Worried and/or concerned that a roving band of zombies may be turning up shortly at a farmhouse near you looking for a nibble of human? Aengus reviews a book that just may help you survive the onslaught.
I was in Hodges and Figgis book store a few Saturdays ago on Dawson Street in Dublin, after Jeannie headed off to Lush to peruse the soap aisles and purchase all sorts of whackily-fragranced items for Christmas. I wandered around looking for a birthday gift for my erstwhile Father In Law (got him a bunch of Darwin Award books, went down very well, highly recommended!), when my eye fell on “Zombie Survival Guide” in the Horror section.
Now, let me fill you in…I’m a BIG zombie genre fan. I grew up on George A Romero, with Dawn of the Dead being one of my favourite zombie movies. I had heard about Max Brooks’ book (yes, he is Mel Brooks’ son) a few months ago, but it had somehow slipped out of my consciousness until I clapped eyes on it in the store. So, moments later, I went tittering out of there clutching the book in my paws and alertly watching out along the way home for buildings that might act as a haven against the zombie hoards should the worst occur.
The basic premise is that for all intents and purposes, this is the book you would hope to have in your possesion if there was a zombie outbreak - it does exactly what it says on the cover. It opens by describing what a zombie is (in this case, a “voodoo” zombie is not the zombie we are interested in here), its movements, its habits, its strengths and weaknesses. It describes what causes a corpse to re-animate (a virus called Solonum). It then delves into the types of weapons one should use against a zombie, contrasting and comparing machete’s, guns and a whole host of other weird and wonderful devices in their effectiveness against a zombie onslaught. It then moves on to terrains, techniques and all sorts of other, minutley detailed information.
As you read the book and get into the first 50 pages, you realise that the author has clearly gone to unimaginable lengths to research his material - no detail is considered too small, no stone is left unturned in the quest to ensure that by the end of the book, you know all there is to know about surviving a zombie attack.
Despite the detail, this book is far from a laborious read - there is enough dark, tongue-in-cheek humour within the tome to keep you going. Its just plain good fun, with an adrenaline rush as you project yourself into scenario’s and plot your defence and escape.
Realistically though, this book has limited appeal - goths, generation X’ers, and any kind of zombie afficionado’s will probably all love it…think hardcore Shaun of the Dead fans. However, I would struggle to imagine anyone else getting into a book like this - I suspect many would be either put off by its visceral nature, or simply lack the specific interest required to go beyond the first few pages. I base this on the fact that I, for example, would have little interest in vampire literature, so a book like this catering for the vampire genre would not pull me in.
But enough of all that, chances are if you are here and reading this, you’re interested already! Its a solid read, quite unusual, and its refreshing in its original approach.
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