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Anything but Zombies: A Short Story Anthology
Collection of horror stories related to, but not including as main story elements, zombies
- GenresShort StoriesHorror
192 pages, ebook
First published May 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 4, 2015
This is an anthology that sticks to it's theme very well. I think from a literary perspective it's doing many things very well and I can understand why certain stories were chosen even when they seem a little out of left field.
This is not just an anthology of stories about creatures being in the place of zombies, but a series of stories that work counter to nearly every trope associated with zombies. The stories are not just challenging in the sense of playing counter to shambling corpses (though some manage to even make this unfamiliar and strange), but also to the kinds of narrators, plots, characters, descriptive aesthetics and even just the dialogue or causality of a standard zombie story. And many of these stories really are amazing on that level.
On the other hand, it's also challenging in the sense that many may simple not understand what the author is doing here. There are a lot of unlikeable main characters, a lot of plots that don't seem to really end in a satisfying way, and many on the surface that just seem like they're not quite focusing on the 'right thing.' These sorts of stories require the reader to approach the work from a critical angle or they will seem unsatisfying. As a writer and a self appointed critic (at times), I picked up on this fairly immediately, but I could see how some wouldn't enjoy it.
That said, all the stories are pretty funny, even if they are horrific.
I would say everyone who's a zombie fan, tired of zombie stories, enjoys riffing on genres and tropes or just enjoys quirky, funny stories should definitely give this one a try.
This is not just an anthology of stories about creatures being in the place of zombies, but a series of stories that work counter to nearly every trope associated with zombies. The stories are not just challenging in the sense of playing counter to shambling corpses (though some manage to even make this unfamiliar and strange), but also to the kinds of narrators, plots, characters, descriptive aesthetics and even just the dialogue or causality of a standard zombie story. And many of these stories really are amazing on that level.
On the other hand, it's also challenging in the sense that many may simple not understand what the author is doing here. There are a lot of unlikeable main characters, a lot of plots that don't seem to really end in a satisfying way, and many on the surface that just seem like they're not quite focusing on the 'right thing.' These sorts of stories require the reader to approach the work from a critical angle or they will seem unsatisfying. As a writer and a self appointed critic (at times), I picked up on this fairly immediately, but I could see how some wouldn't enjoy it.
That said, all the stories are pretty funny, even if they are horrific.
I would say everyone who's a zombie fan, tired of zombie stories, enjoys riffing on genres and tropes or just enjoys quirky, funny stories should definitely give this one a try.
July 2, 2016
I love short horror stories. It's the perfect medium for good scare. Or even better a good scare with a laugh. This anthology was an excellent example of that. These stories were scary, smart, funny, and totally enjoyable. I was going to get this book 4/5 because while I loved the anthology it wasn't perfect BUT Jeff Strand's story about sentinel cherry pop is worth an extra star. I had tears running down my face from laughing so hard when I was reading it.
April 12, 2015
This collection is lots of fun. The anthology is about characters related to but not including zombies, expanding on the battle between the zombie hordes and the thinking protagonists.
May 27, 2015
This was a great collection of stories! For my full take, go here: Anything But Zombies
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews