I loved the screenplay as much as I loved the movie, although in a different way. The movie I've always loved for the storyline, the costumes, and forI loved the screenplay as much as I loved the movie, although in a different way. The movie I've always loved for the storyline, the costumes, and for incredible sets and cinematography. It's richly bizarre, disturbing and fascinating. The screenplay gave me a deeper understanding, another layer to a story that already had me riveted.
3.5 stars actually. It's so hard to rate a collection of stories from different authors because some were excellent, and some I couldn't even finish.3.5 stars actually. It's so hard to rate a collection of stories from different authors because some were excellent, and some I couldn't even finish. Overall, the problem I had with a fair number of these short stories was that (and one author even points this out in an introduction to her story) it seems the authors are all trying to out sex-shock each other, if that makes sense. Like, "how wild and graphic and horrid and pointless can we make this sex scene?" And the authors that didn't have one of these scenes still felt compelled to add some chick in there who is BENT on giving the male characters pleasure in some way. Come on. I'm no prude but almost EVERY story had something, when I was really just after reading about zombies. It really didn't need to be in there. On the other hand, some of these were REALLY worth reading and have stayed with me.
That said, here is a rundown of my opinion on each story:
1) SOME ZOMBIE CONTINGENCY PLANS by Kelly Link - 1 star - Had no idea what the F was going on within the first 10 pages and gave up reading this. Something about vampires and someone named 'Soap' of all odd things. And some pointless party. No attachment to the characters at all. 2) DEATH AND SUFFRAGE by Dale Bailey - 3.5 stars - A unique story about voting zombies and some political characters. Besides all the political stuff, (just not my thing) the story was an interesting take on zombies and why they are hanging around, and it was well-written. Intriguing moral statements. 3) BLOSSOM by David J. Schow - 4 stars - Regardless of the gratuitous sex in this one, it WAS the main point of the story and that made it worth it. I actually repeated this one to a few friends as one of the standouts in the compilation simply because I was cheering on the outcome. I found it funny, vivid and well-written. 4) THE THIRD DEAD BODY by Nina Kiriki Hoffman - 3 stars - I would have given it 4 stars if there were any other reason, besides the main characters desiring this awful guy, for going after him. And if his reaction had been something different in the end, something more negative. His reaction seemed unrealistic and pulled me out of the story. Besides that, I thought the rest of the story was engaging and excellent and the characters well-drawn. 5) THE DEAD by Michael Swanwick - 2 stars - I got further in this on than some, but ultimately didn't finish it. It wasn't that the writing was bad because it was decent. I just couldn't wrap my head around this concept - that society would welcome these zombies hanging around as a commodity. And all the business talk was boring to read, at least for me. 6) THE DEAD KID by Darrel Schweitzer - 1 star - I did not finish this one because it was sick. Children taunting and doing disgusting things with a dead kid? Just too F'd up for me to read. I had a hot shower with a Brillo pad after reading several pages. 7) MALTHUSIAN"S ZOMBIe by Jeffrey Ford - 4 stars - This one was quite good. I loved the main character and his voice. I enjoyed the scenes with the zombie. This story had a fun, yet mysterious tone, perfect tension, and the payoff, though I didn't quite understand it, was unique. 8) BEAUTIFUL STUFF by Susan Palwick - 4 stars - Loved this one. I loved the way the zombies were presented in this story, and I loved the moral POV. 9) SEX, DEATH and STARSHINE by Clive Barker - 4 stars - I thought this was fantastic. I wasn't sure what to expect from the creator of Hellraiser, and I do remember liking that movie eons ago. It's clear he has theatre experience from the way he wrote the story, so it was nicely immersive. The concept and the characters were unique and well-drawn and I thought the ending was surprising and fun. My only complaint was that he had to have that chick coming back to life to finish giving him a blowey. Please, sister. Story could have done without it. 10) STOCKHOLM SYNDROME by David Tallerman - 2 stars - I can't say I cared much about the protagonist, he was mostly a cold, selfish jerk, so it was hard to care about the story. 11) BOBBY CONROY COMES BACK FROM THE DEAD by Joe Hill - 5 stars - I loved this story! The setting - the Day of the Dead movie set in 1977 - was perfect and unique, and the story was so, so sweet. I felt like I could relate to these characters and I enjoyed that the author left some unanswered questions about the little boy. Well done! 12) THOSE WHO SEEK FORGIVENESS by Laurell K. Hamilton - 4 stars - This one was a unique concept: a woman who raises the dead for a fee, and her client. The tension was excellent. 13) IN BEAUTY, LIKE THE NIGHT by Norman Partridge - 3 stars - Another protagonist I didn't care for, he really was a selfish, spoiled, rich asshole, so it was hard to enjoy the story on that level, but the setting (his private island) was interesting. The action was good, and the ending was decent - I'll give him that, but overall I could have taken it or left it. 14) PRAIRIE by Brian Evenson - 1 star - I couldn't get past the first 3 pages because I had no idea what I was reading. It just made no sense to me because it jumped around in time and place and I couldn't gain enough words to figure out what was going on, who was talking, or where we were in time and space. 15) EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITH ZOMBIES by Hannah Wolf Bowen - 1 star - Another one I didn't finish. It felt pointless. I didn't care for the main character and felt kept at an arm's length for the handful of pages I read. The story just didn't seem to go anywhere and with an unlikable and unreliable narrator, I just couldn't get into it. 16) HOME DELIVERY by Stephen King - 2 stars - The protagonist, Maddie, was just a sad wet paper bag and I really didn't care if she failed or succeeded because it's hard for me to get behind such a weak female character. That's not to say it wasn't well-written, because it was, but the story wasn't that great. It just sort of rambled. And the strange interjection with the worm-aliens just really didn't work for me, or for the story, at all. How is this related? 17) SPARKS FLY UPWARD by Lisa Morton - 4 stars - This was an interesting concept, the abortion debate in a zombie story, and I think the author did a fine job of dropping us into this tiny world in so few words. I quite enjoyed it even though it was so sad. 18) MEATHOUSE MAN by George R. R. Martin - 4 stars - I almost gave up on this one at the beginning and I'm glad I stuck with it. I've never read George Martin, but of course there's all the hype for Game of Thrones, so I was eager to see his writing style. Meathouse Man takes place on another planet in a dystopian world filled with corpses controlled by 'corpse handler' of which our main character is one. He's a sad, lonely guy, eager for approval from his coworkers. He changes throughout the story, and it's really vivid and well-told, as you can see - my review is extensive because I was fully immersed in the story and it was well told. Although this one was more of a tragedy in it's style and content, it's one of the best ones in the anthology, in my opinion. Going to give Game of Thrones a try based on the quality of what I've read here. 19) DEADMAN'S ROAD by Joe R. Landsdale - 4 stars - Another excellent story! Sort of a zombie mid-west story, I loved that each character was unique and had a distinct voice, and I was transported right into this world immediately within the first few paragraphs, no easy feat for a short story. Loved the anti-hero and the concept was unique. Excellent tension throughout. Although his description of the beast did get a little repetitive, I highly recommend this story and will be seeking out novels from this author. 20) THE SKULL-FACED BOY by David Barr Kirtley - 1 star - Never finished this one. I got a few pages in and just didn't care about the main character at all. Or the point. Why would these strangers come with a note? A highly bizarre coincidence. That's where I was lost and put it down. I just wasn't drawn in by what I read, nor did it make much sense. What was the protagonist's motivation? Why should I care about him? Meh. Didn't do anything for me. 21) THE AGE OF SORROW by Nancy Kilpatrick - 3.5 stars - I loved the way the small world in which this woman was a part of was presented, the backstory, and the details were well done (although the bits about her period could have been left out - I mean, who really thinks that much about it?) Overall, I quite liked it. 22) BITTER GROUNDS by Neil Gaiman - 1 star - Maybe I was expecting more from this, but I was disappointed and never finished this story. I made it maybe 2/3 through? I just had no compassion for the main character. Was he dead? He sure didn't seem to be. And why is he bothering to do what he's doing, going through the motions of pretending to be this other boring guy? I mean, why does he care? I just didn't care and gave up reading it. 23) SHE'S TAKING HER TITS TO THE GRAVE by Catherine Cheek - 3.5 stars - This one was really cheeky and fun. I'm sure I can think of some women like the main character, I liked her arc, and I loved her reasoning throughout and the reactions of the other characters she encounters. Excellent visceral detail without being gratuitous. The ending was unexpected and well done, I thought. 24) DEAD LIKE ME by Adam-Troy Castro - 2 stars - Written in 'the Second Person', which is highly unusual and a little hard to get into, what with the word "you" constantly repeated (very distracting). The main character was quite unlikable as well, which was another notch in the 'hard to get into' category. And if you say 'they catch you when you're thinking, so don't think', well, telling the story in this POV is thinking, so how is it he's not being eaten right now just by telling the story? Just didn't jive for me. The only reason it got 2 stars instead of 1 was that I was able to finish it. 25) ZORA AND THE ZOMBIE by Andy Duncan - 1 star - Never made it past page 2 because I had no idea what was going on. 26) CALCUTTA, LORD OF NERVES by Poppy Z. Brite - 1 star - Another one I didn't finish. Another unlikable protagonist, and more unnecessary sex stuff (with statues this time), even if it was just in thought, that was thrown in for no reason, it seemed. That's where I stopped reading. 27) FOLLOWED by Will McIntosh - 5 stars - My favorite story in this compilation! Even though it didn't answer all the questions it presented, the author hinted enough at it for me to get what I needed from the story. I loved the moral questions and the concept and really related to the main character and enjoyed his story. Lovingly written. I will definitely seek out more work from Will McIntosh. 28) THE SONG THE ZOMBIE SANG by Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg - 1 star - Never made it past the third page. I couldn't relate to these characters and had no idea what they were talking about. 29) PASSION PLAY by Nancy Holder - 3 stars - Wasn't sure I was going to finish this based on the description in the intro, but it wasn't bad. Takes place in a church (?) in a small German town where tradition runs deep, to the detriment of everything else, it seems. Excellent moral questions, and the ending was unexpected, but I hated most of the characters, those selfish, stupid bastards. That made me not want to read it in some ways, because I hated reading about them. I wanted to punch them. 30) ALMOST THE LAST STORY BY ALMOST THE LAST MAN by Scott Edelman - 3 stars. This one had potential, as in, the writer can tell a story. The problem I had with it is that he kept ripping me out of the narrative so that I no longer trusted him and was reading with my guard up. The main character was mostly unlikable with only one good deed to his name, which he ended up ruining anyway. I enjoyed the setting and the action of the main narrative, mostly, I mean, who wouldn't want to live out the apocalypse in a library? But, I had some major issues with the continuity and flow. 31) HOW THE DAY RUNS DOWN by John Langan - 1 star - I was so lost in this story and gave up around page 10. I just couldn't picture it for the most part or understand why these characters were doing what they were doing, and if it has something to do with Our Town, I've never seen it and so cannot relate to that either, if I had even made it far enough to make that connection.
*After reading some of the other reviews, I see my ebook is missing a story about a teacher and a class of students that a lot of readers enjoyed. Not sure what happened there...* :(...more
I'm really torn about how to review this book, and whether or not I liked it.
There were moments that were quite well-written and fun, or poignant,I'm really torn about how to review this book, and whether or not I liked it.
There were moments that were quite well-written and fun, or poignant, but the novel in its entirety was extremely inconsistent. I'm sure this has to do with the combination of two different authors at two extreme ends of the spectrum, as far as writing experience and craft go. I would be following along in this seamless dream, enjoying the prose and dialogue and story, and then it would be like someone flipped a switch and the writing became dull and novice, and I had to start rereading sentences multiple times to glean their meaning. Reading went from being a joy to a chore, and back again.
Also, I'm still unsure why this Evie Black (so close in character and name to The Man in Black from The Stand, don't you think?) or whoever was in charge, did this to begin with. A social experiment? It's not even clear after all of those pages. There were also so many similarities to The Stand and to Under the Dome, albeit I'm sure these are Stephen King-isms, things he's happy and comfortable writing about, but I couldn't help but feel like I'd read some of this before. IE - people in jails, addicts and/or people making drugs and/or dealing in other illegal items, rednecks, cops, etc.
I enjoyed the insights into SK's points of view about men and women and his multiple little jabs at Donald Trump, but overall, this book felt derivative of many other things.
Intriguing idea, but I felt like it could have been executed much better. ...more
I read a review on Goodreads stating you should not read this book for the writing. I wholeheartedly disagree! The prose is extremely well-written,I read a review on Goodreads stating you should not read this book for the writing. I wholeheartedly disagree! The prose is extremely well-written, straightforward and intriguing. There's no purple prose because the novel doesn't require it. It's purpose is straight-up entertainment value, and on that level it succeeds. The story is extremely interesting, the medical/lab scenes written at level: expert (what else could you expect from a lab technician?) (I have to admit, though, that Ted could have scaled back the medical talk maybe 5%, but overall it was very well done. I'm still trying to figure out the significance of a 6-chamber heart. Thanks for nothing, Google!) As a fellow writer, I tend to notice things like repeated words, which are really hard to get around with finesse, and Ted is also at level: expert. Fun and interesting characters with their own distinct personalities, perfectly descriptive scene settings, excellent pacing, etc., etc., etc.
Side note: we could have entirely left out the storyline of Evan and the 'Lawnmower Man', and the story would have stood up just as well, with minimal tweaking.
Overall, highly recommending to all of my sci-fi friends!...more
Decided today to stop reading this collection. I had just started on the fourth short story and couldn't do it anymore. Story 1, Dagon, was not bad.Decided today to stop reading this collection. I had just started on the fourth short story and couldn't do it anymore. Story 1, Dagon, was not bad. Kind of like looking at a Salvador Dali painting in my mind as I read it. Story 2, The Call of Cthulhu, which was supposed to be the "cult classic" (no pun intended) and the tie that binds, was my least favorite of all. And then Story 3,The Dunwich Horror, was okay. 3.5 stars for stories 1 and 3. But the stories just keep coming back to the "old ones", the same creatures, over and over again, and it just feels so, so, so repetitive. I wanted to like this, but I couldn't.
Also, Lovecraft's writing was so laborious to read, as I think one other reviewer wrote it, but the word was an adequate description of how I felt going through it. Each sentence I had to reread sometimes 3 or 4 times. I found my mind wandering because it was so much work getting through it. By the time I got to the end of the sentence, I forgot what the beginning was and had to read it again. Very frustrating.
So, all in all, it had it's moments, but as a whole collection? Naw, I'm good.
The best thing to come out of this was a Metallica song....more
This book had potential. It's not that David Wellington is a bad writer, b/c he's certainly not. But the book needed much more polish.
There wereThis book had potential. It's not that David Wellington is a bad writer, b/c he's certainly not. But the book needed much more polish.
There were sentences that were unclear, that needed to be reworded for clarity and flow throughout. I didn't mind the style, kind of a Hemingway shortness to it, which works in a quick, in-your-face story like this. But, the characters needed better motives to do the things they were doing. In a zombie apocalypse, my first concern, as a parent, would not be the education my daughter is getting, but her survival and staying with her at all cost. I think the author was trying to set it up as if he had no choice, but I feel like he really didn't fight it very hard. Also, this character, Dekalb, he was such a scaredy-cat, for lack of a better description. He's been a weapon's dealer in Africa, and has been surviving zombies, and he just turns tail and runs at the first sign of attack and is afraid to discharge his gun? Come on. The other main protagonist, Gary, I have almost no motivation for him doing what he's done in the intro and by page 55, which is where I stopped reading, I don't even care what happens to either of them b/c I have no reason to. They are poorly drawn and shallow. These characters needed much more fleshing out.
There were easily fixable inconsistencies. As an example, around the spot I stopped reading the group of mercenaries and Dekalb go up a stairwell and down another hall, and down another. They hear zombies coming up the stairs (and I'm told these zombies are slow) and a fully-trained mercenary is grabbed by one that comes out of the stairwell. Please. You are not near the stairwell for starters, and if she was standing next to the door you would have heard it opening. Stuff like that.
Anyhow, the setting and ideas all had potential, but needed to go through more editing and fleshing out. Wish I had liked it better. Disappointed. ...more
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