Best Zombie Books/Series?

[TalonWarlock]

Hi, everyone. First post here. I am 35 years old, and usually read epic fantasy (LOTR, Wheel of Time, Song of Fire and Ice, etc).

For some reason, I have been really getting into the zombie theme for reading. I used to read The Walking Dead comic book series, and my favorite zombie movie was 28 Days Later.

I just downloaded an ebook called "Afraid" by Jack Kilborn since it was only a couple of books.

After I finish that I will be reading Max Brooks' World War Z.

After I am done, I would definitely like to find a good zombie multivolume series. Not interested in any teen book zombies- looking for mature, well written books. Hoping to get them downloaded on the Nook. Any suggestions?

Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

[Pvt]

Alot of ppl seem to like World War Z, although I'm not really certain why. It's dull and dry. Try Patient Zero or Plague of the Dead.

[Barnes]

I'm with Pvt, dunno why World War Z is so popular, haven't yet read Patient Zero or Plague of the Dead yet, but plan to.

Have read these and enjoyed them.

Dying to Live - Kim Paffenroth
Day by Day Armageddon - J.L Bourne
The Rising & City of the Dead - Brian Keene
The Autumn series - David Moody

Check out Amazon for more ideas.

[Rob B]

You'll find lots of good suggestions in this thread:
Zombies / Zombies in Fantasy? (merged)

[KatG]

World War Z is popular because it is written exactly like an academic oral history research work, with subtle satiric bits (somewhat connected to Brooks' humor book, The Zombie Survival Guide,) homages to past zombie lore and movies, and then some moving, saddening prose. It's kind of like Susannah Clarke imitating Trollope, Austen and Dickens. It's not what you want if you want a straight zombie thriller, but if you've ever read and liked non-fiction books like The Hot Zone, it's a lot of fun. It's unusual and in many ways a very logical breakdown of how an outbreak would spread and what would be the constraints on it.

Most of the zombie novels are technically science fiction, but some possible ones to check out if you want multi-volume series are Xombies by Walter Greatshell, David Wellington's Monster Island trilogy, Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne, James Knapp's Revivors series, and Mira Grant's Newsflesh series.

[Bastard]

Reapers are the Angels is getting a ton of notice as of late.

[Randy M.]

I'm not a big zombie fan -- just don't see the appeal, though the original Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead are terrific -- so this is a bit off to the side of your question: Richard Matheson's I am Legend has had enormous influence on zombie fiction because it had a big influence on George Romero and Night of the Living Dead. The creatures in it aren't exactly zombies, but they are a major source of Romero's zombies.

Nuts. I should have included White Zombie in the list of movies I made for the October reading thread. Bela Lugosi early in his career, hammy and effective.


Randy M.

[TalonWarlock]

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who replied to this post. I appreciate the suggestions, and will check them out!

[turbolung]

Hi, everyone. First post here. I am 35 years old, and usually read epic fantasy (LOTR, Wheel of Time, Song of Fire and Ice, etc).

For some reason, I have been really getting into the zombie theme for reading. I used to read The Walking Dead comic book series, and my favorite zombie movie was 28 Days Later.

I just downloaded an ebook called "Afraid" by Jack Kilborn since it was only a couple of books.

After I finish that I will be reading Max Brooks' World War Z.

After I am done, I would definitely like to find a good zombie multivolume series. Not interested in any teen book zombies- looking for mature, well written books. Hoping to get them downloaded on the Nook. Any suggestions?

Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

Start playing video games. The Zombie theme/craze has been going on for a few years now. From Resident Evil 5 to the Undead download/add-on for Red Dead Redemption and thousands more.

[DurzoBlint]

Patient Zero by Maberry may be a good choice as it contains a lot of action and while the rest of the series does not contain zombies like the first book in the series is still a lot of fun to read.

[Lordwalker]

The Rising by Brian Keen
Day by Day Armageddon and its sequel by J.L. Bourne

The Loving Dead -- was pretty twisted and funny, a fun read.

You've already read Kirkman's graphic novels The Walking Dead which is the best IMO.

[The Lord of all Things Inane]

David Wong wrote a Book titled "John Dies at the End." while it is not specifically zombie zone, it is a twisted tale that amuses and disgusts. It has zombie -ish stuff going on. Welcome to SFFWORLD.
CDN

[Jon Foolery]

Cell by Stephen King is zombie-ish, I didn't enjoy it very much, but I have to agree on The Rising by Brian Keene and of course The Walking Dead.

[rsullivan9597]

I liked World War Z - though not nearly as much as my husband or daughter who both loved it.

Most interesting zombie book I ever read was a little independent called: Cluck: Murder Most Fowl -- About ... of all things.... Zombine Chickens

Very creative and well written.

[Twinner]

In thinking about this I realized that, other than some things like King's The Cell and The Omega Man, I have not read many zombie-ish books. I think this is because so often zombies seem to be unthinking things that maybe (for me) lend themselves to movies more so than novels. I am going to take a look at some of the suggested readings here though!
Thanks all!