Short Stories of the Living Dead…

I kind of feel like one of the living dead today but luckily, I managed to stave off the worst affects of the hangover and got a little reading done this afternoon. This is where I tell you all about it ;o)

My copy of ‘The Living Dead 2’ has been sat on my bookshelf for a little while now, without being read, and this afternoon seemed like the ideal time to do something about that. Three stories jumped out at me, one re-read and three by authors that I have a lot of time for. This is going to be a quick post though as I have a couple of other bits that I need to get done this evening. So with that said, lets talk zombies…


‘Dating in Dead World’ – Joe McKinney

Page Count: Fifteen pages (and a few extra lines)

I am a big fan of Joe McKinney’s zombie books, ‘Dead City’ in particular, but I have somehow never got round to reading ‘Dating in Dead World’. When I realised that it had been in ‘The Living Dead 2’ (and on my shelf the whole time)… I didn’t waste any more time, I made it my first point of call.

So… It turns out that there was a second wave of zombies and ‘Dead City’ was merely the precursor to something a lot bigger and nastier. Not so much for Andrew Hudson, a minor celebrity in this new world who is ready for ‘Date Night’, or so he thinks…

A little romance, motorbike chases and gunfire, punctuated by sporadic attacks from the infected. ‘Dating in Dead World’ is a good combination of these, showing us again that humanity is its own worst enemy. All the dead really need to do is eat what’s left standing at the end. There wasn’t a lot of time to really get to know Andrew (although in some respects you don’t really need to, once you know who his father is) but there’s enough going on here for that not to matter too much. ‘Dating in Dead World’ isn’t so much fun for our would-be boyfriend but it was a lot of fun for this reader.


‘We Now Pause For Station Identification’ – Gary Braunbeck

Page Count: Eight Pages

And here’s the re-read ;o) It’s been far too long since I read anything by Gary Braunbeck and that includes this story, found while I was idly browsing the contents. In fact, ‘We Now Pause For Station Identification’ is the whole reason for this post ;o)

I believe that ‘We Now Pause For Station Identification’ was inspired by a piece of background scenery in Brian Keene’s ‘The Rising’. Not knocking ‘The Rising’ at all but Braunbeck takes things a little further and gives us a real thought provoking piece, with insight into what makes a zombie tick working alongside a heartbreaking portrayal of a radio DJ slowly losing his mind with his job the only thing keeping him vaguely sane, even though no-one is listening. And haven’t we all had jobs like that?

I’m not sure where else you can find ‘We Now Pause For Station Identification’ but when you do come across it, give it a read. I promise you won’t regret it.


‘Alone, Together’ – Robert Kirkman

Page Count: 13 Pages

And if there was any doubt in the matter, I was never going to pass up a chance to read something by Robert Kirkman, especially a new tale (to me) based in the Walking Dead universe. Funnily enough, for a tale that kept me reading almost effortlessly, there isn’t an awful lot to say about ‘Alone, Together’. I guess in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse, holding on to some sense of normality is just as important as doing the practical things and for Timothy…? Well, it turns out that all he wants is to be with someone, even if she already has a partner. I liked the way that Kirkman works this problem through to a conclusion that is inevitable but still has enough little twists to keep things fresh, making Timothy not as unlikeable as you’d think. I wouldn’t mind seeing what happened to him next, I’ll bet that he made it to Alexandria…

And that's your lot, at least for now. There are a few more stories that I'd like to check out here (and in 'The Living Dead') so I'll reckon you'll see some more of these posts going forwards...