When Zombies Attack: Tales of Horror & Romance

by Yolanda Renee

When Zombies Attack is a collection of short stories, flash fiction, and poetry over thirty individual pieces. Starting with zombies, the title selection, When Zombies Attack and ending with a flesh eater in Happy Halloween. It has horror, romance, even a bit of murder and mystery, a little for every reader.TRUE HORROR – a definition.WHEN ZOMBIES ATTACK – Can a survivalist survive a zombie hoard?SAMAEL – God or the devil himself?THE MAUSOLEUM – Will a young girl become the next sacrifice?THE DEVIL BE DAMNED – Hope for the defeated?INSOMNIA – Sometimes sleep is just too evasive, and then…MY LOVE – Forget evil and fall in love.BARBECUE – A promised night of lust turns cannibalistic.WARRIOR – When an angel in training meets true Evil.TEMPTATION – Just a little fun.EXTERMINATION – Revenge is most sweet.THE CHOICE IS MINE – Could you voluntarily jump into the fires of hell?DARK PLACES – We've all traveled there.A CHRISTMAS MURDER – A gift he couldn't refuse.FALLING – Into love or the abyss - what's the difference?THE FOUR FORTY-ONE KILLER – A serial killer confesses.UNFORGIVABLE – A sacrifice or uninformed choices?NO MORE – A gift of life, but at what cost?TELL ME – Lies serve a purpose.BEAUTIFUL SUCKS – Halloween night brings many surprises.YOU FOUND ME – When the unexpected happens.WHEN A STRANGER KNOCKS – Never, ever open that door.LOVE LETTERS – Love for eternity?DRIVEN TO MURDER –Murder is cheaper than divorce.EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE – Shower with a lover.HELLO AND GOODBYE – Some memories are best left in the ether.SECRET DESIRES – If only.VENGEANCE FIRST – Is murder ever forgivable?BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR – All I ever wanted, she got.SURRENDER OR SURVIVAL – Love triumphs over death, finally.A GHOSTLY PURPOSE – A ghostly visit saves a life.DRABBLES – A collection of 100 word short stories.MICRO-FLASH FICTION – A collection of 150 word short stories.ENGINE 7 5 0 2 9 – A murderous poem.ALASKAN DESTINY – When dreams go too far.NO MEANS NO – A Press release about a miraculous drug.CAUGHT AGAIN – She gets away or does she?HAPPY HALLOWEEN – Don't covet the neighbor.SNOW MOON – Valentine’s Day sucks.A STONE GARDEN – Decorating with murder.SEA MONSTERS – Sushi, anyone.PURPLE GREEN & GOLD – Crash landing.MELTING SNOW – Memories and loss.JEWEL – Unrequited Love.HERO’S – Dedication and Jane Finney reported. "Police are telling all residents of Pennsylvania to stay away from the nuclear power plant. Something has gone terribly wrong. That’s all they'll say right now. We do know that on the eastern side of the Susquehanna River, the military is patrolling. No one is getting in. No one is getting out. The status of those in the red zone is unknown."Angie muted the television. She tried to digest the news. She lived in the Red Zone; she could see the stacks of the power plant from her front window.

Genres: Zombies

155 pages, Paperback

First published September 23, 2015

About the author

At one time Alaska called to me and I answered. I learned to sleep under the midnight sun, survive in below zero temperatures, and hike the Mountain Ranges. I've traveled from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, and the memories are some of my most valued. The wonders, mysteries, and incredible beauty that is Alaska has never left me and thus now influence my writing.
Despite my adventurous spirit, I achieved my educational goals, married, and I have two wonderful sons. Writing is now my focus, my newest adventure!

Reviews

[Chrys Fey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always said that Yolanda Renee is the Queen of Flash Fiction with a Twist. You can count on all of her stories not being what you expect. Once you think you have it figured out, she surprises you. I couldn't see any of the endings coming. There's revenge, murder, romance, and suspense. The stories feature demons, ghosts, cannibals and much more. There is definitely something for everyone. She includes drabbles (stories of 100 words exactly) and micro flash fiction (stories of 150 words). There's also beautiful poetry, which was a special treat. Her poems are one of a kind and each one has a meaning behind it. Yolanda Renee even shares the inspiration behind each story. I liked reading what pushed her to write each story/poem.

When Zombies Attack is the first story in the collection. It was well thought out and written. The ending was brilliant too. I want to thank Mike for daring her to write it.

The next story is The Mausoleum, which ends on a cliffhanger and a question from Yolanda if she should continue the story. I think she should! There's a lot of unanswered questions and the promise of an adventure.

There's too many stories to list here but I truly enjoyed each one. If you love flash/micro fiction and poetry, read this!

[Susan Swiderski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me preface this by saying I'm not a big fan of zombies. At my age, the thought of some grotesque shuffling beast with designs on eating my brain is simply unacceptable, because, quite frankly, I need whatever gray matter I still have left. I'm not finished using it yet.

But I AM a fan of this writer, so it was a no-brainer choice (pardon the pun) to give her newest offering a chance. I'm glad I did, too, because I enjoyed it. It's kinda like an expensive box of chocolates: the story fillings may vary a bit, but they're all coated in the author's uniquely enjoyable style of chocolate coating. Some fillings are gruesome, some have an interesting twist, some have a certain dark humor, and others are surprisingly sweet. Romantic, even. But every one of them, whether poetry or prose, is uniquely satisfying.

It struck me as somewhat odd that a number of characters throughout the various stories had purple eyes... or listen to music of one particular performer whose name escapes me. Not someone with whom I'm familiar. I guess that means the author is a fan of those songs, and either has purple eyes, knows someone with purple eyes, or is a big fan of Elizabeth Taylor. Yeah, I know. It's a tad weird to characterize the eye color and musical selections as being "somewhat odd" while giving a pass to the zombies and other fantastical creatures who inhabit the pages of this book, but what can I say? The author entertained me, and best of all, as best as I can tell, my gray matter remains intact.

This book rates an easy four and a half stars, rounded up to five.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yolanda Renee has cracked the zombie tales with her utterly exquisite writing and detail. Yolanda Renee dedicated to this book to comedian Robin Williams. She said that even through his mental illness, he still managed to make us laugh. And I agree. She amazes me with her ability to put me in the story and not let me leave until long after I finished her story. Filled with suspense, murder and romance (of course), and an ending that tantalizes and surprises, When Zombies Attack is the best zombie story I have ever read. She has added some special surprises for a poet like myself. Beautiful, rhythmic poetry that made my heart sing and smile and do jumping jacks. I love the way Yolanda Renee adds some flash fiction and explains where her inspiration for that particular piece came from. It's hard to pick my favorite story or poem. I think my favorite poems was TRUE HORROR and TELL ME and my favorite story had to be When Zombies Attack. What an ending!

Here's an excerpt for your eyes to get all happy. She nervously got off the couch, knocking her drink over. Between getting a towel to clean it up and running to the windowâ€" there was no contest. She turned on the porch light and hurried to the picture window. She threw open the curtains. The stacks were blackâ€" ominous.

Please go and buy this wonderful book today. You'll be so glad you did.

[Stuart West · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Zombies Attack is a tough book to review. This short story collection, from the talented Ms. Renee, is like a buffet: not everything offered is going to please everyone's tastes. Subtitled "Tales of Horror and Romance," the book lives up to that title until the horror starts taking a backseat to romance and mystery. But that's okay as I'm a fan of Ms. Renee's mysteries and those are the tales in the book that really shine. The story of the killer seeking counsel with a psychiatrist is brilliant as are some of the other stories. There's a slew of well-crafted mysteries, most of them with bonafide surprise twist endings. And there's a smattering of very, very short fiction, I imagine very hard to write. The poems I could do without (just a personal preference and there aren't many), but don't let those get in the way of the great stuff. A lot of the stories deal with women's issues and for that I applaud the author. So...some of the stories are good, some great. Balancing it out, Ms. Renee's short story collection rates four stars. And I look forward to her next mystery.

[Elizabeth Seckman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the prefect read for the busy reader. When life is crazy, it's so annoying to start a book and have to keep putting it down- often forgetting where I left off and have to scan pages I've read before to catch back up. But Yolanda's book doesn't have that problem. Each story was a delicious snack that could be devoured in a few minutes. And they're intriguing little page turners too.

[Denise Covey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for those who like variety, even in horror stories. I love its collection of flash fiction, drabbles and poetry. Kept me intrigued all the way through.