In the 1980s, the only person that was doing anything significant with zombies was the Godfather himself, George Romero. In horror fiction, zombie stories were as dead as the zombies themselves. Then, in 1989, this little gem of a collection came along and among it's pages were some heavy hitters from the horror and sci-fi genre. If you're looking for chills and scares, keep moving. You won't find them here. But, if you're looking for good, campy fun ala Tales from the Crypt types of zombie stories, by all means, sink your teeth into this perverted bag of goodies. And I mean perverted. Many of these stories have either zombie sex or the biting off of penises in there somewhere. Two stand out tales for me that left me crying laughing were On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks by Joe Lansdale and Jerry's Kids Meet Wormboy by David Schow. Those two alone were worth the price of admission. Here's my take on each one.



Blossom - Chan McConnell

The dangers of hooking up with someone you don't know and having an exotic fetish all while the zombie apocalypse is beginning. Enjoyed the irony of this one.

4 out of 5 stars



Mess Hall - Richard Laymon

It's never good to be a serial killer and be around your victims when the zombie apocalypse happens. I've had issues with the two Laymon novels that I've read being extremely juvenile with unbelievable characters or story lines. But, this short story was the exact opposite. In fact, I loved this short story so much that I'm going to give his novels another try.

5 out of 5 stars



It Helps If You Sing - Ramsey Campbell

Door-to-door Jehovah's Witness zombies + Haiti voodoo = a bad day. Just ok. Not my favorite.

2 out of 5 stars



Home Delivery - Stephen King

Maddie Pace is the most indecisive woman you'll ever meet. Trying to determine what can of soup to buy out of all those choices on the shelf will send her running from the store without buying anything. But when the dead begin to rise on Genneseault Island, Maddie has already forced herself to cope. Good characters but felt incomplete. It seemed more like a snippet from a longer story.

3 out of 5 stars



Wet Work - Philip Nutman

Soldiers are clearing out a school during the zombie apocalypse. These soldiers aren't doing what you think they are. Nice little twist.

4 out of 5 stars



A Sad Last Love at the Diner of the Damned - Edward Bryant

The small town of Fort Durham, Colorado is experiencing the days after the dead turned. Martha is a waitress at the local diner and the focus of many of the male residents lustful attention. But, pretty Martha only has eyes for the young deputy sheriff, Bobby Mack, and the other men don't like this. They don't like it at all. And when things go to hell, they come to take what they want.

5 out of 5 stars


Bodies and Heads - Steve Rasnic Tem

Either I completely missed the point of this story or it's a mess. Elaine is the nurse in a hospital where they have patients that rapidly shake their heads back and forth (as if they're saying no, no, no) and they have to restrain them from shaking as they try to feed them. But, they don't eat or attack them and then the one rips his own head off at the end. Hey, if you "get" this story, please explain it to my dumb ass.

1 out of 5 stars


Choices - Glen Vasey

Dawson writes his thoughts down in a spiral notebook as he's going through the trials and tribulations of the zombie apocalypse. It was little more than a boring set of philosophical ramblings. A slight twist at the end that was too little too late to turn this yawn-fest around. An absolute chore to get through.

1 out of 5 stars



The Good Parts - Les Daniels

Zombie sex. Who would've thought? Pretty ridiculous even for a zombie story. But it had an interesting hypothesis on what happened to the zombies over time.

2 out of 5 stars



Less Than Zombie - Douglas Winter

A twisted spoof of Less Than Zero, zombie style. Totally rad. Totally.

3 out of 5 stars



Like Pavlov's Dog - Steven R. Boyett

An assault on an Ecosphere project in the Arizona desert with trained zombies. Nice writing style and character development.

4 out of 5 stars



Saxophone - Nicholas Royle

The zombie apocalypse was started as a result of a war breaking out between old communist block Europe and the Allies (you have to remember this book was written in the late 1980s) when the Allies retaliated with chemical weapons. The zombies can think and begin to wage their own war. Lots of interesting ideas in a story of irony about a zombie who was previously a jazz saxophonist. Good stuff.

5 out of 5 stars



On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks - Joe R. Lansdale

A bounty hunter is bringing his fugitive across the desert when they run into a whacked out cult leader who also happened to have caused the zombie apocalypse. I Loved Lansdale's writing and it actually made me LOL at least a half dozen times.

5 out of 5 stars


Dead Giveaway - Brian Hodge

Even zombies enjoy game shows, but it's all about the ratings, baby.

4 out of 5 stars


Jerry's Kids Meet Wormboy - David J. Schow

The morbidly obese kid that was the butt of all the jokes in high school squares off against a television evangelist and his army of disciple zombies. A piss-your-pants hilarious story.

5 out of 5 stars



Eat Me - Robert McCammon

Two zombies find love in a singles bar. Warped fun.

4 out of 5 stars

Share/Like this Review?

Great collection of zombie stories with several really good. Includes stories from the masters of horror --Stephen King, Robert McCammon, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Layman, Joe Lansdale, etc. Each writer has a different view of the apocalypse and what life is like after zombies.

Not surprisingly, Stephen King's contribution was one of the best, highlighting characters and suspense over action. His story was about a pregnant woman who had spent her life depending on men to tell her what to do and how she handles the zombie apocalypse all on her own. Naturally, Richard Layman's zombie story threw sex and torture into the mix, but also had plenty of over-the-top action that made it enjoyable. Joe Lansdale's quirky story takes place in a world many years after the zombie apocalypse, where the US has become a sort of wild west and people have become so tough and mean that the zombies are the ones who are abused, more often than not.

There were some lesser known authors that I really liked in this book. "Choices" by Glen Vasey was just a straight, well-written zombie survival story. It tells one man's experience starting just before the outbreak to when zombies have pretty much overrun the world and even poses a possible cure that I can't remember reading anywhere else. Nicely done. I also liked "The Good Parts" by Les Daniels -- a zombie love story with a main character who could have been the model for a boomer zombie (ala Left 4 Dead).

3 of the stories were nominated for the Bram Stoker short story award in 1989. They were "Eat Me" by Robert McCammon, a strangely poetic zombie love story, "A Sad Last Love at the Diner of the Damned" by Edward Bryant, doomed sweethearts meet the apocalypse in a hypocritical small town, and "Bodies and Heads" by Steve Rasnic, a story that describes an even creepier version of the zombie myth.

Share/Like this Review?