Holiday of the Dead and a Diverse Armageddon: A Book Review

*full disclosure: an e-book of this novel was provided by Wild Wolf Publishing.

Authors: John Russo, Tony Burgess, Shaun Jeffrey, Rod Glenn, Iain McKinnon, Matt Hilton, David Dunwoody, Wayne Simmons, Bowie V Ibarra, Joe McKinney, Remy Porter, A P Fuchs, Thomas Emson and Eric S Brown.

Wild Wolf Publishing released Holiday of the Dead in a Kindle format April 20th, 2011. This is by far the largest anthology of zombie short stories that this reviewer has ever seen. With 38 stories and thirty plus authors, there is no way that your appetite for undead fiction will not be, at least temporarily, satisfied. This novel also includes a special bonus short story from Night of the Living Dead writer John Russo and a script excerpt from the upcoming sequel to Pontypool. There is a lot of material to sink your teeth into here and thankfully, the settings e.g. Christmas Time, Bank Holiday, time periods e.g. future to past, and tones e.g. tragic, comedic of each of the shorts are diverse. There is a little something to nibble on here for most horror fiction fans.

"The Fourth of July" by Shawn M Riddle takes place in one of the most famous of American holidays and in this story three friends return home from a trip to a remote cabin. What they find upon their return is a world flooded with the ravenous undead. They meet a local state trooper, who offers horrifying stories of life on patrol and many of the short stories in Holiday of the Dead change the holiday in which they are set. For instance, in "The Day I Discovered the Truth About the Man in the Red Suit," by R. Phillip Roberts, there are instances of zombie Santas. Each of the various situations creates an atmosphere that generally changes from celebration to fear, or from calm to excitement, as characters do their best to survive a zombie apocalypse. Some do better than others.

One of the more interesting changes of elements in this 500 word read, is the time period. In "Where Moth and Rust Destroy" by Thomas Emson, the future looks bleak. There are zombie resorts in Emson's story and here, humans are bred for gladiatorial bouts, or as workers, moving about human cargo. However, man's hope for freedom never dies, even under zombie oppression. As well, in Wayne Simmons' "One Dead Whore" the time is 1888, when Jack the Ripper still stalked the Whitechapel area. Apparently, "the gentleman," or the Ripper, was devoured by a streetwalker, looking for vengeance on the man who killed her. Many of the stories take place in the near present, but their is enough diversity here in time periods to entertain history or sci-fi fans.

In Eric Dimbleby's "Oatmeal Cookies" there are some light and whimsical moments as a young child, Tyler, talks to his toys, to keep his mind off a zombified Grandma. In "Wabigoon" from author James Cheetham there is tragedy for two brothers, when their fishing trip turns into a horrifying struggle for survival. Many of the stories are exciting and the differing tones and moods will keep the reader on their toes, as one just does not know what is coming next!

Holiday of the Dead is a thick slice of reading material to gnaw on. In this compilation of zombie short stories, there are enough well known authors for readers to get caught up on, while Holiday of the Dead offers a few more you may never have heard of. For under $10, this novel is a steal and zombie fiction fans will find a lot of what makes the apocalypse so exciting in this latest release.

Writing/grammar/story: 8 (very few grammar mistakes, excellent writing, minus one or two stories).
Setting/believability: 8 (the settings are diverse, which shows the great imaginations of the authors).

Overall: 8 out of 10 (only one story of the 38 stood out as bad and it was short, the other 37 had at least 30 great stories and the two bonus entries ended the novel with a thrilling bang).

This novel and others can be purchased at the Wild Wolf Store:

Purchase Information at Wild Wolf

This anthology is also available at Amazon, in a Kindle format:



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Posted in: 2011,book review,david dunwoody,joe mckinney,undead,wild wolf publishing,zombie apocalypse