The Dead Shall Rise by Jay Wilburn, Armand Rosamilia and Erin Louis
Crystal Lake Publishing (August 25, 2023)
202 pages; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Henry Allison
Zombie fiction is just like its namesake — it never really dies. Just when you think you’ve seen the last zombie story or movie, when you think the trope isn’t popular anymore, it shambles back to life, ready for another go around. The zombies are shambling in Crystal Lake’s latest Dark Tide collection, and it’s definitely one you’re going to want to check out.
The Dead Shall Rise offers three different kind zombie tales, which is a big plus. Zombie fiction — like vampire fiction or werewolf fiction — is one of those tropes that could get repetitive in the wrong hands. It was nice to read three very different types of the zombie trope.
“Prepare Because Death is Coming” by the late Jay Wilburn provides a slow-burn story which depicts a vaguely feudal society which has never regained its modernity after the zombie outbreak. Though I found it to be a little slow for my tastes, it’s lyrical, poetic, and feels a little like Dune by way of zombies.
“Zombie Diner” by Armand Rosamilia is a good old-fashioned zombie romp, the classic kind of zombie apocalypse story, but told very well. It invoked tones of The Rising by Brian Keene and The Compound by Robert Ford, which I recently re-read.
My favorite was the final story, “Dance With the Dead” by Erin Louis. Told from the perspective of a college-drop-out stripper who’s been bitten, and the entire story is framed from that beginning. Think the movie Peelers, but told by a first person voice-over.
This is definitely worth the price of admission. Check it out today.
