Forever Zombie: A Collection of Undead Guy Tales
by Stan Swanson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stan SwansonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-11-16
ISBN: 0978792556
Number of pages: 216
Publisher: Dark Moon Books
Book Reviews of Forever Zombie: A Collection of Undead Guy Tales
Book Review: Zombies with a Good Twist
Summary: 5 Stars
I got a copy of Stan Swanson's Forever Zombie: A Collection of Undead Guy Tales, and I am very pleased and amused by the anthology. The collection tackled a variety of themes, the stories all kept a brisk pace, and yet the gruesome-ness of the walking dead was maintained. A preference for humor notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed Swanson's exploration of all things zombie. I'm fond of zombie stories, but most of what I've read are variations on isolated zombie encounters. They're usually pockets of confrontation - one or several zombies versus one person or a town of people, and the tussle is hidden from the rest of the world. The most recent themes I've encountered are the Zombie Apocalypse and the Zombification via Sophisticated Virus. To all this, Stan Swanson adds one more concept: Zombie Citizenry, or Zombies as Part of Civilization.
Readers will find isolated zombie encounters in the collection, but with a special Swanson twist. In "High Noon Revisited" for example, he took the popular Wild West stereotype of the best gunslingers seeking each other out to see who is the quicker draw, then he put a zombie in the mix. Net result - an interesting zombie premise! The story "A Night at the Zombie Museum" sounded like a spin-off or a kind of homage to the popular Hollywood movie of similar name, but it was far from it. Swanson took a bickering middle-aged couple, introduced them to a happily married older couple, added a single zombie, gave a nod to other stories found in this anthology, and PRESTO - a great end piece for the fifteen stories in the collection.
Zombie Apocalypse and Zombification via Virus is also represented. A good example of the chaos beginning is "Ambulance Chasers": as with any disaster, if a Zombie Apocalypse hits, it would be the first-responders who get to witness and deal with the start of the mayhem. In "The Smell of Death", a story recently featured in Dark Moon Books's horror genre quarterly, the reader was taken to the middle of the undead chaos and watched as a bunch of people tackled the possible risks of hunkering down in one place while food supplies dwindle. In this tale Swanson stayed funny and crude without lessening the horror of the characters' predicament. For "Ozark Hicks and Zombie Chicks", there's a biker gang, zombies that require brains, and the Hatfield clan of hillbillies that may not meet the requirement - all worth reading and chuckling over.
The contribution to zombie lore that I found most intriguing in Swanson's collection is the one that dissects the possibility of Zombie Citizenry. My top pick would be "Hail to the Chief". What better way for zombies to be a respected demographic than by lobbying for the attention of the highest office in the land? In their own special way, of course! From politics the reader is taken to the other end of a capitalist society in the story "Playmate". Would you buy a zombie if you could? Or, instead of zombies for personal use, should they be used like equipment, as the story "Deep Freeze" suggests? And what of the zombie's loved ones? The story "Home Sweet Home" sheds light on how to look after a loved one who passes on (sort of) and only wants to shuffle around and eat brains for the rest of their days.
This collection is generously peppered with witty, gruesome humor - but Swanson stayed smart without losing the horror. It is that dark wit that informed the varied themes, that nuanced the intriguing situations, and that makes Forever Zombie: A Collection of Undead Guy Tales a recommended read, and one of my favorite collections of zombie stories.
Summary of Forever Zombie: A Collection of Undead Guy Tales
Zombies and quick-witted humor? You bet! ?Forever Zombie? is not filled with your typical blood and gore zombie tales and even non-zombie fans will enjoy this collection. These tales will take you to a world where the existence of zombies is not just a possibility, but a fact of life. And that life after death might be much different than we have ever imagined. Consider the plight of the Grim Reaper when he descends upon the law offices of Romero, O'Bannon, Fulci & Flanders only to find his next "client" is already dead in "Every Death You Take". Or how about "The Farmer's Daughter", daring to bring home her future husband to meet the family and he isn't exactly what they imagined their future son-in-law might be like. Or a creepy visit to a zombie museum in the middle of nowhere in "A Night At The Zombie Museum". And who do you think might be smarter? A gang of zombie bikers or the I.Q.-impaired hillbillies in "Ozark Hicks and Zombie Chicks"? Well, that one?s a close call. And it's all here in ?Forever Zombie: A Collection of Undead Guy Tales? and each story has a special touch that will keep you reading far into the night. Think you can read just one tale before bed each night? Try two or three. Or maybe you'll still be reading the last of the stories before the sun comes up the next morning. But as an added precaution, make sure you check your pulse every once in awhile.Horror Books
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