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Handling the Undead

3.44 of 5 stars 3.44 · rating details · 3,968 ratings · 595 reviews

Something very peculiar is happening in Stockholm. There's a heatwave on and people cannot turn their lights out or switch their appliances off. Then the terrible news breaks. In the city morgue, the dead are waking up...

Paperback, 384 pages

Published 2009 by Text Publishing (first published 2005)

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Jan 22, 2011 RandomAnthony rated it 2 of 5 stars

Ok, I'm giving up on page 146 of Handling the Undead and giving the book two stars. Sure, I only read about half the novel. I don't care. I feel like I can make the call. Why, you ask?

I picked up this book off the “new fiction” library shelf when a woman was checking out about 14,000 DVDs and I didn't want to stand behind her and wait. Last year I read and loved Let the Right One In, for which this is author is best known, and I was hoping Handling the Undead was just as moving and innovative ex...more Ok, I'm giving up on page 146 of Handling the Undead and giving the book two stars. Sure, I only read about half the novel. I don't care. I feel like I can make the call. Why, you ask?

I picked up this book off the “new fiction” library shelf when a woman was checking out about 14,000 DVDs and I didn't want to stand behind her and wait. Last year I read and loved Let the Right One In, for which this is author is best known, and I was hoping Handling the Undead was just as moving and innovative except with zombies rather than vampires.

The last sentence of the previous paragrah contains an unfair expectation. Zombies are, you know, zombies. They sort of go “uuuhhhhh” and walk around slow (Unless you're in that scary as shit zombie movie, the one with Sarah Polley, which I can only watch five minutes at a time when I channel surf basic cable. Those zombies were fast.) but have no emotional weight. They can't talk. Well, in this case, at least one of them kind of talks, but...well, barely.

I could be wrong, but I get the feeling I knew where Lindqvist was headed with the storyline and wasn't that interested in the terrain. So these zombies don't kill anyone (uh, at least in the first 146 pages) and the zombies' loved ones aren't sure how to handle the newly undead. Should they sledgehammer the bodies until they're dead for sure? Lock them up and hope for a cure? Renovate the spare bedroom for zombie needs? Are the zombies even their loved ones, or just their loved ones corporeal forms reacting to freak stimuli? Linqvist, I think, is trying to explore the limits and desperation of love. Ok. I get that. And he adds fascinating new elements (e.g. the initial event when all appliances turn on and are impossible to shut down) to the genre. He also seems to relish twisting the reader's intestines by placing characters in realistic and heartbreaking situations. His characters sound authentic. But...Let the Right One In transcended horror novel conventions and Handling the Dead did not. And I wanted more. Maybe that's not fair. Maybe I'm like everyone who bought Around the World in a Day hoping the album sounded like the Purple Rain soundtrack. I'm ok with that. Do I think exploring the limits and desperation of love in relation to encountering, for example, one's wife as a zombie, is interesting? Yes. 146 pages worth of interesting, in this case, but not more. I wanted this novel to end by page 100. And that's no way to read. Two stars, for the first half, a pass on the second.
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Oct 26, 2010 Tatiana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, mysteries-thrillers-horror

2.5 stars

As a huge fan of Let the Right One In, I can confidently tell you Handling the Undead is not nearly as good as John Ajvide Lindqvist's debut novel. This book is lifeless and barely kicking, just like the zombies it is about.

Now, of course I have to give the author credit for the fresh premise. Lindqvist's zombies are not violent and are not monsters. The story is not about them going after people to chomp on their flesh. Rather, the author raises questions: if the undead are not aggress...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Kemper rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, zombies, scandinavian-mayhem

In this book, the corpses of the recently dead in Sweden become reanimated which leads to numerous legal, political and ethical issues when it comes to dealing with folks who aren’t technically alive. What kind of dilemmas would this cause society? For example, if this actually happened in Stockholm, I’m sure that that the publishers of Stieg Larsson’s books would chain his zombified ass to a desk and let him bang on the keys of a laptop until they got enough to put out a new bestseller, The Gir...more In this book, the corpses of the recently dead in Sweden become reanimated which leads to numerous legal, political and ethical issues when it comes to dealing with folks who aren’t technically alive. What kind of dilemmas would this cause society? For example, if this actually happened in Stockholm, I’m sure that that the publishers of Stieg Larsson’s books would chain his zombified ass to a desk and let him bang on the keys of a laptop until they got enough to put out a new bestseller, The Girl Who sJFnfJGgJOJ=I30&*(&U389kkl8.

Back to this book. Sweden is experiencing a weird electrical surge that leaves people unable to turn off or unplug their electronics, and it also seems to be giving everyone some wicked headaches. After a sudden intensification of the electrical field, it’s gone but in it’s wake, the recently dead in the area have awakened.

However, these aren’t the usual flesh eating zombies. These are just mindless and disgusting corpses that usually try to return to their old homes. The Swedish government tries to deal with 2000 of the walking dead as their loved ones demand answers and access to them. Is this a virus? Something supernatural? A sign of the apocalypse? No one knows, and the status of the zombies’ civil rights is up in the air since no law has ever addressed the undead before. As tensions rise, it becomes clear that the zombies are causing some kind of telepathy in the living people as well as becoming mirrors to the emotional state of those closest to them.

As both a fan of the zombie genre and Lindquvist’s previous genre-bending vampire novel Let the Right One In, I had high hopes for this one, but I was supremely disappointed. Part of my problem with this has to do with my own preferences in zombie story telling. I like my zombies to be horrific cannibals who munch brains and destroy society while survivors struggle against them and each other. Whenever anyone starts to add in telepathy or tries to make the zombies part of some larger supernatural force, my eyes glaze over. And if you’ve got a pack of zombies that are just sad remnants of the people who died that don’t even try to gnaw on the nearest person, then I’m just not that interested. (Yes, I realize I have issues.)

It seems like Lindquvist couldn’t decide if he was writing a horror novel about the nature of death, or kind of an absurd take on the idea of how society would react if people did come back from the dead. Frankly, S.G. Browne’s black comedy Breathers already dealt with a lot of these ideas, and Browne did it better. The focus keeps wandering as Lindqvist tries to add in some horror elements late in the game, and the ending was a mess.

It’s still well-written and Lindquvist is a writer who realizes that people are the ultimate monsters, but I would have liked to have seen what kind of twist he could have put on the classic zombie genre of the undead destroying society rather than society trying to figure out how to deal with some mostly harmless walking corpses.(less)

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Mar 18, 2009 Christina Stind rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Christina Stind by: Weekendavisen

Shelves: 2009, fiction

A butterfly beats its wings somewhere in the universe - and an electrical field lowers itself over Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and causes a piercing headache in everyone as well as making it impossible to turn of any electrical appliances or machines. When the field lifts, something has changed - the recently deceased have come back to life... - and they want to come home.

That's the premise in John Ajvide Lindqvist's book. This wouldn't normally be a book I would read - much less buy - but...more A butterfly beats its wings somewhere in the universe - and an electrical field lowers itself over Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and causes a piercing headache in everyone as well as making it impossible to turn of any electrical appliances or machines. When the field lifts, something has changed - the recently deceased have come back to life... - and they want to come home.

That's the premise in John Ajvide Lindqvist's book. This wouldn't normally be a book I would read - much less buy - but after reading a review in Weekendavisen, I felt like I had to read it. And it is definitely not your typical zombie story!

The book follows three families. David and his son Magnus who looses the mother of the family, Eva - who dies a few hours before the dead wake up again and therefore is very interesting to authorities, especially because she speaks. Flora and her grandmother - grandfather actually returns from the morgue. And finally - and to me and the reviewer in Weekendavisen most interesting - 6 years old Elias and his mother Anna and grandfather. Elias died a month earlier and grandfather therefore had to dig him out. This scene, with grandfather digging and Elias scratching on the lid of the coffin as well as the sound of him shaking the box of Legos he was burried with, was so strong and emotional - and the reason I had to read this book. This storyline with Elias' mother and grandfather trying to bring him back to life by giving him water with salt and sugar, using cremes to help make his skin less dry is so touching, especially if you have children of your own that you would do everything for - even after they've been dead for a month and certainly look the part and have nothing left of that cuddly chubbyness they had when you last saw them...

A fourth component is the medias and authorities. Throughout the book, we are given interviews with doctors, politicians and military personel as well as parts of articles and tv-programmes (including from CNN and other medias outside Sweden) which help tell the not personal and private stories of these undeads - and put a light on the difference between what the relatives and the authorities want to see happen with these 'people'.

This is a book about metaphysics (is it the soul that brought these people back - and what is a soul then? What is death? Is death no longer the end?), religion (Is this the End of Days? Is the world going under and Jesus returning?), ethics (is it okay to do just anything to the undeads since they have no rights (Citizenship ends with death)?) but mostly, it's a book about love - love for your family, and especially the love between parents and children.

But it's also a book about hate and fear. See, the undeads have the ability to receive what you're thinking and their reactions are conditioned of what you feel. So if you feel hate towards them or think they are ugly, they react - in strong ways, as little Magnus discovers when he brings his new pet rabbit to visit his undead mother...

So even though this is a very light and easy read, Lindqvist manages to put a lot of food for thought into it - and even though this is not my normal genre, I really enjoyed it and I think that I will read more of this author's works.(less)

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Feb 29, 2012 Ragnheiður rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, i-own

The Swedish nation really is exceptionally open minded when it comes to the dead rising.

"THE DEAD ARE RISING!"
"ok"

This book sucks.
I have the same basic problem with it as I did Let the Right one In -Lindqvist simply isn't that good as a writer, or they are badly translated. Most likely both. The text doesn't flow as naturally as it could and the storyline is avarage (stupid more like). Maybe my standard of Horror is too high after all the King books I've read (or after the class on Horror I t...more

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Jun 30, 2011 Paula rated it 5 of 5 stars

‘Let the right one in’ also by John Ajvide Lindqvist is one of my favourite reads of this year, a remarkable story, not just a vampire story but so much more. ‘Handling the Undead’ is just as good, another amazing story from John Ajvide Lindqvist.

‘Handling the Undead’ begins in Stockholm on a night when the weather is heavy and everyone can feel that something is about to happen and it does, in the worse way imaginable, people who have been dead for two months are returning from the dead, the g...more ‘Let the right one in’ also by John Ajvide Lindqvist is one of my favourite reads of this year, a remarkable story, not just a vampire story but so much more. ‘Handling the Undead’ is just as good, another amazing story from John Ajvide Lindqvist.

‘Handling the Undead’ begins in Stockholm on a night when the weather is heavy and everyone can feel that something is about to happen and it does, in the worse way imaginable, people who have been dead for two months are returning from the dead, the government are not sure what to do, the families of the ‘reliving’ (as they are eventually called) are at a loss of what to do or how to feel about it?

‘Handling the Undead’ is a book that makes you think, what would you do? So much happens once the ‘reliving’ return, the government find themselves making the wrong decisions, how do you handle people who are technically alive but not alive, do they have rights? Do they have a place in the world? Can they return to their families?

‘Handling the Undead’ is more than a story about life after death, what do you do when you lose someone and they come back from the dead? All the characters in the story are conflicted, they have lost someone in some way and now they have returned but the ‘reliving’ are different, they are not the people they once were, they are a shell of what they were but at the same time there is a faint glimmer of the person they were.

All of the relationships are strong relationships, you can feel the strength as you read, and you feel their pain and their loss, their confusion, coming to terms with a loss and then their happiness when their loved ones return.

I found ‘Handling the Undead’ to be a powerful read, so many questions are raised and so many social problems are brought forward, you will get very engrossed in this story, there is so much to this book that you will find enjoyable, enlightening, scary and most of all make you look at the world around you.

A must read.(less)

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Aug 27, 2010 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

Although many people consider this novel non-horror I would suggest that this reaction has more to do with a narrow definition as opposed to Lindqvists writing and supernatural enquiry.
The landscape of the mind is described more often than the physical world in this novel and, as readers, we are sometimes left in the claustrophobic confines of the characters thoughts too long for comfort, particularly in the cases of Flora and Elvy; the closeness and unwanted mental assaults of friends and stran...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Jo rated it 3 of 5 stars

It took me a long time to get into this. I was expecting murderous zombies and plenty of action, but this book was more about the emotions of loss than the flesh hungry, risen dead. Once I came to terms with that fact I started to enjoy it more. Around the half way point I considered giving up but I decided to carry on and take it for what it is. This book is nothing life changing or spectacular but it's ok. I thought he did a good job of capturing grief and the speculation about why it was happ...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Ilaria Tomasini rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

quando uno compra un libro sugli zombie, si aspetta i soliti clich�� del mostro che barcolla tra le tombe per andare a mangiare il cervello dei vivi. Questo romanzo tratta l'argomento in modo molto diverso: i morti tornano, ma sembrano quasi del tutto privi di volont��, se diventano violenti �� solo perch�� "assorbono" i pensieri negativi dei vivi.
I veri protagonisti del libro sono i sentimenti di chi ha perso una persona cara, il dolore e la gioia che potrebbe dare il suo ritorno, anche se in f...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Scott Aleric rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My first book from Lindqvist, I grabbed it because I liked the film Let the Right One In and I enjoy a good zombie story.

That said, this is not a zombie story.

No, instead it is a story of some Swedes who encounter a supernatural phenomena and how they deal with it.

From a sociological standpoint, the book is decent, if a little slow and dull. It takes some interesting positions on the nature of mankind, groups, governments and individuals, but that's about where it ends. I found the characters e...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Helmut Barro rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Thriller? Krimi? Horror?

Ehrlich: Ich war schon lange nicht mehr so enttäuscht von einem Buch. Die ersten 150 Seiten sind recht gut, und da kommen auch ein paar recht plastische und drastische Schilderungen drin vor. Die folgenden 100 Seiten habe ich mich durchgequält auf der Suche nach Spannung oder IRGENDETWAS interessantem. Da die Suche nicht erfolgreich war, habe ich die restlichen 200 Seiten nur noch überflogen. Zur Betonung und Klarstellung : Ich bin kein Splatter-Buch-Leser, der gelangwei...more Thriller? Krimi? Horror?

Ehrlich: Ich war schon lange nicht mehr so enttäuscht von einem Buch. Die ersten 150 Seiten sind recht gut, und da kommen auch ein paar recht plastische und drastische Schilderungen drin vor. Die folgenden 100 Seiten habe ich mich durchgequält auf der Suche nach Spannung oder IRGENDETWAS interessantem. Da die Suche nicht erfolgreich war, habe ich die restlichen 200 Seiten nur noch überflogen. Zur Betonung und Klarstellung : Ich bin kein Splatter-Buch-Leser, der gelangweilt ist, weil nicht genug Blut fließt, und bin nicht mit dieser Erwartung an das Buch herangegangen. Ich hoffte auf atmosphärischen Zombiegrusel abseits von Romero und Resident Evil.

Das ist kein Krimi, kein Horror, kein Thriller oder auch nur "Spitzentitel". Langweilige Handlung, langweilige klischeehafte Personen, sehr viel Hobbypsychologie und nur stellenweise ein Anflug von Atmosphäre, wenn z.B. Mahler seinen Enkelsohn ausgräbt. Wenig bis überhaupt nicht gruselig, nur in einem oder zwei Absätzen eklig.

Das ist auch kein Zombieroman, denn es geht eigentlich nie um die "Wiederlebenden", sondern praktisch ausschließlich um die Schwierigkeiten, die die lebendenen Protagonisten miteinander haben. Man könnte die Wiedererwachung ohne große Änderungen am Text durch "Schweden gewinnt die Fußball-WM" ersetzen. Dazu ein laberiger Stil (ist es die Übersetzung, die so völlig unpassende und flapsige Sätze produziert hat?) mit irre vielen "...".

Auch wenn die 5-Sterne-Rezensionen behaupten, hier gehe es ja eigentlich um die Verarbeitung von Verlust und Trauer, muss ich entgegnen: Der Autor hat einfach nicht die Klasse, dieses glaubhaft zu vermitteln. Alles bleibt oberflächlich und im Klischee hängen, und vor allem dieser unsägliche Schreibstil zerstört diesen Ansatz von Beginn an. Der Autor hätte sich entscheiden sollen: Will ich einen psychologischen Roman um Verlustverarbeitung schreiben, oder einen Horrorroman? So scheitert er an beiden Erwartungen. Der Roman funktioniert einfach nicht.

Den zweiten Stern gibts nur für die eine oben erwähnte Ausgrabe-Szene. Sonst sehr enttäuschend. (less)

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Feb 09, 2013 Rhonda Pumphrey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-a-z-challenge

I picked up this book based on a conversation b/t another horror-loving reader like myself. We both had plans to read it and then lost touch--nevertheless when it come available on my waitlist, I decded to go with it anyway. For anyone expecting a horror or a "zombie" tale you will find this disappointing. HOWEVER, if you're looking for a wealth of symbolism with 'zombies' as the focal point, perhaps then you will quite enjoy it. I am not sure if I would have been so disappointed had I been not...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interesting. Certainly not as entertaining as Let the Right One In or Little star, Handling the Undead is a depressing novel which walks a tightrope potentially previously non-trodden. It took several months to finish Lindqvist's second novel because of its pace. While expecting a knock-out such as was presented within the pages of his debut Lindqvist's second novel doesn't aspire to the same level. While this certainly does not mean that Handling the Undead isn't a good novel it does mean, on t...more Interesting. Certainly not as entertaining as Let the Right One In or Little star, Handling the Undead is a depressing novel which walks a tightrope potentially previously non-trodden. It took several months to finish Lindqvist's second novel because of its pace. While expecting a knock-out such as was presented within the pages of his debut Lindqvist's second novel doesn't aspire to the same level. While this certainly does not mean that Handling the Undead isn't a good novel it does mean, on the other hand that what readers discover through their approach is a vastly different approach in what to expect in a horror based novel. Mostly certainly Lindqvist does not appeal to a horrific scene or approach of writing as can be found in Let the Right One In or Little Star (Harbor not included because of having not yet read it) he does, instead, approach horror through an emotional or almost passive appeal. Instead or a blood pumping adrenaline rush as if found in the pages of his debut Lindqvist wishes readers to review themselves through the scenarios of his characters. At times, however, his second novel can prove to be difficult to read because it possesses such an uneventful story while, at the same time, presenting an extremely eventful story line. While Lindqvist's novel is not as entertaining as his first or fourth he should, though, be given credit for presenting an idea which no doubt causes readers to reflect upon its originality and depth. Frustratingly so, Lindqvist gives no reasons for the happenings in his story, instead, readers are simply supposed to accept that they have happen. At the same time, the ways in which the author presents certain aspects is fascinating and horrific. While perhaps three stars should have sufficed as a just review I have opted, instead, to adorn Handling the Undead with four because of its originality and depth of issues which Lindqvist has presented. Don't expect to receive such a story such as his debut or Little Star upon reading, though, still readers should seek out this book and discover what it has to offer.
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Jan 14, 2013 Joe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

I enjoyed the Swedish writer's previous book, Let The Right One In, which was about vampires in a small Swedish town...or one vampire, anyways.
Now, Lindqvist tackles zombies, the latest trend in horror fiction. Like Let The Right One In, he does it in his own unique way.
In Sweden, out of the blue, the dead,or at least the most recently dead, start waking up. No one knows why. Some think it's a religious event. The author focuses on people who are directly effected by this, so the "zombies" aren...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Tlingit rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I waited for something amazing to happen because none of the characters were interesting except the husband who's wife gets killed and turns into a zombie as the rest of the dead who are from a specific time frame arise. I own "They Came Back (Les Revenants)" - a French zombie movie where "70 million people come back to life as zombies, but they don't want to eat your brains. When all the zombies want to do is return to their old life, what do you do?" I thought it would be alright since French...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Nicky Dierx rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Zombies are very much my thing. Anyone that knows you can tell you (likely with evidence to back it up) that I know more about the popculture phenomenon of the undead than most people know about, anything really.
That being said I was very eager to read this book and it did not disappoint. I previously read "Let The Right One In" and was blown away by the author's skill at handling such volatile subject matter.

This book is easily on par, but I'm not sure which is better.

Yes there are zombies in t...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Maharet rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: awesome, gothic, horror, perfect

Io sono una lettrice piuttosto veloce, riesco a leggere anche libri piuttosto voluminosi in pochi giorni se ho tempo/voglia: ma con questo libro sono andata molto lentamente, forse perché dovevo metabolizzarne i contenuti di ogni singola parte prima di continuare, dovevo staccare la spina per un po' dalle sue pagine.
È stato un viaggio difficile, insomma.
Lindqvist mi fa spesso questo effetto: è un autore diretto, che non ti indora mai la pillola; nei suoi libri, tutto viene lanciato al lettore se...more

Io sono una lettrice piuttosto veloce, riesco a leggere anche libri piuttosto voluminosi in pochi giorni se ho tempo/voglia: ma con questo libro sono andata molto lentamente, forse perché dovevo metabolizzarne i contenuti di ogni singola parte prima di continuare, dovevo staccare la spina per un po' dalle sue pagine.
È stato un viaggio difficile, insomma.
Lindqvist mi fa spesso questo effetto: è un autore diretto, che non ti indora mai la pillola; nei suoi libri, tutto viene lanciato al lettore senza filtri, senza protezioni.
Ci sono solo lui e il libro e le pagine dello scrittore svedese spesso sono taglienti come lame affilatissime.
Anche “Il porto degli spiriti” mi aveva fatto lo stesso effetto e, anche se lì la lettura è stata più spedita, avevo spesso bisogno di fermarmi, di fare una pausa.
Il libro affronta il tema dei morti che ritornano con un occhio diverso dal solito: più che di morti viventi si parla delle loro famiglie, di chi è stato lasciato indietro e ora si ritrova di nuovo a contatto con la persona amata che si credeva persa per sempre e che ora, anche se il suo corpo si muove e reagisce, sembra inevitabilmente perduta per sempre o trasformatasi in qualcosa che non è più la persona che vive nei loro ricordi.
Il libro segue tre famiglie e il loro viaggio attraverso il dolore prima della perdita e poi quello dei mille dubbi sull'inaspettato ritorno e, infine, il problema di una nuova, possibile, convivenza con questi strani esseri che una volta erano i loro cari.
I personaggi, forse perché più numerosi del solito, non sono indagati e approfonditi come negli altri due libri dell'autore, ma restano reali, plausibili, concreti nel loro dolore e nella loro confusione.
Il personaggio di Flora, soprattutto, mi ha veramente colpito molto, per il suo anticonformismo feroce, la sua voglia allo stesso di essere normale e di non uniformarsi alla massa.
Se cercate un libro sugli zombie pieno di azione, sangue e morti affamati di carne umana non troverete niente di tutto ciò qui: è una fitta indagine psicologica sul dolore, sul significato della morte.
Mi ha profondamente toccato e colpito, ci sono scene impressionanti e molto forti che mi resteranno dentro a lungo: è un libro che a suo modo fa molto male e fa molto riflettere.
Non so se lo consiglierei, ma è comunque un libro bellissimo.

Voto: 8/10
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May 05, 2012 BeeQuiet rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Having fallen in love with Let the Right One In by Lindqvist, my eyes lit up when I saw Handling the Undead on the shelf at my local book shop. At first, I thought it was going to be brilliant, perhaps on the same scale as the book I had taken to my heart before. Unfortunately as the book progressed, I found myself feeling disappointed, as the reasons behind the events detailed in the book seemed unconvincingly explained, propping up an idea of the soul which made little sense to me.

As in Let th...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Wayne Simmons rated it 4 of 5 stars

HANDLING THE UNDEAD is an odd little caper. Nothing at all like your trad zombie book - with only about 300 words of an exception. This book is more of a quietly sinister thriller, than a horror read. For those who are bizarro fans, you may find the premise very similar to a great little French z-horror called THEY CAME BACK - suddenly, without warning, recently deceased citizens of Stockholm, Sweden somehow come back to life.

Ultimately, all the things I associate with good horror are in this bo...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This novel is by the author of Let The Right One In, which I have not read (though I've seen both film versions). It is extremely well written and super creepy, though perhaps not scary to a bone-chilling degree.

Less a horror novel and more an existential contemplation on death, this book succeeds - in my opinion - because it exercises great subtlety in confronting the reader with a harrowing idea: how would society deal with the dead if they ever came back? (NOTE: This idea is similarly explore...more

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Dec 19, 2011 Särah Nour rated it 4 of 5 stars

After his captivating debut with the vampire novel, Let the Right One In, I was eager to get my hands on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s next novel, despite generally not being drawn to the horror genre—least of all anything involving zombies. Yet Handling the Undead is not a generic zombie story; it’s an emotionally affecting and humanistic look at grief, loss, mortality and the relationships between parents and children.

The story talks place in Stockholm, Sweden, where strange occurrences are taking p...more After his captivating debut with the vampire novel, Let the Right One In, I was eager to get my hands on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s next novel, despite generally not being drawn to the horror genre—least of all anything involving zombies. Yet Handling the Undead is not a generic zombie story; it’s an emotionally affecting and humanistic look at grief, loss, mortality and the relationships between parents and children.

The story talks place in Stockholm, Sweden, where strange occurrences are taking place. Electrical glitches, a massive heat wave and blinding headaches strike the entire population, and, in morgues and cemeteries, the dead start to reawaken. The first plotline involves stand-up comedian David, whose wife Eva is killed in a car accident and later reawakens in the hospital. The investigative reporter struggling to cover this phenomenon is Gustav Mahler, who has been grieving the loss of his grandson, Elias. The only people in Stockholm who foretold this whole occurrence is a pair of psychics: teenage Flora and her religious grandmother Elvy, who interprets the reawakening of the dead as a sign of the End of Days. Though these characters rarely interact outside their plot threads, their paths intersect in their attempts to survive and make sense of these supernatural circumstances.

The novel focuses not so much on the zombies themselves as on the living characters’ reactions to them, such as David struggling to explain his wife’s condition to his young son; Elvy’s self-appointed mission to spread the word of God as the End of Days draws near; and the government’s initial stalling to take action on the issue. In addition to David’s rapport with his son, the parent-child theme is especially prevalent in Mahler’s strained relationship with his grown daughter, Anna, and how they cope with the undead Elias. The psychic bond between Flora and Elvy also becomes crucial as they realize their purpose to herd the lost souls of the undead to their final resting place.

The marring aspect of this novel is its ending, which comes suddenly and doesn’t provide adequate closure; just a few hints as to how the whole zombie debacle will end, and how the characters will get on will their lives, having bid farewell to their loved ones for the final time. Readers will surely get the impression that their lives will continue after the book is finished, so this ending may be Lindqvist’s way of making the novel all the more memorable.

One could call Handling the Undead as the zombie novel for those who don’t usually read zombie novels. But there’s a chance that it could become a gateway zombie novel that sparks one’s interest in reading Max Brooks, author of The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. In any case, it’s a moving and worthwhile read that further establishes Lindqvist’s status not only as a good horror writer but as a philosopher and humanist and well.

You can read this and other book reviews at my blog: http://zeitgeist-sacha1689.blogspot.com/(less)

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Nov 25, 2011 Ritz rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: abandonados_a_medio_leer

¿Qué pasaría si, aquellos a quienes hemos perdido, a quienes les rendimos luto, de quienes nos despedimos para siempre, vamos nuestros muertos, se levantaran? No con afán de devorar nuestros sesos, sino sencillamente 'reanimados' y nada más.

Esta es la premisa de novela, y una incógnita que jamás sabré si despeja, porque he abandonado el libro con el grito: hay muchos libros que leer y muy poca vida para perderla en uno malo.

Lo único rescatable es precisamente el argumento, se trata de un punto...more

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Nov 23, 2011 Zoe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lindqvist is the guy who did Let the Right One In, which was pretty awesome. I find his books rather compulsively readable, so this one didn't take me long. There's also something similar in the voice to the Stieg Larsson books; I don't think this is just because they're both Swedish and thus make references to similar events/cultural things. They have different translators, too, so it's particularly odd. Maybe it's the Swedish psyche? Not sure. Anyhow, the stories they tell are vastly different...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Colleen rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: zombies

I had very very high hopes for this book.

And I kept on reading to the bitter end, hoping my hopes would be realized.

Still not sure what the hell I was reading.

It's like if Virginia Woolf set out to write a zombie book, except I think Virginia Woolf could have done amazing things with that. Let's say a subpar zombie Virginia Woolf was dug up and resurrected and tasked to write this book in exchange for brains. Maybe then.

So basically this isn't horror at all. Spooky cover, Stephen King referen...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm not really too into reading zombie stuff as much as watching the movies, but this book is a zombie tale like no other. It felt penned by a student from the school of David Lynch more than George Romero in that you get a bunch of dreamy moments that leave you wondering what just really happened more so than gross out brain eating with a thinly veiled commentary on social topics. This book had me rereading pretty decent sized sections to absorb what actually just took place in a few occasions,...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Stormcrow rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hail-the-horrors, all-time-favourite-authors

In Stockholm gehen merkwürdige Dinge vor sich: Es ist ein heisser Sommer, der Luftdruck ist nahezu unerträglich und zu allem Übel lassen sich auch noch die elektrischen Geräte plötzlich nicht mehr ausschalten. Auf dem Höhepunkt dieser Anspannung wird plötzlich alles still, etwas hat sich verändert. Bald stellt man fest, dass die kürzlich Verstorbenen in Leichenschauhäusern und auf Friedhöfen beginnen, sich zu regen..

An diesem tragenden Erzählstrang hängt ein geniales Buch. Ja, ich würde sogar be...more In Stockholm gehen merkwürdige Dinge vor sich: Es ist ein heisser Sommer, der Luftdruck ist nahezu unerträglich und zu allem Übel lassen sich auch noch die elektrischen Geräte plötzlich nicht mehr ausschalten. Auf dem Höhepunkt dieser Anspannung wird plötzlich alles still, etwas hat sich verändert. Bald stellt man fest, dass die kürzlich Verstorbenen in Leichenschauhäusern und auf Friedhöfen beginnen, sich zu regen..

An diesem tragenden Erzählstrang hängt ein geniales Buch. Ja, ich würde sogar behaupten, Ajvide Lindqvists bestes Buch. Nach So finster die Nacht dachte ich, das sei genial, eines meiner bislang absoluten Lieblingsbücher. Nach Im Verborgenen dachte ich, dass dies offenbar so nicht stimmen kann, denn die Genialität... dann las ich Menschenhafen und erklärte es zu meinem Lieblings-Ajvide Lindqvist, weil ich es noch besser fand, als die beiden anderen.

Und tatsächlich gibt es eine Szene in So ruhet in Frieden, die mich sehr stark an Menschenhafen erinnerte: Eine kleine Insel, eine Ferienhütte, eine Person darin gefangen und von aussen bedroht. Nur, dass es dieses Mal kein Mann, sondern eine Frau ist, die sich gegen das Übel, das in ihr Häuschen eindringen will, verteidigen muss. Was ich, möglicherweise auch, weil ich selbst eine Frau bin, noch genialer finde. Und so dachte ich während dem ganzen Buch.

Es ist gar nicht so leicht, eine Rezension dazu schreiben, denn ich habe während dem Lesen mehrmals gedacht, dass es da gar nichts darüber zu sagen gibt, ausser dass es halt eben genial ist. Doch ich versuche trotzdem mal, noch etwas aussagekräftiger zu werden.

Zum Beispiel ist die Frau aus erwähnter Szene mir als Charakter äusserst unsympathisch, trotzdem finde ich die Szenen mit ihr irgendwie faszinierend. Plötzlich wollte ich bei ihr sein. Und bei all den anderen Charakteren sowieso. Die Figuren und Ortsbeschreibungen sind eingängig und erzeugen eine gewisse Sehnsucht, obwohl man rational eigentlich froh sein kann, wenn man nicht dort ist. Trotzdem hatte ich dieses gewisse Bedürfnis, Anna auf die einsame Insel zu folgen, Flora auf „die Heide“ (in Englisch „The Heath“, den im deutschen Roman verwendeten Begriff weiss ich jetzt nicht) zu begleiten, mit David in seiner Küche einen zu heben.

Wie das kommt, kann ich nicht sagen. Nur was ich bestimmt sagen kann, ist, dass dies nicht die einzigen Aspekte sind, die mich John Ajvide Lindqvist vergöttern lassen. Immer wieder schlägt er Querbezüge innerhalb des Romans, macht Andeutungen, die grosse Fragezeichen vor dem inneren Auge aufblitzen lassen, beschreibt Details, die zunächst unwichtig scheinen mit dieser gewissen, ihm eigenen Signifikanz und führt das alles am Schluss schön zusammen.

Weiter fasziniert haben mich die „philosophisch-moralischen“ Überlegungen der Charaktere, wenn man das so nennen kann. Sie machen sich teilweise intensive Gedanken über die Ethik, die sie selbst vertreten und über das Leben um sie herum. Da dringt stellenweise wieder dieses Gesellschaftskritische durch, das mich schon bei den Erzählungen aus Im Verborgenen begeistert hat. Da gibt es zum Beispiel eine Szene, in der erwähnt wird, dass die ganzen Ereignisse für die Comedians nur eines zu sein scheinen: Ein Scherz. Das hat meiner Meinung nach etwas.

Ausserdem schafft Ajvide Lindqvist es, selbst in der für die einen Charaktere emotional anstrengendsten Sequenz vor deren absolutem Spannungshöhepunkt immer noch einen Witz einzubauen. Die Witze sind mir in diesem Buch übrigens auch mehr aufgefallen, als in den anderen dreien.

Gut, ich gebe zu, ich bin nicht mehr objektiv in Bezug auf Bücher von John Ajvide Lindqvist. Aber wann ist man das schon? Bücher sind ja bekanntlich Geschmackssache und für meinen hat So ruhet in Frieden oder - was ich als Titel irgendwie passender finde - Handling The Undead - volle Punktzahl und mehr bravourös verdient.(less)

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Aug 21, 2011 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a book that encourages deep thinking; it's impossible to not put yourself in the position of the main characters.

The book's set in modern day Stockholm when madly oppressive weather is broken by a huge electrical storm after which the recently dead come back to life again. As horrific as this sounds it's not a zombie book, the re-animated dead don't want brains, they just shuffle back to where their lives left off. And it's dealing with this that gives the book its title; imagine your ho...more

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Aug 04, 2011 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Handling the Undead is not your typical zombie book. When I first picked it up, however, I thought it would be -you know, something possibly serious (due to the cover art) like 28 Days later or possibly something humorous like Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland or World War Z. What I got however, was completely different and unexpected. Instead of some kind of humorous zombie-fighting or horrifying zombie apocalypse story where characters are running for their lives, Handling the Undead focuses on a...more Handling the Undead is not your typical zombie book. When I first picked it up, however, I thought it would be -you know, something possibly serious (due to the cover art) like 28 Days later or possibly something humorous like Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland or World War Z. What I got however, was completely different and unexpected. Instead of some kind of humorous zombie-fighting or horrifying zombie apocalypse story where characters are running for their lives, Handling the Undead focuses on a more realistic and somewhat more human approach to zombies. Rather than battling the undead, author John Ajvide Lindqvist studies a range of possible, realistic human reactions to reanimated dead, or "reliving" as they are called in the novel, ranging from horror to religious fanaticism, panic and even acceptance.

In Handling the Undead, several individuals around Stockholm who have been dead for two months or less suddenly start coming back to life -scratching their way out of coffins, walking out of hospitals and mortuaries...some falling apart from previously fatal wounds, others with remnants of speech or even memories of their past life. Though their appearance causes panic throughout the city and eventually the world, several people, including the characters Lindqvist explores, have their own, more human experiences with the reliving -mostly in an attempt to continue lives with their previously dead families and friends.

An interesting take on the zombie genre, Handling the Undead reads more like a literary, emotional novel than a horror story. While I have to admit it's different and interesting, it did disappoint the little zombie horror fan in me, especially since the book probably should have just been a short story. The middle especially feels like there just isn't much going on -there are news clippings and timeline reports about the strange zombie events, which offer quick, interesting snapshots of the world, but seemed to be fluff more than anything. The story also seems like it's staying in the same place for much of the time and not really adding anything new plot-wise -it's so bad that probably around 100 pages of this book could be removed from the middle and it would still have the same impact (possibly even more).

Not a great book, but certainly unique and different -but, sadly, not truly for zombie-horror fans, but more for fans of emotional literary tales of family and human connections.(less)

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Jul 25, 2011 Ryandake rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

it seems such a shame to take such an interesting premise and do so little with it.

the undead (or reliving, which is inaccurate but sounds perfectly bureaucratic) aren't zombies per se. they don't necessarily want to eat your brains, or even gnaw on your toes. the cause of their zombie-ness isn't some eViL plot by a government agency/mad virologist/terrorist whackjob group/meteor from outer space. there are no scenes of zombie mobs plodding after the hero/heroine. so, don't expect the standard i...more it seems such a shame to take such an interesting premise and do so little with it.

the undead (or reliving, which is inaccurate but sounds perfectly bureaucratic) aren't zombies per se. they don't necessarily want to eat your brains, or even gnaw on your toes. the cause of their zombie-ness isn't some eViL plot by a government agency/mad virologist/terrorist whackjob group/meteor from outer space. there are no scenes of zombie mobs plodding after the hero/heroine. so, don't expect the standard in zombie fare.

which is of course exactly what one expects from the author of Let the Right One in, a ripper ripper take on the vampire legend. one expects a fresh take. and in that, Lindqvist doesn't disappoint--his central question is really interesting: what do we do when those we loved as living people return from the dead, decay and all?

Lindqvist doesn't offer up any easy answers on that score, and that's a good thing. but he pretty much fails, i think, in the depictions he gives. the characters seem barely one rung above the dead they're mourning. and if you're going to examine how we might relate to our loved dead, wow, you really must do a careful job of examining character. which means they have to have full, rounded, nuanced, real, living, breathing, idiosyncratic, contradictory, muddled, and occasionally joyful characters, just like the rest of us.

do you ever get the feeling that you're getting a second draft of a novel, instead of a really finished one? that's how this book feels to me.

it's not a bad book (except (view spoiler)). but it's not half of what it could be, either. unless Let the Right One In was a fluke, i'm pretty sure this writer is better than that.(less)

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May 18, 2011 Gloria rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have always been a fan of the Zombie horror genre. As monsters I agree with many that they aren't terribly interesting. Zombies for the most part are one-trick ponies with their moaning and shambling, and need to consume human flesh. Where the true horror lies is in the human response to problem of ambulating corpses. Typically Zombies are a good canvas to display the fralities of human beings when push comes to shove.

Handling the Undead is no exception, except that unlike other incarnations...more

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About John Ajvide Lindqvist

John Ajvide Lindqvist (Johan Ajvide Lindqvist) is a Swedish author who grew up in Blackeberg, the setting for Let the Right One In. Wanting to become something awful and fantastic, he first became a conjurer, and then was a stand-up comedian for twelve years. He has also written for Swedish television.

Let the Right One In was a bestseller in Sweden and was named Best Novel in Translation 2005 in N...more

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Quotes from Handling the Undead

“Viktor had been very sad about their grandfather's death, but Flora had intuited that it was less the person he grieved for than the fact of death itself. Death meant that people actually disappeared. That everyone was going to disappear” — 3 people liked it

“¿Y si todo lo imposible empezara a ocurrir ahora?” — 2 people liked it

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