Book of the Dead (anthology)
Encyclopedia
Book of the Dead is an anthology of horror stories first published in 1989, edited by John Skipp
and Craig Spector
. All the stories in the anthology are united by the same premise seen in the apocalyptic films of George A. Romero
, depicting a worldwide outbreak of zombie
s and various reactions to it. The first book was followed three years later by a follow-up, Still Dead: Book of the Dead 2, with a new group of writers tackling the same premise, though the second book put the stories in order according to their imagined chronology of the zombie takeover.
The Book of the Dead compilations are regarded as classic anthologies in the horror
and splatterpunk
genres, featuring a great number of famous names including Stephen King
, and foreworded by George A. Romero
and Tom Savini
. They are likely the first anthologies of zombie-themed tales ever printed, and have been cited as perhaps the first true "zombie literature" as such.http://scifipedia.scifi.com/index.php/Zombieshttp://www.mania.com/52736.html
According to author Ian McDowell, a third anthology was planned back in 1991. However, bad luck led to it going "through many permutations and publishers over the years. I've been paid for my story by two different publishers and I've proofed two different sets of galleys." Cemetery Dance
finally released it under the title Mondo Zombie in 2006. http://groups.google.com/group/alt.horror/browse_thread/thread/2700dfc9eb3fd804/a5719cc805aecc63?lnk=st&q=rec.arts.movies.current-films+%22book+of+the+dead%22#a5719cc805aecc63
John Skipp
John Skipp is a splatterpunk horror and fantasy author and anthology editor, as well as a songwriter, screenwriter, film director, and film producer. He collaborated with Craig Spector on the 1989 anthology Book of the Dead, and has also collaborated with Marc Levinthal and Cody Goodfellow...
and Craig Spector
Craig Spector
Craig Spector is a bestselling author and screenwriter whose eleven books have sold millions of copies and are reprinted in nine languages.-Biography:...
. All the stories in the anthology are united by the same premise seen in the apocalyptic films of George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
, depicting a worldwide outbreak of zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s and various reactions to it. The first book was followed three years later by a follow-up, Still Dead: Book of the Dead 2, with a new group of writers tackling the same premise, though the second book put the stories in order according to their imagined chronology of the zombie takeover.
The Book of the Dead compilations are regarded as classic anthologies in the horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
and splatterpunk
Splatterpunk
Splatterpunk—a term coined in 1986 by David J. Schow at the Twelfth World Fantasy Convention in Providence, Rhode Island—refers to a movement within horror fiction distinguished by its graphic, often gory, depiction of violence and "hyperintensive horror with no limits." It is regarded as a revolt...
genres, featuring a great number of famous names including Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, and foreworded by George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
and Tom Savini
Tom Savini
Thomas Vincent "Tom" Savini is an American actor, stuntman, director, award-winning special effects and makeup artist. He is known for his work on the Living Dead films directed by George A. Romero, as well as Creepshow, The Burning, Friday the 13th, The Prowler, and Maniac. He directed the 1990...
. They are likely the first anthologies of zombie-themed tales ever printed, and have been cited as perhaps the first true "zombie literature" as such.http://scifipedia.scifi.com/index.php/Zombieshttp://www.mania.com/52736.html
According to author Ian McDowell, a third anthology was planned back in 1991. However, bad luck led to it going "through many permutations and publishers over the years. I've been paid for my story by two different publishers and I've proofed two different sets of galleys." Cemetery Dance
Cemetery Dance Publications
Cemetery Dance Publications is a specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with Cemetery Dance magazine, which was founded in 1988. They began to publish books in 1992.Cemetery...
finally released it under the title Mondo Zombie in 2006. http://groups.google.com/group/alt.horror/browse_thread/thread/2700dfc9eb3fd804/a5719cc805aecc63?lnk=st&q=rec.arts.movies.current-films+%22book+of+the+dead%22#a5719cc805aecc63
Book of the Dead
- Foreword by George A. RomeroGeorge A. RomeroGeorge Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
- "Introduction: On Going Too Far, or Flesh Eating Zombies: New Hope for the Future" by Skipp and Spector
- "Blossom" by Chan McConnell (pseudonym for David J. SchowDavid J. SchowDavid J. Schow is an American author of horror novels, short stories, and screenplays. His credits include films such as The Crow and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. Most of Schow's work falls into the sub-genre splatterpunk, a term he is sometimes credited with coining...
) - "Mess Hall" by Richard LaymonRichard LaymonRichard Carl Laymon was an American author of suspense and horror fiction, particularly within the splatterpunk subgenre. He was born in Chicago, Illinois and lived as a child in California...
- "It Helps If You Sing" by Ramsey CampbellRamsey CampbellJohn Ramsey Campbell is an English horror fiction author.Since he first came to prominence in the mid-1960s, critics have cited Campbell as one of the leading writers in his field: T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today", while S. T...
- "Home Delivery" by Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
- "Wet Work" by Phillip Nutman
- "A Sad Last Love at the Diner of the Damned" by Edward BryantEdward BryantEdward Winslow Bryant Jr. is a science fiction and horror writer sometimes associated with the Dangerous Visions series of anthologies that bolstered The New Wave....
- "Bodies and Heads" by Steve Rasnic TemSteve Rasnic TemSteve Rasnic Tem was born in Jonesville, Virginia, which is in the heart of Appalachia. He went to college at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and also at Virginia Commonwealth University. He got a B.A. in English education. In 1974, he moved to Colorado and studied creative...
- "Choices" by Glen Vasey
- "The Good Parts" by Les DanielsLes DanielsLeslie Noel Daniels III, known as Les Daniels was an American writer.-Background:He attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he wrote his master's thesis on Frankenstein, and he worked as a musician and as a journalist.-Career:He was the author of five novels featuring the...
- "Less Than Zombie" by Douglas E. Winter
- "Like Pavlov's Dogs" by Steven R. Boyett
- "Saxophone" by Nicholas RoyleNicholas RoyleNicholas Royle is an English novelist.Born in Manchester, Royle has written five novels - Counterparts, Saxophone Dreams, The Matter of the Heart, The Director’s Cut and Antwerp. He also claims to have written more than 100 short stories, which have appeared in a variety of anthologies and...
- "On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks" by Joe R. LansdaleJoe R. LansdaleJoe R. Lansdale is an American author and martial-arts expert. He has written novels and stories in many genres, including Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense...
- "Dead Giveaway" by Brian HodgeBrian HodgeBrian Hodge is a prolific writer in a number of genres and sub-genres, as well as an avid connoisseur of music. He currently lives in Boulder, Colorado, where he is working on his latest novel.Brian Hodge's novels are often dark in nature. Themes like self...
- "Jerry's Kids Meet Wormboy" by David J. SchowDavid J. SchowDavid J. Schow is an American author of horror novels, short stories, and screenplays. His credits include films such as The Crow and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. Most of Schow's work falls into the sub-genre splatterpunk, a term he is sometimes credited with coining...
- "Eat Me" by Robert R. McCammonRobert R. McCammonRobert Rick McCammon is an American novelist from Birmingham, Alabama. His parents are Jack, a musician, and Barbara Bundy McCammon. After his parents' divorce, McCammon lived with his grandparents in Birmingham. He received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Alabama in 1974. McCammon...
Still Dead: Book of the Dead 2
- Foreword by Tom SaviniTom SaviniThomas Vincent "Tom" Savini is an American actor, stuntman, director, award-winning special effects and makeup artist. He is known for his work on the Living Dead films directed by George A. Romero, as well as Creepshow, The Burning, Friday the 13th, The Prowler, and Maniac. He directed the 1990...
- "Introduction: Nineteen New Ways to Kick Ass" by Skipp and Spector
- "The Old Man and the Dead" by Mort CastleMort CastleMort Castle is a horror author and writing teacher, with more than 350 short stories and a dozen books to his credit, including Cursed Be the Child and The Strangers. Castle's first novel was published in 1967. Since then he has had pieces published in all sorts of places ranging from traditional...
- "DONt/Walk" by Chan McConnell
- "Necrophile" by Nancy A. CollinsNancy A. CollinsNancy A. Collins is a United States horror fiction writer best known for her series of vampire novels featuring her character Sonja Blue. Collins has alsowritten for comic books, including the Swamp Thing series, Jason Vs...
- "Rise Up and Walk" by K. W. JeterK. W. JeterKevin Wayne Jeter is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters...
- "One Step at a Time" by Glen Vasey
- "The Ones You Love" by Skipp and Spector
- "This Year's Class Picture" by Dan SimmonsDan SimmonsDan Simmons is an American author most widely known for his Hugo Award-winning science fiction series, known as the Hyperion Cantos, and for his Locus-winning Ilium/Olympos cycle....
- "Night of the Living Dead Bingo Women" by Simon McCafferySimon McCafferySimon McCaffery is an American author of speculative fiction. Trained as a journalist and magazine editor, he was an Honorable Mention recipient in the L...
- "Abed" by Elizabeth MassieElizabeth MassieElizabeth Massie is an American author.Elizabeth Massie is a two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of horror novels and short fiction. She won her awards for Sineater and Stephen. She has also written historical fiction for young adults....
- "Come One, Come All" by Gahan WilsonGahan WilsonGahan Wilson is an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations...
- "The Prince of Nox" by Kathe KojaKathe KojaKathe Koja is an American writer. She was initially known for her intense speculative fiction for adults, but over the past few years has turned to writing young adult novels....
- "Beer Run" by Gregory Nicoll
- "Prayer" by Douglas Morningstar and Maxwell Hart
- "Calcutta, Lord of Nerves" by Poppy Z. BritePoppy Z. BritePoppy Z. Brite is an American author. Brite initially achieved notoriety in the gothic horror genre of literature in the early 1990s after publishing a string of successful novels and short story collections...
- "I Walk Alone" by Roberta LannesRoberta LannesRoberta Lannes is an American writer of literary, mystery and horror fiction as well as articles, essays, reviews and poetry....
- "Undiscovered Countries" by J. S. Russell
- "Moon Towers" by Brooks Caruthers
- "Passion Play" by Nancy HolderNancy HolderNancy Holder is an American writer and the author of several novels, including numerous tie-in books based on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She's also written fiction related to several other science fiction and fantasy shows, including Angel and Smallville.Holder is a four-time winner...
- "Bright Lights, Big Zombie" by Douglas E. Winter