Who Would Like This Book:
This is the ultimate love letter to fans of George A. Romero, packed with everything that made his films iconic: gruesome, inventive zombies, social commentary with a bite, and deeply human (and flawed) survivors you’ll root for. Romero and Kraus don’t skimp on perspective; you get inside the heads of both people and zombies, giving the apocalypse a fresh twist. If you’re all about intricate character arcs, slow-burning tension, and epic, multi-year stories (think: "The Walking Dead" or "World War Z"), this is your next big read. Newcomers and diehard zombie lovers alike will be pulled in by the book’s ambition and scope.
Who May Not Like This Book:
If you like your horror fast-paced or lean, the sheer length and density here might test your patience - the plot is sprawling and there are slow, introspective passages where the action pauses in favor of deep character work. Some readers found the prose heavy-handed and thought the themes (especially the social commentary) a bit in-your-face or overwrought. If you aren’t a fan of grisly details, heavy books, or stories where subtlety takes a back seat, you might find this a slog rather than a thrill.
About:
'The Living Dead' by Daniel Kraus and George A. Romero is a posthumous collaboration that brings together various characters dealing with the zombie apocalypse over a span of 15 years. The plot revolves around the outbreak of a zombie plague and follows characters like Greer, Muse, Karl, and Etta as they navigate through a world filled with ghouls and societal breakdown. The writing style captures the essence of Romero's work, with themes of social criticism and commentary intertwined with blood-soaked tales.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include gore, violence, slurs, sexual abuse, trauma, and self-harm.
From The Publisher:
"A horror landmark and a work of gory genius."-Joe Hill, New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman
New York Times bestselling author Daniel Kraus completes George A. Romero's brand-new masterpiece of zombie horror, the massive novel left unfinished at Romero's death!
George A. Romero invented the modern zombie with Night of the Living Dead, creating a monster that has become a key part of pop culture. Romero often felt hemmed in by the constraints of film-making. To tell the story of the rise of the zombies and the fall of humanity the way it should be told, Romero turned to fiction. Unfortunately, when he died, the story was incomplete.
Enter Daniel Kraus, co-author, with Guillermo del Toro, of the New York Times bestseller The Shape of Water (based on the Academy Award-winning movie) and Trollhunters (which became an Emmy Award-winning series), and author of The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch (an Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Book of the Year). A lifelong Romero fan, Kraus was honored to be asked, by Romero's widow, to complete The Living Dead.
Set in the present day, The Living Dead is an entirely new tale, the story of the zombie plague as George A. Romero wanted to tell it.
It begins with one body.
A pair of medical examiners find themselves battling a dead man who won't stay dead.
It spreads quickly.
In a Midwestern trailer park, a Black teenage girl and a Muslim immigrant battle newly-risen friends and family. On a US aircraft carrier, living sailors hide from dead ones while a fanatic makes a new religion out of death. At a cable news station, a surviving anchor keeps broadcasting while his undead colleagues try to devour him. In DC, an autistic federal employee charts the outbreak, preserving data for a future that may never come.
Everywhere, people are targeted by both the living and the dead.
We think we know how this story ends.
We. Are. Wrong.
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1 comment(s)
respectfully i just bit off more than i could chew with this one, i can read a long book normally but i found that i just wasn’t that interested in anything that was happening in the book
What can you read after
The Living Dead?
About the Author:
GEORGE A. ROMERO's classic zombie movie cycle begins with the groundbreaking Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, which are followed by four sequels. Romero directed two Stephen King projects, Creepshow and The Dark Half, and created the TV series Tales From the Darkside. Originally from New York City, Romero attended Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. He and his wife, Suzanne, lived in Toronto for over 10 years. George A. Romero died in 2017.
DANIEL KRAUS co-authored the New York Times bestselling The Shape of Water with Guillermo del Toro, based on the idea the two created for the Academy Award-winning film. Their earlier collaboration, Trollhunters, was adapted into an Emmy Award-winning Netflix series. Kraus's novel The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch was named one of Entertainment Weekly's Top Ten Books of the Year, and his novel Rotters was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award. Kraus lives with his wife in Chicago.
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