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Virus: Hell of the Living Dead
Deep within the African jungle nation of Daroka, Marsh Industries' biochemical research facility is developing a classified serum known as the HOPE Project. But in the lab's Antares Module, where human test subjects are kept in locked cells, something has gone horrifically wrong. The dead are alive. Aggressive. Hungry for flesh. And the infection is spreading. Now a team of heavily armed American mercenaries, a French female journalist, and a group of unsuspecting missionaries have all entered the plague zone. In a third world hellhole already engulfed by political unrest and corporate greed, can anyone survive a rapidly decomposing nightmare of uncontainable viral carnage?
From Brad Carter - whose shark chomping, dick ripping, whore gore and vermin mating novelizations include CRUEL JAWS, NIGHT OF THE DEMON, MARDI GRAS MASSACRE and NIGHT OF TERROR - comes this guts-splattered apocalypse epic inspired by the original mega-budget screenplay vision of Claudio Fragasso & Rossella Drudi that eventually became the low-budget basis for Bruno Mattei's zombie trash classic HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD.
From Brad Carter - whose shark chomping, dick ripping, whore gore and vermin mating novelizations include CRUEL JAWS, NIGHT OF THE DEMON, MARDI GRAS MASSACRE and NIGHT OF TERROR - comes this guts-splattered apocalypse epic inspired by the original mega-budget screenplay vision of Claudio Fragasso & Rossella Drudi that eventually became the low-budget basis for Bruno Mattei's zombie trash classic HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD.
- GenresHorror
632 pages, Paperback
Published March 4, 2025
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 13, 2025
Being a fan of Italian Horror movies including the cheesy zombie films that came out in the wake of 'Dawn of the Dead', 'Hell of the Living Dead' was one of the worst, the kind of movie the term so bad it's good was coined for. Who knew this could be turned into a very good novel; it links together all of the set pieces from the film into a solid and cohesive narrative, according to the forward this was based on the original screenplay and not what ended up on film.
What is the solution to overpopulation and world hunger, well a Mega maniacal billionaire (think Elon Musk) thinks he has the answer which under the guise of a humanitarian project he funds a research facility in a war torn third world country in Africa, in reality it's really a project to turn certain populations into cannibals, of course it goes horribly wrong.
This was a fun fast paced zombie thriller of the Romero style not Snyder or Boyle style. The characters in the movie are just cardboard cutouts with zero depth, just there to move the plot and to kill off in increasingly gory ways. Here the author gives them all depth and personality with clear motivations you will still hate the ones your supposed to and like the others to the point you dont want them to die even though you they will (if you've seen the movie).
The book surprised me I wasn't expecting something as well written as this. If you're a fan of the zombie genre or a fan of the movie, pick this up you won't be disappointed.
What is the solution to overpopulation and world hunger, well a Mega maniacal billionaire (think Elon Musk) thinks he has the answer which under the guise of a humanitarian project he funds a research facility in a war torn third world country in Africa, in reality it's really a project to turn certain populations into cannibals, of course it goes horribly wrong.
This was a fun fast paced zombie thriller of the Romero style not Snyder or Boyle style. The characters in the movie are just cardboard cutouts with zero depth, just there to move the plot and to kill off in increasingly gory ways. Here the author gives them all depth and personality with clear motivations you will still hate the ones your supposed to and like the others to the point you dont want them to die even though you they will (if you've seen the movie).
The book surprised me I wasn't expecting something as well written as this. If you're a fan of the zombie genre or a fan of the movie, pick this up you won't be disappointed.
May 4, 2025
I still have a sort of soft spot in my heart for those old Italian and some Spanish 80's trash epics. "Nightmare City" from Umberto Lenzi is my favorite zombie film of that time. So, all the time I'm reading this, I'm wondering why this is a novelization of the movie? It runs so far off the original it might as well be an original book. Zombies are a dime a dozen in this day and age. At the end the author explains why he wrote it that way. Still, why not make it a new book with a new title.
The other thing that got me down on this was the author updated the story to modern times. It's no longer the wild 80's but drab 2025. We got cell phones and internet and everyone's favorite, podcasts. It took the air out of the sails for me.
What there was of the story from the film was good. Even some of the add-on's was nice. I guess it's just that I grew out of zombie mayhem because it flows so mightily in the mainstream nowadays.
The other thing that got me down on this was the author updated the story to modern times. It's no longer the wild 80's but drab 2025. We got cell phones and internet and everyone's favorite, podcasts. It took the air out of the sails for me.
What there was of the story from the film was good. Even some of the add-on's was nice. I guess it's just that I grew out of zombie mayhem because it flows so mightily in the mainstream nowadays.
June 28, 2025
600 Pages of Zombie Carnage!
Hell of the Living Dead is one of my favorite Bruno Mattei films, so seeing that there was going to be a novelization, that was close to 600 pages, took notes from the original version of the script and by the author of Cruel Jaws? It was the perfect recipe. I was in.
Much like Carter's other work, it's never dull, full of personality and is well written. I love the characters here, lots of interesting conflicts and layers to them. So much is different from the film, it's recognizable to the film but there's so much new content to keep everyone interested. Lots of cool stuff I wish made it to screen. Another banger from Brad Carter, Hell of the Living Dead is 600 pages of zombie mayhem!
Hell of the Living Dead is one of my favorite Bruno Mattei films, so seeing that there was going to be a novelization, that was close to 600 pages, took notes from the original version of the script and by the author of Cruel Jaws? It was the perfect recipe. I was in.
Much like Carter's other work, it's never dull, full of personality and is well written. I love the characters here, lots of interesting conflicts and layers to them. So much is different from the film, it's recognizable to the film but there's so much new content to keep everyone interested. Lots of cool stuff I wish made it to screen. Another banger from Brad Carter, Hell of the Living Dead is 600 pages of zombie mayhem!
December 18, 2025
It's wild that Mr. Carter took a truly inept 80's Italian zombie flick like Hell of the Living Dead and made it into an enjoyable, engaging modern flesh-eater epic. It doesn't all work, as a lot of the stuff that was added that wasn't originally in the movie doesn't really go anywhere, and it does seem like it was thrown in to pad the page count. But, for the most part, if you're looking for a zombie novel that understands the film genre it's supposed to be a part of, it pretty much hits the spot.
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April 22, 2025Yes, I read a 600-page adaptation of 'Night of the Zombies'.
July 15, 2025
A wild ride. Good read for horror heads out there!
April 16, 2025
I'm a big fan of film novelisations, and Virus: Hell of the Living Dead is one of the best novelisations I've read. Brad Carter has done a brilliant job of taking a somewhat silly, trashy low-budget film and expanding it into an almost 600-page zombie apocalypse epic.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews