The World Is Dead
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Book Summary Information
Editor: Kim PaffenrothContributor: David Wellington
Contributor: Jack Ketchum
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-09-15
ISBN: 1934861251
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Permuted Press
Book Reviews of The World Is Dead
Book Review: An Excellent Horror Anthology
Summary: 4 Stars
The World is Dead is editor Kim Paffenroth's follow-up to his earlier collection, History is Dead. The eighteen stories are very diverse, but all are united by a common theme. They are set in a future world that exists after the zombies have risen and laid waste to civilization.
The stories are well-chosen. Some are stronger than others but there's not a bad tale in the bunch. The book is handsomely put together, though I didn't care for the cover art by Christian Dovel which seemed a bit wooden to me.
The book is divided into four sections: work, family, love and life, with four stories in each of the first three and six in the last. "Life" seems to have been the catch-all where stories not explicitly in one of the other three categories came to rest.
"Dead Men Can't Complain" by Peter Clines was one of my favorites in the book. In it the protagonist, is revived in the hospital to learn that he is now one of the living dead. In this world, zombies have varying degrees of awareness, and Lawrence Secord has come through with his mind and personality intact. He hopes to pick up his existence where he left off but for him being legally dead, with none of the rights of the living, proves to be a bigger challenge than anything. It's a great story, clever and often hilarious with some nice social commentary worked in for good measure.
"The Office Party" by Walter Jarvis covers some of the same ideas from a different angle. It begins, appropriately enough, in an office where more and more of the living are being displaced by the dead. Zombies, it seems, are the ultimate low-wage employees. However, an office Christmas party and a clueless supervisor add up to a predictably horrific conclusion.
"Gather Round, Gather Round" by Dave Macpherson is a short story that hearkens back to the days of travelling medicine shows. Instead of a cure-all, the travelling peddler here is selling a potion to keep the dead dead. It's a clever foray into the idea that human beings can and will find a way to make a profit on anything.
"Working Man's Burden" by David C. Pinnt shows a society that has integrated zombies into the workforce. The world wants to go on as if everything is fine, but one man who remembers the horror feels the need to send a wake-up call.
"Bridge Over the Cunene" by Gustavo Biondi is the first of the stories in "family" section. It takes the zombie story to the unusual setting of sub-Saharan Africa. Out on the veldt the people seem to have fared better than their citified brethren. Their traditional ways have been effective in protecting them against the zombies. In this world, the zombies have, over time, recovered a semblance of human intelligence and communication. It reads like a lot like a cautionary folk-tale, bringing the zombie story back to its roots.
"Glorietta" by Gary A. Baunbeck tells the story of a living man hiding out in his family home. The dead seem to have memories as the zombies of his family come home every year to go through the motions of Christmas dinner. It's a creepy holiday story, though weakened a bit by the second-person point of view.
"The Blue World" by Carole Lanham is another of my favorites. I can't say too much without giving it away, but the action takes place in an orphanage long after the rising of the zombies. The story is very poignant and does a wonderful job of exploring the themes of mercy and grace.
"Fleeing, on a Bicycle, With your Father from the Living Dead" by Ralph Robert Moore boasts the best title in the book. It's the story of a young man, his little sister and their alcoholic father trying to survive in a world where it's increasingly hard to tell who is alive and who is not. While not as deep as some of the stories it is exciting and has some wonderfully ingenious moments.
"December Warming" by William Bolden begins the "love" section with a touching story about life in a nursing home when all of the attendants have become zombies. The story puts forth the premise that when life has become empty and passionless it isn't really life any longer. At least, that's what the zombies seem to think as they ignore the elderly residents. The story asks the poignant question of whether the things that make life worth living are worth the risk of death.
"A Bite to Remember" by Jennifer Brozak doesn't really feature zombies, except as a background element. The horror here comes from the idea that anti-zombie security measures can easily become the tools of revenge.
"The Visitor" by Jack Ketchum is the wonderful character study of a man who sits at his infected wife's hospital bed. When she turns zombie and is disposed of he continues coming to the room to sit vigil with a succession of other infected people. It is a touching story, told with beautiful language.
"The Song of Absent Birds" by Mark Onspaugh is another of my favorite stories. The world-building here is outstanding with the remnants of humanity living in underground shelters and the undead standing frozen watch in the wintery world above. It's a very affecting story of an old man's last wish to be reunited with the love of his life, now undead.
"The Loneliest Man in the World" by Bobbie Metevier is the first of the "life" stories. It is the insightful, frightening, and darkly hilarious tale of an old man who abducts zombies and straps them to his recliner to watch classic DVDs with him. The true horror on the story comes from the indifference of the powers that be to the poor in times of crisis. Those things, and its unlikely set of heroes, make it one of the best stories in the collection.
"Genuflect" by William D. Carl is the story of an elderly priest who has been serving communion to the undead for most of his life. It is interesting how effectively the themes of alienation and grace work with zombies.
"What Comes After" by Kris Dikeman is a creepy little story about a naïve lawman, a stubborn old lady and the living dead. The ending isn't completely unexpected, but is quite satisfying. As is so often the case, the zombies aren't the worst monsters on the block.
"The New Dumb" by Kyle S. Johnson is absurdist dark humor in the spirit of Hunter S. Thompson. A gonzo journalist tags along with a busload of zombie survivors who want to hold another World Series. It was well done, though not my taste in humor; the Thompson style of vitriol is best reserved for those who deeply deserve it, not just the clueless, IMO.
"Cured Meat" by Christine Morgan is an almost anthropological look at life in a wandering pack of zombies. The strength of this story is also its weakness as the creatures' survival behavior is logical but rather un-zombielike. Still, it's an intelligent story with a nasty twist ending.
"Dead Man's Land" by David Wellington is a heroic quest in a clever post-apocalyptic world. Many generations in the future society has been reduced to a series of fortified big box stores. An errant warrior is engaged to escort a maiden from Wal-Mart through the wilderness to marry a manager at Home Depot. It's a grim story, but one that makes good use of familiar names in wildly different contexts.
As I said, not a bad story in the batch, and several that are outstanding. If you're a fan of the zombie subgenre, or post-apocalyptic stories, or just of original, intelligent and riveting fiction, you'll really like this.
Summary of The World Is Dead
The end of the world has come and gone. The dead have risen, and they've won. No more rallying of the troops. No miracle cure or weapon. Just lots of dead people walking around. If the living dead won, what would the world be like? This collection of eighteen tales-including entries from David Wellington, Jack Ketchum, and Gary A. Braunbeck-take up the call to answer that question. People go to work. Have sex. Get drunk. Fall in love. Take revenge. Raise families. Watch TV. Laugh. Mourn. Murder. Pray. The world is dead, but life goes on.Action & Adventure Books
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