DEAD: The Ugly Beginning, A Review

Zombies are everywhere these days, from the usual b-movies, to TV, to short stories, and lately even in novels. A lot of novels. But with such a deluge, authors are being forced to do the impossible: Reinvent a classic. Even traditionalists, honest-to-god-Romero-lovers are faced with the difficult task of surprising an audience that has been overwhelmed with pretty much the same beat-up story.

It is in this rarefied ambience that DEAD: The Ugly Beginning sets out to start a very ambitious saga. From the get go we are warned that we’ve been treated to the first of what will be a set of twelve books relating this particular zombie apocalypse. Then the action starts. The first third of the book is strong, plunging the reader right into the middle of the action. The characters are interesting, complex, and likable. Simply amazing. And the one-liners, Jesus! Brown is really at his best when crafting spunky dialog. The plot moves fast and there’s so much action, we can’t stop from turning the pages.

Brown’s characters are intelligent and act in a way consistent with their different backgrounds; they also make mistakes and pay for them dearly, which is a wave of fresh air in and out of itself. I found I was never able to foretell the next character that was about to die, adding to the fun.

As the story progressed, there were a few issues that took away from my original excitement. First, there are too many characters, some appear for a brief moment only to be dispatched by the undead, others are staples of the book which back stories are spread so far apart from one chapter to another, that we struggle to remember what was happening with them last time we came their way.

Also, whenever a character goes into a flashback, there is no change in the grammatical tense (say, going from past to present, for example) or point of view, and whatever is written in italics tends to change size from word to word, making the reading experience a bit confusing.

Now, I think there are enough clues pointing to a certain evolution in the zombie, though it is never clear and the characters don’t seem to pay attention to these changes. Is it possible that zombies can learn and are actually conscious, to some degree, of their situation? This would mean they have a low, but still threatening, degree of intelligence. It would certainly be a game changer and may send the surviving pieces of Human Race into a second purge that could very well end with it all. So looking forward to learn how well I read in between the lines!

Finally, I feel like I need to warn all the readers-to-be about the ending of DEAD. No, not spoiler alert should be issued, I’m not going to spill the beans about what’s going to happen to the most important character or ruin any possible plot twists. I just want you to know that DEAD, like so many serial books of our times, doesn’t have a neat ending with some sense of conclusion. It simply ends, leaving all plot lines open to continue in the second book of the series. And while it is a great selling strategy for your already captured audience, I wished we could leave this trend behind. What is it so unappealing about giving the readership some sense of resolution and still letting the door ajar just a bit so we can fathom what adventures may still await?

All nip-tuck aside, DEAD: The Ugly Beginning is a highly entertaining book. I loved the references to paramount pictures or phrases in the Zombie Lore, the sarcasm and intelligence of the narration, and the interesting plot ram-packed of action. I will be reading the second book in the series, waiting anxiously to know the fate of those fantastic characters I grew to love. Definitively a book to be read by every zombie fan who wants a bit of the classic with a lot of spark.

For more details about the book, click on the link.

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The first review after the end-of-school-craziness is Midnight Movie Creature Feature, a b-movie inspired anthology edited by TW Brown featuring amazing monsters I thought were long dead, but are still surprisingly entertaining when its human counterparts live--or die--intelligently.

There are great stories in this anthology, but first I have a confession to make: I'm not a b-movie fan. In fact, I hate b-movies. I find them silly to the point of ridiculousness. I just don't find appealing movies that you watch in a theater full of people yelling and laughing at the screen. My kind of horror is the sort that robs you of your breath and makes you jump out of the seat at the slightest provocation.

There it is, I've said it. Now, you might be wondering what could have possessed me to read a b-movie inspired anthology. Well, for one, I've been hearing a lot about this sub-genre as many small publishers are currently taking submissions for their own anthologies. That got me curious, of course; how do you write a campy b-movie story? But, above all, I'm a consummate professional (well, maybe not so much but you can't blame me for trying). When it was required of me to review the book, I wasn't about to say no, but to tackle it with professionalism. I know what makes a good story, even if I don't like it, I can see it is well constructed, edited, and thought off. So I jumped in hoping I would learn more about this about-to-bloom horror twist.

Guess what, it won me over. I still hate b-movies, but these stories had me yelling at the characters on the pages more than once and my heart skipped a few beats (fine, lots). So I guess this should be good enough a commendation, right? Still, being a consummate professional (see?), I will go through the details of what makes Midnight Movie Creature Feature so good and, as always, I will choose the three stories that I enjoyed the most to specifically review. Hope you enjoy.

And the Dark Growls Back by Aaron Dries: This was the first story that truly grabbed me. It starts with a bang, we know something bad happened and our heroes are, firstly not so much heroes, but most importantly, their on the run. The pace of the story never slows down and the characters are appealing and well fleshed out. I won't ruin it for you but this story is quite different from the rest of the pack, which truly works for the best because it becomes like a final twist that I thought was brilliant.

From Rebirth to Reburial by M. W. Williamson: This is one of those stories that got me yelling "hell, yeah!" by the end. I was so pumped up! It might just be my eagerness to see more of the main character, but I think there's hope for a series out of Williamson's tale. And I'd be the first one in line to get the whole lot. The story is scary, twisted, and very human at its core. The pace fluctuates between ups and downs that play havoc with our hearts, and the backstory hints at a very complex character that we understand, though we are just scratching at the surface. Kudos to Williamson for crafting a simple monster story that, in the end, is much more than the sum of its parts.

North by M. J. Wesolowski: Now, as far as crafted tales go, I'd say North is the one that outshines the rest because of how quiet it is. It could very well held its own among the likes of T. W. Wright and Charles L. Grant, and if you add to the mix the fact that there is a monster at the core of the story, it is quite an accomplishment. The story develops slowly, building suspense as it goes and leaving you unable to breath until the whole thing ends and you are horrified by the final realization. The images described are beautiful, Wesolowski does an amazing job at letting us experience the isolation of the environment and uses it to its maximum potential, digging for the deep rooted need for societal secureness and fear of darkness inside us all. My absolute favorite of the whole.

All in all Midnight Movie Creature Feature is a very interesting read that won't let you feeling cheated out of your money. I did find a couple of stories that didn't resonate with me, one that I actually hated, but I'd say the anthology as a whole was well worth the hours I took out of my family time to read it. Look out for more of the authors and TW Brown, the editor of this anthology, who does an amazing job at selecting the stories and editing them. While it might sound as a given, these days finding not one typo and a good editorial job is less common that it should be. And gratefully acknowledged.

If you love the genre, get your copy and stock on the popcorn; if you don't, give it a try. You might find yourself stuffing your mouth with candy out of pure joy.

For more information on the book click here.