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Zombies!: Tales of the Walking Dead
From master editor of horror anthologies Stephen Jones comes this collection of twenty-six stories to make your skin crawl. Within this terrifying tome, you’ll discover classic tales of the macabre, memorable yarns culled from the pages of pulp magazines, original stories by some of the greatest minds in horror, and two novellas not published anywhere else. Living corpses intervene in a production of Twelfth Night . An undead suitor pursues his beloved. Desperate mortals fight to survive a night of the undead. It’s all inside. And it’s coming for you.
Zombie tales
Fans of The Walking Dead and World War Z , brace yourselves. These phenomenal stories from horror masters will get inside your head and leave you wanting more.
Zombie tales
Fans of The Walking Dead and World War Z , brace yourselves. These phenomenal stories from horror masters will get inside your head and leave you wanting more.
624 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2013
77 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Jones
277 books344 followersStephen Jones is an eighteen-time winner of the British Fantasy Award.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 14, 2013
"Zombies! Tales of The Walking Dead" is basically just a re-print of "The Mammoth Book of Zombies," which has been out of print for quite some time. But that's good news, because one of the two best zombie collections I have ever read is now available again! I have TMBoZ and absolutely love it. The only differences between the two: Zombies! has one additional story, "Homo Coprophagus Somnambulus" by Jo Fletcher and the illustrations which were in the original collection have been removed, which is kind of sad but not a huge issue.
The great thing about this collection is that all of the stories portray different types of zombies from different genres/eras. You will not get the Romero-type zombies in each story, so if that is what you are seeking then I would look elsewhere (I recommend "The Dead That Walk," also edited by Stephen Jones which is also EXCELLENT--one of my top two faves alongside this one--but it does contain mostly traditional zombies), and each story offers up something different.
What you will get with this book is more sophisticated writing and higher caliber story-telling than what is typically compiled in modern zombie anthologies. Some of these stories are kind of funny, some are creepy, some are bizarre and sometimes sad. All of them are entertaining.
I do feel that anyone who picks this one up will need to have an open mind if they are fans of zombies in their current/most typical form and if they are accustomed to and thoroughly enjoy the somewhat trashy and poor writing that is displayed in so much modern zombie fiction (not all, but a lot), but they will also be in for a great treat if they give it a chance and do not expect the typical zombie fodder. Happy reading!
The great thing about this collection is that all of the stories portray different types of zombies from different genres/eras. You will not get the Romero-type zombies in each story, so if that is what you are seeking then I would look elsewhere (I recommend "The Dead That Walk," also edited by Stephen Jones which is also EXCELLENT--one of my top two faves alongside this one--but it does contain mostly traditional zombies), and each story offers up something different.
What you will get with this book is more sophisticated writing and higher caliber story-telling than what is typically compiled in modern zombie anthologies. Some of these stories are kind of funny, some are creepy, some are bizarre and sometimes sad. All of them are entertaining.
I do feel that anyone who picks this one up will need to have an open mind if they are fans of zombies in their current/most typical form and if they are accustomed to and thoroughly enjoy the somewhat trashy and poor writing that is displayed in so much modern zombie fiction (not all, but a lot), but they will also be in for a great treat if they give it a chance and do not expect the typical zombie fodder. Happy reading!
Read
July 29, 2022ETA: Eh, I think probably I'm done with this collection for now, after Stephen Jones had a boomer meltdown. Apparently, a con official who happens to be an enby let him know there wasn't going to be room on a panel for Jones. Jones went on to bitch about "pronouns", because apparently the con employing someone who uses they/them pronouns was why they didn't have room for him. His defense of said meltdown then resulted in him saying such asinine things as the term white privilege is a racial slur. (This is a paraphrase.)
Anyway, this pretty much cements my previous impression that, as an editor, Jones is going to prioritize crusty old white guy shit over stories that are going to be relevant to either contemporary concerns or, more importantly, me. This isn't me canceling him, this is me deciding where to spend my limited free time. But speaking of gatekeeping, I do think it's pretty sad that Jones for years acted as the editor of best of new horror anthologies, because acting as a literal cultural gatekeeper when you're that much of a hidebound fogey is not good for a robust horror ecosystem, one which can get at deeper cultural fears than "eek, a rat!"
The thing I find so boring and depressing about dinguses like Jones is that they're eaten up by fear, but it's the most basic, stupid, boring kind, the kind of fear that people of enormous cultural privilege have when someone questions that privilege. And of course, no, people with cultural privilege can be be unhappy, miserable even, but their unhappiness never stems from their whiteness, or their cisness, or their heterosexuality. It's just the most boring kind of bitchiness to cry publicly about not getting a seat at a panel, and then slagging the messenger because you're a boring bitch.
So yeah. Maybe I'll get back to this collection, and maybe I won't -- because I bear no grudge for the individual stories -- but I definitely feel over it for now.
Previously:
Somewhat trepidations of this one because the editor's intro made it sound like a snore-fest full of moldering oldies, but the first story by Clive Barker was such a rollicking good time that I've been forced to reassess.
Bullet reviews while I'm reading:
"Sex, Death and Starshine" by Clive Barker: Because I came to horror late, I haven't really gotten into Barker's catalog. Like I knew Hellraiser was a thing, and that maybe he wrote some, but that was about it. That's too bad, because what I encountered in this story was just delightful: witty and funny and a little bit sick. The building housing a theater company will be demolished after this final production of "Twelfth Night". Some company members from the past return for one last performance. Do with this information what you will, but I've never read a more terrifying blowjob.
"Rising Generation" by Ramsey Campbell: This short story was the kind of bad I was expecting from the introduction. A teacher brings a class down to some dungeon-y cave thing under a haunted castle, with predictable results. The story is from the point of view of the teacher, who is such a complete Karen I think we're supposed to cheer when her zombified charges eventually overwhelm her. Alas, I thought her characterization was mean-spirited and misogynist. This is a regular complaint from me i/r/t short fiction, but: This was not a story, it was a situation, and not a very interesting one at that.
"The Song of the Slaves" by Manly Wade Wellman: This fucked up little story was by an author I'd never read before, who was a prolific contributor to midcentury pulp magazines. I tend to have a dubious relationship with this sort of thing: Like I get that it's formative to the genre or whatever, but it's often so mired in white nonsense that I don't enjoy reading it at all. However! This was legitimately interesting. Wellman was apparently born in Africa, and, quote, "retained sentimental feelings about the country" unquote, but he rarely used his origins in his work. (The fact that the editor either is calling Africa a country or can't be arsed to specify a country rankles some, but whatever.)
We first meet a man named Gender (a name which legit made me laugh) hauling 49 men he's enslaved to his ship to sail to North Carolina. He's decided to cut out the middleman and enslave Black people directly from the African continent. It is the year of our Lord 1853, and though the question of slavery hasn't come to a crisis in the United States yet, the slave trade has been abolished by the British. The captured men men sing a song which curses Gender, and despite cruel whippings, they won't stop. The singing continues until a British naval ship overtakes them, and Gender throws all 49 men to their watery deaths so he won't be busted for slaving. The British sea captain curses him too, in a way, sending back to Carolina word of Gender's misdeeds. When he finally returns home, some shit seriously goes down. Fuck around and find out, asshole.
"The Ghouls" by R. Chetwynd-Hayes: Another author I've never read, though I did lol a bit when the editor noted Chetwynd-Hayes had been dubbed "Britain's Prince of Chill." Like it took me a stupid long time to realize he wasn't chill, man, but chill like scary. So. This is more on the socialist uprising side of zombie plots, which I'm into, but then it's also rote as hell and unsurprising, which I'm not.
"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" by Edgar Allan Poe: Poe's one of those that I have to get back to more. I read a bunch of his stuff as a teenager (like everyone) but I don't think I appreciated how freaking good he is. This story is just a little thing, more an anecdote than anything, but absolutely crawls with dread.
Anyway, this pretty much cements my previous impression that, as an editor, Jones is going to prioritize crusty old white guy shit over stories that are going to be relevant to either contemporary concerns or, more importantly, me. This isn't me canceling him, this is me deciding where to spend my limited free time. But speaking of gatekeeping, I do think it's pretty sad that Jones for years acted as the editor of best of new horror anthologies, because acting as a literal cultural gatekeeper when you're that much of a hidebound fogey is not good for a robust horror ecosystem, one which can get at deeper cultural fears than "eek, a rat!"
The thing I find so boring and depressing about dinguses like Jones is that they're eaten up by fear, but it's the most basic, stupid, boring kind, the kind of fear that people of enormous cultural privilege have when someone questions that privilege. And of course, no, people with cultural privilege can be be unhappy, miserable even, but their unhappiness never stems from their whiteness, or their cisness, or their heterosexuality. It's just the most boring kind of bitchiness to cry publicly about not getting a seat at a panel, and then slagging the messenger because you're a boring bitch.
So yeah. Maybe I'll get back to this collection, and maybe I won't -- because I bear no grudge for the individual stories -- but I definitely feel over it for now.
Previously:
Somewhat trepidations of this one because the editor's intro made it sound like a snore-fest full of moldering oldies, but the first story by Clive Barker was such a rollicking good time that I've been forced to reassess.
Bullet reviews while I'm reading:
"Sex, Death and Starshine" by Clive Barker: Because I came to horror late, I haven't really gotten into Barker's catalog. Like I knew Hellraiser was a thing, and that maybe he wrote some, but that was about it. That's too bad, because what I encountered in this story was just delightful: witty and funny and a little bit sick. The building housing a theater company will be demolished after this final production of "Twelfth Night". Some company members from the past return for one last performance. Do with this information what you will, but I've never read a more terrifying blowjob.
"Rising Generation" by Ramsey Campbell: This short story was the kind of bad I was expecting from the introduction. A teacher brings a class down to some dungeon-y cave thing under a haunted castle, with predictable results. The story is from the point of view of the teacher, who is such a complete Karen I think we're supposed to cheer when her zombified charges eventually overwhelm her. Alas, I thought her characterization was mean-spirited and misogynist. This is a regular complaint from me i/r/t short fiction, but: This was not a story, it was a situation, and not a very interesting one at that.
"The Song of the Slaves" by Manly Wade Wellman: This fucked up little story was by an author I'd never read before, who was a prolific contributor to midcentury pulp magazines. I tend to have a dubious relationship with this sort of thing: Like I get that it's formative to the genre or whatever, but it's often so mired in white nonsense that I don't enjoy reading it at all. However! This was legitimately interesting. Wellman was apparently born in Africa, and, quote, "retained sentimental feelings about the country" unquote, but he rarely used his origins in his work. (The fact that the editor either is calling Africa a country or can't be arsed to specify a country rankles some, but whatever.)
We first meet a man named Gender (a name which legit made me laugh) hauling 49 men he's enslaved to his ship to sail to North Carolina. He's decided to cut out the middleman and enslave Black people directly from the African continent. It is the year of our Lord 1853, and though the question of slavery hasn't come to a crisis in the United States yet, the slave trade has been abolished by the British. The captured men men sing a song which curses Gender, and despite cruel whippings, they won't stop. The singing continues until a British naval ship overtakes them, and Gender throws all 49 men to their watery deaths so he won't be busted for slaving. The British sea captain curses him too, in a way, sending back to Carolina word of Gender's misdeeds. When he finally returns home, some shit seriously goes down. Fuck around and find out, asshole.
"The Ghouls" by R. Chetwynd-Hayes: Another author I've never read, though I did lol a bit when the editor noted Chetwynd-Hayes had been dubbed "Britain's Prince of Chill." Like it took me a stupid long time to realize he wasn't chill, man, but chill like scary. So. This is more on the socialist uprising side of zombie plots, which I'm into, but then it's also rote as hell and unsurprising, which I'm not.
"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" by Edgar Allan Poe: Poe's one of those that I have to get back to more. I read a bunch of his stuff as a teenager (like everyone) but I don't think I appreciated how freaking good he is. This story is just a little thing, more an anecdote than anything, but absolutely crawls with dread.
December 31, 2018
I think this is a well curated book. Unfortunately the story style is that really long, meandering, lots of filler 1800s style that truly bores me to tears. So maybe made it halfway through the book, then decided that Stephen Jones and I are not compatible.
November 8, 2019
Since I am partial to zombie anthologies, this was fantastic! One short story that really stole my attention was "The Grey House" by Basil Cooper. Overall, it was a great read for me.
December 25, 2022
This was okay. A wide range of zombie stories, so that's cool, but man I wish it had been a more diverse group of writers (only two women and Clive Barker? Mostly old straight white men and some of them frankly have been anthologized enough).
However, there were a lot of Weird Tales era folks that I wasn't familiar with that I enjoyed their work, so I do have some new writers whose work I need to keep an eye out for.
My favorites:
Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner
The Crucian Pit by Nicholas Royale
Treading the Maze by Lisa Tuttle
Out of Corruption by David A Riley
The Blood Kiss by Dennis Etchison
The Dead Don't Die! By Robert Bloch
On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks by Joe R Lansdale
However, there were a lot of Weird Tales era folks that I wasn't familiar with that I enjoyed their work, so I do have some new writers whose work I need to keep an eye out for.
My favorites:
Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner
The Crucian Pit by Nicholas Royale
Treading the Maze by Lisa Tuttle
Out of Corruption by David A Riley
The Blood Kiss by Dennis Etchison
The Dead Don't Die! By Robert Bloch
On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks by Joe R Lansdale
March 29, 2019
Great Collection of Stories (& A Poem)
Several hours of entertainment herein, including some new-to-me tales that had me turnimg off the kindle.to think for a while after finishing them. Well written, brilliantly conceived, A+ BRAVO!
Several hours of entertainment herein, including some new-to-me tales that had me turnimg off the kindle.to think for a while after finishing them. Well written, brilliantly conceived, A+ BRAVO!
November 25, 2019
Stupid
Couldn’t even get through 4 stories. Poor writing, nonsensical plots, boring. Nothing in the 4 stories I read was scary for sure. Wasted 2 dollars
Couldn’t even get through 4 stories. Poor writing, nonsensical plots, boring. Nothing in the 4 stories I read was scary for sure. Wasted 2 dollars
December 16, 2022
More zombies than you can shake a stick at!
August 21, 2013
A lot of stories that I've never read before, most of them quite clever.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews