Review by MephXV -- The Ultimate Guide to Zombies

[MephXV]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Ultimate Guide to Zombies" by Dave Robertson.]

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

The Ultimate Guide to Zombies walks the reader through the history of zombies, and how they came to be so intertwined with contemporary culture and just about every medium–from television to movies to literature and art. The notion of the zombie was considered at one point to be on the fringe, but now pervades all these manifestations of culture and has opened up a slot for itself in the zeitgeist. This did not occur overnight, but rather was a slow process, especially at first. As the author points out, the origin of zombies is from Haiti. After this, zombie-like creatures made their way into films, and today, there is a subculture dedicated to the study of zombies as they appear in pop culture.

After the first few chapters, the topic switches over to how to say the word “zombie” in a few different languages, the anatomy of the zombie, weaponry used to fight zombies, and how a zombie apocalypse could occur. Basically anything related to zombies. The anatomy section makes use of specific terms of the brain’s anatomy, so is slightly dense; but, the author does state what each part does and what its role is in relation to zombie behavior. The author also give reference to another book that gives far more details on zombies from a neuroscientific perspective.

It was rather unfortunate that the author did not go into more detail about zombies in Haiti; he does mention The Serpent and the Rainbow (but not until about one-fifth into the book), and the book on which it was based, where an anthropologist goes to Haiti and encounters these zombies first-hand, and the scientific research that anthropologist’s journey caused. A Voudoun practitioner (based on that movie, if I recall correctly) creates a powder, which causes someone to appear lifeless and without a heartbeat, at which point they are presumed dead and consequently buried. When they gain consciousness, they have no air to breathe, for they are still buried underground. Then, they are dug up, but not until after brain damage has occurred–hence, they seem to be a zombie.

At times, the author seems subjective in his criticisms of how some have reviewed zombie films. One such instance is where he calls reviewers wimps if they have taken off points for a zombie film if it had too much blood and gore, subsequently saying some people just never will like a zombie film (location 243 in the kindle version). Perhaps, instead, they viewed the movie relied too much on blood and gore and substituted in these cinematic devices for its plot. Perhaps not everyone really cares for gore; not everyone has to love an excess of blood in order to review a movie properly. In other instances, a recommendation of a particular film proves cursory and superficial. One such instance is on location 594, where the author states that “the characters are good, the effects are well done, and everybody else has seen it.” I realize that the scope of this book is to give the reader a glimpse at the history of zombies in media, which, if an author were to provide an in-depth look, volumes could be filled; but, in what way are these characters good? Will I sympathize with them? Moreover, this book is titled The Ultimate Guide to Zombies, which may leave the reader desperate for more details. These superficial analyses reemerge not even a paragraph later, when the author says The Walking Dead series goes downhill near the end of season five. I would like to know at least one criticism of that season and some comparison with the unfolding of that season and the series up until that point. In the electronic kindle version of the book, from locations 449 to 501, the text is greyed-out to the point of being barely visible. I thought the pages were blank at first. It also occurs at location 726. Highlighting these sections provides a solution to the problem. Note that this problem occurs only if you have your kindle app color background setting set to black; white and sepia are unaffected by this issue.

Aside from these minor hiccups, and occasional typos, such as the they’re bones, when it should be their, on location 534, this book provides a history of the zombie in media culture and the development of zombies in media culture over time. Likewise, the author does get into some detail on how the zombie craze has affected not only literature, but also found its way into history (Abe Lincoln and zombies) and science (The Serpent and the Rainbow). The author states on location 594 in a parenthetical, Abe Lincoln, Zombie Hunter. I have not seen a movie, or read a book titled that; but, I have seen and read something titled Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. A Google search for Abe Lincoln, Zombie Hunter brought up a movie titled Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies, but that was about it.

The superficiality mentioned earlier gets better, but only for a moment, after you reach chapter three, approximately one-third the way through the book, where the author starts delving into the concept of the zombie in media and how this concept relates to cultural and societal concerns but quickly turns attention to other matters in subsequent chapters. This never feels like an ultimate guide to zombies–as someone on Amazon commented, it is likely someone already a fan of zombies will not learn something new by reading this, and I agree. Given these points, I give this book two out of four stars. The book, overall, reads as a brief reference on zombies, so does provide value to a zombie fan, thus warranting two stars instead of just one.

******
The Ultimate Guide to Zombies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like MephXV's review? Post a comment saying so!

[MsTri]

It's a downer to know that this book didn't quite live up to its title. Still, even though I like zombies, I don't know much about them or their history, so I still may give it a try. I'll just remember to keep an eye out for things you mentioned and not expect too much.