Zombies! discussion

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It's been kind of quiet around here lately. Anyone planning on reading this book with me? I just got my copy today and am ready to go!

I will! Full disclosure - I started reading this about a year ago, and stopped after a few chapters because it was scary. Yes, I know, ha ha, very wussy of me ;)

Anyway, I have almost no time right no (my whole stupid year has been like this) but I'm almost finished my current book, so I need something to read anyway.

Cool beans - I could use a good scary read!

Does this reading schedule work for you?
4/2-4/9: pgs 1-145 (“Exhumation” & “Floaters”)
4/10-4/16: pgs 146-328 (“Worms”)
4/17-4/23: pgs 329-484 (“Decay”)
4/24-4/30: pgs 485-650 (“Pestilence” & “Resurrection")

In case anyone else is considering joining in, I'd like to point out that Amazon Prime members can borrow this on their Kindle for free :)

It certainly does! I will do my very bestest.

I was considering it, since it was KLL.

However, I have another group read that started today, and I'm not sure I could handle two large books at the same time.

Randy wrote: "I was considering it, since it was KLL.

However, I have another group read that started today, and I'm not sure I could handle two large books at the same time."

Booooooo, Randy!!!
That other group? Fuhgeddaboudit! You need to spend some quality time in the Zombies! group :)

Page 1: "And had you been able to withstand the onslaught out in the open, you would have seen that wall of water strike Hillside Cemetery with incredible force. The hills it sat on did not just gently erode away, they dissolved. They disintegrated, exhuming things best left buried, creating a massive mudslide of bodies and headstones and rotting caskets that washed down into River Town, engulfing the neighborhood in a deluge of coffins and corpses."

OK Elizabeth...you officially get a pass on your previous wuss out. Between this and the flotilla of malformed fetuses, I'm just hoping that it doesn't start raining IRL tonight.

Oh, just wait for it. GAaAAAAHHHHH! But I will power through. Maybe the rest isn't as scary as the first little bit.

(I hope)

(eeeeeek)

Initial thoughts about the zombies (I've only made it to page 45):


1. Many are missing their eyes - how do they find their prey?
2. They breathe? Ummm....why?
3. They TALK??????? I gotta say, that's actually working out to be creepier than I would have imagined.

I'm trying to figure out where I am. Mine is split into 8 "books". I finished the first one... Off to amazon to see if I can figure this out.

I - THINK - that if I read the first two then I will be where I need to be? It's a bit confusing, because it says that Zombie Epic was edited to be split into ten parts, but there are only eight parts...

So the first one is 61 pages. I don't know what that tells us LOL. Have you gotten to the store yet?

The talking was WAY creepy. And the little girl? GAH!

Yeah, they're at the store....they had their little axe party and now Hot Tamale just dropped the z-bomb.

Meg Sheeves's water birth while floating down the rancid byways of River Town has inspired me to get an elective hysterectomy.

I just looked on Amazon..."Resurrection 2" of the series coincides with page 63 in my paper copy.

I reviewed the rest; here's where each of the other parts of the series start in the big volume:


Resurrection 3 = page 125
Resurrection 4 = page 194
R5 = page 257
R6 = page 329
R7 = page 392
R8 = page 443
R9 = page 509
R10 = page 576

The birth! Yeah. Time to yank out that plumbing. Because no. Just no.

Aha! So... I have a ways to go yet. I'm on it! I have to admit, I'm still a total chicken about reading this at night. The underwater stuff is killing me.

Great book, incredible descriptions, but long. Mine was 666 pages.

I wonder if he did the "666" on purpose? Probably to add to the creepy factor, right?

I hope so. Tim Curran's other books are fantastic.

I'm not caught up yet - I'm sorry. I had to stop reading last night because I was creeped out. I'm out all day tomorrow, but home Sunday, so I will read my little heart out!

Ugh. In the context of this book, that was a poor choice of words.

Elizabeth - I don't think you have much catching up to do. I'm just beginning the 3rd section, "Worms", which is on page 146 of the print copy. To give you some frame of reference, Mitch and Tommy just got "salty" with a zombie outside of Bonnie's store :)

My thoughts so far....

- Mike is right - Curran's descriptions are incredible. I can't remember the last zombie tale I read that devoted so much time/energy to painting a terrifying picture of each zombie. Add to that the flooded town with floating corpses and black ooze...creepy. I was reading alone at home after dark and thought to myself, "If someone were to knock on my front door right now, I would probably $h!t myself." Maybe Curran should use that as a book jacket quote?

- I'm not feeling the "Mitch" character just yet. It seems like Curran does a good job developing the other characters (as much as you can in this type of work), but I'm having a difficult time connecting with Mitch. He comes off as both detached and devoted to his family...I guess I just don't have a good sense of his internal world. I also think it's weird that he's painting Lily as an emotional zombie because she's been grieving for her dead sister for all of 2 weeks. Ummm, really? Suck it up, Mitch - two weeks is nothing; we need to be talking in months-years. As it is, I've had colds that lasted longer than Lily's grieving period.

- As I've mentioned, I'm reading the printed/paper copy which was published by Severed Press. As has been the case with other Severed Press books I've read, inadequate attention is paid to editing - glaring grammatical mistakes, obviously erroneous word choices. Severed Press needs to step up their game a bit; I get the sense that the entire company consists of one guy in a basement with a printer and a dream.

OK - back to the book :)

Alright...I must confess to having been sucked into this story yesterday and reading ahead of the schedule. I've read up to page 329 which is equivalent to R1-R5 in the Kindle series. I wrote some notes on my thoughts but will hold off on posting them to avoid spoilers. I suspect you'll probably end up moving through it pretty quickly...it's hard to resist!

Ok you all have me hooked. I will go RIGHT now to Amazon and get this book..Who could resist with black ooze and floating corpses...etc.. will pipe up with opinions when I have cought up :)

YAY!!!!! So happy you are joining us!!!!
We are taking it pretty slow schedule-wise; here it is again:

4/2-4/9: pgs 1-145 (“Exhumation” & “Floaters”)
4/10-4/16: pgs 146-328 (“Worms”)
4/17-4/23: pgs 329-484 (“Decay”)
4/24-4/30: pgs 485-650 (“Pestilence” & “Resurrection")

I will say that Resurrection is the creepiest book I have ever read. I highly recommend Tim Curran's book Dead Sea

How goes it, Elizabeth?

Not sure if I'm flying solo on the BOTM discussion...
Here are my thoughts on the next section, if nothing else maybe there are some lurkers reading along :) Obvs, spoilers below...

Thoughts on “Worms” (pages 146-328)

Bus driver Scott Reed (and the soccer kids): Take home message from the tale of Mr. Reed = Celibacy kills…release the demons lest you fall for the first corpse you meet. Seriously, though…I know these are special zombies that seem capable of messing with people’s minds, but exactly how lonely is this guy? Yikes! And those poor kids on the bus? Partially submerged in flood water and zombies pressed against the windows – very disturbing section; however, the zombies didn’t kill them (yet)? Why?

Lily Barron: OK, courtesy of her interaction with Deke Ericken, I now have a better appreciation of the cray-cray…obviously no longer garden-variety grief. When she started conversing with the dead through the drainpipes, it reminded me of something Stephen King would cook up.

Harry Teal and the Slayhoke Penitentiary gang: I have trouble believing that a maximum security prison would take a large group of prisoners out in a flood/torrential rainstorm to dig up the prison cemetery for a future construction project. That being said, this section was spooky as all get-out and had me on the edge of my seat; I’m really anxious to see how their situation turns out.

Mitch’s neighbors: Miriam Blake - does every horror book have a “crazy” character that magically knows the truth about what is going down but no one believes it because he/she is crazy? Speaking of which, enter Wanda Sepperly, old woman/psychic extraordinaire…very Mother Abagail-ish from The Stand (or maybe, for me, all roads lead back to Stephen King?). Arland Mattson – death by zombie urine with clumps of bladder tissue…blech!!!!

Mitch and Tommy: Despite everything they’ve seen, these fellas don’t seem to be taking this ZA very seriously. A few examples: 1) The only thing to kill zombies thus far has been salt. We’ve got some salt. Meh, let’s use part of it to make homemade ice cream; 2) Insanely bereaved wife rapidly shifts from withdrawn/emotionally “dead” to bizarrely manic. Meh, let’s go visit the neighbor and leave Lily to care for 2 children while the voices in the drain beckon her to a watery death in the gutter; 3) I’m going to warn my neighbors about the ZA. Wait, one guy keeps rolling his eyes at me…Meh, I’ll just end the story without telling them the secret method for killing the zombies.

Army National Guard dudes: Row, row, row your…never mind, you’re dead.

Deke: Well, at least he still has Mr. Cheese. When he learns of his parents’ fate from Nicky, it reminded me of undead Gage's run-in with his father in Pet Sematary ("First I play with Judd, then mommy came, and I play with mommy...we had a awful good time! Now, I want to play with you"). So, yeah, apparently all roads do lead back to Stephen King.

Cops at Hope Street Cemetery: Gelatinous amorphous goo splitting the earth to form human bodies/parts? WTF? This is getting complicated. Speaking of which, how are these zombies mind-effing everyone like vampires or demons? They seem more complex than the average cadaver.

Nearing the end of the “Worms” section…wait, what’s this?…a brand new character? Oh look, the zombified remains of a child-molesting clown named Grimshanks…aka the top-billing star of my nightmares for the next month. Thanks Mr. Curran!

I'm trying to make an appearance here, but its taking a while...all the creepy talk made me borrow from the KLL. I hope to be able to participate a little, at least!

I'm on book three. Almost done... which I think puts me back on track?

I have to admit, I'm enjoying book three more than I did the first two. It seems more... organized? The flow is better maybe? Or perhaps I'm just starting to be able to keep the characters sorted better. I wasn't really keeping them straight in the first two, and it didn't help that I would have to set aside time to read during the day, because hello. Scariness.

Honestly, some of these descriptions are very vivid, even though I don't realize it while I'm reading it. I'm thinking back on some of the events in these first books and I'm surprised that I can do a bit of a mind movie. Very entertaining for me.

One of my favourite moments was where Mitch met Chrissy for the first time. No spoilers, because I know not everyone is done to that point, but it was nice to get some character development with him.

Also, WHAT IS UP WITH THE SALT?

Sara, I'm trying to ignore your thoughts until I'm all the way done - I'm at 87%. But I keep thinking Stephen King too. Certain turns of phrase, the drain thing, the graveyard actually made me think of IT..

Come on in, Teresa! The water is flooded, cold and filled with creepy things.

I think the section "Worms" in the big book corresponds with parts mid-3 through 5 on your Kindle series. When you meet Grimshanks, you'll be just about caught up with me (and my Grimshank-related nightmares).

I agree that Mitch's character is developed much more effectively as this section progresses. Still, the choices those dudes make....pffffttttt!!!

Rats - I had totally forgotten about that. I'm just starting #4, so I guess I'm still behind. That means I'm...starting section two? I can't see why I reply on my phone.

But seriously. Creeping. Me. Out. It's too dark to keep reading. I feel like such a wuss.

Grimshanks back story was just heartbreaking. The voices in the drain makes me want to jump out a window.

ok..I am not sure if I really like this book or not.

Thougts:
This book is more like a horror story than a Zombie book. I liked the part with the creepy baby and the scene with the police in the graveyard but that whole section with the army was pointless to me. Just filler. Hopefully he will tie it all up at the end and I can say I was wrong.

You can tell that that author is a HUGE S.King fan. With the whole all seeing grandma thing.

I guess I want my zombies to not be smarter than the humans. They may be the resurrected dead but they seam more like demons from hell than your average zombie.

The author is really good at building suspense but I think at times that it is ruined by all of the internal dialog.

I am looking forward to Chrissy an Mitch coming together and finding out what this creepy clown has up his sleeves....

Ok..does anyone else feel a little dirty after reading some of this stuff..I am feeling kind of prudish but some of this is very disturbing. I feel like I need a bath or a stiff drink.

Some of it is seriously yucko.

I'm still reading, just very slowly. Still falling asleep about 3.5 seconds after turning on the Kindle. I'm *almost* done this section.

Ok I have finished the book.... I know, I know I should not be finished yet and I will not discuss the ending.. You'll get no spoilers from me. I just wanted to say that I am not sure if I liked this book. The ending left me wanting.... For what I don't know.

Elizabeth - have you gotten to Part 5 yet? Were you able to find Parts 9 & 10 on Amazon?

Thoughts on “Decay” (pages 329-484, R6-R8)

So, some of them are "smart" and some of them are "dead shamblers"? This section made it sound like the military had been practicing some form of black magic or opened the door to some demonic realm...confusing!!!

More Stephen King parallels:
Grimshanks = Pennywise

Is it just me, or does Mitch seem exponentially more attached to his step-daughter Chrissy than his wife Lily? Weirdness...

Shelby - I agree with your comment about the military bits being unnecessary. After meeting the groups led by Oates and Pearle, I have to say, neither brought much to the story. I think the story might have worked better if the military quarantined the town so that no one can get out (but they don't go in to help).

Lots of graphic sex stuff in this section, made all the worse by the fact that it is generally decomposing corpses threatening to sexually violate people. Ummm, no thank you.

Late to the party, but have just started this today! Will post thoughts soon. :). I'm new to read alongs. *waves*

Wow I was wondering why the part I read was so short, it was resurrection 1. I have to agree it was creepy, I almost had to leave the light on. These aren't Romero zombies, they seem more like mutated skeleton ghouls that won't die. I was really sad Meg died, but how does the virus pass? Through the water, the rain, or the black oozing goo that splurges on people. I love the old dude that owns the hunting gear store, his swears we awesome!

Thanks for joining in to the discussion, Selene and Meghan!!

I finished reading this book last weekend, so I've had some time to consider my feelings about it. Something I've come to enjoy about it is the fact that it uses a mixed etiology to explain the origin of its zombies; specifically, (view spoiler)[Army experiment gone-wrong and evil spirits/demonic possession (hide spoiler)]. I guess that's part of what makes this tale an "epic" :)

I found the BIG book :) so now I'm up to where all the cops keep stupidly trying to shoot the corpses and keep dying. They just found the secret ingredient against the corpses and I was wondering in reality if that would really work? It's funny because in all the zombie stories the classic weapons are guns, axes, and crowbars.

Sara wrote: "Elizabeth - I don't think you have much catching up to do. I'm just beginning the 3rd section, "Worms", which is on page 146 of the print copy. To give you some frame of reference, Mitch and Tomm..."

I totally agree with your comments!

I just started Decay, is anyone still discussing this book?