Customer Reviews

Zombie Kong - Anthology

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There are some really great stories in this unique collection! At first glance, this seemed like a silly idea for short-stories. I expected to see nothing more than several different versions of the same scenario but after reading "Manny's Candy" by Shelley Ontis, I saw a whole universe of possibilities and I was hooked. Stories about zombies AND giant gorillas!? What's not to like about that? David Niall Wilson's "In Today's News...Meanwhile in Suburbia Part One" put a smile on my face and "The Elephant in the Room" by Adrian Ludens really blew me away. While there were a couple of stories that, to me at least, didn't seem to work in the collection, the majority are worth a read. If you like zombie stories but think you've read every zombie scenario possible, just take another look at the title "Zombie Kong" and think again.

These stories took zombies to a whole new level. Over-sized monkeys of the living dead. Many of these stories were good and fast paced while a couple of them were so so. Some had a bit of humor tossed in to keep you wanting to finish them. Your millage may vary. At the very least you won't be able to say it's the same old zombie stories. The writers had to think outside the box with this idea and they did a fine job of it.

In truth I half expected a zombie Donkey Kong tossing mangled bodies at a plumber. Not what I got but just as interesting.

The stories in this fantastically diverse collection range from horrific to funny to touching. There are some real gems in this selection, and I was surprised at the incredibly diverse directions that each of the authors took. Most of the time in an anthology on a topic as specific as this, you'll get the same story over and over. Not in this book. Zombie Kong does not stick to one particular genre or direction, just the character of the giant undead gorilla. The collection includes truly memorable pieces, such as Manny's Candy (Shelley Ontis), which details the primate's beginnings and evolution in a surprisingly emotional story that will stick with the reader long after they've finished the anthology. True fans of apocalyptic fiction will love The Elephant in the Room (Adrian Ludens) and Escape from Ape City (Amanda C. Davis). There are plenty of classic suspense and horror pieces to get your heart pumping and give you the chills you're looking for, including The Beast That Would Not Die (Megan R. Engelhardt) and Lyceum (Steve Ruthenbeck), both stories that go in a very unexpected direction.

Zombie Kong is not your average anthology with zombies or giant apes. The authors lend their diverse range of styles and specifically seek to take their ideas in unexpected directions, which is a very pleasant surprise. Having read many anthologies, I've become tired of collections that repeat the same thing ad nauseum, but this was a refreshing change. Be sure to pair this with James Roy Daley's Zombie Kong novella, also available on Kindle.

Note that I edited this anthology as well as the novella, so I do have a professional tie to this work. However, I always post only honest reviews of the writing I've edited. I am a freelance editor, so I do not work solely for any author or group of authors, and I am thus not obligated to give positive reviews, or any reviews at all. My review states my personal opinion of the work as a reader, not as a professional editor.