The New Dead

I finished reading The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology (edited by Christopher Golden) yesterday morning, and I know, I read a lot of zombie books and stories, but this anthology was really phenomenal. It's comprised of 19 short stories by a wide range of writers. I loved a lot of the stories, and at least liked and enjoyed reading the rest. I really stretches out the zombie genre, the vast majority of the stories weren't just about people running from brain munching zombies (don't get me wrong though, I fucking love stories where people have to run from brain munching zombies), some dealt with moral dilemmas, some with the concept of the soul, some with the dangers of technology, and some were just straight up great stories.

As you know, if you've been reading my blog, I'm a Joe Hill fan, and I really like his short story collection 20th Century Ghosts, so I was really excited to read his contribution to the New Dead. I've got to say, it blew me away. I haven't really stopped thinking about it since I finished the story yesterday morning. It was brilliantly written, and everything a short story should be. I'm not going to say too much here, because I really don't want to give anything away, but if you have the chance, you absolutely must read Twittering from the Circus of the Dead. The entire story is told via a girl on a family road trip tweeting from her cell phone, and each little 140 character or less segment is compelling. I'm not going to say anymore, 'cause with a short story, you really run the risk of giving something away, but I've got to say this, read it!