 ‘‘Don’t you know children shouldn’t play with dead things?’’ The novella starts with our main character Alex, finding a creepy old book bound in human skin with a face for a front cover.. Yeah most of us can predict what’s going to happen next. This doesn’t mean that this isn’t an amazing story, because it is. The main character Alex is very likeable, as are her interactions with the other characters. The characters all feel realish and feel like far more than horror tropes. I also like how Alex and her sister Jess are presented, especially in terms of their relationships with each other their boyfriend’s. The story is full of in jokes cult zombie film lovers will recognise as well as it’s own humour. The zombies are very much more Return of the Living Dead than The Walking Dead. A lot of the zombie tropes made famous by Evil Dead, Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Living Dead and Brain Dead as well as other tropes more generic to the zombie fiction genre. After all the best way to stop the undead is some macho hero with a shit load of guns isn’t it? Despite dealing with familiar concepts and plots, Rubas manages to combine them in a way that feels unique rather than just regurgitated. I think this is because the entire story feels very much like young adult fiction. Alex is sixteen, and her sister and their boyfriends are a similar age. The story is told in 1st person by Alex and focuses on her very teenage life. If it wasn’t for the odd swear word, comment and more realistic romantic relationships I’d have said it was young adult fiction. ‘‘Hey, short shit, how’s the weather down there?’’ Bella never said to Edward, nor Juliet to Romeo but Alex does to Tim in the banter they share throughout the story. Because the story is written like young adult fiction, whereas in the referenced films everybody or most people die, Rubas made Langston’s martial art campaign against the undead successful and cooler. That’s just one example but I won’t spoil it for you by telling you more. What didn’t I like about it? More deaths and violence would have been nice. Sometimes it felt a bit too much like young adult fiction. I think it could have also been a longer zombie outbreak which would have been great fun. More brains? Yes Please! Why should I buy this book? Well it is so far my favourite book that I have reviewed for Ginger Nuts of Horror. I loved pretty much everything about it but especially the humour and references to cult zombie films. Who doesn’t want to play spot the reference? Buy a copy because it’s amazing!  Alex Warner was just your average sixteen-year-old gal – wait, no she wasn’t. Alex Warner was the coolest person to ever live. She had a hot, dorky boyfriend, a nerdy little sister who was actually her cousin, and a book – a really gnarly old book made from human skin. But you see, that’s right up Alex’s alley, because not only is she completely awesome, with her job at Pissy’s Pizza, her volunteer work at the library, and her VSCO friend who gives everyone scrunchies, but she also loves Halloween. And this book is perfect for this year’s witch costume. Only…it’s not a costume book, and when she reads it aloud in the graveyard… Whoops I Woke the Dead …sorry.    Comments are closed.
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