My fiancé and I are pretty into zombies. We own all the classic zombie movies, and routinely have discussions about zombie politics. Which is better – slow or fast zombies? I prefer fast, but he likes slow. Which Romero film is best? No question – it’s Dawn. What’s the best zombie comedy? Of course, it’s Shaun of the Dead. But what are the best zombie books? Well, dear reader, I have the answers.
World War Z –Max Brooks tells the tale of a global zombie pandemic from the varied perspectives of survivors. Some of the recounts are positively bone chilling and rival early Stephen King for their ability to give you nightmares.
The most unsettling depicts a crew going into the Paris catacombs to clean out the zombies who have settled there. It’s dark, dank and filled with corpses - not to mention hoards of hidden, subterranean undead. Another involves droves of people trying to flee the zombie outbreak in India by crossing over a mountain pass into Pakistan. Seeing the coming influx, the Pakistani government decides to blow up the pass rather than taking in thousands of refugees, condemning thousands to certain death.
What makes it so good is the narrative style, which allows Brooks to take a multi-faceted look at all the issues that would come up if the dead were to rise. There are political aides who see the outbreak as a governance challenge. There are public health officials who tell you how the zombie virus spreads. There are military accounts explaining what works and what doesn’t in zombie combat. Together, the stories create a holistic tapestry that takes you from the beginning of the outbreak all the way to reconstruction after World War Z.
The Walking Dead –The Walking Dead is a series of comics. And they rule. Forget your image of the Sunday funnies, The Walking Dead explores serious issues set against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse. Here’s the basic premise: a group survivors flee the zombies by hunkering down in an abandoned prison. A smart choice given all the bars, fences, riot gear, lookout towers and years worth of canned food.
But it proves to be too smart a choice. When the world goes to hell, the prison becomes more desirable than ocean front property in Malibu, and a heavily armed, sadistic lunatic who calls himself “The Governor” decides he and his followers should evict the current tenants and move in themselves. And that’s just in the first six trades!
The Walking Dead explores the human condition, and makes you question which is worse: living with zombies or living with other survivors.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – This takes the classic Austen and adds in zombies. The result is pure hilarity. Juxtaposing the parlor politics of Austen’s era with flesh-eating ghouls creates some awesomely memorable moments, such as the time Elizabeth is admonished for inadvertently exposing her ankle during hand-to-hand combat with a zombie. In Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the question isn’t whether the ladies went to the right finishing schools, it’s whether they studied “the deadly arts” in Japan or China (Japan, apparently, is much more posh and fitting for ladies).
The Bennett sisters still whine about their marriage prospects and Darcy is still a jerk, but it’s much more entertaining to hear their problems discussed when they are surrounded by undead who are hell bent on eating them.
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