Review: Unabridged, Unabashed And Undead
By Eric Brown
True to its rather self-explanatory subtitle, Eric Brown's short story collection from Library Of The Living Dead Books contains forty-seven short and action-packed horror stories, all revolving around the shambling undead. Before launching into a review, it's worth noting that liking zombie stories is a fairly important credo for liking this book. The theme--from start to finish--is purely zombies, and while it might appeal to the casual fan of horror, it is aimed primarily at the undead aficionado.
Unabridged, Unabashed And Undead kicks off with "A Bad Day At Work", a piece that portrays a grim future in which now-commonplace "Z"s are processed for use as crash test dummies, scientific test subjects and even party clowns. This kind of innovation is characteristic of the book, which covers the entire range of classic zombie themes, and then goes on to invent a few of its own.
Throughout, the prose is determinedly workmanlike, and though this is usually of little consequence it has the occasional affect of heightening the horror. In places the gore is described in such casual and sterile terms as to make it starkly horrifying.
On the downside many of the stories end abruptly. "A Bad Day At Work", "The Good Old Boys" and "Hell Walks On Two Legs" are just a few examples of stories that end just as they seem about to reach their moment. In a collection built around variety, this stale habit remains, leaving some stories feeling almost unfinished.
For a reader who is not a fan of zombie stories the book's faults might be unforgivable, but the collection has an unashamedly pulpy charm about it which fans of the genre will enjoy. Subtlety, for the most part, does not exist. There's blood and brains everywhere with very little messing about.
If you enjoy zombie stories, Unabridged, Unabashed And Undead is the book for you. It likely won't win over any non-horror fans, but at least it doesn't try to.
Unabridged, Unabashed And Undead is published by Library Of The Living Dead Books, here: libraryofthelivingdead.lefora.com
Christopher Frost is a writer from the North of England.