Since I first saw the original Night of the Living Dead at a drive-in back in the Seventies, I've been fascinated with zombies. I was preparing for The Zombpocalypse when most survivalists were waiting for the Soviets to invade. I have taken in every scrap of shuffler lore that time and finances would permit, and can say with all modesty that I am one of the South's leading experts on dealing with the undead menace.
But even a serious, life-and-death issue can have light moments, and Robin Becker gives us a break with Brains: a Zombie Memoir.
When Professor Jack Barnes is bitten and turned, he is surprised to discover he can still think. His body is rotting to pieces, but the mind continues to tick. In a mirror image of living survivors, he gathers a few other cognitive zeds and sets off to find safety.
Brains isn't particularly funny, but it's fun - fun to see things from the other end of the shotgun. Ms Becker certainly knows Zombies, and most every cliche is dusted off to make a twisted but welcome appearance. This is the kind of novelty that can only be done once, and lightly - Becker resists the obvious temptation to make a lengthy, serious statement-about-something-or-other. She treats her subject with all the respect it deserves.
Get it. Read it. Enjoy it... but don't let the fear that there might be something thinking in there let you hesitate when it's time to whack a zed. The only good zombie is a dead zombie!
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