The Living Dead 2

The Living Dead #2

by John Joseph Adams (Editor)

The Living Dead 2 has more of what zombie fans hunger for: more scares, more action, more... brains! Experience the indispensable series that defines the very best in zombie literature with a shambling, ravenous herd of original stories. The Living Dead 2 also features a slavering horde of reprint zombie stories. All this adds up to a landmark volume that helps define what zombie godfather John Skipp calls "The New Zombie Literature."

Additional contributing authors:
Joe McKinney
Carrie Ryan
Kim Paffenroth
R.J. Sevin
Julia Sevin
Catherine MacLeod
Mark McLaughlin
Kyra Schon
Steven Gould
Catherynne M. Valente
Jonathon Maberry
Genevieve Valentine
John Skipp
Cody Goodfellow
Sarah Langan

“Last Stand” by Kelley Armstrong. © 2010 Kelley Armstrong.
“Danger Word” by Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due. © 2004 Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due. Originally published in Dark Dreams. Reprinted by permission of the authors.
“Pirates vs. Zombies” by Amelia Beamer. © 2010 Amelia Beamer.
“We Now Pause for Station Identification” by Gary A. Braunbeck. © 2005 Gary Braunbeck. Originally published as a limited edition chapbook by Endeavor Press. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Steve and Fred” by Max Brooks. © 2010 Max Brooks.
“Living with the Dead” by Molly Brown. © 2007 Molly Brown. Originally published in Celebration: 50 Years of the British Science Fiction Association. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Zombie Gigolo” by S. G. Browne. © 2010 S. G. Browne.
“The Anteroom” by Adam-Troy Castro. © 2010 Adam-Troy Castro.
“The Human Race” by Scott Edelman. © 2009 Scott Edelman. Originally published in Space and Time. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Summer Place” by Bob Fingerman. © 2010 Bob Fingerman.
“The Rapeworm” by Charles Coleman Finlay. © 2008 Charles Coleman Finlay. Originally published in Noctem Aeternus. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Tameshigiri” by Steven Gould. © 2010 Steven Gould.
“Everglades” by Mira Grant. © 2010 Seanan McGuire.
“The Mexican Bus” by Walter Greatshell. © 2010 Walter Greatshell.
“He Said, Laughing” by Simon R. Green. © 2010 Simon R. Green.
“Rural Dead” by Bret Hammond. © 2008 Bret Hammond. Originally published in Tales of the Zombie War. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Therapeutic Intervention” by Rory Harper. © 2008 Rory Harper. Originally published on eatourbrains.com. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Lost Canyon of the Dead” by Brian Keene. © 2010 Brian Keene.
“Alone, Together” by Robert Kirkman. © 2010 Robert Kirkman.
“The Skull-Faced City” by David Barr Kirtley. © 2010 David Barr Kirtley.
“The Other Side” by Jamie Lackey. © 2010 Jamie Lackey.
“Are You Trying to Tell Me This Is Heaven?” by Sarah Langan. © 2010 Sarah Langan.
“Twenty-Three Snapshots of San Francisco” by Seth Lindberg. © 2001 Seth Lindberg. Originally published in Twilight Showcase. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Wrong Grave” by Kelly Link. © 2007 Kelly Link. Originally published in The Restless Dead. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Mouja” by Matt London. © 2010 Matt London.
“Zero Tolerance” by Jonathan Maberry. © 2010 Jonathan Maberry.
“Zombie Season” by Catherine MacLeod. © 2008 Catherine MacLeod. Originally published in Bits of the Dead. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Thought War” by Paul McAuley. © 2008 Paul McAuley. Originally published in Postscripts. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Dating in Dead World” by Joe McKinney. © 2010 Joe McKinney.
“Arlene Schabowski of the Undead” by Mark McLaughlin and Kyra M. Schon. © 2007 Mark McLaughlin and Kyra M. Schon. Originally published in Midnight Premiere. Reprinted by permission of the authors.
“Who We Used to Be” by David Moody. © 2010 David Moody.
“Thin Them Out” by Kim Paffenroth, R. J. Sevin, and Julia Sevin. © 2008 Kim Paffenroth, R. J. Sevin, and Julia Sevin. Originally published as a limited edition chapbook by Creeping Hemlock Press. Reprinted by permission of the authors.
“Category Five” by Marc Paoletti. © 2008 Marc Paoletti. Originally published in Sin. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Crocodiles” by Steven Popkes. © 2010 Steven Popkes. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Reluctance” by Cherie Priest. © 2010 Cherie Priest.
“Flotsam & Jetsam” by Carrie Ryan. © 2010 Carrie Ryan.
“Where the Heart Was” by David J. Schow. © 1993 David J. Schow. Originally published in Hottest Blood. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Price of a Slice” by John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow. © 2010 John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow.
“Zombieville” by Paula R. Stiles © 2009 Paula R. Stiles. Originally published in Something Wicked. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“When the Zombies Win” by Karina Sumner-Smith. © 2010 Karina Sumner-Smith.
“The Days of Flaming Motorcycles” by Catherynne M. Valente. © 2010 Catherynne M. Valente. Originally publishe...

Genres: Horror, Zombies, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Ebooks, Post Apocalyptic

496 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

John Joseph Adams is the series editor of BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY. He is also the bestselling editor of many other anthologies, such as ROBOT UPRISINGS, DEAD MAN'S HAND, BRAVE NEW WORLDS,WASTELANDS, and THE LIVING DEAD. Recent and forthcoming books include WHAT THE #@&% IS THAT?, OPERATION ARCANA, PRESS START TO PLAY, LOOSED UPON THE WORLD, and THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH (consisting of THE END IS NIGH, THE END IS NOW, and THE END HAS COME). Called “the reigning king of the anthology world” by Barnes & Noble, John is a two-time winner of the Hugo Award (for which he has been nominated nine times), is a seven-time World Fantasy Award finalist, and served as a judge for the 2015 National Book Award. John is also the editor and publisher of the digital magazines LIGHTSPEED and NIGHTMARE, and is a producer for Wired's THE GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY podcast. You can find him online at www.johnjosephadams.com and on Twitter @JohnJosephAdams.

Reviews

[Amanda M. Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

While reading this one I was forced to acknowledge a sad truth about anthologies today: They just don't make em like they used to.

While there were some really great stories in this antho (largely by proven authors like Gary A Braunbeck, David J Schow, Brian Keene, Sarah Langan and Jonathan Maberry) most of them just weren't all that stellar and came off more as tales you could easily forget shortly after finishing the book. Maybe I'm a bit spoiled having gotten hooked on horror in the 90s when there was a virtual glut of great authors and anthos in the genre but I really think this thing could have been a lot better.

I remember feeling that the first Living Dead antho had led to several skipped stories and just about as much disappointment so this time I made a point of not only reading every one of the stories in the book but also rating them individually as I went along. Here's a list of how I rated them in order of how they were placed in the book:


Five Stars *****

Living With the Dead by Molly Brown: I liked this story because it offered a truly original take on the undead without coming off as forced or declaring itself original in capital letters. Here we find a nice subtle tale about a world in which the undead are unnerving but otherwise harmless and while peaceful also worthy of our pity.

Where the Heart Was by David J Schow: This story is a classic from the 90s that many of us zombie and splatterpunk fans are sure to have read at least once or twice before. It’s got a nice tight pace and is a tale of the bizarre return of one dead boyfriend who’s determined to stop things from getting too steamy between his girlfriend and the new guy, real determined.

Lost Canyon of the Dead by Brian Keene: Keene has more than proven he can write a great zombie story. Here he adds something new to the mix by setting the zombie plague in a strange and unexpected place where dinosaurs still walk and are just as susceptible to the plague.
Obedience by Brenna Yavanoff: This story is told through the eyes of a focused and determined military officer’s eyes as she and her group struggle through the undead.

The Rapeworm by Charles Coleman Findlay: Here the walking dead are a bit more than a shambling horde and it is the contagion itself which affects the two families struggling to live away from the cities where it is most virulent. Subtle and haunting.

Everglades by Mira Grant: Rather than focusing on the dead themselves this tale focuses on one college students memories of a life in the bayou as a child and the parallels she draws between them and the world she lives in after the dead have come to affect it.

We Now Pause for Station Identification by Gary A Braunbeck: This one beautifully captures the desperation of being the last person left as a talk show radio personality keeps on broadcasting after it seems there is no one left to hear him. I actually found myself rereading this one and even reading it out loud to my fiancé, it’s just that good!

Rural Dead by Bret Hammond: Hammond addresses a new sort of survivor and the surprising way that the Old Order Amish in his tale deal with this new intrusion from the modern world. Very original!
Therapeutic Intervention by Rory Harper: Here the author uses his own experience with addicts to address how the undead might be treated for their problems.

Flotsam and Jestsam by Carrie Ryan: Two young men are stranded in a life raft after the cruise ship on which they were travelling with friends was overtaken by the undead. This could have been a tale about paranoia and fear but instead it becomes a story about the depths of despair and loneliness making it a very touching story.

Zero Tolerance by Jonathan Maberry: Maberry takes us to Afghanistan and shows the depths to which humanity can sink during war. This one’s a very nice action story with some seriously thoughtful bits about the horrors of torture and the desperation that can lead people to destroy each other.
Are You Trying to Sell Me This Heaven? By Sarah Langan: This one was one of my very favorites focusing on the relationship between a father and his estranged and troubled daughter who he’s set out to rescue in the midst of the undead apocalypse.

Four Stars ****

Danger Word by Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due: This story is a traumatized boy and his loving grandfather who are surviving the dead quietly but will soon have to face the problem in more personal ways.

Category Five by Marc Paoletti: Here the undead are floating in the flood waters unleashed on New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina but the story is about a man and his dying wife and his desperate desire to reclaim their lives.

Good People by David Wellington: A nicely put together story with a few interesting bits and an end which points out a simple fact about “good people” in a zombie apocalypse.

Zombie Gigolo by S G Browne: Browne carries over the humor of his novel Breathers in this tale of a suffering undead male prostitute. Definitely not for the squeamish.

Dating in a Dead World by Joe McKinney: This one imagines what it might be like to have to prove yourself to a particularly protective dad post zombie apocalypse. Very fun and adventurous.

Thin Them Out by Kim Paffenroth, RJ Sevin and Julia Sevin: A nicely put together story about survival both as a zombie and as a survivor facing infighting and depleating supplies.

Tameshigiri by Steven Gould: A very nice story about a group of ninja learning to wield their weapons and face the dead with bravery even when the face is that of those we once knew.

The Days of Flaming Motorcycles by Catherynne M Valenta : Another story about an unusual form of living dead which isn’t really death at all but some new way of living.

Three Stars ***

Mouja by Matt London: A tale of samurai facing the undead during the meiji era in Japan. I liked it but it wasn’t as strong as I wanted it to be for as original an idea as it was.

Twenty-three Snapshots of San Francisco by Seth Lindberg: This one does something original by having the narrator tell his tale through the snapshots he has left afterwards. Unfortunately it also remains very emotionless and therefore doesn’t offer the impact it really should.

The Mexican Bus by Walter Greatshell: While the storytelling is nice the reader doesn’t really get any ideas on why only women are turned into zombies much less why they would be blue. It felt like walking in on a movie that was already half over.

The Other Side by Jamie Lackey: Two friends deal with the consequences of peer pressure and a paranoid new world. The main character make a mistake that costs his friend far more than him and inevitably you can’t respect him much afterwards. I also wanted to know more about the girl in the story.

The Skull Faced City by David Barr Kirtley: This is a companion story to the piece Kirtley published in the first Living Dead which featured rival college boys and their lady love. In this story one of the talking dead is looking for his sister and finds her in the Skull Faced City. It was interesting to go back to the same world but it fell a little flat trying to be both serious and amusing.

Steve and Fred by Max Brooks: A humorous overblown hero and a desperately trapped weakling are paired up in this story about survival after the dead come back. It’s all too clear that we’re supposed to see their mistakes over their stories in this piece and I just didn’t like it as much as Brooks’ novel and survival guide.

Reluctance by Cherie Priest: I admit it I’m just not all that big on steampunk and really this story isn’t long enough to really fit into a zombie antho even if it does have the dead they’re a bit secondary to the hero here.

Arlene Schabowski of the Undead by Mark McLaughlin and Kyra M Schon: Don’t get me wrong I think it was neat to read a story in which the girl from the original Night of the Living Dead reimagines her life if it had been affected by her undead movie counterpart but it just doesn’t go together as well as it should have.

The Wrong Grave by Kelley Link: I liked this story but it’s too cute for a zombie antho it’s really more a fun fantasy story about two lovers and interrupts the flow of the other stories which are all horror with a few humor tales. The beginning also takes far too long to get going.

Who We Used to be by David Moody: This was an interesting idea, unfortunately it was also as much a torture for the reader as it was for the family in the story.

He Said, Laughing by Simon R Greene: I liked the opening part of this Vietnam era soldier’s tale ( think Dolph Lundgren) unfortunately it all fell apart when he met the Major he was sent to take out and the undead army he’d been using. There’s nothing sadder than a hardcase who goes limp at the sight of real danger.

Last Stand by Kelley Armstrong: This story has interesting twist but it doesn’t quite make you like it’s protagonists before it springs it on you.

The Thought War by Paul McCauley: This one presents an interesting take on inter dimensional beings and their slow assimilation of the world but there’s just not enough there to really sell the piece.

And the Next, And the Next by Genevieve Valentine: One man tries to escape the dead by hiding among them but it’s far too late to escape. Unfortunately the story didn’t really pack the punch ut should have.

The Price of Slice by John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow: I’m surprised at how flat this one was coming from these two. It moves around a lot and so you don’t quite get to really get into the heads of each of its protagonists.

Two Stars **

The Crocodiles by Steven Popkes: Natzis and zombies are overdone. While the writing was written well enough it didn’t offer enough life to a tale which had been done already.

The Human Race by Scott Edelman: The overbearing suicidal mindset of the protagonist here made me want her dead. It drove me nuts trying to get past her whining and to the story beyond it.

Zombie Season by Catherine MacLeod: Fun cute little thing that it is this story doesn’t really have any substance and so doesn’t really stay in mind.

One Star * With most of these being at the front of the book I almost gave up reading it.

Alone, Together by Robert Kirkman: I love The Walking Dead it’s one of my very favorite graphic novel series and so this tale pales very much in comparison. I’ve read many other stories just like it and so I was let down by this one.

Zombieville by Paula R Stiles : This one just came off as very bland.

The Anteroom by Adam-Troy Castro: A special purgatory just for those who’d been the undead? This story tries too hard to be original and is clearly inhabited by a ridiculously judgmental god.

When the Zombies Win by Karina Sumner-Smith: Does it take much to imagine a world in which there’s nothing for the zombies to devour? Really?

Pirates Vs Zombies: Tries to be funny but just comes off as silly and inane.

The Summer Place by Bob Fingerman: Probably the story I liked least in this book . The protagonist claims to miss his dead wife and yet lusts after/loves? An undead girl he randomly sees because he’s lonely? I don’t really care if this jerk lives and so the story is largely moot.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Speaking from the perspective of a long-time zombie fan who has been carrying the torch for George Romero since the early 70s (when i got a glimpse of Night of The Living Dead at far too young an age for it), I am starting to run toward zombie overload. I love this stuff, but the way it has been coming out recently? We are getting almost as bad as Stephanie Meyer fans and her teenage lust-struck vampires. Thank goodness zombie apocalypse tales tend to be a bit more literate and a bit more varied than that.

Actually, that is one of the things I emjoy about zombie stories. Zombies seem to be a horror icon that invites the the attention any number of would-be writers. Actually, horror in general seems to be a genre that invites a lot of amateur participation which is often quite good, especially on the scale of short stories. In my experience the zombie sub-genre invites the very best participation, producing all sorts of nicely literate commentary on society, personal relationships, environmental issues or politcs. Perhaps that is why the sub-genre is running on overdrive right now.

Wh this is I don't know. My personal pet theory is that it's because stories of the zombie apocalypse reverse a long-standing horror tradition. In most horror tales a monster is monstrous becuase it stands apart from society. Society defines what is human, while the monster is either a unique individual, or a member of shunned or underground subculture. In a zombie apocalypse tale it is the greater society that has become monstrous, while the humans take the roles of the individuals, or belong to an endangered subculture. It's a perspective that gives zombie story writers a unique view of society.

In any case, this is another fine collection of zombie tales, many of which will give you much to ponder. It's every bit as good as the first collection in this series.

[Baal Of · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall decent collection of stories with an expected mix of quality, if not quite on par with volume 1. The story that stuck with me the most was The Rapeworm which was brutal and nasty.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reviews of the stories that could not fit into this review are in the comment section starting at comment #10. Sorry but GR only allows reviews of less than 20,000 characters. :(

Alone, Together by Robert Kirkman (3 stars) - I would read a full length book if this story was/is expanded on. It's not the best one I've read so far, IMO, but it's definitely good. I'm not so into the whole 'love story in the middle of zombie territory' but some people can pull it off.

Danger Word by Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due (5 stars) - Whoa. Just whoa. I so would read if this was/is expanded upon. I hope it is expanded upon. From the editor's note on these authors I can already tell these will be two I'll look up for other books. The little boy's part in the story really did it for me - that and his Grandfather was an awesome character.

Zombieville by Paula R. Stiles (3.5/4 stars) - This one was good but I couldn't get over the main character, the narrator. Apparently it was a man but it sounded like a female to me, from the beginning to end. Even after I learned it was a man I couldn't get it out of my head. That tells me something was off, IMO. I'd have a problem with that if it were an entire book for sure. I'm curious to know if anyone else felt like this. The foreign words bugged me a little - too many of them for my taste and one or two couldn't be easily detected with context clues.

The Anteroom by Adam-Troy Castro (4/4.5 stars) - This was a new premise to me. I haven't read any zombie stories about what happens to zombies once they're put down. The parental aspect of this story is what made it even more horror-filled for me. Definitely a real good one.

When the Zombies Win by Karina Sumner-Smith (3 stars) This was far too short for me to even get a feel for. I have a feeling, had even five more pages been given, that I'd feel quite different but with a 3 page story I just can't say.

Mouja by Matt London (5 stars) - The best I've read so far. This drew my attention like no other yet. (This was only the 6th though.) I'd definitely, definitely, definitely read a longer version of this and I'll definitely, definitely, definitely look to see about his other books, if there are any.

Category Five by Marc Paoletti (4.5/5 stars) - Old people and kids. Something horrible happening to old people and/or kids will do it every time. I think that's the worst of the worst for me personally, that's what will scare me the worst every single time. Kids would be first in that line but old people right on their heels.
This story is about an elderly couple and the decision the poor husband has to make after facing what's happening to the world. It's as sad as it is scary. I don't know how it would be if it were longer, say a whole book, because it's pretty cut and dry, but Paoletti is talented and even in this short story that's obvious. I'll look at his page and see if he has others I can read sometime.

Living with the Dead by Molly Brown (4 stars) - I can't say as much as I'd like here. Obviously if the story was longer I'd have a better grasp of it and I feel like I didn't read enough to go into detail like I would like.
The story is strange and very unique. Just from the little I read I can tell I wouldn't mind reading something else, or this in a longer version, by Brown. I didn't care for the ending as much as the rest of the story but then again, with it being so short, it really wasn't explained. The intrigue is there but it kind of leaves you hanging. Obviously, since I gave it 4 stars, it's a good one though.

Twenty-three Snapshots of San Francisco by Seth Lindberg (3.5 stars) - First, has anyone ever wondered why people in old-timey photos are never smiling? I had never thought about it too much but I have had fleeting thoughts about that here or there during my lifetime. Knowing next to nothing about photography I learned here, in John Joseph Adams bio about Lindberg, that apparently back in the day the cameras had such long exposure times that people didn't want to hold a smile for so long. Makes sense. Funny the things you learn.
Anyway, about the story - this is the most unique I've read so far. Not just in the book but overall. The story starts with a few paragraphs, like normal, but after that the story is told in a series of snapshots. As in, # such-and-such and Lindberg goes on to explain that photo. There is a stream to them but it's not exact and it's not exactly expected either. I wouldn't think I'd like a story written like this if I heard someone tell me how it was but I actually enjoyed it very much. I don't know how one could/would turn something written like this into a full story but if it was/is I'd definitely give it a read.

The Mexican Bus by Walter Greatshell (3 stars) - I really like Greatshell's writing but I didn't care much for the story. There is no background at all which, even for a short story like this, goes a long way IMO. Nothing is explained at all. Why do these women turn? Why only the women? Is it indeed only the women? Not even that is very clear.
I wouldn't count the author out and I'll probably take a look for other books to see if any capture my interest but the "blue people" part of this made it too sci-fi for my taste.

The Other Side by Jamie Lackey (4 stars) - This is very, very short. Like, 3 pages short. That's just not long enough for me to get a good take on a story.
I can say that Lackey is a good writer IMO. I can say I think I'd like this story with more to it. The little of the characters I did see what great, well developed and interesting. The setting was probably the best part. Most zombie-lit that I've read ends when either the people still alive die or when the zombies' asses are kicked (for the most part at least) but this is totally different. This is set well after the zombies have been pushed back. It's not known if they're all gone or what but none have been seen for many years here. It's also sort of YA because the two main characters are both female high school students. This would be, out of the stories I've read so far, one of the first three I'd pick to read more of if I had the chance.

Where the Heart Was by David J. Schow (5 stars) I really, really liked this one. The gore-level is off the charts but the amazing thing is that it's funny at the same time! I liked the characters which made the whole story that much better. I don't know how a mind can come up with this type of story - it's amazing. I'm really excited to read more!

Good People by David Wellington (5 stars) - This was a really good one. One of my favs easily. (There are a lot of 4.5 - 5 star books included here.) I'll definitely read more by Wellington.

Lost Canyon of the Dead by Brian Keene (5 stars) - Another really good one. When I read what the editor, John Joseph Adams, wrote before Keene's story I wasn't sure if it'd be for me. Adam's sort of outlines the coming story a bit and I just didn't see how this would capture my attention. It did. It's in the fav group for sure. I'd love to read a longer version sometime.

Pirates Vs. Zombies by Amelia Beamer (4 stars) - The story is only four and a half pages long but I could tell the storyline is good. I'm not much for pirates but they did make for a good story here. The only thing was I didn't care for Beamer's writing exactly. I think I'd like it better written in another style. Even with that though it's still very good.

The Crocodiles by Steven Popkes (4.5 stars) - This story is one of the longer ones at 18 pages. This one has a Nazi twinge to it and anyone who knows me knows that I'm a big reader of Holocaust material, fiction or otherwise. The fact that this has that element interested me much. Outside of that though I really like Popkes writing. The storyline is good, the characters are all interesting, and I'd really, really, like to read more of this exact story. If I can't ever do that I can settle for Popkes other stories (if there are any.)

The Skull-Faced City by David Barr Kirtley (5 stars) - Kirtley has a kind of prequel to this story in The Living Dead which I just have to read. I was already planning on getting it in the near future if only because Adams proved he can pull together some very decent stories and authors. But now that one of my favs from this has another in the first book, I must get it sooner.
I didn't care much for the ending in this story but what I read before more than made up for that. This is one of the winner's in this compilation.

Obedience by Brenna Yovanoff (3.5 stars) - Should I thank Yovanoff for my now healthy fear of vaccinations? This is a good one, not of the best IMO, but definitely a good one. I like the plot with the vaccinations - that's a new one for me although I'm sure there's a full length book out there somewhere along the same lines. It's scary though when you're a Mom of a young kid who just had some shots the week before. :)

Steve and Fred by Max Brooks (3 stars) - This was a little upsetting because when I saw Brooks' name I got excited. I love some of his other works like World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War and The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead. I thought this would be killer, if not the best of the bunch. Instead I found it just mediocre. Honestly, although I hate admitting this, I was a bit confused with the story, with Naomi and all. Maybe it was just me. I'm not exactly a zombie expert yet.

The following review has a bit of a spoiler in it beginning with the third sentence on.
The Rapeworm by Charles Coleman Finlay (5 stars) - This is another one in the best group. There were a few minor parts that I felt would have been better with a slight change or two. One example would be when Mike and the boy's Dad leave to go get Amanda. Their Dad, seeing and knowing and more importantly, already understanding that his youngest son, Nick, was infected, leaves his older son, Josh, who is uninfected, alone with him. Why not leave Nick alone and take Josh along? Knowing the little nuances of the story, what with the infected being basically catatonic, that would have seemed the better bet. Of course, that would have thrown off the entire ending but at the very least I'd have liked some plausible reason for leaving Nick behind like he did.
End spoiler.
But as anyone can see, it's still a 5 star book for me. :) Besides my little irk above the story is fantastic - totally scary and borderline not being able to sleep after reading it. It's unique also - I've never come across anything like it yet.

Everglades by Mira Grant (3.5 stars) - This was too short for me to get a real grasp on it and while I liked the setting and set-up there really wasn't any details about the alligator aspect. Not enough for me anyway. Maybe that was due to the length of this short story but regardless it left things flat. I'd like to try to read a full length of this and see if that would take me anywhere.

We Now Pause for Station Identification by Gary A. Braunbeck (3.5 stars) - I'm one of those people who really get into certain characters. They don't even have to be main characters sometimes - just ones that for whatever reason - or no reason at all maybe - "click". That happened here. (As with some other stories in this collection but I haven't noted it until now for reason you'll soon hear.) So, I really liked the main character but the infestation didn't really hold me. At all. That was because he was in the station the entire time and there were no parts of him having any direct contact I think. So in the end I can't really scream about the story because while the character(s) are important the rest of the story is too and this left me feeling like I kind of only got half the story.

Reluctance by Cherie Priest (3 stars) - This story was okay but it didn't move enough for me. Not enough happened for me to really start liking it. Priest isn't a bad author IMO and I can't say her writing isn't to my liking either. This story just didn't do anything for me.

Arlene Schabowski of the Undead by Mark McLaughlin & Kyra M. Schon (2 stars) - Again, the writing isn't bad but the story didn't interest me. I guess this is to be expected with a collection of short stories and so many different authors and different kinds of stories. I'm actually very lucky because all in all I think there were only three or four I didn't care for.
With this one in particular I could tell from Adams' bio/description that it wasn't for me.

Zombie Gigolo by S.G. Browne (4 stars) - Wow. Two whole pages. Am I the only person out here who doesn't consider two pages a 'short story'? Two pages, IMO, is more like 'a few paragraphs'. Obviously I liked this because of the 4 stars but still. I don't understand...
So, when I read Adams' bio/description and read the gross warning I was intrigued. I mean, this is a zombie book full of horror. This next story (all of two pages in case you hadn't heard) needed a warning?
Is it gross? Yeah. Did it need a warning? No. Did I like it? Obviously. I find myself steering away from any zombie-lit that's supposed to be humorous. Zombies just aren't meant to be funny for me. They're supposed to be scary and mean and all those things. And don't get me wrong, they're all that here too. But this did make me laugh out loud a few times. That was because of the authors humorous way of wording certain things. I get the impression he'd be a hoot to be around in real life. Or apparently dead life also. This is one of the better ones.... even if it IS only TWO pages LONG. :)

Rural Dead by Bret Hammond (5 stars) - This wasn't much longer than the last but it does have a few pages on Zombie Gigolo. Those few pages make it a short story IMO.
Anyway, I didn't make many notes on this one besides the fact I feel it's 5 stars. After looking through the story just now I know why I didn't make any extra notes. I don't know what to say.
It's a really good story and I have no doubt that if Hammon hasn't yet he can come up with a killer story revolving around this here short story. (I slip into hick speak every now and then for the fun of it. I get pleasure from little things.) I'm going to check to see if this was pulled from another, longer book, and if it wasn't I hope this stuck with Hammond enough that he'll decide to continue it. The Amish twinge is just awesome.

The Summer Place by Bob Fingerman (5 stars) - Another funny one. I love Fingerman's humor here. This is another one you just have to read. I really can't explain it. Definitely one of the better ones in the book IMO.

The Wrong Grave by Kelly Link (3.5 stars) - Link's writing is good and I did like the story here. The premise is pretty scary - digging up the wrong grave and all that. I don't know what I think would have made it better for me. I can't put my finger on it. Maybe this is one of the ones I just need more of to be able to really get into it. I didn't like the very end at all either.

[Deborah Sheldon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding anthology. The stories range from heart-breaking to nerve-wracking, and feature every type of zombie you could imagine and then some. The writing is top-notch. Recommended not just for horror fans, but for lovers of beautifully crafted stories.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Average: 3.7
Tossing out <= 2: 3.9

Alone, Together By Robert Kirkman - 5 stars
Danger Word By Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due - 5 stars
Zombieville By Paula R. Stiles - 4 stars
The Anteroom By Adam-Troy Castro - 3 stars
When the Zombies Win By Karina Sumner-Smith - 2.5 stars
Mouja By Matt London - 3 stars
Category Five By Marc Paoletti - 3.5 stars
Living With The Dead By Molly Brown - 4 stars
Twenty-Three Snapshots of San Francisco By Seth Lindberg - 4 stars
The Mexican Bus By Walter Greatshell - 3 stars
The Other Side By Jamie Lackey - 5 stars
Where the Heart Was By David J. Schow - 2 stars
Good People By David Wellington - 5 stars
Lost Canyon of the Dead By Brian Keene - 3.5 stars
Pirates vs. Zombies By Amelia Beamer - 2 stars
The Crocodiles By Steven Popkes - 4.5 stars
The Skull-Faced City By David Barr Kirtley - 4 stars
Obedience By Brenna Yovanoff - 2.5 stars
Steve and Fred By Max Brooks - 3 stars
The Rapeworm By Charles Coleman Finlay - 4 stars
Everglades - 5 stars - short story of the Rising
We Now Pause For Station Identification By Gary A. Braunbeck - 6 stars - wow!
Reluctance By Cherie Priest - 3.5 stars
Arlene Schabowski of the Undead By Mark McLaughlin & Kyra M. Schon - 3 stars
Zombie Gigolo By S. G. Browne - N/A - did not read. I don't need gratuitous grossness. Also, I was eating lunch.
Rural Dead By Bret Hammond - 4.5 stars
The Summer Place By Bob Fingerman - 3 stars
The Wrong Grave By Kelly Link - 2 stars
The Human Race By Scott Edelman - 1 star
Who We Used to Be By David Moody - 3 stars
Therapeutic Intervention By Rory Harper - 5 stars
He Said, Laughing By Simon R. Green - 4 stars
Last Stand By Kelley Armstrong - 5 stars
The Thought War By Paul McAuley - 2 stars
Dating in Dead World By Joe McKinney - 5 stars - look for his books
Flotsam & Jetsam By Carrie Ryan - 3 stars
Thin Them Out By Kim Paffenroth, R. J. Sevin, & Julia Sevin - 3 stars
Zombie Season By Catherine MacLeod - 5 stars - delicious!
Tameshigiri By Steven Gould - 4 stars
The Days of Flaming Motorcycles By Catherynne M. Valente - 4 stars
Zero Tolerance By Jonathan Maberry - 5 stars
And the Next, and the Next By Genevieve Valentine - 2 stars
The Price of a Slice By John Skipp & Cody Goodfellow - 2.5 stars
Are You Trying to Tell Me This is Heaven? By Sarah Langan - 4 stars

[Krysten · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was going to do a story-by-story analysis of the book, but I ended up skipping or skimming so many stories it would be pointless. They all sucked, and the ones that didn't suck sucked harder. There was definitely one about a zombie gigolo that almost made me throw up after a couple paragraphs. Mostly the stories were unremarkable. Especially the one by Robert Kirkman. Is anyone but me willing to acknowledge that while Walking Dead is awesome, Kirkman's writing style is cringe-worthy? I guess most genre authors tend to write poorly, at least in my opinion, and I just get fed up with that. Give me just one brilliantly conceived line of prose. Even when I'm looking to read something stupid like a bunch of zombie stories I am annoyed by lack of genius. And the fucking introductions to the stories are just atrocious, almost unspeakably so. The editor always tries to be clever and alllllways fails. At one point he said that zombies and dinosaurs (or two equally ludicrous things) were like chocolate and peanut butter and I almost threw the book across the room. Later still, he did the unforgivable: he confused the Arctic and the Antarctic. NOT COOL, GUY. NOT COOL. I think this will be my last of Adams's always-disappointing anthologies.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I confess that I started reading GR reviews for this anthology only a few stories in. Most of the reviews were describing the stories as terrible, which surprised me. Terrible? Not really. They were mediocre, but not the bottom-of-the-bargain-bin-at-the-second-hand-book-fair terrible like some of the books I've sampled. These people, I mused, were clearly soft.

But they're not. There are some stories in here that are truly terrible. They need to be removed from reality. Potentially even the author too. Just... bad. The majority of the stories are cliched and generally dull. But some are just awful.

Humans running away from zombies. Yawn.

A man wandering around weeping outside the gates of heaven, because he was a zombie and heaven won't let him in? Ergh.

A zombie gigolo? Yeech.

"semi-tumescent wang"? No. No. Bad book, bad. No dinner for you.

[Bill Borre]

"He Said, Laughing" by Simon R. Green - This story is like the film "Apocalypse Now" mixed with a zombie movie.

"Living with the Dead" by Molly Brown - wc
"Danger Word" by Tananarive Due - wc
"The Summer Place" by Bob Fingerman - wc
"The Mexican Bus" by Walter Greatshell - wc
"Rural Dead" by Bret Hammond - wc
"Therapeutic Intervention" by Rory Harper - wc
"Are You Trying to Tell Me This Is Heaven?" by Sarah Langan - wc
"Mouja" by Matt London - wc
"The Crocodiles" by Steven Popkes - wc
"Obedience" by Brenna Yovanoff - wc

[Christine Paiva Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing collection of short stories about Zombies! A few of my faves were"The Other Side","When the Zombies Win", "Category 5", "Skull faced City", "He said, laughing, "Zombie Gigolo" and "the Rapeworm". "The Rapeworm" was so disturbing it will stay with me in the wee smalls for the rest of my life!
NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!
Amazing, 5 stars, a keeper.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, i enjoyed this book very much. It had grossery (is that a word?) horror, humor, sadness, and some downright terrible stories that i couldn't make it through. I'm an avid fan of a good zombie story and i couldn't help picking this book up at the library. So here is an individual analysis of each story:

5 Stars*****
Obviously, my favorites

The Anteroom by Adam-Troy Castro
This was some good 2nd person prose. It was different, and i liked the twist on the afterlife and the possibility that zombies have an afterlife. The "you" was a man. castro shouldn't have declared this. He should've left it open.

When the Zombies Win by Karina Sumner-Smith
Good work. Very accurate and eery.

Category 5 by Marc Paoletti
This was, well, a triller. The mixture of a hurricane and the dead rising from the waves was creative and gave it a hopeless edge. The old man was determined to get his sick wife out of there rickety house; that was sad.

23 Snapshots of San Francisco by Seth Lindberg
I LOVED this. The story of how the zombie apocalypse affected a group of friends unfolds through pictures. I got attached to the characters just by reading about the snapshots of them. It was sad, funny, awkward, all of it.

Good People by David Wellington
Very, very, sad. But very, very realistic.

Pirates vs. Zombies by Amelia Beamer
Justin Chase. What a funny guy. These teens steal a boat and call themselves pirates. One ends up turning and they throw him overboard, but later use him as a slave (with the whip) My favorite part was when the protagonist sang "In Da Club" by 50 Cent at the top of his lungs.

The Rapeworm by Charles Coleman Finlay
So aliens caused the virus. I enjoyed this. A father tries to keep his kids safe in the forest and runs into another father and his daughter. Their kids get into trouble and two of them get infected. So much for keeping his kids safe.

We Now Pause for Station Identification by gary A. Braunbeck
This was different but good. The protagonist was/is a radio talk show host and the whole story his him broadcasting to no one. Nonstop commentary by a guy whos stuck in the broadcasting booth. He talks about everything. I made me feel lonely.

Arlene Schabowski of the Undead by Mark McLaughlin and Kyra M. Schon
So this lady played a zombie kid in a movie and ended up having the character stuck in her mind. She got used to it. Then she visits an attic and her world starts turning into Arlene's (the dead girl), all black and white and farmtown-ish, while Arlene's world turns to color and modernicity. They eventually meet in the attic. Fun read.

Rural Dead by Bret Hammond
I can't imagine the Amish actually using the dead like that but you never know.

The Wrong Grave by Kelly Link
So Miles wrote some poetry for his girlfriend and buried it with her when she died. Less than a year later, he dug her up to get the poetry back. Except it was the wrong grave: there's this creepy tall girl in there instead. He tried to escape her but she kept coming back. Then she let him go. Turns out, she really was his girlfriend and she just changed her looks to play a joke on him. Serves him right.

Therapeutic Intervention by Rory Harper
It was funny and a relief from the few stories before it. A therapist talks to a zombie who's trying to go vegetarian by eating cow brain instead of a humans.

He said, Laughing by Simon R. Green
I'm not usually a big fan of stories that mix history with zombies but this one was written well, had a solid, tortured protagonist and a plotline that was well thought out (vietnam war era) and paced.

Last Stand by Kelley Armstrong
10 years after a flu epidemic, there's two species: others (the living) and the infected. Monica leads an army of the infected against the others. This w really enjoyed, and there's a twist that suprised and confused me.

The Thought War by Paul McAuley
I enjoyed this.

Dating in a Dead World by Joe McKinney
Okay. I thought this was going to be really stupid but oh how i was wrong. Andrew Hudson is a badass that's been on his own since he was six in the poorest part of a "sanctuary". He takes a girl, the daughter of the most powerful guy in the place, on a date, which turns into an action packed battle for their lives when a rival powerful man attacks the place. Did i mention Andrew has two glocks and a machete and does most of his badassery on a motorcycle?

Flotsam and Jetsam by Carrie Ryan
Takes place around the time of the Return. I loved Ryan's Forest of Hands and Teeth trilogy and this is a great prequel/companion story. 2 guys get stuck in a life raft for days after the virus breaks out on their cruise ship- and one of them is bitten.

And the Next, and the Next by Genivieve Valentine
Another 2nd person story, its a little eery as the protagonist (you) hides among the zombies and makes their way across miles and miles of land to find someone. You do, but she comes to an unhappy end. So do you.

4 Stars****
Good stories that i liked

Alone, Together by Robert Kirkman
I can't say it's my favorite, but it's a keeper. The protagonist is a douche though.

Danger Word by Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due
This story was actually kind of sad. I felt really bad for the kid, Kendrick. Most zombie stories don't pay attention to how it all affects children- especially one that lost both his parents at a very young age, and in front of his very own eyes too. So does Grandpa Joe get Kendrick?

The Other Side by Jamie Lackey
I liked this. it's set in this fenced off village years after the apocalypse. The protagonist was best friends with this nerdy girl but he wanted to be popular. His popular dfriends threw the girl over the fence to see if the zombies would get her. She was there for 3 days. The people wouldn't let her back in. I'll let you imagine what happend.

Lost Canyon of the Dead by Brian Keene
Cowboys, dinosaurs, zombies. This was a fun, funky read. Written well. Random mix of survivors make their way across a desert with a horde of dead animals and people hot on their heels. Then dead birds (zombie birds! that is some scary stuff!) come and they flee- only to end up in an unmapped forests where dinosairs thrive.

The Skull-Faced City by David Barr Kirtley
Strong plot, strong protagonist. The whole skull-faced and superiority over humans is creepy. Reminded me of a demon. The human army is called the "Sons of Perdition" and they're at war with the intelligent zombies. Park lets himself be chnaged and lies his way to become lieutenant with the zombies just to save his sister from their captivity.


Everglades by Mira Grant
This was pretty good. Small groups of survivors hold up in different departments of a college campus. The world outside has been overtaken by nature and the protagonist lets herself get taken by it after realizing she doesn't want to fake her presence on earth any longer, or whatever.

Reluctance by Cherie Priest
I kept waiting for something to happen, but it didn't come. The escape on the airship was pretty cool though. Poor pilot. Coming to a town expecting shelter and food and finding a horde of the dead.

The Summer Place by Bob Fingerman
A guy takes refuge on a deserted island and loses his mind. He lusts for his dead wife and goes all googly-eyed over a dead girl, fucks her, then gets bitten by a zombie deer. Poor, lonely guy.

Who We Used to Be by David Moody
Dull and gross. Everyone just dies one day and then comes back and slowly decays. The protagonist Simons talks about the decline of his life. His wife tries to keep up normalcy even long after her body ripens and falls apart. The son doesn't care. He just wants to play. Then the whole of the dead neighbors surround the house. What's with that? Peer pressure to join the undead. This story tortures the reader as much as the family.

The Days of Flaming Motorcycles by Catherynne M. Valente
This was bizarre. I liked it but it's far from my favorite list. It was written well and the plot was interesting and folded out nice.

3 Stars***
eh, borderline likeness

Living with the Dead by Molly Brown
This was hilarious. I almost died laughing, and came back to laugh some more at these "zombies" who just sat in a park and stared off into space. People would comb their hair and give them food like they were some new kind of pet. I mean, seriously?

Steve and Fred by Max Brooks
Steve and Fred have two different stories. Steve is an arrogant guy who thinks of himself as a badass marine and his story ended with no real end. It felt like a snippet from a novel: no beginning, no end. Then Fred is a coward janitor who locked himself in the toilet room of a hotel. Not the whole bathroom, just the toilet room. That had no end either.

The Human Race by Scott Edelman
This was quite boring. All of it was this whiny girl planning her suicide around the time of the apocalypse. She spends half the story in the morgue beside the corpse of her father, whining that he won't come back the the rest of the dead population.

Thin Them Out by Kim Paffenroth, R.J. Sevin. and Julia Sevin
The only part i particularly liked was the prose written in the zombies POV. The rest was uninteresting and unrealistic to me.

Zombie Season by Catherine Mcleod
Too short. I didn't get the point. Grave-digger turned zombie killer. Okay?

Zero Tolerance by Jonathan Maberry
I skimmed over this story because I couldn't get into it. It started out okay but it got too dull.

Are You Trying to Tell me This is Heaven? by sarah Langan
Interesting plot and characters but when it got to the part of the girl sucking the blood, t was turned away.

Obedience by Brenna Yovanoff
I didn't get the point. I mean, there's this group of military people who are on their way to a researcg lab to find a cure. All of them get turned except for 2. And BUGSPRAY repelling zombies? Really?

2 Stars**
Good enough for 2 stars but forget anything higher

Zombieville by Paula R. Stiles
At first, i was interested cause it takes place in a different country, but it fell flat. the unamed protagonist was uninteresting. Unpronouncable words popping up every line, and zombie animals? Really? I find that forced and cheesy. The only "big" and "exciting" thing that happend was when Cyndi stormed out of the closet with a spear.

Mouja by Matt London
Another one set in another country. Some may like it but it wasn't my cup of tea.

Where the Heart Was by...
So this story was basically about sex and zombies. and sex. Two people are "messing around" when her dead ex barges in. It's written poorly and it's repetitive. heres a line that displays repetitive: "The bulb end of the bat smashed Victor's dead left ear deep into the dead left hemisphere of his dead brain." We get it! He's dead! The protagonist, Renny, is a dick. Plus, what's with the words? I like big words but damn! What does "mesomorphic? mean? or "glib"? Also they held a funeral for the dead guy (after Renny killed him) and Renny and the girl did it afterwards. I did like this line though: "If the thing making the noise was a mouse, it was dragging off a dog for a bit of fun."

Tamshigiri by Steven Gould
Uh, What? *mouth hangs open* That is all.

1 Star*
These just didn't make the cut.

The Mexican Bus by Walter Greatshell.
Why are only women zombies? And why the hell are they blue? That is all.

The Crocodiles by Steven Popkes
I read the first page. It was enough. That counts, right?

Zombie Gigolo by S.G. Browne
This was disgusting. I'm ashamed to say i even read it. I can't even believe i read it. It gets 1 star because it was written for a worlds gorssest story contest.

The Price of a Slice by John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow
I didn't read it after the boring first page. These guys can write better.

So there's my thoughts on each and every story and i think its a book every avid zombie fan needs to read.

[Jessica]

Anthologies are always uneven, but this one was more consistently mediocre than I would prefer. I probably should have skipped to the writers I know I like, like I said I was going to in the beginning, but then I would have missed a few real gems.

Bullet reviews of individual stories:

"Alone, Together" by Robert Kirkman: I could probably detail what's wrong with The Walking Dead: Compendium 1 using examples from this story: all of Kirkman's bad habits and tics are on display. Unlikable incel type gets some comeuppance, but in a way that makes it seems like he's the tragic figure. Fuck that guy.

"Zombieville" by Paula R Stiles: Definitely has an unusual set up, following Peace Corp people after the zombie apocalypse stranded them in Cameroon. Not a lot of danger or urgency, more slice of life stuff.

"The Anteroom" by Adam-Troy Castro: Not my speed. I have yet to encounter an afterlife in fiction that didn't make me itchy.

"When the Zombies Win" by Katrina Sumner-Smith: Really enjoyed this one, a lyrical take on the end of even our ended humanity.

"Mouja" by Matt London: I even love medieval people vs zombie stories -- like in Kingdom, which takes place in Korea's Joseon period, or, you know, Army of Darkness-- but this is too dependent on fictional tropes. Samurai vs zombies.

"Category Five" by Marc Paoletti: With its New-Orleans-during-Katrina setting, "Category Five" reminds you quite emphatically that the OG zombies addressed the fears of an enslaved people. Many, many zombie stories are libertarian fantasies that valorize white, male violence. This story focuses instead on the people left to die, which is another form of social violence.

"Living with the Dead" by Molly Brown. These undead are more in the vein of Handling the Undead, where they simply return, and are inert. Maybe almost a metaphor for how small towns die, but then that might be overcomplicating. Lovely, brooding tone.

"Twenty-Three Snapshots of San Fransisco" by Seth Lindberg: Even though it's a little dated by the camera, this one is a stand-out. Made me realize that zombie stories often have an odd nostalgia to them, a longing for a way of life we're actively still living.

"Mexican Bus" by Walter Greatshell: Skipped this one. I kinda hated his Xombies, and the intro says this is an homage to Keroac. Pass and pass.

"The Other Side" by Jamie Lackey: Fine, kinda slight.

"Where the Heart Was" by David J Schow: This was an odd one! Really nice narrative voice, even despite being a little too hardboiled at points. Fun to read though a little perplexing. I like it.

"Good People" by David Wellington. Kinda feel about this the way I usually feel about Wellington: it's competently written, moves along well, and is actually a story. (So many short stories are a situation, not a tale.) But there's something kinda dippy about it?

"Lost Canyon of the Dead" by Brian Keene: Cowboys, dinosaurs, and zombies. I don't know what else you could ask for in a story. Tons of fun.

"Pirates vs. Zombies" by Amelia Beamer. Good voice, kind of forgettable.

"The Crocodiles" by Stephen Popkes. Jesus, this was chilling, and not because of the zombies. Point of view is a Nazi scientist developing a zombie plague. Completely detached and totally depraved.

"The Skull-Faced City" by David Barr Kirtley: From the point of view of a sentient zombie. I could do without the sexual violence.

"Obedience" by Brenna Yovanoff. Really seemed a showcase for an unusual zombie type -- kind of like the chucks in Fiend.

"Steve and Fred" by Max Brooks. Interesting, though Brooks' prose is a little annoying. A man trapped by zombies in a broom closet, slowly dying and reading a pulp novel about zombies.

"The Rapeworm" by Charles Coleman Finlay. Nothing with that title can go anywhere good. Pass.

"The Everglades" by Mira Grant. Atmospheric, with that same odd nostalgia. Very good.

"We Now Pause for Station Identification" by Gary A Braunbeck. I legit enjoyed the increasingly hysterical tone of this one, even if it's not reinventing the wheel or anything.

"Reluctance" by Cherie Priest. I tapped out of this one pretty quick, as it takes place in an established world. What I read was good, I just couldn't keep up.

"Arlene Schabowski of the Undead" by Mark McLaughlin and Kyra M Schon. Very meta, loved it.

"Zombie Gigolo" by S G Browne. Actively hated this one. I do really love the comedy inherent in a gore-fest (like in Tony Burgess's The n-Body Problem, which I adore), but the sexual politics here were repellent.

"Rural Dead" by Bret Hammond. Yeah, no, the Amish don't work that way. Way too mean-spirited.

"The Summer Place" by Rob Fingerman. Competently written, I just didn't like this. Shrug emoticon.

"The Wrong Grave" by Kelly Link. I really, really love Kelly Link's editorial work -- she's really very good -- but I haven't had much luck with her fiction? This even riffed on Rossetti's midnight grave-digging, which is one of the funnier/more fucked up stories about the PRB.

"The Human Race" by Scott Edelman. Given that zombies are reanimated dead people, it's kinda weird to me how rarely zombie stories deal with actual grief. A girl's father dies just before the dead begin to rise, in a country on the other side of the globe. I really loved the dislocation of grief, and of culture. Very good.

"Who We Used to Be" by David Moody. I should have skipped this, because I didn't like both the film or book version of Moody's Autumn. Not bad, I just don't like the take-home.

"Therapeutic Intervention" by Rory Harper. Kind of corny, but in a good-natured way that I appreciated. Lots of 12 step & other therapy jokes.

"He Said, Laughing" by Simon R Green. If I never read another version of Heart of Darkness, I will die happy.

"Last Stand" by Kelley Armstrong. The story is largely dependent on a central metaphorical inversion, which works largely due to brevity: she never wears out the premise. Nicely done.

"The Thought War" by Paul McAuley. Totally weird take on zombies. Nice ending snap.

"Dating in Dead World" by Joe McKinney. The trials of taking a girl out on a date in the zombie apocalypse. Hero proves you can still be super basic in life or death situations.

"Flotsam and Jetsam" by Carrie Ryan. I almost skipped this because I hated The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but this was fine. Literal lifeboat situation.

"Thin Them Out" by Kim Paffenroth, R.J. Sevin & Julia Sevin. Paffenroth can be a little preachy and fussily didactic, I find, and this was no different. I believed in none of his characterizations: all that false grit.

"Zombie Season" by Catherine MacLeod. Almost flash fiction, can't be more than a thousand words. Nice little stiletto.

"Tameshigiri" by Steven Gould. The opening of this set my teeth: all that technical language from Japanese sword-fighting forms. Just, we didn't need all that. But the zombies are interesting, the action was incredibly well blocked, and there was a legitimate narrative & emotional arc. Damn you, Stephen Gould, good job.

"The Days of Flaming Motorcycles" by Catherynne Valente. Damn, this was fine. Weird zombies - almost like the ones in the French Canadian film "Ravenous" - excellent narrative voice, brutal sense of place. Standout.

"Zero Tolerance" by Jonathan Maberry. I almost skipped this one because I couldn't get into Maberry's Rot & Ruin series - Tom Imura is a brick - but this story is set in the Joe Ledger series, and that series is bonkers. It's all chiseled jawed heroes, stoic masculinity, and the most lurid pulp fictional nonsense. I love it.

"And the Next, And the Next" by Genevieve Valentine. Eeesh, this one was effective. From the point of view of a living person trying to pass as a zombie. Pretty brutal.

"The Price of a Slice" by John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow. This is going to sound shallow, but this had too many words in it, so I got bored and moved on.

"Are You Trying to Tell Me This is Heaven?" by Sarah Langan. Really odd perspective, which I enjoyed. Parental love can be an absolute bitch.

[Steven Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edited from original review of May 16th, 2023

Like the first anthology, an assortment of short stories, some good and some bad, by a diverse group of authors.

-----------------------

Alone, Together by Robert Kirkman: A man's desire for a woman & trust for survival. So-So

Danger Word by Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due: A grandfather protects his shell-shocked grandson while dealing with clever zombies. Good

Zombieville by Paula R. Stiles: A small group of Peace Corps members are stuck in Africa during a global zombie outbreak, where humans & animals alike can become the Undead. (Surprisingly good story.) Good

The Anteroom by Adam-Troy Castro: Where do the souls of people who were killer zombies go after they are put down? Heaven? Hell? Some sort of Limbo? This story contains one theory. Good

When the Zombies Win by Karina Sumner-Smith: What happens to the zombies when every last human is dead or Undead? So-So

Mouja by Matt London: A group of Japanese samurai defend a village from the Undead. Good

Category Five by Marc Paoletti: The dead rise while in the floodwaters of a raging hurricane & an elderly couple's neighborhood is next to be hit. Good

Living with the Dead by Molly Brown: People die & 24 hours later, become zombies. But it occurs only in one town & only to its residents. They are pretty much harmless & most of them just stand around the park. (A big change from violent cannibalistic monsters they are usually portrayed as. This story actually makes you care about them to the point of pity.) So-So

Twenty-Three Snapshots of San Francisco by Seth Lindberg: Man narrates story of a zombie outbreak through pictures he took. Dull/Bad

The Mexican Bus by Walter Greatshell: A Mexican passenger bus gets stuck on a highway of death. So-So

The Other Side by Jamie Lackey: Many years after having beaten back the zombie apocalypse, humanity is still vigilant. And overly paranoid. And it keeps a teen separated from someone he cares about. So-So

Where the Heart Was by David J. Schow: A dead man continues to harass a couple who betrayed him despite efforts to ensure he stays dead. Good

Good People by David Wellington: Despite the zombie apocalypse, there are still "good people", but how "good" will they stay when things get real tough? Good

Lost Canyon of the Dead by Brian Keene: A group of survivors in the desert try to outrun Undead humans & animals. Once they think they've done that, they encounter something larger. Then things get even worse from there when the Undead arrive. Good

Pirates vs. Zombies by Amelia Beamer: Zombie outbreak survivors on a ship at sea acting silly & don't care who they hurt. Dull/Bad

The Crocodiles by Steven Popkes: Many have asked "What if the Nazis had developed the A-bomb first?". But what if Nazi Germany had created & deployed zombies against Allied forces & civilians? Good

The Skull-Faced City by David Barr Kirtley: Sequel to Kirtley's "The Skull-Faced Boy". Zombies have fortified a city of their own & the Skull-Faced Boy is in charge. There's a palace coup & the Living fight back. (This story would've been a bit better if Kirtley had made it more serious instead of slightly devolving it into something juvenile.) So-So

Obedience by Brenna Yovanoff: Attempting to study a psychotic, agile zombie is not easy. So-So

Steve and Fred by Max Brooks: An Undead apocalypse story about what a prepared, successful survivor would be like compared to one who has failed miserably. Dull/Bad

The Rapeworm by Charles Coleman Finlay: Alien worms dropped on Earth are the cause of the zombie outbreak in this story.So-So

Everglades by Mira Grant: A college student stuck with others on campus during a zombie outbreak sees similarities to childhood experiences in the gator-infested Everglades of Florida. (This story seems to hold an almost philosophical viewpoint.) So-So

We Now Pause For Station Identification by Gary A. Braunbeck: Despite the high probability that no one's alive to listen, a radio DJ continues broadcasting during the end of the world. (The character's slow descent into desperation due to isolation while still doing his job was well done here.) Good

Reluctance by Cherie Priest: In a steampunked American Civil War era, a disabled young postman won't let a town full of the Undead keep him from his appointed rounds. (A story with the basics. Nothing overly special despite the "steampunk" aspect to it. But it's still suspenseful, which is why I liked it.) Good

Arlene Schabowski of the Undead by Mark McLaughlin & Kyra M. Schon: Reality starts blurring for a low-budget horror flick child actress-turned adult teacher. So-So

Zombie Gigolo by S. G. Browne: The downside to being a zombie gigolo. (Beware! Totally gross story. If you're squeamish, skip this one.) Dull/Bad

Rural Dead by Bret Hammond: How a group of Amish survived the Undead apocalypse. Good

The Summer Place by Bob Fingerman: After being bitten, a man engages in a backstory filibuster about his failed attempt at surviving the Undead apocalypse on New York's Fire Island & loneliness leading to a sudden taste for necrophilia. Dull/Bad

The Wrong Grave by Kelly Link: When digging up his girlfriend's grave, an amateur poet gets a surprise. (A humorous twist to things, but not very easy to get into. The motive of the prank not being clear made it hard to find it any more then "slightly" humorous.) So-So

The Human Race by Scott Edelman: A story about looking for death to escape a life of tragedy & unhappiness, and then slowly finding the will to live in a world of the walking dead. Good

Who We Used to Be by David Moody: A tale of delaying the inevitable, the complete decay of the human body after having died & gotten back up. So-So

Therapeutic Intervention by Rory Harper: Therapy session for a different kind of addict who is trying to fight "the hunger". So-So

He Said, Laughing by Simon R. Green: The insanity of war in Vietnam...with zombies. (A very weak ending.) So-So

Last Stand by Kelley Armstrong: The last of a group of survivors prepare for a final battle versus their enemy. (I have to applaud the author of this story for the convincing first half, then pulling a switcheroo of sorts.) Good

The Thought War by Paul McAuley: Like a couple other stories in this book, this one is a backstory filibuster by the narrating character about a world that rips itself apart while also dealing with zombies that can pass as the Living. Dull/Bad

Dating in Dead World by Joe McKinney: Trying to date the daughter of a powerful post-zombie apocalypse businessman is hard when his rival wants to ruin everything by trying to steal his turf. So-So

Flotsam & Jetsam by Carrie Ryan: After abandoning a cruise ship overrun by a zombie infection, 2 friends are in a life raft & one of them was bitten. So-So

Thin Them Out by Kim Paffenroth, R. J. Sevin & Julia Sevin: How personal conflicts, selfishness & paranoia rage when there should be unity against a common threat. Meanwhile, a zombie is better then the humans. So-So

Zombie Season by Catherine MacLeod: A very very short story about gravedigger who hunts zombies...or something. Dull/Bad

Tameshigiri by Steven Gould: A group of people learn the art of using swords against zombies & the unfortunate reality of facing down Undead friends. Good

The Days of Flaming Motorcycles by Catherynne M. Valente: Zombies who just steal stuff, pile it up & worship it while attacking as an afterthought. Dull/Bad

Zero Tolerance by Jonathan Maberry: How low humanity can sink morally when even dealing with zombies in a war zone. Good

And the Next, and the Next by Genevieve Valentine: "Blending in" with zombies to stay alive while zombies went about routine things. So-So

The Price of a Slice by John Skipp & Cody Goodfellow: A story about how zombies remote-controlled by computer nerds are used for clean-up operations of a city's streets & unauthorized Living inhabitants. So-So

Are You Trying to Tell Me This is Heaven? by Sarah Langan: A man risks his life to save his estranged & psychotic daughter, who is in prison during the Undead outbreak. (The "big reveal" as to the cause of the virus made almost no sense.) So-So

[Maddalena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The zombie theme has never been more actual as it is these days, with literature and both screens – the big and the small one – often employing it for stories, although it’s difficult to find tales that try to look beyond the far-too-easy shock of blood and gore, focusing rather on the psychology of characters and their reaction to the apocalypse they are desperately trying to survive.
Recently I discovered a sampler of this book through the Baen Free Library showcasing some of the stories contained in one of two larger anthologies dedicated to the living dead, and decided to take a look: some of the offerings were quite weird – like the one that sees events from the point of view of an Amish community (“Rural Dead” by Bret Hammond), or the one whose premise is that all of humanity dies and wakes up as zombies, and follows the plight of a family as they try to get on with their non-lives as much as they can (“Who We Used to Be” by David Moody) – but a few truly left their mark on my imagination, my favorites being the two I’ve chosen to showcase [...]

Full review at SPACE and SORCERY Blog

[Steven Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I've previously written writing a review for an anthology is always a struggle. What I will say is that the anthology does a great job in putting new perspectives and ideas into the classic zombie format. Many different kinds of zombie fiction are represented.

From my recollection there was little in this book that I found disturbing or made me feel uneasy. I don't like gross-out horror, which is not in evidence here. I don't need vivid descriptions of teeth biting into rotten flesh, thanks.

I wish to call out a few stories that I felt stood out in the collection. Twenty-three Snapshots of San Francisco by Seth Lindberg, The Skull-Faced City by David Barr Kirtley, The Rapeworm by Charles Coleman Finlay, We Now Pause for Station Identification by Gary A. Braunbeck, and Dating in Dead World by Joe McKinney. Each of these stories offered something that stood out to me. Running down the index they can be clearly remembered and offered a fascinating tale within the collection.

If anything I would say this may be superior than the first volume in this series. That one, if memory serves, was dominated by reprints while this one had many original stories by prominent authors who work in the genre. If you like zombie fiction I would say this is definitely worth a read.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Is it necrophilia if you're both dead?"

Reading this now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, makes me think how it could be worse! 😀 Reading some of these on the day that celebrates Jesus rising from the dead makes me think that it could be better too! The undead on these pages are not so forgiving!

Lots of short stories in here! Some hits, some misses, but all zombies! You have stories from "The Walking Dead"'s Robert Kirkman and "World War Z"'s Max Brooks, among many others. My favorite in this collection was "Twenty-Three Snapshots of San Francisco" by Seth Lindberg. I also enjoyed "The Rapeworm" by Charles Coleman Finlay quite a bit! And for a complete and total gross out, please enjoy "Zombie Gigolo" by S.G. Browne! ex. - "If you've never had maggots crawling around inside your rectal cavity and feasting on your subcutaneous fat, you probably wouldn't understand."

No Mr. Browne. No I wouldn't.

[Sara Gilliland · Rating 5 out of 5]

The things I love about anthologies, is that it is filled with unique insights into a theme, rather then just following the same hero till the end, you get to see different hero’s, some you will love like the Amish story for me, some you will hate, some will totally gross you out like one story did, some will really make you laugh, especially if your like me and some heroes die by doing something silly that you know you just should not do in a zombie outbreak, ha ha, some make you cheer for the zombies, while others make you wish that the story was longer it was just that amazing, I would definitely recommend this book! I would also recommend that you read the first Anthology of Zombies as some of these stories are in the same worlds!

[Paul Grooms · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always mixed with anthologies. Collections of classic stories often I encounter repeats although that’s not always a bad thing to remember and enjoy a favorite. Other like the Thieves World collection is new and has connections to each of its stories. This can give some continuity to the reading and more plot while keeping individual stories short and manageable.

This anthology collects a number of very good and creative approaches to dealing with zombies, others were a bit run of the mill

[Marisol · Rating 4 out of 5]

En primer lugar el libro tiene 762 de puros cuentos!
Es una excelente recopilación de cuentos de zombies. Después de leer la primera antología, este libro continúa con el feeling para lo que nos gustan los zombies. Hay de todo tipo para el gusto más exigente. Uno de los cuentos que más me gustó fue "La Contraseña". Te deja con esa sensación de querer saber más, y que no sea solo un relato corto.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthologies can be a really hit or miss affair but The Living Dead 2 was a fantastic collection. Each story had a different take on the zombie apocalypse. They ranged from the personal ("Are You Trying To Tell Me This Is Heaven", "The Anteroom") to the action packed ("Zero Tolerance", "Lost Canyon of the Dead") to the simply gross ("Zombie Gigolo") There is literally something for every one in this collection. I look forward to reading more of John Joseph Adam's collections.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of zombie stories edited and selected by John Joseph Adams from 'Lightspeed' magazine.

I think of all the horror typical monsters, the zombie is the bleakest. The threat of changing into something so mindlessly "other" is terrifying and to give up all that you are and all you can ever be without even the romance of vampirism should make anyone facing a zombie menace despair. For this reason, these horror stories really work to their utmost.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like short stories and zombies you'll like this book

I enjoyed all the stories except the last two. Really great read before bed. Not all the stories are your typical zombie stories so I enjoyed that.

[Maribel AKA ShonQ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this anthology for its diverse and engaging stories from various authors (including the creator of The Walking Dead) and each story covers a different region, culture and time period. Each story ends with very shocking endings. This is a must read for Zombie fanatics.

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Boo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book filled with zombies. Count me in. An amazing collection of zombie books.

[Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

[LaShawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This rating is for Everglades by Mira Grant. 3 stars.

[Carl Grimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the first story in the book, and I found it very interesting.

[Zach S · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's one of the best genre short story anthologies that I have read.

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthologies are always a mixed bag, this one unfortuately wasnt stellar.



THE GOOD

I bought this Anthology for one reason only: Robert Kirkman. I'm a huge fan of his comic The Walking Dead so I was excited to see his very first published prose story:

Alone,Together

This story is about a couple trying to stay alive after a zombie apocalypse. The narraton focuses on the reminiscence of Timothy about his former love and his current relationship. I really enjoyed this story,what it lacks in zombie violence it makes up for it in character developement, a theme that is prevelant in the comic book series.

DANGER WORD

I really liked this story! Young Kendric is living with his grandfather. He rarely speakes, still dealing with the trauma of the zombie attack on the closest city. Granpa Joe was always thought a little paranoid by his daughter and husband. He routinely wanted to teach Kendrick to shoot guns and was always talking safety protocols with his parents. One of those was the institition of a Danger Wod, one even Kendrick's parents didnt know, this saves Kendrick's life as for two days he is able to resist opening the door to a safe room his mother has put him into. Thats right, in Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due's universe the zombies are able to talk and be coherent for brief periods of time, this story kept me guessing til the end .



GOOD PEOPLE

David Wellington's story Good People is one of the gems of this anthology. It has all the halmarks of a good story. You come to care about the characters quite abit in the early pages, a band of people drawn together trying to stay alive. It also focuses on the hard choices that people need to make at the end of the world , especially Good People.


Lost Canyon of the Dead

Brian Keen is the shock jock of Zombie fiction, he stretches the zombie genre and never fails to entertain. I can sum this story up in two words: Zombie Dinosaurs!!! Must read

Reluctance
This short story is set in the same Zombie Steampunk universe as her book Boneshaker. This is a great story that hopefully will get Priest a lot of new readers. A member of the Dirigible Express Post Office stops in the small town of reluctance and finds a city overrun with zombies! Lots of thrills and a satisfying conclusion.

Zombie Gigolo

Those two words? They give you all you need to know about S.G. Browne's story about a zombie who "services" fellow female zombies. UGH!! Cringe worthy read.


Last Stand

Kelly Armstrong gives us a fascinating short story about a last bastion of survivors trying to survive from the Others, but who is the true Monster in this scenario. Good Read.


Those are the stars of this collection, A worthy purchase for Zombie fans but with the number of stories in the Anthology I expected to enjoy more of the stories.