Dead Jed: Adventures of a Middle School Zombie

by Scott Craven

Imagine what could happen if "Shaun of the Dead" met "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." Jed's not your typical junior high geek. He is, to use the politically-correct term, cardiovascularly challenged. Or, to be blunt, undead. A zombie. His parents long tried to overlook his differences, since Jed was a bright, active kid up to the time a limb came loose. But Jed learned who and what we was at a birthday party when he helped blow out the candles, shooting his lips into the cake as well. That prompted "The Talk," forcing Jed to accept his post-life condition as well as an emergency repair kit consisting of duct tape and staples to keep himself together. As he entered 7th grade at Pine Hollow Middle School, a bigger challenge surfaced. He went by the name of Robbie, the supreme school bully and his pack of moronic toadies. From being thrown in trash cans to as “dead meat” to getting stuffed into a trophy case as the bully's “prize,” Jed learned it wasn't easy being undead. It's only when Jed learns to embrace what he is, and accept the help of his friends Luke and Anna, that he discovers he can use zombieness for some quality payback. It's awesome what you can do when you're already dead!

304 pages, Paperback

Published April 7, 2017

About the author

I've been a writer most of my life, with my earliest verifiable work coming in third grade when I established a link between the Pilgrims and the invention of Thanksgiving (since repudiated).

More recently, I'm pleased to announce my new novel, "Upton Arms: An Active Lifestyle Home for the Supernaturally Enhanced," will be published later this year by City Owl Press. As with Dead Jed, it turns the horror genre on its head. The vampires, werewolves, witches and similar characters discover they don't live forever, but do suffer from late-onset mortality. Powers dwindle, bones creak, and creatures both mythical and legendary get pretty cranky when they don't get enough sleep. Upton Arms provides a safe space when world domination is no longer an ambition.

Dead Jed has its roots in my own horror that was seventh grade. I just wanted to fit in, but at 4 feet, 6 inches tall, all I fit into were lockers and trash bins. I eventually reached average height and was able to turn those misadventures into a book starring a zombie who, yes, just wants to fit in. Only Jed's story is way funnier than mine, and he gets even. I never did. Until now.

I'm a retired journalist with more than 40 years in the newspaper business, most spent as a feature writer for The Arizona Republic in Phoenix. I live in a small town in Oregon with my wife Melissa, a few dogs and, so I'm told, a cat or two. While the gray skies are tiresome, the craft beer is not.





Well, until now.