Vampire/Zombie books

There's The Madness Season by C. S. Friedman, that I mentioned before. It's about a vampire in the future helping the world to fight off alien invaders. Pretty good story and very different.
 
I may have overlooked this being addressed, but I think part of the problem with having good zombie novels (or stories in general) is that there's no real character to zombies, in most instances. The personality is gone -- they're walking corpses, with the most primitive of instincts (at best) working... so it doesn't leave much room for variations on a theme, and lots of books hitting the same note over and over again just gets rather dull.

Now... if someone could write a zombie novel from the point of view of a self-aware zombie -- that is, one whose conscious mind is locked away from controlling the instincts and the physical motions of his/her walking corpse, but able to perceive what that body does, and the interaction with and reactions of the world around -- you might have a book that could be both genuinely frightening, creepy, and poignant at the same time. Perhaps it's been done, and I'm not aware of it. If not... it would be very interesting to see a talented writer take up the challenge.....
 
murphy said:
There's The Madness Season by C. S. Friedman, that I mentioned before. It's about a vampire in the future helping the world to fight off alien invaders. Pretty good story and very different.
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Holy crap thats prolly the most original thing i have heard :eek:


Is the writing good? Just wondering since it sounds almost too good to be true.
 
j. d. worthington said:
I may have overlooked this being addressed, but I think part of the problem with having good zombie novels (or stories in general) is that there's no real character to zombies, in most instances. The personality is gone -- they're walking corpses, with the most primitive of instincts (at best) working... so it doesn't leave much room for variations on a theme, and lots of books hitting the same note over and over again just gets rather dull.

Now... if someone could write a zombie novel from the point of view of a self-aware zombie -- that is, one whose conscious mind is locked away from controlling the instincts and the physical motions of his/her walking corpse, but able to perceive what that body does, and the interaction with and reactions of the world around -- you might have a book that could be both genuinely frightening, creepy, and poignant at the same time. Perhaps it's been done, and I'm not aware of it. If not... it would be very interesting to see a talented writer take up the challenge.....
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Death's Dominion by Simon Clark. I'm only a chapter in, but it starts off (best I can tell so far) from the point of view of a self aware child zombie who is fleeing executioners. The entire premise of the novel surrounds a society which reanimated corpses for servant or entertainment purposes only to eventually decide against it and be faced with the problem of extermination. Out of the masses a leader emerges from the doomed horde and begins to fight back. The first chapter is very good. I'm looking forward to the rest.

Cell by Stephen King also has a different take on Zombies as I've said before. There is interesting behavior followed by an overal consciousness, a flock type mentality, which is very well done.
 
Marvolo said:
Death's Dominion by Simon Clark. I'm only a chapter in, but it starts off (best I can tell so far) from the point of view of a self aware child zombie who is fleeing executioners. The entire premise of the novel surrounds a society which reanimated corpses for servant or entertainment purposes only to eventually decide against it and be faced with the problem of extermination. Out of the masses a leader emerges from the doomed horde and begins to fight back. The first chapter is very good. I'm looking forward to the rest.

Cell by Stephen King also has a different take on Zombies as I've said before. There is interesting behavior followed by an overal consciousness, a flock type mentality, which is very well done.
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Not yet read Cell, as I've received mixed reactions to this one, nor Death's Dominion, as I wasn't aware of that one at all. Good to know someone's taking a different tack with the idea, and I may have to look these up at some point to see what they do with it. Thanks for bringing these in to the discussion.
 
I recall reading a short story in one of the Best New Horror (Stephen Jones ed.) anthologies which is told from the point of view of a corpse that is being used as a prop in a kinky sex show. I think it was by David Schow but not sure there.
 
Greatest Vampire Series has to be Brian Lumley - Necroscope - see left. Original 5, the 3 Vampire world and the Lost years were amazing - kinda lost his way after that, and never came up with a character as good as Harry Keogh. I am Legend (R Mathis I think) is also extraordinary esp if you just want a quick read 100+ pages, and off course Ann Rice of which Memnoch was my fav tho am sure there'll be much disagreament
 
There is zombie book titled The Phoenix Gene. I ordered the book from barnes and noble. The print date is listed as May 2007. Will let you know how it reads when I finish reading it. Not alot of information at their website about the book. Does not matter it will just add to my collection of zombie books and movies.
 
I found a ton of zombie books listed at amazon.com. Just go to their book section and type in zombie
Zeewolf said:
Hi guys,

I really want to read some vampire & zombie genre books, could you help me out and recommend me some please? Many thanks, I appreciate your help.
I imagine there are a quite a few vampire books out there but I've never really heard of any zombie genre books.

Thanks in advance.
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Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi is a very good read. Its a series of 17+ books so there is a major story to look forward to.

D is a very very interesting hero and cool as very few.

The english translation i read didnt hurt the story.
 
A zombie trilogy by David Wellington

Monster Nation
Monster Island
Monster Planet

I think one of them has been opitioned by a movie studio. You can find them serialized online.

Here are some vampire novels, by Christopher Golden (The Shadow Saga)

Of Saints and Sinners
Angel Souls and Devil Hearts
Of Masques and Matyrs
The Gathering Dark

(spoiler) If you are a Christian, you might not want to read them, as Jesus was supposed to be first human vampire. He destroyed a group of demons, but in doing so, he started to turn into one of them, but his divine nature caused him to turn into something else, the first Vampire.(spoiler)
 
I've read a dance in blood velvet, never knew it was rare,
had a really annoying character who didn't want to be a vampire,
I'd just ignore them for a few centuries 'til they wised up :)


'Bloodshift' was pretty good, lots of action, less moonlight and soft furnishings.

'Walking Dead' and 'Red Tide' are top level graphic novels. One new, one older.
Red Tide has a gay vampire in it but it is about as far from Anne Rice as can be.
'Preacher' is another comic with a vampire main character,
with vampirism represented as part of a heavy drinking lifestyle.
also 'Marvel Zombies' is a short laugh starring an all zombie cast.

Shaun Hutson has plenty of zombie action at novel length.
Usually because of pagan gods.

Generally I think that there is more provision of vampire books on the market.
I can't think of a solid main character who is a zombie
outside of comics like 'The goon'.

I wanted to make a small movie about a group of zombies
trapped in a house by a mob of humans.
Slowly the zombies are picked off,
until only one remains, head in hands, surrounded by flames.
 
Yup The David Wellington books mentioned earlier are the best examples of self aware zombies you will find. The books are online at his website which you can read for free. He has also one or two other books at that site one a plauge novel ala Cell and 13 bullets a vampire novel. Think its david Wellington.com.

:D
 
Charlie Houston's Joe Pitt books (there are three out, of a planned five book series) are absolutely incredible. They are short, powerfully written, and absolutely teeming with interesting characters and incredible situations. I am not a fan of 99.999% of all things Vamp, but these books just rock. Imagine if Raymond Chandler's or Dashiell Hammett's hard-boiled detective yarns featured a vamp P.I. Houston's prose is drop-dead amazing. Rarely do I see such awesome writing in what amounts to modern-day pulp. I wouldn't have a problem mentioning Houston in the same sentence as Joe R. Lansdale - he's that good.

And speaking of Lansdale, you simply must read Dead in the West. Lansdale is a national treasure. I think he is one of the most interesting, consistent, and masterful American writers working today. He constantly blows me away with skill. I think he possesses the best qualities of Mark Twain, mixed with only the good qualities of Stephen King. He's just a freaking bad-ass mofo at telling entertaining stories, with fascinating, endearing characters, caught in amazing situations. And he does it all with brevity, and a master's eye for detail and atmosphere.
 
Under The Fang -Collection of short stories
They Thirst-Robert McCammon
Necroscope-Previously mentioned.
World War Z-Max Brooks
 
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