There is nothing to fear but fear itself… and zombies! Following the outbreak of Human Reanimation Virus – more commonly known as ‘The  Death’ – from a hidden crypt beneath a south London church, the centuries-old plague quickly spreads throughout the world, turning victims into flesh-eating zombies. As we learn more about the mysterious Thomas Moreby – ‘Patient Zero’ – the surviving members of the human race begin their fightback against the legions of walking dead, and the Infected themselves begin mutating into something… different. Told through interconnected eyewitness accounts – emails, text messages, reports , diaries, found video footage and graphic adaptations – the remnants of humanity battle to survive in a world gone mad. This month The Eloquent Page will feature, along with regular reviews, a number of posts discussing my favourite genre subject – The Apocalypse. Pull up a seat for the End of the World… First up everyone’s favourite undead shufflers – zombies. Yes, I know that there is an awful lot of zombie fiction out there, but there are some books that really do stand out. Back in 2010 I reviewed Zombie Apocalypse and was pleased to discover a polished anthology that contained some first…

All over the world it is believed there are cursed human beings with the horrifying destiny of changing at full moon and destroying those they love the most -individuals who hide beneath the face of the beast, and beasts who kill with the tortured soul of man. Bound by ancient maledictions, captives of man’s primal side, bearers of insatiable bloodlust and brute strength…they are the wolf men. Horror lends itself particularly well to the short form so it seemed only sensible to include at least one short story collection during Werewolf Appreciation Month. The Mammoth Book of Wolf Men edited by Stephen Jones consists of twenty-five werewolf themed tales.  Each story delves into the werewolf mythos in unique and imaginative ways. My personal favourites are listed below. Twilight at the Towers by Clive Barker – I’m a strong believer that the first story that appears in any collection needs to capture the readers imagination straight off the bat. This blending together of cold war paranoia, and the espionage of a thriller, with the brutality of the werewolf is a great start. This has a similar premise to the classic The Wolf’s Hour by Robert McCammon. The Werewolf by R. Chetwynd-Hayes –…

Welcome to Zombie Appreciation Month. Throughout October The Eloquent Page will take a look at different interpretations of zombies in modern literature. To begin with I’ve decided to start with a classic theme. I give you The End of the World. Will humanity triumph over the worldwide zombie plague, or will the walking dead inherit the earth? It seems only fair that the first book that I’m looking at is the one that gave me the idea in the first place. There were a number of book launches at this year’s FantasyCon in Nottingham, and this book immediately caught my eye. With a few notable exceptions, I’m not a huge fan of anthologies. As a rule, I prefer to read novels written by one author, but in an effort to broaden my horizons I decided to take a chance. Zombie Apocalypse! chronicles the worldwide spread of ‘The Death’. Starting in London, and then rapidly spreading across the globe the reader is given the opportunity to delve into the lives of those affected. In this case I think having multiple authors was entirely the right decision. There is one world, and one event, but each author has the opportunity to have…