'Not Alone' – Brian Keene (Serial Box)

I try and fill my week full of little things to look forward to, especially these days, it helps me deal with each day and then move on to the next one. Sunday is always a good one as I get to read Brian Keene's latest newsletter; it's always full of links to loads of cool to stuff to read, and listen to, and I've learned a lot about horror by following these links and seeing where they end up.

I was full of cold all of this weekend just gone (and luckily, it was just a cold) so completely forgot to check my email but I did yesterday and found a little treat that any fan of zombie fiction will be all over, a link to a new story set in the world of 'Dead Sea' and 'Entombed'. And it's free to read.

Remember a little while ago when I reviewed 'Silverwood: The Door' from Serial Box? Well, 'Not Alone' runs along the same lines. Click Here and choose whether you want to listen to 'Not Alone' or if you want to read it instead. You get the first half and then you have to log on (via Facebook, Google etc) to get the rest of it. If you're a fan then you'll do that anyway. Even if you're not a fan, give it a go. 'Not Alone' is worth the read.

At the end of the world, it's nice not to be alone...

Hamelin's Revenge has devastated the world but it won't be what kills our narrator. That's okay though, he's got his friend Bert with him so however it ends, he won't be alone.

I've said it before but it's always worth saying again, a good zombie book isn't about the zombies at all. In fact, I reckon you could have an amazing zombie book and not see a single undead soul, not one. It's the living that can turn a good zombie book into something amazing. It's their reactions, their choices that drive the plot, not the mindless actions of a hungry corpse. Romero and Kirkman got it and that's why 'The Living Dead' films (well, the early ones) and 'The Walking Dead' comics will be classics. Keene gets it as well (always has) and that's why 'Not Alone' will shock you but will also have you wiping your eyes and remarking a little too loudly about how dusty it is all of a sudden.

You'll see that 'Not Alone' is only a six minute read (or a nine minute listen) and that is just long enough for Keene to show us that the worst thing about a zombie apocalypse is being on your own in the aftermath. You can outrun a zombie pretty easily but you can't outrun your own failing body and you certainly can't outrun memories of when you were part of something, not when you're on your own.

Someone like Bert then, he may not be the company that our narrator wants but... anything's better than being on your own, right? Our narrator thinks so and the conclusion that it leads him to is heartbreaking. One of Keene's big strength's as a writer, for me, is how he can get right into his character's heads and just lay their feelings out on the page, laid bare so that we can ask ourselves, wouldn't we feel the same? That's what happens here and is a little reminder of how deeply personal a zombie apocalypse can be.

'Not Alone' is a reminder that while writers continue to put their human protagonists front and centre, zombie fiction will be always be fresh (poor choice of words but you know what I mean...) And it's free too, go and read it.