Sunday, December 2, 2012

Chivalry is Dead! And free!

Today is your chance to get a fantastic anthology: Chivalry is Dead. Don't believe me? Then here is what prolific reviewer Ursula K. Raphael had to say...

Chivalry Is Dead had the most variety in its stories that I've ever seen in a zombie anthology up to this point. I've always thought anthologies were a great way to sample new authors without committing to an entire book, but the Catch-22 is that when I do find an author with a writing style I thoroughly enjoy, I'm not satisfied with a short story...I want more.

A brief run-down:

DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL by TW Brown switches POV between father and daughter, as their post-apocalyptic world tests their relationship. The story had several mini-flashbacks, not much action, but it was psychologically moving.

SUMMER ASSIGNMENT by Bennie L. Newsome had me laughing from the start. I'm not sure if he was trying to be funny, but I appreciate how Newsome contrasted a child's perception with that of the adults regarding a domestic situation. In this case, a young man reads a horror report about the dysfunction in his family, which he chalks up to a zombie issue.

CISTERN by D. Krauss was one of my favorites, simply because it was so odd. It was an account of life after a zombie apocalypse that I think will generate some great undead/survival debates in the zombie community.

MUTATION by Michael J. Evans was one of the very best zombie stories I have ever read, period. The fantastic use of suspense had me sitting on the edge of my chair, literally. The two main characters, Alex and Eve, make a startling discovery while scavenging, which changes the rules of engagement between the undead and the living.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A ZOMBIE by Matthew Munson was a spectacular story, but there was nothing traditional about it...very original. Just think, "What if they HAD found a vaccine in an apocalypse scenario like 28 Days Later? How would the infected have felt about the destruction they caused?"

SAVING MIRABEL by Jerry Enni begins with the perfect first sentence for a horror story...great way to draw in the readers. In the story a man tries to prevent his sick wife from being taken away due to extreme security precautions. The ending was just as good as the beginning.

CAMP VICTORY by Chad Rohrbacher had me laughing out loud. Again, I wasn't sure if I was suppose to find it funny, but I loved the little side-stories so much, I was reading them out loud to my husband. I especially liked the one with the monkeys. This was definitely another favorite of mine in the anthology.

DAMSEL IN DISTRESS by Andrew Black focused on the little time in which a doorman tries to help one of the female tenants escape from a collapsing tower apartment. I liked the zombies more than I liked the characters.

LAY TO REST by Wesley Dylan Gray was heavy on descriptions, which I think are too much for a short story with limited space. However, it had the flavor of a zombie western, about a man determined to take care of his family, and I think other horror fans would enjoy it.

CHANGING CHANNELS by Stephen Hill was one of the best in the anthology. It was like a Twilight Zone episode with the undead. There's nothing quite like the bond between siblings. I loved all of it, and I thought the ending was superb.

THE GIFT by A. Garrison began with a strong hook, and continued to build in suspense using a powerful flashback as two high school students make a stand on the roof of their school. It was also really gross. Don't read this if you've just eaten.

SOMETHING BETWEEN THE TEETH by Derek Ivan Webster was a surprisingly apathetic POV of a young woman who finds herself in a three-way struggle with both new and old zombies. It was a nice contrast of the different types of undead.

LAST SUPPER by Ryan Neil Falcone focused on three guys trying to get out of Houston, TX during a zombie outbreak. Unfortunately for them, there is never a dull moment. This story was the perfect example of how zombies are seldom the worst thing part of an apocalypse.

RESPECT FOR THE DEAD by Tom Yde offered a completely new version of zombies, thus expanding the sub-genre with a mere short story. I loved the originality, but it was more introspection than action; however, the few moments of interaction between the undead and the living are pretty deep...a zombie story for the thinking man.

You might also want to check out the "companion" book, Hell Hath No Fury.

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