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After Dark
When the zoo falls, it doesn’t do so quietly.
Eleanor Rigby was supposed to be finishing her workday—maybe grabbing pizza, maybe going home early. Instead, nightfall brings screams, fire, and something impossible stalking the streets. Cages stand open. Sirens die mid-wail. And the rules of the world seem to unravel after dark.
As her world collapses hour by hour, Eleanor and a handful of survivors are forced together by terror, loss, and the relentless need to keep moving. Each day is measured not by hope, but by who didn’t make it through the night. Guilt clings as tightly as fear, and survival demands choices that will stain every soul left breathing.
The monsters aren’t just loose.
They’re hunting.
After Dark is a relentless horror novel of urban ruin, feral terror, and the thin, fragile bonds that form when the lights go out—and staying human may be the hardest fight of all. Join master of darkness Kristi Buckel, author of the acclaimed Silence series of zombie novels, on a journey you won’t forget. Or even survive.
Eleanor Rigby was supposed to be finishing her workday—maybe grabbing pizza, maybe going home early. Instead, nightfall brings screams, fire, and something impossible stalking the streets. Cages stand open. Sirens die mid-wail. And the rules of the world seem to unravel after dark.
As her world collapses hour by hour, Eleanor and a handful of survivors are forced together by terror, loss, and the relentless need to keep moving. Each day is measured not by hope, but by who didn’t make it through the night. Guilt clings as tightly as fear, and survival demands choices that will stain every soul left breathing.
The monsters aren’t just loose.
They’re hunting.
After Dark is a relentless horror novel of urban ruin, feral terror, and the thin, fragile bonds that form when the lights go out—and staying human may be the hardest fight of all. Join master of darkness Kristi Buckel, author of the acclaimed Silence series of zombie novels, on a journey you won’t forget. Or even survive.
214 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 1, 2026
2 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Kristi Buckel
4 books9 followersA New York transplant to the Middle of Nowhere, Louisiana, Kristi awaits the day that she can move back up north to where it actually, you know, has seasons. She writes, edits, and sleeps with a smaller knife than she should. Because, you know. Zombies.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 18, 2024
What if the zombie apocalypse started while you were working at the zoo? And what if some of the animals could also catch the virus? These are the questions After Dark asks and it makes for a fast-paced and brutal little tale.
The characters were great, the settings were well utilized as was the animal aspect.
Points for Bob Ross references.
The characters were great, the settings were well utilized as was the animal aspect.
Points for Bob Ross references.
February 21, 2022
Off the chart suspense levels
Not only is the suspense level of this well-written, imaginative novel off the charts, but the main character is smart, bold, and best of all, kind. Her astonishing resilience and self-deprecating, sardonic humor make Eleanor Rigby an appealingly reluctant hero. I'd love to meet this brilliant young genetic researcher. Actually, I'd like to meet all of Buckel's well-developed characters who work at a zoo and dedicate themselves to living (and extinct!) animals.
Although I don't usually read suspense and wanted to close my eyes during the scariest and goriest scenes, I enjoyed After Dark much more than I expected to and am glad Christie's mom, a nurse in my rheumatologist's office, told me about it.
May this impressive debut be followed by other gripping novels.
Not only is the suspense level of this well-written, imaginative novel off the charts, but the main character is smart, bold, and best of all, kind. Her astonishing resilience and self-deprecating, sardonic humor make Eleanor Rigby an appealingly reluctant hero. I'd love to meet this brilliant young genetic researcher. Actually, I'd like to meet all of Buckel's well-developed characters who work at a zoo and dedicate themselves to living (and extinct!) animals.
Although I don't usually read suspense and wanted to close my eyes during the scariest and goriest scenes, I enjoyed After Dark much more than I expected to and am glad Christie's mom, a nurse in my rheumatologist's office, told me about it.
May this impressive debut be followed by other gripping novels.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews