Zombies: The Recent Dead

You can't kill the dead Like any good monster, the zombie has proven to be ever-evolving, monumentally mutable, and open to seemingly endless imaginative interpretations: the thralls of voodoo sorcerers, George Romero's living dead, societal symbols, dancing thrillers, viral victims, reanimated ramblers, video gaming targets, post-apocalyptic permutations, shuffling sidekicks, literary mash-ups, the comedic, and, yes, even the romantic. Evidently, we have an enduring hunger for this infinite onslaught of the ever-hungry dead. Hoards of readers are now devouring zombie fiction faster than armies of the undead could chow down their brains. It's a sick job, but somebody had to do it: explore the innumerable necrotic nightmares of the latest, greatest, most fervent devotion in the history of humankind and ferret out the best of new millenial zombie stories: Zombies: The Recent Dead. Contents ix • Preshamble • (2010) • essay by Paula Guran xii • The Meat of the Matter • (2004) • essay by David J. Schow xxii • Deaditorial Note • (2010) • essay by Paula Guran 29 • Twisted • (2009) • novelette by Kevin Veale 54 • The Things He Said • (2007) • shortstory by Michael Marshall Smith 64 • Naming of Parts • (2000) • novella by Tim Lebbon 128 • Dating Secrets of the Dead • (2002) • shortstory by David Prill 142 • Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed • (2007) • shortstory by Steve Duffy 171 • The Great Wall: A Story from the Zombie War • (2007) • shortstory by Max Brooks 178 • First Kisses from Beyond the Grave • (2006) • novelette by Nik Houser 218 • Zora and the Zombie • (2004) • novelette by Andy Duncan 239 • Obsequy • (2006) • novelette by David J. Schow 267 • Deadman's Road • [Reverend Jedidiah Mercer] • (2007) • novelette by Joe R. Lansdale 293 • Bitter Grounds • (2003) • novelette by Neil Gaiman 334 • Glorietta • (2009) • shortfiction by Gary A. Braunbeck 334 • Beautiful White Bodies • (2009) • novelette by Alice Sola Kim 342 • Farewell, My Zombie • (2009) • shortfiction by Francesca Lia Block 354 • Trinkets • (2001) • shortfiction by Tobias S. Buckell [as by Tobias Buckell ] 362 • Dead Man's Land • (2009) • shortfiction by David Wellington 378 • Disarmed and Dangerous • (2009) • novelette by Tim Waggoner 395 • The Zombie Prince • (2004) • shortstory by Kit Reed 409 • Three Scenes from the End of the World • (2009) • shortfiction by Brian Keene 420 • The Hortlak • (2003) • novelette by Kelly Link 445 • Dead to the World • (2009) • shortstory by Gary McMahon 458 • The Last Supper • (2003) • shortstory by Scott Edelman