We've been hearing forever that Punk is Dead. And zombie stories are even deader. ZOMBIE PUNKS FUCK OFF is here to show that is bullshit. This antho is loaded with 14 stories of gnawing teeth, shredded entrails, rotting masses, punk as fuck fury, post-punk weirdness, and beautiful decay. Within these pages are a touring Christian Punk band run afoul of a horde of living dead, a group of zombie-infected anarcho-punks staging a revolution in London, Hank William's far-distant great-grandson struggling against the restraints of universal fame, and guitars that gently eat. "This is my dream book, I can't believe it exists!" --Jeff Burk, author of Shatnerquake and The Very Ineffective Haunted House
Sam Richard is the author of several books including The Still Beating Heart of a Dead God and the award-winning To Wallow in Ash & Other Sorrows. He has edited ten anthologies, including the cult hits Profane Altars: Weird Sword & Sorcery and The New Flesh, and his short fiction has appeared in over forty publications. Widowed in 2017, he slowly rots in Minneapolis where he runs Weirdpunk Books. You can stalk him @SammyTotep across most socials or at weirdpunkbooks.com
The collection is bizarro fiction. I’ve read bizarro and surrealist fiction before and I am usually impressed by the unique strangeness. These stories are equally strange and unique, but share a strong theme of music, sex and violence. It’s a wild ride.
“While My Guitar Gently Eats”, by Danger Slater features a punk band who need a new guitarist after their old one committed suicide. The band members are irreverent and frequently ignorant as the writer plays on the stereotypical idea of the air-head punk who has head butted the wall a few too many times. It’s funny, violent and gory while also considering serious subjects such as what can be called art.
“Hard-Wired Beat”, by Axel Kohagen also has punk musicians at its centre (and why not considering the collection’s theme), but this story looks at the experimental side of hard music and the death worship it inspires. Iowa’s most famous musician seemed like a nod to Genesis P-Orridge and Steven Stapleton. This is a punk musician who stretches the boundaries of what music is and what can be used as instruments.
“Re-Made”, by Madison Mcsweeney is delicious satire with zombies about the Decency Brigade always at odds with punk culture.
“The Advent of Noise”, by Leo X Robertson is a highly experimental short with a second person narrator and a bizarre limbo where people are remade. Whether that limbo is literal or a state of mind induced by violent sounds is left open to the reader’s interpretation.
“The Good Samaritans”, by Sam Reeve looks at the intersection between punk and Christianity. This Christian punk band on the road between gigs have a strong sense of morality and clean consciences, that is until the point that being the good Samaritan is a life or death choice.
“Earworm”, by Brendan Vidito is disjointed and confusing in the best ways. The setting skips from place to place and time to time in a Nightmarish tale of possession and conspiracy theorists. In “Cyberpunk Zombie Jihad”, by Mark Zirbel, a journalist is interrogated to uncover the location of a bio-weapon who was once a punk musician they created to fight a Holy Crusade across the Middle East. The torture scene is reminiscent of Clockwork Orange but never derivative.
“I am the Future”, by Joe Quenell, is a disturbing short that seems to consider toxic masculinity in cult movies, although I might be misreading the theme. It’s violent and corny and offensive, but with a level of humour that allows it to work.
“Rolled Up”, by Emma Alice Johnson, is my favourite story in the collection. It is a very disturbing slow burner that is told through the inner thoughts and turmoil of a man rolled up in a rug so that he can be trampled on by musicians as they enter the backstage area of a New York bar.
“Bass Sick”, by Asher Ellis is about an underappreciated bass player in a punk band and the lengths he goes to to be noticed. It’s another fun and violent short with punk music at its heart.
“The Basement People”, by Nicholaus Patnaude, is very very very weird. It is the purest form of the bizarro genre in this collection in my opinion. It skips from voice to voice, some human others far from human, to track the events that led to one woman’s murder and the release of a zombie virus. It is insane. That said I fucking love it.
“Nature Unveiled”, by Sam Richard, is too personal and too touching a tale for me to review. While explaining the reason for the delay in publication of this amazing collection, and including body-chomping zombies in the action, it is also a beautiful, heart-felt requiem for his wife.
Apart from “Rolled Up” and, for obvious reasons, the final story, this collection is hilarious. If you love movies like “Return of the Living Dead” then this is a book for you. Different stories will appeal wherever you fall on the political spectrum. This is all inclusive punk mayhem – with zombies! One of my stories is included in the anthology, but I didn't review that one of course.
An anthology of 14 stories featuring zombies, punks, and zombie punks!
First off, I love anthologies so much, and I really love a themed anthology, so it's not too much of a surprise that I loved Zombie Punks Fuck Off. Yet I still wasn't expecting a collection of zombie stories quite this unique and varying. I never knew which direction or tone the next story would take and it made for an incredibly fun reading experience!
Of the fourteen stories here there was one I had read previously (Earworm by Brendan Vidito, his collection Nightmares in Ecstasy is a must read!) but I didn't mind reading it again one bit, and of the other thirteen there wasn't a story I didn't enjoy. There were a few stories that particularly stood out to me personally though.
While My Guitar Gently Eats by Danger Slater is the first story, and sets the tone for the bizarro horror ride to come. Human zombies are played out, but a zombie virus that infects musical instruments? Now we're getting somewhere!
The Ballad of Hank XXX by David W. Barbee is the story of the descendants of Hank Williams creating a punk utopia of sorts, until we get to Hank XXX, who saves, or dooms, the human race. No lie, a big part of my love for this one comes from me being a redneck, but it's ridiculously fun and unique.
Rolled Up by Emma Alice Johnson is about a guy that....likes being rolled up in a rug and placed at punks shows and stepped on. The concept is so different, and what a perspective to read the zombie apocalypse from! It's definitely a one of a kind story.
Then there's the Introduction and final story, Nature Unveiled, by editor Sam Richard. Oh boy, my heart guys, I got hit hard in the feels. Going through that, then being able to put out this collection AND write that story? I fought back tears, but it was a close one.
I could honestly keep on going, but then we would be here all day when you should really be hunting down a copy of this to start reading. Whether you love zombies or are burnt out on zombies, whether you're a die hard punk or just vaguely familiar with punk rock, this collection is full of the absurd and the unsettling. 10/10 recommend!
A unique blend of stories filled with Punks and zombies. Each one unique in it's own way. Some make you laugh. Some make you cringe. And then there's those that put you through every emotion possible. Music...zombies.....death.....destruction. Ingredients to make up one heck of an antho collection. Job well done authors! To Sam...…..from Intro to the end of your story you did a stellar job.
This anthology absolutely meets the goals put forth in its title. The stories all feel like they were written in the spirit of punk songs: neat ideas gone through quickly and energetically with no time to over-labor anything and get stale. It's all super fun and quirky, and afterward I ached less than if I'd gone into the pit at a Sick Of It All show, so it's win-win in my book.
I reviewed this for Gingernuts of Horror, so you'll find a bigger review there. But I can at least give you a little taste...
I’ve been to countless punk shows, from basements all the way up to stadiums. I’ve been kicked in the head, thrown up on, and covered in beer. So, I knew I’d find something in this anthology to get me past my dislike of zombies. And you know what, the authors delivered. They truly captured the vibe of the punk spirit and found a unique way to twist in zombies to make for a really entertaining anthology. No matter if you are a fan of punk music or a fan of zombies, you’ll find something here to get your blood pumping and your head bobbing.