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301st out of 802 books
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2,538 voters
The Loving Dead
Kate and Michael are roommates living in the Oakland hills, working at the same Trader Joes supermarket. A night of drunken revelry changes their lives forever, but not in the way that anyone would expect. A slow-spreading plague of zombie-ism breaks out at their house party, spreading amongst their circle of friends, and simultaneously through the Bay Area. This zombie pl...more
Paperback, 241 pages
Published
July 1st 2010
by Night Shade Books
(first published March 1st 2001)
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Maybe I just don’t get the whole “zombie” thing. Don’t get me wrong, like the next 20s something I have a zombie-pocalpyse escape plan, have watched enough zombie films to know zombies are “cool,” and am forwarded by I. relevant zombie-in-the-news stories. But I don’t get the appeal enough to enjoy (or even want to read) Amelia Beamer’s The Loving Dead. No wait, I think it’s Beamer’s fault for writing a boring, predictable, boring, and boring book, because I liked Wide Sargasso Sea (zombies) and...more
For a first novel, it's pretty well written (despite the fact that I couldn't finish it), and the idea that Zombification spreading like an STD is interesting, but if you want more then mind-numbingly stupid players and erotica, then maybe this isn't for you. And honestly, I wouldn't be against trying another Beamer book if the focus on sex were turned down a notch, or few. If I could take this book and say "lets take out a few of those sex scenes" I'd love to finish it.
The main character, Kate,...more
The main character, Kate,...more
Amelia Beamer's style is not for everyone. She's definitely from SoCal, and definitely young and very open minded. Her book was funny, with lots of sex and humor, which go well together with zombies in my opinion. I'm working on a piece that's similar at least in subject matter and diction, and I thought Amelia straddled the line between parody and horror well, although if you're expecting gory zombies this isn't the right book for you. Think funny zombies, original night of the living dead stuf...more
(Note: I did not finish this book.)
You know, you pick up a book with a title like this and it's a pretty clear indication not to take it too seriously.
It could have been fun. But it was a little too gross.
A brief ways in, there is a scene in a bathroom, with a handful of people trying to get away from the zombies. One of the people is making out with another one, and then turns into a zombie. The zombie woman continues to make out with the woman (they are-er, were-a lesbian couple) while eating...more
You know, you pick up a book with a title like this and it's a pretty clear indication not to take it too seriously.
It could have been fun. But it was a little too gross.
A brief ways in, there is a scene in a bathroom, with a handful of people trying to get away from the zombies. One of the people is making out with another one, and then turns into a zombie. The zombie woman continues to make out with the woman (they are-er, were-a lesbian couple) while eating...more
Amelia Beamer just made the list of writers that I would like to sit down to dinner with and listen as she tells me what prompted her to write her story. For those not in touch with the tragically hip, Ms. Beamer is an editor and book reviewer for Locus magazine and the author of The Loving Dead available through Nigh Shade Books. And, of course, all the usual sources like Amazon. I mention Night Shade specifically because they are a small name that you might not be familiar with (like Amelia Be...more
I like zombie stories where the realism is invested in the relationships among the living, as opposed to the goriness of the feeding of the undead, or some tortured pseudo-science to explain their rise. Don't get me wrong, Beamer offers gore and pseudo-science, but the real meat here is a very emotionally honest story about how 21st C twentysomethings (or Millennials, or Gen Yers, or whatever the hell we're supposed to call them) negotiate under stress. It's really nicely played.
Also, remember a...more
Also, remember a...more
I had hoped for good things from this book - I saw it mentioned online somewhere and read the chapters that were available online for free. Unfortunately, it really didn't deliver.
I found the writing to be rather bad, though I can overlook that if other parts are quite good. But the characters were bland and, well, stupid. The plot was messy, and a lot of it just didn't make a whole lot of sense, from a logical point of view.
I'm not against sex, at all, but I found most of what was in the book c...more
I found the writing to be rather bad, though I can overlook that if other parts are quite good. But the characters were bland and, well, stupid. The plot was messy, and a lot of it just didn't make a whole lot of sense, from a logical point of view.
I'm not against sex, at all, but I found most of what was in the book c...more
I really thought I would like this book, I mean the premise sounded right up my alley: the story of two people who promise to meet at the safest place they know during the zombie apocalypse, and the story of not only if they can make it together but if they could keep their humanity in an increasingly inhumane world. The title of the book is even a riff on the great George A Romero movie titles, The Loving Dead. But man, this is one brutal and surprisingly lifeless read, a read full of uninteres...more
2 likes · like · see review
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If you are interested in reading stories about zombies, you're likely want to get through this book, if for no reason other than that it is a zombie story.
You might also be drawn in by the endorsement on the front cover by Christopher Moore and also one on the back from Peter Straub. These might lead you to believe you have in your hands a true underrated gem of a book.
That's how I felt when I first picked up this book.
Not any longer.
Essentially, I'm easily turned off by certain things in fictio...more
You might also be drawn in by the endorsement on the front cover by Christopher Moore and also one on the back from Peter Straub. These might lead you to believe you have in your hands a true underrated gem of a book.
That's how I felt when I first picked up this book.
Not any longer.
Essentially, I'm easily turned off by certain things in fictio...more
1 like · like · see review
Really 2.5 stars
Zombie erotica is its own special kind of erotica, and this is not the first of its kind that I have read. Zombie erotica basically consists of….zombies and erotica. Also punny titles. The title is definitely the best part of this book. Everyone I said it to when they asked what I was reading totally cracked up. The basic concept is rather ordinary, and the execution, while it has a few laughs, is mostly ho-hum.
Making the zombie plague an STD is a logical leap. Many illnesses spr...more
Zombie erotica is its own special kind of erotica, and this is not the first of its kind that I have read. Zombie erotica basically consists of….zombies and erotica. Also punny titles. The title is definitely the best part of this book. Everyone I said it to when they asked what I was reading totally cracked up. The basic concept is rather ordinary, and the execution, while it has a few laughs, is mostly ho-hum.
Making the zombie plague an STD is a logical leap. Many illnesses spr...more
Beamer is a competent writer. She can evoke dread. Her use of description is economical, which is my personal preference, and she handles action pretty well. But her persistence in sexualizing all interactions becomes numbing. Regardless of where or when people encounter one another, it's apparently appropriate that they fondle, excite, and satisfy each other, even in public. It brings the reader out of the fictional dream, because, while the reader has gone into this with a willingness to accep...more
Audio book. First 15 minutes contain a steamy "love" scene that almost made me lose control of the car...whether from shock or turn on is none of your beeswax.
-----Later----
Erk. Thought from the title this was a love story about zombies...since The Loving Dead is a clever play on The Living Dead. By the end of the first CD two zombies were introduced and a whole room full of college-aged brain dead. And Kate, one of the main gals in the story, takes skankiness to a whole other level.
Look, I like...more
-----Later----
Erk. Thought from the title this was a love story about zombies...since The Loving Dead is a clever play on The Living Dead. By the end of the first CD two zombies were introduced and a whole room full of college-aged brain dead. And Kate, one of the main gals in the story, takes skankiness to a whole other level.
Look, I like...more
2 likes · like · see review
Wow, this was awful. What was an interesting concept on paper was utterly marred by horrific writing. It seriously read like a middle-schooler was writing a horror - forget the concept of "show, don't tell"; every character's motivation is put out for you in cut-and-dried black and white. "This was the hardest thing she'd ever done", for example, when one of the characters has to choose who to save from an impending attack. A couple of clunky sentences here and there is one thing, but this was a...more
This book was awful. The characters make ridiculous decisions (like watching zombie movies in the living room after they lock their friends-who-just-turned-into-zombies in the bedroom at a house party) and the author continually breaks the fourth wall; Beamer references other zombie media in her book several times, and the constant "In Dawn of the Dead..." "If this were a Max Brooks novel..." just served to remind me of all the other (GOOD) zombie entertainment out there. This book fell incredib...more
I picked this book up at ReaderCon after getting to know the author. It's her first novel, and you can certainly tell that in the writing. But, it's also an interesting idea-- that zombieism is spread as an STD-- and there are some fun scenes. There is "graphic" sex as other reviewers say--and it's honest, good clean fun (well, up til the part where folks start turning into zombies). If you are a horror aficionado, and/or fan of zombies, add this to your repertoire. It's a solid 3 to 3.5 stars....more
I found the blurb on the book intriguing. I love zombies, and well, I love sex so the two together seemed like a good choice. I found the style of writing very easy to read, perhaps a little too easy. I did really enjoy the book, but it wasn't at all challenging. I read it very quickly, and the story was fun, but I think it lacked something. There wasn't as much sex as I'd have hoped. The main character, Kate, was believable but not as strong or as sexy as she was meant to be. I'd recommend it a...more
A romp of a zombie novel. In this case zombeism is spread through saliva and other bodily (of which many are exchanged in this novel). It's set in Oakland and Berkeley, with key characters and a key scene set at Trader joe's on Lakeshore in Oakland, where my son works. The local color is mostly fun, as is the fact that this is an aware crowd, that more or less knows they're in a zombie story, and is of course aware of all the other zombie movies. That and the softcore sex scenes made it a fun ro...more
This is definitely one of those you'll either love it or hate it books as I don't think there's much middle ground. I *love* the premise of the zombie virus being transmitted not only by bites but also as a sexually transmitted disease through saliva and other bodily fluids. This mix of erotica and horror is probably what is squicking most people out, especially when many of the scenes are seamless from the sexcapades to the devouring of flesh.
This is very much like the bad horror movies where...more
This is very much like the bad horror movies where...more
I really give this book a zero. I should have read a paragraph before I picked this one up but I didn't. I wasn't careful about What zombie book I read, I just like zombie books. Now I'm more careful. This is a terrible book, there is almost no character development, and all of the characters are depraved. The sex scenes are just disgusting as well as inappropriately placed in the story and lack any kind of creativity. I stopped reading the book at the zeppelin ride because I didn't want to poll...more
Kate and Michael, a pair of twenty-something hipsters, are the point of view characters of choice for this wry, off-beat new take on the zombie apocalypse. While the dead rise, partially because of an STD, they plan to get their last bits in order then meet at Alcatraz for the long wait.
Meh just about sums up this book. Kate and Michael witness two full zombie transitions (one during coitus and one their friend who pluckily tries to rape the first zombie) but instead of doing anything (other th...more
Meh just about sums up this book. Kate and Michael witness two full zombie transitions (one during coitus and one their friend who pluckily tries to rape the first zombie) but instead of doing anything (other th...more
I really wanted to like this book because it took an interesting twist on the zombie genre, but I just couldn't do it. I gave up before even getting halfway through. Maybe it's because I'm a 30-something married man and not a 20-something hipster. The writing is solid, and the basic theme is well done, but the plot just doesn't motivate you to read further. If the protagonists show little interest in their friends turning into zombies, why should I?
As a first effort from a new author, it's at le...more
As a first effort from a new author, it's at le...more
With her horrifically comic first novel The Loving Dead, Amelia Beamer taps into the cultural zeitgeist of the early 21st century. Much like the great zombie film progenitor, Night of the Living Dead, Beamer uses the undead to represent the fractured real world around her, albeit from a hyper-sexual millennialist bent.
Sure enough Kate's friend was roped to the bed. Naked. She wore white contacts, and her skin was a fine gray. Her gaze moved among the men, and she licked her lips....more
Michael was stu
This definitely isn't for younger zombie fans. If you feel uncomfortable about frank sex talk, then don't read this book (you should have guessed from the description anyway). The pace is very slow (no pun intended) and some of the things done in the novel seem very unrealistic (barring the unrealistic nature of the novel). I'm not going to be concentrating on sex when zombies are trying to gut me like a fish. Because it's a different take on the zombie apocalypse, the rules are different. I und...more
I found Beamer's writing to be quite good, personally, and felt that the book was well written with an interesting plot and outcome. I wasn't expecting how sad the book made me though. Perhaps I was just really sensitive when I read it, but the tragedies in it really struck me. I think there are some metaphorical parallels you can draw from it about modern day relationships, promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases, and a small glimpse of what it might be like to live with a chronic condition.
For a first novel this is pretty impressive just for the fact that it's a brilliantly different style of zombie novel than the others that I've ever read. It's very modern with and honest: the characters all seem to act and speak in a way that gives a natural feeling.
It could've definitely been better due to the sense of rushing that you feel whilst reading it and lack of deep character development, but you could argue this lends itself to the idea of a zombie apocalypse.
It could've definitely been better due to the sense of rushing that you feel whilst reading it and lack of deep character development, but you could argue this lends itself to the idea of a zombie apocalypse.
It seemed to calm down about 120 pages or so into the novel but I would still say that it was probably one of the more sexually explicit books I have read over the past few months. It reminded me of a good ol' campy zombie flick. You know the kind of zombie movie where an unsuspecting couple are doing it in their tent when the hungry zombie stumbles upon there campsite, only the lovers turn into zombies and have kinky zombie sex and devour each others flesh and vital organs by the end of the fea...more
This read like a horror movie - lots of promiscuity, profanity and gore. It's not the best-written book out there, but it was okay, until the last part. The end was rushed and there's a huge gap in the story that I personally think would make for great reading, but it is as if the author got tired, and wasn't in the mood to do research into the clinical bits that would be necessary to fill that space.
If you'd told me before reading this book that I wouldn't like a book about zombies that included graphic girl on girl sex scenes and was endorsed by one of my favorite authors, Christopher Moore, I'd have said you were crazy, but this book just flat out wasn't good.
The pre-billing said this book was a lovechild of C-Moore and Chuck Palahniuk. It failed to say the kid was born with flippers instead of hands.
The pre-billing said this book was a lovechild of C-Moore and Chuck Palahniuk. It failed to say the kid was born with flippers instead of hands.
In this entertaining Zombie story, the living dead propagate by...well...propagation. A small group of 20-somethings who work at Trader Vics in San Francisco try to survive the invasion despite their hormones, the zombies, and a general lack of funds and ambition. I'm not going to lie -- this is LIGHT horror reading with some lively sex scenes. Not for everyone.
This book wasn't was it was marketed as. I couldn't really find much comedy in it, and the sex seemed forced with no real explanation for it happening. Personally I found the last chapter (set ten years later) far more interesting and worthwhile. The rest of the book seemed like something I'd read before, but the last part was new and pretty interesting.
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“Michael understood. "Not really. My gear is mostly blindfolds, feathers, and shit I got from the pet store. All the good stuff is expensive." There were online catalogs full of it. Leather and metal. Gags and hoods and cuffs and rope. That's what you really needed when the zombies came.”
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4 people liked it
“They were all looking at him with an unpronounceable hunger. Actually it was a lot like the faces you see in porn, but with less certainty of the course of action. It was as if they couldn't decide whether to fuck him first, and then eat him, or the other way around. Except that probably wouldn't work as well.”
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2 people liked it
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