Season of Rot: Five Zombie Novellas


Eric S. Brown - 2009
    Brown! SEASON OF ROT: Safe from the walking dead that rule the streets, a band of survivors holes up in a hospital. When their supplies run low, they must either migrate or trust a stranger who promises them salvation-except the stranger isn't who he seems to be, and neither are the dead. THE QUEEN: To escape a plague that has turned most of mankind into ravenous cannibals, a crew of survivors takes refuge at sea. But supplies only last so long, and the crew must face their enemies on land in order to keep themselves alive and afloat. THE WAVE: When a wave of mysterious energy from outer space washes over the earth, electronic devices fail worldwide and communications break down. Worse still, the energy alters human brain waves and turns billions of people into bloodthirsty animals. Only a small pocket of humanity is immune, but their only chance of survival may also be their grave. DEAD WEST: The Civil War is over. The Confederacy is gone. But in the West, a new threat is rising. Accompanied by a regiment of inexperienced soldiers, a journalist ventures into the frontlines of a war against the walking dead, and the truth he finds there is far more frightening than any living corpse. RATS: Rats are everywhere and can get into anything. And now they are swarming mankind. Those bit rise again as undead pawns in the rodents' onslaught, and no place is safe-no place except one. The problem is getting there before the rats' next attack.

The World Is Dead


Kim PaffenrothKyle S. Johnson - 2009
    The dead have risen, and they've won. No more rallying of the troops. No miracle cure or weapon. Just lots of dead people walking around. If the living dead won, what would the world be like? This collection of eighteen tales-including entries from David Wellington, Jack Ketchum, and Gary A. Braunbeck-take up the call to answer that question. People go to work. Have sex. Get drunk. Fall in love. Take revenge. Raise families. Watch TV. Laugh. Mourn. Murder. Pray. The world is dead, but life goes on.

The Dead That Walk: Flesh-Eating Stories


Stephen JonesRichard Matheson - 2009
    That's because they are not uncommon or alien — they're human. (Or more correctly, were human.) Anywhere that there are humans, there are zombies, and they can never be completely annihilated because by breeding more humans we breed more zombies. In The Ultimate Book of Zombies, these decomposing monsters are demolished, decapitated, and destroyed. The gore flows as humans and zombies dispatch each other in blood-curdling battles fought in big-city alleys, high school playgrounds, and even suburban living rooms. In addition, the living dead are fully deconstructed in these wide-ranging and fascinating stories. More than just brain-eating assaults and acid-bath retaliations, the tales in this book explore all elements of zombie existence and their interaction with the humans they live among.

The Book of All Flesh


James LowderMichael Liamo - 2001
    God help the living.It's too late to run. The zombies are everywhere. They stalk through urban jungles and across the carefully manicured lawns of suburbia. They shudder to unlife on the bloodiest battlefields of the Civil War and in the deepest tunnels of interstellar mining colonies. They lurk on your street, in you company boardroom, in your own bedroom. And they hunger.

Undead on Arrival


Justin Robinson - 2012
    Unfortunately for the scumbag who killed him, Novak will keep on cracking skulls and breaking bones until he finds the piece of trash that set him up, or is turned into a walking sack of rotten meat. With Undead On Arrival, Justin Robinson gives us a hard boiled zombie tale, and one of the most brutally compellingly examinations of the living dead you’ll ever read.No Cure. No Hope. No Mercy.

The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology


Christopher GoldenRick Hautala - 2010
    They hide in back yards, car lots, shopping malls. They devour neighbors, dogs and police officers. And they are here to stay. The real question is, what are you going to do about it? How will you survive?How will the world change when the dead begin to rise? Stoker-award-winning author Christopher Golden has assembled an original anthology of never-before-published zombie stories from an eclectic array of today's hottest writers. Inside there are stories about military might in the wake of an outbreak, survival in a wasted wasteland, the ardor of falling in love with a zombie, and a family outing at the circus. Here is a collection of new views on death and resurrection.With stories from Joe Hill, John Connolly, Max Brooks, Kelley Armstrong, Tad Williams, David Wellington, David Liss, Aimee Bender, Jonathan Maberry, and many others, this is a wildly diverse and entertaining collection... the last word on The New Dead.

Deadfall


Shaun Jeffrey - 2010
    But the kidnappers are a ruse, the real threat more terrifying than any of them could imagine. Aided by a couple of unsuspecting eco-warriors, mercenary team leader Amber Redgrave must fight to survive against foes that don't sleep and don't feel pain. Now as the body count rises, so do the stakes, and when the dead won't stay dead, there's going to be hell to pay.

Deadlands


Scott A. Johnson - 2009
    Survivors live underground, ever on the defensive against rotters -- mindless corpses that troll the sweltering surface. A new menace has evolved, set on human annihilation.

The Estuary


Derek Gunn - 2009
    Ex-British Intelligence Officer Dave Johnson has arrived to isolate himself after his fiancee is murdered during a mission that went terribly wrong. But excavations for the new shopping centre unearth a mysterious contagion that threatens to throw their lives into chaos. Now the residents of Whiteshead are trapped within a quarantine zone with the military on one side and ravenous hordes on the other. Escape is no longer an option. Far out in the mouth of the estuary a small keep sits forlornly surrounded by an apron of jagged rocks. This refuge has always been unassailable, a place of myth and legend that has grown in folklore through the years. Now, it's the survivors' only hope of sanctuary. But there are thousands of flesh-eating infected between them and the keep and time is running out ...

Z: Zombie Stories


J.M. LassenChristine Morgan - 2011
    What happens when you come of age during the zombie apocalypse? Zombie Stories has the answer to that question.Zombie Stories gathers together some of the hottest zombie fiction of the last two decades, from authors including Kelly Link, Jonathan Maberry, and Catherynne M. Valente. These stories focus on those who will inherit a world overrun with the living dead: a young man who takes up the family business of dealing with the undead, a girl dealing with her abusive father... who has become a zombie, a poet who digs up the wrong grave, and a Viking maiden imprisoned with the living dead...

The Altar In The Hills and Other Weird Tales


Brandon Barrows - 2014
    Lovecraft, the most-fevered mind of 20th century horror and weirdness! These weird tales blend horror, science-fiction and fantasy to weave stories of darkness and terror that will alternately leave you checking dark spaces for hidden horrors and wondering at the nature of reality itself. From the horror/mystery of The Altar in the Hills to the private confessions and revelations of one of mankind's most brilliant minds in Through the Ether, these seven stories bring with them Old Gods, strange twists and interesting characters that will both surprise and delight fans of horror fiction.

The Rage Plague


Anthony Giangregorio - 2009
    Only a small population proves to be immune, but most quickly fall prey to the infected. Isolated on the rooftop of a school near the outskirts of Chicago, Bill Thompson and a small band of survivors come to the frightening realization that, without food or water, they will perish quickly under the hot sun. Some wish to migrate to a safer, more plentiful refuge, but the school is surrounded by rampaging murderers. Without a plan, Bill and his group don't stand a chance. Their only hope lies in their one advantage over the infected: their ability to think. Not far away, a leader rises amongst the psychos, a man stricken by the virus yet still intelligent and in control. His need to destroy humankind becomes an obsession, and he rallies an army of killers to seek out and destroy all who remain unchanged. Now Bill and his fellow survivors not only need a safe haven, they must also escape legions of hungry infected. But the virus and its hosts will find them, no matter where they hide, because even sanctuary has its perils.

Like a Charm


Karin SlaughterPeter Robinson - 2004
    In Like A Charm, the cream of British and American crime writers combine for a must-have collection. From nineteenth-century Georgia, where the bracelet is forged in fire, to wartime Leeds, a steam train across Europe, the violent backstreets of 1980s Scotland, present-day London, a Manhattan taxi, the Mojave desert and back to Georgia, each writer weaves a gripping story of murder, betrayal and intrigue.

Duel


Richard Matheson - 1971
    It was Thursday and unseasonably hot for April. He had his suitcoat off, his tie removed and shirt collar opened, his sleeve cuffs folded back. There was sunlight on his left arm and on part of his lap. He could feel the heat of it through his dark trousers as he drove along the two-lane highway. For the past twenty minutes, he had not seen another vehicle going in either direction.Then he saw the truck...

Safe House


Jo Jakeman - 2019
    She’s bought a crumbling, long-vacant cottage and calls herself Charlie Miller. Charlie keeps to herself, reluctant to integrate with the locals. If they ever find out who she really is, and what she’s done, she’ll lose what little she has left.Charlie served two years in prison for providing a false alibi for a murderer. It was the mistake of a woman in love, a woman who couldn’t believe her boyfriend was guilty–or lying to her. All she desperately wants now is a fresh start.As Charlie slowly lets down her guard and becomes friendly with her neighbors, she can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching her, someone who knows what she did. When one of her new friends suddenly disappears, Charlie’s worst fears are confirmed. She must confront her past head-on, but as she knows all too well, everything is far more dangerous than how it appears.