, voodoo and sci-fi stuff that I didn't find that interesting. (1 star)
9. THE REASON FOR ZOMBIES by Douglas Kolacki
My limbs are not as cooperative as they used to be.
A zombie man keeps escaping from his home to find the entity that made them and ask to be released into death. This was a very long winded and confusing story. The conversations in it were weird and I just didn't get what the author was trying to do with this. (1 star)
10. FEEDING FRENZY by Matt Hults
These zombies are hungry.
Ron and Greg want to buy an abandoned fast food joint but when they get inside the zombie customers want never ending service and they can't find a way out or a way to call for help. This one was quirky and I liked the ideas in it. I would have marked it higher but there was no real conclusion to the story which was a bit frustrating. (3 star)
Overall I have to mark this anthology based on there being more stories that left me cold.
What if the body’s immune system can shake off the infection?
A man is bitten by a zombie and his friend prepares to kill him before he turns. The bitten guy decides he's immune and better just kill his friend first. Then he turns zombie and kills someone. And that's it. The end. At one and a half pages it was too short and underdeveloped to be a decent read. Just damn I'm bitten, hey don't kill me I'm immune, RARG I've killed someone. (1 star)
2. GREYWALKER by Rayne Hall
A dying man will pay any price to gain time.
A dying man wants a chance to tell his former wife that he's sorry he beat her and makes a deal with a witch for more time as a temporary zombie but he must kill himself within a time limit before he eats people. This was ok but I'm not a fan of these historical, middle age village kind of settings for stories so not really my thing. Nicely written though. (2 star)
3. LAST CHANCE TO SEE by Tracie McBride
You have twenty-four hours before death becomes permanent.
After her death Sharon is reincarnated for 24 hours to say goodbye to her family and friends. At her 'party' people are too busy fighting or watching TV to take advantage of those last few hours with her and one relative finds it funny to poke her with a fork to see if it hurts. It was a sad but slightly scary story as you can imagine technology of the future allowing this to happen. Lets just hope you don't have relatives like Sharon! (3 star)
4. FURZBY HOLT by Jonathan Broughton
Collecting census information in this English village should be an easy job.
A census taker goes to a remote village to find the residents are all undead and can't fill in the forms. This was ok but the side story of the fight with his girlfriend distracted the reader from what was a quirky story. It was ok. (2 star)
5. ANOTHER OLDIE BUT GOODIE by Paul D. Dail
Retirement home resident Margaret is hearing music that no one else can hear.
Margaret can hear the singing of her beloved dead husband and knows he is coming to claim her for the grave but with help from a care home assistant, she has another plan. This one was clever and had a decent little twist which I won't spoil. You get a good background to their life together in with the creepy aspect of the ghost story. (2.5 star)
6. ZOMBIE MOTHER-IN-LAW by Tara Maya
Mama lives in the basement.
This was a great wee story about a couple who have Marlie's dead mother locked in the basement and a dead neighbour who keeps escaping his family to come and annoy them. Frank wants to kill the zombies who were created by giving dead relatives an immortality serum but Marlie can't imagine life without Mother. Frank is funny and his comments about Poo Tube made me laugh while Marlie wonders if hashtags are a new kind of hash brown. Not the smartest pair in the world and not great at staying safe! Nice story! (4 star)
7. I’LL LOVE YA, FOREVER, BUT… by April Grey
Faithful to a fault, that’s my Fred.
A houseproud woman is horrified when her newly risen zombie husband comes home and starts leaving slime trails around the house. This was quite an amusing story as she tries to coax him away from her carpets and back to the grave. (3 star)
8. DECISION OF THE COUNCIL by John Hoddy
The year is 2225. Is it safe to reanimate a person from the barbarous past?
In the 23rd century a reanimated man will ever be allowed to live and be studied, or be terminated after a council meeting. This was far too technical for me with info dumps about cryogenics, voodoo and sci-fi stuff that I didn't find that interesting. (1 star)
9. THE REASON FOR ZOMBIES by Douglas Kolacki
My limbs are not as cooperative as they used to be.
A zombie man keeps escaping from his home to find the entity that made them and ask to be released into death. This was a very long winded and confusing story. The conversations in it were weird and I just didn't get what the author was trying to do with this. (1 star)
10. FEEDING FRENZY by Matt Hults
These zombies are hungry.
Ron and Greg want to buy an abandoned fast food joint but when they get inside the zombie customers want never ending service and they can't find a way out or a way to call for help. This one was quirky and I liked the ideas in it. I would have marked it higher but there was no real conclusion to the story which was a bit frustrating. (3 star)
Overall I have to mark this anthology based on there being more stories that left me cold.
brittjt01's review
5.0
Wow this compilation of zombie novels was amazing. The short stories provide a wide variance of types of zombies. Who Knew! Before reading the ten stories in this novel I thought I was a zombie aficionado and expert, but Undead pushes the imagination further into science fiction. Who knew zombies had feelings "Immunity" by Jeff Strand puts that little nugget into the reader's mind and explores zombies from their point of view. Excellent story by the way. Another great story, "ANOTHER OLDIE BUT GOODIE" by Paul D. Dail, elderly people amaze me. This one is based in a retirement home; gives a new meaning to old love and memories. One of my favorite stories in this novel was "Feeding Frenzy" by Matt Hults, where we are reminded what looks good on the outside may not be good for you on the inside. All the short stories enclosed in this novel bring a brand new vision to the term "Zombie" and some stories as the reader I wished never ended.
shaka2u's review
5.0
Wow this compilation of zombie novels was amazing. The short stories provide a wide variance of types of zombies. Who Knew! Before reading the ten stories in this novel I thought I was a zombie aficionado and expert, but Undead pushes the imagination further into science fiction. Who knew zombies had feelings "Immunity" by Jeff Strand puts that little nugget into the reader's mind and explores zombies from their point of view. Excellent story by the way. Another great story, "ANOTHER OLDIE BUT GOODIE" by Paul D. Dail, elderly people amaze me. This one is based in a retirement home; gives a new meaning to old love and memories. One of my favorite stories in this novel was "Feeding Frenzy" by Matt Hults, where we are reminded what looks good on the outside may not be good for you on the inside. All the short stories enclosed in this novel bring a brand new vision to the term "Zombie" and some stories as the reader I wished never ended.
More...