The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead

From terrain, weapons, fortifications and vehicle selection to sensory characteristics of the living dead, Brooks leaves no headstone unturned. His thoroughness is your critical advantage over the panicked masses when the dead rise. For example, I thought that my ATC Vietnam tomahawk would be sufficient primary protection. The manual has made me aware that although my weapon of choice has the skull penetrating power required, it is only effective in close combat against a small number of undead adversaries. Thus, I have supplemented my equipment with a Hammerli Trailside .22 rimfire pistol, a Barnett RC-150 crossbow, and a titanium crowbar.

The logbook at the end of the manual has been particularly useful, as I have recorded one incident in my vicinity already - a bar fight in Williamsburg, Brooklyn where two victims were bitten by a shambling, 'homeless-looking' man. One man died on the way to the hospital and the other succumbed to a blood infection 24 hours later. Families of the victims are pursuing legal action against the hospital because the attending physician had both bodies 'accidentally cremated'.

My one critique is with one particular sentence in the manual, where Brooks equates an "aged" steak as one that has begun to rot, attacked by microbes like all dead flesh. This analogy has put me off red meat for the last month. Perhaps that is a positive thing...


If you are looking for humor, avoid this!   September 28, 2003
 9 out of 56 found this review helpful

Jeez.

From reading the reviews, and looking at the covers, I was expecting a good laugh or two out of this book, and perhaps some chuckles about bad zombie plots.

Be Warned! This dude is SERIOUS! This book is written AS IF zombies were real, and were ACTUALLY ATTACKING people. I couldn't believe it.. so I kept reading and paging through it.. and nowhere do you see the tongue-in-cheek!

Its not funny, mildly amusing in a few places, and that's about it. Print off a copy of the back cover, and save your money.


Just The Right Book   September 26, 2003
 8 out of 9 found this review helpful

I like horror movies, big George Romero and old Sam Raimi fan. So, I thought I'd check out the Zombie Survival Guide as a fun goof. What I really liked about this book was how serious the writer takes surviving the Zombies. He is so immersed in the Zombie culture that as I read it, I started thinking more and more that these living dead creatures must be real. Although I guess it is considered humor, I found it fascinating and kind of chilling. I just couldn't put it down and in a weird sort of way feel more prepared for life's unknown eventualities.


Unexplicably compelling   September 25, 2003
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

I picked this book up as in impulse purchase. I never do that, even with stupid things like batteries, but I felt drawn to the book. Its really, really funny by dint of how deadpan serious it takes the subject of zombies. It's internally consistent, which helps a whole lot. Here's a sample line (from Attacking-Strategies-Underwater Battles-Scanning the Surface): "Hooking on scuba gear and blindly diving into zombie-infested water is a wonderful way to mix the two childhood fears of being eaten and drowning." Fun, strangely engaging, and it'll look good on your shelf.