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Buy itProduct Description
From a master of zombie fiction and a founding father of “splatterpunk” comes a mind-bending anthology of 32 new and classic stories from both renowned writers and rising stars
In the tradition of Black Dog & Leventhal's bestselling
Vampires and Ghosts, this anthology of 32 stories is set in a world where the dead have risen from the grave to consume the living. This rich collection showcases the best of the genre—from short-story masters such as Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury, and Poppy Z. Brite; zombie stalwarts such as David J. Schow and Jack Ketchum; “bizarro” founders such as Carlton Mellick III; and popular up-and-comers such as Max Brooks and S.G. Browne—and will satisfy the insatiable hunger of zombie fans everywhere.
A series of captivating essays about zombies in folklore and in popular culture by John Skipp, award-winning zombie anthologist and author, enrich an already extraordinary collection by discussing the past, present, and future of the living dead. And a resources section encompassing the best of long-form fiction, movies, websites, games is included for any reader interested in learning more about the wider world of the undead.
Sure to sate the hungriest zombie fans with classic as well as contemporary servings of tangled entrails and other unspeakable meals, Zombies: Encounters with the Hungry
Dead will be shambling out of bookstores in October 2009.
Product Details
| Publisher | Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers |
| ISBN | 1579128289 |
| Features |
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| Creator | John Skipp |
| Author | Stephen King,Neil Gaiman,Max Brooks,S. G. Browne,Ray Bradbury,Robert R. McCammon,Joe Lansdale,Carlton Mellick III,Cody Goodfellow |
| Format | Paperback |
| Label | Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers |
| Dewey Decimal Number | 813 |
| Studio | Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers |
| EAN | 9781579128289 |
| Number Of Pages | 704 |
| Title | Zombies: Encounters with the Hungry Dead |
| Publication Date | 2009-09-19 |
| Manufacturer | Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers |
Customer Reviews
Send more paramedics - and other things zombies like to quib aboutReview by TastyBabySyndrome, 2010-08-17
Perhaps author power alone is not enough to set an anthology apart from so many other collection, but doing this is certainly a nice way to start. and when you add in the fact that some of the stories are new, some are a bit hard to find, and some are just little sexy beasties waiting for you to say "hello" and escort you to the promise land of horror - well, that's some nice stuff. I, myself, am not normally an easy sell on these matter either; it takes a lot of time and a few reads before I will actually pick up something like this. Still, with Skipp doing the work on it, I thought it would be a nice one.
Skipp's previous entry into the land of the collection was a bit hit-or-iss for my taste, so that made picking this up a little more complex than simply doing the decision walkabout. That, however, changed when I started looking into the people that involved themselves with this project. Here, old school names mix with new-school fame and make the blood want to go out and get some "braaaiinnss" (sorry, I always wanted to put that in a review). It also makes you want to sit down and say, "if this were a dance between ink blots, I'd like my pen to partner up with "insert author."
And I suppose that's just a nice way of saying "i loved this work" and another way of getting at "32 stories is a lot of stories."
And 32 is a lot considering the quality you are getting.
I also am a fan of the short story, finding large books as detrimental sometimes because they are short stories on steriods. That's why I liked this collection; many of the writers here are short story writers, but they need some cash to get things rolling. Granted, I like a lot of their books, too, but you know short stories get to the point and that is the real way to scare or drive something home.
To give 5 stars for something like this is odd, and I couldn't do that. There were a few stories, count them - few -, and I really felt like they hurt the overall appeal. Still, they were only a handful on a beach littered with good stuff, so a 4.8 or so rounds out to 5. I just want to tell you that everything is not great - a lot of it is.
It is well worth buying, though, and then some.
awesome collection
Review by Rebecca J. Donnelly, 2010-04-02
I cant say this loud enough...."buy this book". There are some stories that will shock you (and i mean shock you) but thats the fun in it. Its a huge collection so its well worth the money. I loved it and will be passing it on.
Good, Bad, and Revolting
Review by D. Morgan, 2010-03-14
A few hits and lots of misses.
The first part of the book, Zombies of the Old School, has a handful of classics, and clearly the best stories. "Lazarus" is brilliant; epic, dark, and eloquent. "The Return of Timmy Baterman" -- disturbing touch of evil. "The Emissary" -- lyrical, compelling, and ominous. "It" and "Lie Still Sleep Becalmed" are both decent reads. The remaining stories in this section are readable but forgettable.
The Romero-esque second part, Post-Emancipation, is mostly exercises in shock and gore. "The Visitor", "The Prince of Nox", "Zaambi", and "Dead Like Me" are modestly interesting, but leave no lasting impression. "Lemon Knives and Cockroaches" and "The Good Parts" both leave an impression -- revolting. Couldn't finish several stories that were meaningless and gratuitously gross -- "Far Side of the Cadillac Desert...", "Jerry's Kids Meet Wormboy", "Eat Me" and "Like Pavlov's Dogs". Disappointed in Max Brooks' "Great Wall...", no wonder it wasn't included in the outstanding WORLD WAR Z. Finally, near the bottom of the barrel is the ludicrous pro-choice manifesto "Sparks Fly Upward".
As for the editor, John Skipp, his sophomoric prose and trite observations subtracted value. And his story contribution, "God Save the Queen" started out with mild promise but fizzled into a grotesque absurdity.
There's got to be better zombie anthologies than this one.
ZOMBIES: Encounters with the Hungry Dead
Review by Kent Gowran, 2010-02-12
Back in 1989, John Skipp and Craig Spector, with the blessings of George Romero, unleashed the greatest zombie anthology of all-time (you can imagine that in all caps if you'd like, or, if you're a classy sort, blazing neon)THE BOOK OF THE DEAD. More than twenty years went by before another zombie anthology would come close to the living dead throne of that great book, and, oddly enough, or perhaps not odd at all, John Skipp is once again at the helm (this would be, I believe, his fourth anthology of zombie stories, but I could be off on that).
In ZOMBIE, editor Skipp has drawn together a selection of stories ranging from the earliest example of zombie fiction to the most current. That's some might big ambition right there. That he pulls it off flawlessly is truly impressive.
Some of these stories you may have read before. That tends to be the nature of good anthologies. But, the things is, stories, darn good stories, should be read more than once. And collected more than once. That's a no harm, no foul situation if there ever was one.
For me, if I had to narrow it down to one story that really sent this anthology over the top and into the runner up position alongside THE BOOK OF THE DEAD, it would be Cody Goodfellow's "We Will Rebuild" because, I'll tell you, that one smacked me right between the eyes.
So, while the Skipp & Spector classic zombie anthology will, so far as I'm concerned, continue to hold the crown, Skipp's new baby is no slouch and if you happen to have even just a hint of a passing interest in matters concerning the living dead, ZOMBIES: ENCOUNTERS WITH THE HUNGRY DEAD will feed your need and deserves and deserves a permanent spot on your shelves.
An Excellent Overview of Zombie History
Review by Aloysious Novak Jr., 2010-02-12
I found this book to be an extremely fun read while maintaining the overall feel of Zombies through the history of fiction. The stories are put together in a way that gives the reader a timeline of how the Zombie Mythos has evolved.
The book itself is broken up into basically two sections, the first one dealing with Zombie stories "PRE-Romero" and the second half "POST-Romero" which is a pleasant surprise in this day and age when most publishers are putting out books with blood and gore splattered on every page and gives the reader no real sense of humanity, just apacolyptic gore and I am a fan of Apocolyptic Horror. I just don't need to read it on every page.
The only thing I felt was a deterent to the book is that it is BIG AND HEAVY. You can't really read this lying down in bed while holding over your head but it will come in handy if you ever do get attacked by Zombies because you can use it as a weapon against them.
And, while most of these stories have been published elswhere in books it is nice to see them assembled with thought and care as to their historical importance in Literature.
The Editor, Mr. John Skipp, also gives his take on each story. I found his insights to be poignant and useful in many aspects of the stories as well as to the general history of Zombies.
So, if your looking for an Anthology of Zombies and want to get a feel for how they have evolved through the history of Man's story telling here on earth you should pick this up and read it.
In a time where most publishers are putting out anthologies with little or no background on how they selected the stories I believe tha Kudos should go out to Mr. Skipp for assembling an excellent collection of Stories and taking his time to share his views of the stories with the reader.
