Welcome back to the second part of reviewing The New Dead.
My Dolly(5/10) - Another disappointment but this time for completely different reasons than it being not written very well. On the contrary, it's should be a good read since there's no annoying gimmicks or anything but I don't like the story at all. It's a paramedic that wants to revive some girl for reasons I don't get for some purpose that I rather not think about. Does he want a daughter, a lover? I don't know and frankly I don't care. Shame too since this should've been a lot better.
Second Wind(8/10) - This is another one of the stories where most of its success lies in firing up the imagination. A businessman that zombifies himself to work forever where his zombification is described in fairly good detail is great stuff. Then it turns into something like a love story where a homeless girl kind of gets trapped in the lair. It's one of the best-written stories in the book and it is actually the most interesting but it actually feels a bit too short. I would love to see this expanded by a lot.
Closure, Limited(5/10) - This is the most disappointing story in this book since this was written by Max Brooks, the man who gave us the almost-masterful World War Z. Now I'm not quite sure if this was a deleted scene from World War Z or just another story made for The New Dead but it is quite obvious why it wasn't in World War Z, it's not very good. The thing is that it describes the process of finding zombies, dressing them up as people they know and have the family finish them which isn't all that bad but it's not terribly exciting either. Also, The Reporter doesn't ask any questions, it reminded me of that one story about that French guy talking about fighting zombies underneath Paris, which was my least favorite part, where The Reporter asked no questions and let the guy talk. The Reporter makes things interesting, not the subjects and this proves this point again. At least Brooks is talented enough to up this failure into mediocrity but I'm still highly disappointed with this.
Among Us(2/10) - I will say one thing about this, it is 6 pages. Other than that this is so full of fail that it's sad. It's like a mini-anthology where this is no common theme that connects the story, all of them suck and only the first one actually talks about zombies and even then it's an unfunny joke. There is no point to this and it's a big waste of time, SKIP!
Ghost Trap(7/10) - This can be construed as a great ghost story except for how utterly forgettable this is. It conjures up such a great mood that totally works in the moment but the moment you finish it, it's totally forgotten. I don't know why that is but I'm not bothering to talk about this anymore, it's good but don't expect to remember it afterwords.
The Storm Door(6/10) - Hey look guys, it's another attempt to deconstruct a familiar story, this time it's about night hunters, those guys who go after the creatures of the night. He even has a night huntery name, Nick Nightingale. He goes into how poor he is and he's confused by some random babbling by his taxi driver, then talks about it to his dying older relative, I forgot the relation. The point is that it's not very interesting until the last three or four pages where things quickly get out of hand in an awesome manner. At the very least, the ending salvages quite a bit of the boring fluff of the beginning but it's also a bit too little, too late.
Kids and Their Toys(7/10) - Sure this is another story about how kids are so cruel despite their innocence and what not but this story is told well enough for the reader to forget about that. The ending does go off the rails a bit but before then it's a good story about what happens when kids find a zombie. They poke it with sticks and other stuff but then one of the kids suggest to leave it alone which doesn't go over that well. It's a good read even though you might hear it all before.
Shooting Pool(5/10) - This is by far the strangest story in here for one simple reason...there are no zombies or even mentions of zombies in this at all. A guy dies but he stays dead where the story goes to great pains to describe how final his death is. I get that this wants to go for something completely different but I don't like it when it does this at the expense of the overriding theme of the anthology. Also, the story is somewhat boring even though it does have its moments of interest in it.
Weaponized(8/10) - Once again, it may be a familiar story with the reporter who will do anything to get the big story even if it means having to do something completely idiotic and breaking the rules designed for said reporter's safety but it is highly entertaining. I mean a story that can put computer chips into corpses, control them for up to 50 actions and put them in some suits akin to those Big Daddy suits from Bioshock is OK with me. It's great entertainment even though it's not necessarily a great story.
Twittering from the Circus of the Dead(7/10) -This story is purely gimmickry but it's an awesome gimmick. As you may have guessed from the title, this story is told through one girls Twitter feed and only through that twitter feed. It's a very fresh and interesting way to write and then even read this story as it goes deeper into the realm of madness as the titular Circus of the Dead goes zombie-crazy. But at times, I do think that the author is a bit too critical of Twitter as the main character's handle is Tyme2Waste...since poor literacy is kewl. But despite this and all the gimmicks, it's still a decent story that'll chill you to the bone.
So for any anthology there's great stories and weak stories. In The New Dead, the good outweighs the bad and it's something worth reading.
7/10
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