Night Shade Books News
News & Notes
- The SF Site reviews THE LOVING DEAD by Amelia Beamer – "With her horrifically comic first novel The Loving Dead, Amelia Beamer taps into the cultural zeitgeist of the early 21st century. Much like the great zombie film progenitor, Night of the Living Dead, Beamer uses the undead to represent the fractured real world around her, albeit from a hyper-sexual millennialist bent. … Beamer's insightful observations about her contemporaries combine with a fascinating application of the current zombie phenomenon elevates this debut novel above the plethora of increasingly mediocre undead sub-genre offerings. Ultimately, The Loving Dead presages the talents of an intriguing new author."
News & Notes
- Sacramento Book Review reviews WINGS OF FIRE edited by Jonathan Strahan – "This enchanting collection is a sampling of all things dragon; philosophy, magic, mechanism, environment, menu, subterfuge, climate, culture, and dragons as friends and protagonists. I met several old winged friends and made some new ones. This was not a story that failed to entrance. Often anthologies are offered with one or two prominent writers to carry their more earthbound colleagues. Not so with Wings of Fire. The level of writing is so consistently high one feels seized and borne aloft! … A wondrous volume!"
- Fangoria names THE LIVING DEAD 2, edited by John Joseph Adams, its Book of the Month: – “The Living Dead 2 is ‘unliving’ proof that it’s the tellers, not the tales, that count. … It’s not simply an excellent zombie anthology, or a testament to stellar horror writing. What it is, simply, is an excellent book. … Chockablock with fantastic yarns … breath[es] fresh life into the rotting dead. … Delightfully diverse. … The Living Dead 2 runs the gamut of undead storytelling: pathos and pain, blood and guts, humor and horror. It’s a sensational collection that reanimates and reinvigorates the decaying dead back to exhilarating and entertaining life.”
Buy a Copy of THE LIVING DEAD 2, Get a Copy of THE LOVING DEAD by Amelia Beamer FREE!
Any copy of The Living Dead 2 purchased at Isotope Comics in San Francisco comes with an absolutely free copy of another great Night Shade zombie book, Amelia Beamer’s San Francisco flavored slacker zombie/comedy/romance The Loving Dead. But folks outside of the Bay Area don’t have to feel left out, you can join in on the celebration and get a free book too, just order from the our website, add both The Living Dead 2 and The Loving Dead into your shopping cart, and enter “Isotope” in the Coupon Code box.
News & Notes
- BuyZombie.com reviews THE LOVING DEAD by Amelia Beamer: – "I urge even the staunchest traditionalist (of which I tend to lean towards) to pick up this book. I am finding that there is still quite a bit new under the sun, I hope this is only the beginning for Ms. Beamer. I would read anything that she offers up next based on how much pleasure I gleaned from this debut offering whether it is another zombie tale (i.e. post-loving world) or something possibly dark and scary."
- Static Multimedia reviews THE LOVING DEAD BY Amelia Beamer – "Anyone who enjoys reading a great horror yarn will love this story. I also think that anyone who simply loves good literature will be highly entertained, although I do recommend a strong stomach as there is quite a lot of gore in here. This is a brilliant debut novel and I look forward to future works from Amelia Beamer."
THE LIVING DEAD 2 website now live!
The website for the new zombie anthology, The Living Dead 2, is now live.
On the site, you will find 8 stories in their entirety, available both as regular web pages and in a downloadable ebook sampler (currently available in epub and pdf format, with additional formats forthcoming from the Baen Webscriptions store). There will also be 36 different author interviews with the contributors. They’re scheduled to appear daily, starting today, with the final one scheduled to run on Oct. 4. And last, but not least, you can also read the introduction and the header notes to each story in the anthology.
The anthology features all-new, original stories by zombie masters Robert Kirkman, Max Brooks, David Wellington, Brian Keene, Jonathan Maberry, Carrie Ryan, John Skipp, and Mira Grant, for a grand total of FORTY-FOUR STORIES. This includes a mix of originals (27) and reprints (17).
The free stories, which you can find here, are:
- The Skull-Faced City — David Barr Kirtley
- And the Next, and the Next — Genevieve Valentine
- Flotsam & Jetsam — Carrie Ryan
- Mouja — Matt London
- Who We Used to Be — David Moody
- The Days of Flaming Motorcycles — Catherynne M. Valente
- Obedience — Brenna Yovanoff
- Rural Dead — Bret Hammond
News & Notes
- The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reviews ZOMBIES OF LAKE WOEBEGOTTEN by Harrison Geillor: – "Looking for a late-summer read and wanting something more substantial than the latest “Twilight” knock-off but more fun than Jonathan Franzen’s latest greatest, most American-est novel? I’ve got a title you can really sink your teeth into. Try cracking the spine of “The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten,” by Harrison Geillor."
News & Notes
- 2009 World Fantasy Awards Nominees – Congrats to Jonathan Strahan for ECLIPSE THREE's nomination for best anthology and his personal nomination in the Special Award, Professional category; to Karen Joy Fowler for her story nomination for "The Pelican Bar" (from ECLIPSE THREE); and to John Klima (ELECTRIC VELOCIPEDE) for his nomination in the Special Award, Non-Professional category.
- For Horror Drive-in John Skipp reviews THE LOVING DEAD by Amelia Beamer – "THE LOVING DEAD is sharply, subversively funny for the bulk of its literary running time. Not just funny like Palanhiuk, but like Sedaris as well, coupling crisp verbal economy and stream-of-consciousness candor with a genuine desire to both provoke and entertain. But because it’s a real horror novel as well as a true social satire, there are savage set-pieces galore, all building to a shattering climax. Yes, it's all fun and games till the emotional hammer comes down. You may walk in with a hard-on, but you won't come out unscathed. Let me state this very clearly: I fucking love this brilliant book. For those of us who care about the burgeoning New Zombie literature, and the powerful cultural metaphors it contains, The Loving Dead is a pivotal work."
News & Notes
- NecroScope reviews THE ZOMBIES OF LAKE WOEBEGOTTEN – "The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten is, quite simply, one of the funniest, most enjoyable books I've ever read. If George A. Romero and Stephen King had collaborated on the novelisation of Fargo, you'd probably get something pretty close to Geillor's novel: the prose and dialogue are a joy to read, and rich with gentle, observational humour; the plot twists and turns along at a satisfying pace; the wonderful characters – while undoubtedly comic – never quite stray into the realm of stereotyping or outright lampoon. And the zombies do what zombies do best: kill and feed, in as gory and entertaining a manner as possible. If you only read one zombie novel a year…then you're not reading enough zombie novels. Regardless, put The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten up the top of your Want List: it's absolutely brilliant, and (dare I say it?) my pick for an instant classic of the zombie genre."
- Fandomania reviews AN EMPIRE UNACQUAINTED WITH DEFEAT by Glen Cook – "the best book that I’ve read in years."
- Booklist Online reviews THE LIVING DEAD 2 edited by John Joseph Adams – "The quality of the writing is very high, and there is a wide variety of treatments on the theme. This is an excellent addition for the fantasy/horror audience."
News & Notes
- Fangoria reviews THE ZOMBIES OF LAKE WOEBEGOTTEN by Harrison Geillor – "ZOMBIES actually works on a couple of levels. First, it is a quick, solid, fun read that deftly gives you a poke in the ribs with the wink of an eye toward the good people of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon. Second, it works as a creepy story of small-town paranoia, sort of a tongue-in-cheek version of ‘SALEM’S LOT but with zombies instead of vampires. Any way you look at it, THE ZOMBIES OF LAKE WOEBEGOTTEN is a lot of fun—and could help you get into The Pretty Good Brotherhood of Cnut."
- The Crawlspace reviews THE LOVING DEAD by Amelia Beamer – "Stylish and clever … The Loving Dead provides an original take on the zombie sub-genre (infection as STD), with enough requisite carnage and relational missteps to appeal to a wider reading audience. Beamer has succeeded in adding a fresh voice to undead fiction."
News & Notes
- Barnes & Noble.com reviews SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL edited by Tim Pratt: – "a simply stellar collection of 35 devilish short stories."
