In 1968, the world experienced a brand-new kind of terror with the debut of George A. Romero’s landmark movie Night of the Living Dead. The newly dead rose to attack the living. Not as vampires or werewolves. This was something new . . . and terrifying. Since then, zombies have invaded every aspect of popular culture.

But it all started on that dreadful night in a remote farmhouse. . . .

Nights of the Living Dead returns to that night, to the outbreak, to where it all began. New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry teams with the godfather of the living dead himself, George A. Romero, to present a collection of all-new tales set during the forty-eight hours of that legendary outbreak.

BRAAIIIIIINNNNSSSSS….

Who doesn’t love a good story about flesh eating zombies, freshly risen from the grave? I mean, obviously a lot of people do. The Walking Dead is still going strong in its 47th season, with nineteen different spinoff shows & a trilogy of movies in the works.

But how fucking cool is this anthology, bringing things back to where all this hunger for human flesh began: George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Edited by Romero himself (along with Jonathan Maberry), each story in Nights of the Living Dead is set on (or around) that infamous night, and basically all of them are set in the Pittsburg area (where the film takes place). Where the mythology/chronology gets a little…creative (and this is addressed in the intro by Maberry) is that some of these stories seem to be set in vastly different time periods. So some will feel much more “late 60’s,” while folks are using cell phones or talking about active shooter drills in others.

You just have to go with it, no?

Joe R. Lansdale kicks off the collection in rip roaring fashion with his story, “Dead Man’s Curve.” It’s about a brother & sister drag racing duo (she’s the driver, he’s the mechanic). Of course just as their race is heating up, HERE COMES THE UNDEAD! Lansdale doesn’t shy away from the gore…this one was every bit as awesome as you’d expect a Lansdale zombie story to be!

Mike Carey (aka M.R. Carey) brings a scientific angle to his story, “In That Quiet Earth.” This one starts off in an almost emotionally detached tone, but grows slowly more gut-punchy as it goes on. This story also strangely reminded me of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend!

David Wellington takes the first big chance in this collection with his story “Orbital Decay.” This one takes place on a space shuttle while events unfold down on Earth. Most of the story is told via dialogue that was transmitted to Earth. This one has a creepy & claustrophobic feel, and I dug the hell out of it!

Mira Grant also goes for something rather unique, setting her story, “You Can Stay All Day” in a zoo! The main character, Cassandra, is kind of the quintessential Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire character, someone who looks after the big cats at the zoo & treats them like family. This was a really cool story!

“Dead Run” by Chuck Wendig was another highlight (I mean, it’s Wendig!). It’s about two adult brothers trying to come to grips with what’s happening in the world, while also struggling with two different ideologies: every man for himself, or helping as many people as possible. This was a great story with an emotional punch. Also, this is (I believe) the first time I’ve ever read anything Chuck Wendig wrote in first-person!

Jonathan Maberry’s story “Lone Gunman” is notable not just for featuring a horrific & claustrophobic escape scene, but also for canonically tying together his Joe Ledger series with the world of Night of the Living Dead! It’s pretty damn clever, and also a good reminder that I should get back into the Joe Ledger series, having read Patient Zero quite awhile ago!

There were a few stories in here that felt a little bit “same zombies, different day” to me, but for the most part, this is a really great collection of stories. My only serious gripe would be that there are nineteen stories in this anthology, and only two of them are written by women. I think this one would’ve benefited from quite a bit more diversity!

All in all, this was a pretty great read for the spooky season. Brain-eating, shuffling hordes of the undead, one story after another, by some of my very favorite authors.