Bill Tucker

The 28 stories in this anthology cover all aspects of zombiedom, from trying to remain hidden within the darkness of a gay bar in "The Duval Crawl" by David E. Chrisom to the infected slowly turning into the undead as with "Eating Peaches" by Rachel Green to life in the new world after the apocalypse in "Humans Being Human" by Patrick D'Orazio. Some stories even ventured to show the world through the eyes of the undead, such as in "Dead Boy Number One" by Quinn Smithwood about man slowly turning into a zombie but being able to make a living as an actor/artist with his newfound "life", and in "Food Chain" by C.S. Stephens in which the walking talking and thinking undead live normal lives whereas the living are raised as nothing more than food or pets. Some of the more intriguing stories such as "Humans Being Human" or Tony Schaab's "Accepting Death" broach the idea that zombies don't harm gay men and women and instead seek out straight people. Those two rank among my top three stories in the book, with Eric Andrews-Katz's "ZOMB-malion" -- a gay and zombie take on Shaw's Pygmalion and starring Eliza Droolittle -- hilariously rounding out my favorites.

I admit to not enjoying all the stories. In Vince A Liaguno's "Stonewall Rising", the idea that a zombie bite turns anyone into the gay undead was a bit off-putting to me. And with "The Quick and the Undead" from Thomas Farringer-Logan, I found the narrator's way of speaking difficult to follow, though the gist of the story is good.

But it's the main driving force behind each of these stories -- having LGBT characters as the protagonists, telling stories from their point of view -- that makes this a worthwhile collection of stories. Zombie fans, both gay and straight, will enjoy this gathering of undead.… (more)