Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

isbn: 978-1594743344

I have been waiting for this book for months and have not been disappointed! I fully admit to having a degree in English Lit and having never read any Jane Austen before today. I have seen the A&E 6 hour version of Pride and Prejudice more times than I dare to recall, and yet picking up the book always made me sleepy and I put it down... That is until they added zombies! The story is all still there, the major plot twists and the language and the letters back and forth, but there are muskets and tales of training in China and legions upon legions of the undead. I devoured it in two days, and I almost want to read the original to see what exactly was changed. Almost. Not quite. As far as horror goes, it has more romantic bits than it does gory ones, although my gore tolerance is quite high. I am also kind of upset that it was not any sexier than it was. I am apparently spoiled by all the historical romances (which I have not read but am now thinking I may have to) where they wear bodices that serve no other purpose but to be ripped off... by the decomposing hands of zombies! Ha ha, snort.

Can you believe Amazon.ca is sold out? We also hand sold about 6 in as many hours the first day we got it at work. Woot!

6/5

We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson

isbn: 978-0143039976

Shirley Jackson is the woman who wrote "The Lottery" and The Haunting of Hill House (which was bastardized in the movie version by adding little weeping children and a supernatural plot where the only thing we should have been watching was her declining mental health). This book is ridiculously well written, repetitive in all the right ways, claustrophobic and spooky, nerve wracking even though nothing truly terrifying happens. Not directly, not exactly. Constance and Merricat (Mary Katherine) are both sweet and terrifying and you never know when they will cry or laugh. This book was incredible. Truly fantastic.

5/5

Zombie Haiku, by Ryan Mecum

isbn: 9781600610707

This is cute. Really cute. In a gory, horrible, flesh-eating way. The story told is lovely, interestingly paced and fun. There is even an awesome video on youtube advertising the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd1Ws9QnmZY The book is classified as humour at the store, but I will put it squarely in the horror genre just because of the grape/eye reference. It was a bit short but the artwork inside was fun, matching the poems and the movement of the character. How a zombie can still write is beyond me, though I guess we are supposed to forget about that part.

3/5

Button Button, by Richard Matheson

isbn: 978-0765312570

Another collection of short stories that are dark, spooky, and very inspiring. The title story is especially excellent, short and snappy and hits you in the face. There is something in these stories that reminds me of "lamb to the Slaughter", by Roald Dahl, arguably the best short story ever written. Yes yes yes.

4/5

Playing With Fire, By Dereck Landy

isbn: 0061240885

This is the second book after Skullduggery Pleasant, and features Valkyrie Cain and Skullduggery in another gory adventure to save the world and their hides. They really upped the horror/gore factor in this one, with people dying left, right and center, sometimes all at once when their bodies explode. It was a roaring good time, a tad predictable but still fantastic, opening the way to a third book rather explicitly.

4/5

Plague Zone: A serial novel, by David Wellington

LINK: http://www.brokentype.com/pz/

I read this in two days. David Wellington writes serial novels, putting a short chapter online every monday, wednesday and friday for the duration of the novel, which are typically 60 chapters long. Now THAT is determination.

This was a nice take on the zombie genre, different than his "monster" series. The main story is about a guy who decides to go and kill the specific zombie that killed his wife (which was lovingly broadcast again and again as the official footage on tv. Brr).

4/5

Monster Planet, by David Wellington

ISBN: 978-1560258674

The final book of the trilogy brings all the characters together, which is excellent. It actually makes all the characters figure all the right things out, and makes me super happy. I found out that the whole series is available online, at http://www.brokentype.com/monster/ . If you don't mind reading things online, get in there right now. Now.

5/5

The Island of Dr Moreau. by HG Wells

ISBN: um....

I read this on the recommendation of a customer, who told me she would not be responsible if I had nightmares and threw up. Um... This girl should read monster island. Anyway, I like Wells (War of the Worlds is one of my favourite classics) and this lived up to his name. Unfortunately it was extremely short and was really not as gory as I was expecting/hoping. We have vivisection and that is it, and that is really not even described. Meh.

3/5

The Zombie Survival Guide, by Max Brooks

ISBN: 071563318x

I typically keep this book by my bedside, since reading and re-reading it relaxes me. Something about being prepared, studying the land and learning which vehicle to use to escape an infested area (bicycle is always best!) just makes me happy. The book is funny and scary at the same time, entertaining and educative, and is a great companion read to World War Z.

5/5

Baltimore, or the steadfast tin soldier and the vampire, by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden

ISBN: 978-0553804713

This illustrated novel is one of the scarier things I have ever read. Almost a collection of short tales, the whole thing is wound together so well that you barely ever miss a beat. It is a story about war, plague, human weakness and vampires. These vampires are original and disgusting, and there is no way you can root for them in any capacity. It is a gorgeous, 35$ book and I am seriously considering buying it. Help me resist!

6/5 and more.

A Dirty Job, by Christopher Moore

ISBN: 978-0060590284

I usually like about half of Christopher Moore's books. As in, I will like half of each book and be bored to death by the other half. This is the exception. The story really pushes you through, the span is perfect, the details are pretty much all hilarious and touching at the same time... The personification of death has always been interesting to me, but this book really raises the bar. Will definitely read this again.

5/5

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

ISBN: 978-0312865047

They are turning this into a movie, and I don't see how it will work... It has a downer rating of about 6-7 out of ten, so they will have to change it, probably, to make it work as a blockbuster Will Smith flick. Meh. It is still a fun short story. Word of warning: the title story is followed by multiple other short stories, which I mistook for other chapters. Trying to fit them into the I Am Legend mythos completely ruined all of them for me. Do not let it happen to you!

3/5

Monster Island and Monster Nation, by David Wellington

ISBNs: 978-0307346605 and 978-1560258667

Books one and two in the series, these horror novels work more from the point of view of the zombies than anything else. You actually feel for the zombies way more than for some of the other people in the book (although his survivors tend to be quite smart and charismatic). Monster Nation is actually a prequel to Monster Island, but they definitely need to be read in the order they were published. Monster Planet is the last book in the series, and I still have to read it.

Monster Island 5/5
Monster Nation 4/5

World War Z, by Max Brooks

ISBN: 978-0307346605

One of the most awesome books I have read in my life. I have read this about 4-5 times since receiving it at christmas time. Part slasher flick, part War of the Worlds, and part Day of the Triffids, this is the perfect social commentary of our time. Through dozens of characters we can see how a world deals with the impossible, and how some people cannot deal with it at all. Funny at times, sad at others, this is the ultimate read for any sci-fi, fantasy or horror fan.

5/5

Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay

ISBN: 978-0307277886

IF you ever thought that serial killers were sweet, this is the book for you. Although it has quite a few lovely moments, and it kept me reading till the end, it is not quite my kind of book. Too slow to be overly violent, and too fast at the end to be satisfying. I would like to see the television series, though, just to see what they did with it.

2/5