Zombies
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