Customer Reviews

The Undead That Saved Christmas

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
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I got my copy of this book this weekend for my boyfriends son, whom couldn't get his nose out of it all weekend. I thought this would be a really great review due to the fact that he is 7 years old and there isn't an age limit for reading this book. I read a few stories in it to ensure it was OK for him to read and he loved it. It has an index in the front and great graphics. He started with all the comics inside the book first and then read the stories that sounded interesting. He ended up reading the whole book in 2 days. Wonderful job to all the people who put the time in to make this happen. Highly recommended!!

I'm a direct person so here it is directly:

- It's entertaining for young and old alike.

- It helps out Foster kids which is nice and all, but really, the book is worth buying outside of that- that is just a bonus in my eyes.

- The variety of having poems and comics set this apart from a 'regular' anthology, I might have mixed them up instead of grouping them together... but that's more of a personal preference though, no sleight on the book.

- Full Disclosure: I am one of the contributors (We all donated our works so we don't 'profit' by talking it up at all), but I'm really surprised at how great the book is. I'm honored to be a part of it. I thought it was gonna be a little thing with a few stories... I had no idea how amazing it is until I read it. I'm also a little embarrassed at having thought it was just going to be a little story collection sold at bake sales or something. I'm humbled to be included with such great writers and to be a part of an amazing project. My little grinch heart grew 3 sizes reading it... Yours will too!

- Oh, my last point? BUY IT!!!

Parody of Christmas carols, "scary" Christmas stories. Great for children! Loved it. Fun artwork, and it's for a great cause. Highly recommended.

The Undead That Saved Christmas is an anthology of stories, poems, carols, AND comics written by horror fans for horror fans that was collected and assembled by anthology editor and book reviewer Lyle Perez-Tinics.

I've been following Lyle and this project for a few months now. What this project is (or was and will be) is that Lyle set out to do something unique and truly great for society. Put together a book of short stories, carols, and comics encompassing Zombies...and Christmas. But the thing is not only does that make for a captivating read but this book is also giving back to this world after zombies have taken so so much.

You see, The Undead That Saved Christmas is proof that Horror Fans are the BEST Fans. This book set out to do two things...add more zombies, gore, and Christmas to our lives...AND put presents under trees for foster kids at Christmas. Proceeds from this book go to the Hugs Foster Family Agency to help buy presents for kids this Christmas. Now THAT is what horror is all about. Also the gore, nudity, blood, guts, eye gouging, elf torture, and brutal murder. But mostly giving.

I have tremendous respect for this book and what it sets out to do. You can tell this thing was put together with serious reflection. He didn't just throw the names of stories into a hat and pull them out, there's enough combination between stories to keep this book moving. You'll read a story about a Frozen Elf Zombie and switch to a serious Family death Zombie story. It just goes back and forth instead of the stories being bunched together so you absolutely love the first half and hate the second. It makes the pace of this thing go very quickly.

The stories. There are a couple dozen stories in this thing...maybe more I don't have the book in front of me...but I loved ALL but like two. And those two didn't suck or anything, they just weren't as good when compared with the rest. And it also has to do with my dislike of first person written stories. I just have a hard time imagining it, it's just not my thing. (And that's ok, it's not bad, it's just not for me.) Novelists and filmmakers really need to read this thing. There's more originality and humor in this book than anything big publishing/Hollywood has been putting out lately. The stories range from just ridiculous fun to serious of the serious. All of them truly unique of one another.

Then just when your getting sick of reading stories...there's something else! We move on to Christmas Carols and some original poems. There's a few pages of these, all of them are pretty amazing. But from there we go to my favorite part...the comics. There's like 5 or 6 of them...all of them very well drawn with great stories. The last one had me laughing really hard!

Ok so now that you know this book is awesome, buy it. Even if your not sold on what I just told you, buy it anyway and help put some presents under some kids' Christmas tree this year. Every bit helps and you'll be getting something amazing in return as well.

I originally got this for my partner who loves zombies. I've always been able to take them or leave them. I always considered Christmas stories to be trite, too. No more! In any collection there will be some stories that are stronger than others, but the overall quality in this anthology is very good. Even stories I did not expect to like were entertaining.

The stories themselves are long enough to flesh out (no pun intended) the story line but are short enough to be easy reads. I would not suggest sitting down to read this cover to cover unless you really love zombies. Really, how much zombie can you take in a day? However, I love the stories for in between times- waiting rooms, bedtime or when I just want an amusing easy read. You might also want to try reading it while waiting in line with your kids to see Santa at the mall, but that could get a bit surreal.

An anthology is a very good way to try out a number of authors without having to commit the time and money to reading an entire novel. I figure that if an author can catch my attention and entertain me in a short story without leaving me wondering about missing details at the end, there's a good chance that their longer works will be great, too. I like that the book has links to more information on the authors. It makes it easy to read more if you enjoyed their style.

This is a fantastic find for a zombie lover. Even if you are only so-so with zombies but love a good chuckle this is also a good choice. I'm very glad I got this collection.

Who says that zombies have to be all bad? The Undead That Saved Christmas show us all that zombies can do good in the world aside from just entertain us, scare us, or work as such wonderful shotgun fodder! Lyle Perez-Tinics has put together a great anthology that is not only fun to read but for whose proceeds go to a great cause - The Hugs Foster Family Agency.

While it is a bit early still for the Christmas season with Halloween just around the corner it's never too early for giving and that's what this anthology really is all about. It was put together by Lyle Perez-Tinics (author, owner of Undead In The Head, and one of Buy Zombie's part time book reviewers) in an effort to both help others in their time of need as well as help other authors get more exposure! With an introduction by S.G. Browne (Author of one of my personal favorites - Breathers: A Zombies Lament) and a full slew of authors in the mix, each telling a unique story that falls into the theme.

It's not your usual zombie anthology. Aside from having the overall feel of being a Christmas anthology you also have the bonus of the inclusion of poems, songs, and comics as well. Each and every entry into this anthology is able to bring you part of the seasonal joy that comes with Christmas - a Christmas filled with zombies at least!

So how many short stories are we talking about? Well with a couple of authors weighing in twice and the list being as follows: Beth Bartlett, Rebecca Besser, TW Brown, S.G. Browne, Nate Call, Richard S. Crawford, Tony and Heather Faville, Joe Filippone, Rusty Fischer, Robert Freese, Lyndal Ferguson, Stacey Graham, Sean Hoade, Rhonda E. Kachur, Angie Mansfield, J Gilliam Martin, Calvin A. L. Miller II, Scott Morris, Kevin Preece, Angelica Raene, Edward J. Russell, Lyle Perez-Tinics, Mandy Tinics, Jason Tudor, Mike Schneider and Brian Germain, Mike Schneider and Anders Skoglund.

Yes that's right you are going to have PLENTY of reading to enjoy through this one with both published authors, bloggers, and a few new names on that list I guarantee this is a title you are going to enjoy. The only problem is actually giving you a direct review on each of the stories (this would become a miniature novel in itself to do that.) I promise though that for zombie fans everywhere this not only is this a book you need to pick up for your own enjoyment but also to be able to help others.

[Originally posted at BuyZombie.com.]

Reindeer, Elves, Santa Claus, Gingerbread men - all your favorite zombie undead characters in one book. I never knew how awesome Christmas could be! I was lucky enough to receive an advance manuscript of The Undead that Saved Christmas, due to be published next month. The book is a collection of short stories, poems and comics, all related to Christmas and zombies. It is edited and put together by Lyle Perez-Tinics. The book's proceeds will be donated to the Hugs Foster Family Agency, and all of the authors donated their time and energy to create the stories without pay or royalties. This is a pretty cool idea.

Lyle knew that he was wanted to create an anthology for a charity, knew that is was near Christmas time, and knew that he loved zombies. He came up with the idea to mix zombies and Christmas in the anthology - who knew? What a great idea - The book has an introduction written by S.G. Brown, author of Breathers: A Zombie Lament. Brown says "In the end, the Christmas spirit shouldn't be reserved for just the living. It should encompass all mankind, even those who are no longer technically among the living."

You'll find a plethora of new situations and protagonists here - new ideas that have never been released into the zombie genre. Gingerbread people who are alive but immune to zombies, gooey plant creatures that attach to and control humans, an apocalyptic Christmas present, prehistoric zombie elves on ice, rollerblading diva zombies, zombie voodoo priestesses, counting down the twelve days of a zombie disaster, and more. You'll never see Christmas in the same way again - nor will you want to.

Here is a complete author list in order of appearance:

Stories - Lyle Perez-Tinics, S.G. Browne, Richard S. Crawford, Rhonda E. Kachur, Rebecca Besser, TW Brown, Robert Freese, Tony and Heather Faville, Jason Tudor, Scott Morris, Calvin A. L. Miller II, Sean Hoade, Mandy Tinics, Joe Filippone, Stacey Graham, Angelica Raene, Edward J. Russell

Poems and Carols - Angie Mansfield, Rusty Fischer, J Gilliam Martin, Kevin Preece, Stacey Graham, Beth Bartlett, Lyle Perez-Tinics

Comics - Calvin A. L. Miller II, Lyndal Ferguson, Mike Schneider & Brian Germain, Mike Schneider & Anders Skoglund. Nate Call

If you are a zombie fan, this is a must-read, and the book will make great stocking stuffers for your zombie friends. Best of all, the proceeds go directly to a great charity to help children, so there really isn't a reason not to buy this book.

I bought this for two reasons--I like zombie stories, and I love that this supports a charity. I enjoyed most of the stories included in the anthology, but they could all use a thorough editing, for both content and technical errors. Considering it was a $3 book for charity, I'm happy enough with the purchase, especially since there were some unique/funny ideas and concepts in the various stories.

I bought this for my zombie obsessed 13 year old nephew. I read through first to make sure it was age appropriate. While it mostly is, there's one story that I ended up removing from the book before giving it to him. For the other reviewers who thought this was a great book for kids, did they read "Brains Like Figgy Pudding"? That story has explicit reference to a 13 year old boy getting a hand-job from his best friend's sister. Not a brief reference either! It goes on and on about it with no pertinence to the story. That one also has the most excessive profanity as well. In my opinion, this book is best for ages 16 up. As for my adult enjoyment, certainly not the best zombie anthology I've read but still lightly entertaining.

I saw Mommy eating Santa's brains

Underneath the mistletoe last night.

She didn't see me reach

for the pistol at my feet;

She was too busy slurping up

delicious Santa meat.

Yes, while it may be a bit too early to think about Christmas for my tastes, the Christmas spirit has infected me by way of a most unusual anthology. The Undead That Saved Christmas edited by Lyle Perez-Tinics is a charity anthology that combines tales of Christmas with zombies. The proceeds from this unique anthology will go to aid in giving the children in the care of the Hugs Foster Family Agency a Happy Holiday this season.

I have been given the pleasure of, not only being a part of The Undead That Saved Christmas along with my husband Tony Faville, but also the opportunity to read an advanced copy. Merry Christmas to me, right?! I have a bit of a twisted sense of humor, so this anthology is right up my alley. With its black magic, cookie contracts, the mysterious reason being "nice" is so important and undead reindeer The Undead That Saved Christmas has a short story for everyone. You can, also, find hilariously funny poems, songs, comics and some fantastic illustrations inside the 290 pages of this anthology.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed every story, poem, song and comic in this anthology. There were a couple that stood out and really appealed to me. While I don't usually single out certain stories in an anthology I am going to make an exception because I want you to know just what you are getting when you buy The Undead That Saved Christmas.

"The Magic of Christmas" by Rebecca Besser and illustrated by Justin T Coons begins with many of Santa's elves having come down with a strange illness. Santa of course is worried that with, currently, over half his elves sick they won't make their quota in getting the toys made and readied for his Christmas Eve flight. We meet Hammond, who seems to be SC's right hand elf, trying to keep things moving forward as his fellow toy makers continue to succumb to the illness that is plaguing the North Pole. The day finally arrives and....well, I guess you need to make a purchase to find out and give some children a little Christmas Cheer.

The latter part of The Undead That Saved Christmas consists of various poems, songs and comics. I really got a kick out of the comic "A Puppy for Christmas" story by Mike Schneider and art by Brian Germain. I love the art and story and it made me laugh out loud...I told you I'm a bit twisted!