Display This: Zombies!

Continuing on the horror theme, I thought after last week's compilation of books and films featuring haunted houses, I'd take another trope that creeps me out: zombies. There have been a number of zombie titles out over the last few years, ranging from serious zombies-are-going-to-get-you to more lighthearted zombies-are-going-to-get-you-but-you'll-laugh-on-the-way-out-maybe.

I've limited this list to YA titles only, and I've only highlighted the first book if it happens to be in a series. If you can think of other titles I may have missed that aren't subsequent books in a series, share them in the comments.

All descriptions come from WorldCat and I've included links if we've reviewed the title.

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry (first in a series): In a post-apocalyptic world where fences and border patrols guard the few people left from the zombies that have overtaken civilization, fifteen-year-old Benny Imura is finally convinced that he must follow in his older brother's footsteps and become a bounty hunter. Reviewed here.

Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick (first in a series): Alex, a resourceful seventeen-year-old running from her incurable brain tumor, Tom, who has left the war in Afghanistan, and Ellie, an angry eight-year-old, join forces after an electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky and kills most of the world's population, turning some of those who remain into zombies and giving the others superhuman senses. Reviewed here.


Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard (first in a series): In an alternate nineteenth-century Philadelphia, Eleanor Fitt sets out to rescue her brother, who seems to have been captured by an evil necromancer in control of an army of Undead.

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers: Barricaded in Cortege High with five other teens while zombies try to get in, Sloane Price observes her fellow captives become more unpredictable and violent as time passes although they each have much more reason to live than she has. Reviewed here.

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris: Future physician Kate Grable is horrified when her high school's football coach gives team members steroids, but the drugs turn players into zombies and Kate must find an antidote before the flesh-eating monsters get to her or her friends. Reviewed here.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (first in a series): Through twists and turns of fate, orphaned Mary seeks knowledge of life, love, and especially what lies beyond her walled village and the surrounding forest, where dwell the Unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were once dead.

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters (first in a series): When dead teenagers who have come back to life start showing up at her high school, Phoebe, a goth girl, becomes interested in the phenomenon, and when she starts dating a "living impaired" boy, they encounter prejudice, fear, and hatred.

I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It bu Adam Selzer: Living in the post-human era when the undead are part of everyday life, high schooler Alley breaks her no-dating rule when Doug catches her eye, but classmate Will demands to turn her into a vampire and her zombie boyfriend may be unable to stop him.

You Are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay (first in a series): Megan Berry, a Carol, Arkansas, high school student who can communicate with the Undead, must team up with her childhood friend Ethan to save homecoming from an army of flesh-hungry zombies.

The Undertakers by Ty Drago (first in a series): When the living dead invade Philadelphia, Will Ritter and a group of teenage resistance fighters, known as the Undertakers, are the only ones that can see them to stop the invasion.

Banished by Sophie Littlefield (first in a series and book two, Unforsaken, delves more into the zombie aspect): Sixteen-year-old Hailey Tarbell, raised by a mean, secretive grandmother, does not know that she comes from a long line of healers until her Aunt Prairie arrives with answers about her past that could quickly threaten her future.

Zombie Blondes by Brian James: Each time fifteen-year-old Hannah and her out-of-work father move she has some fears about making friends, but a classmate warns her that in Maplecrest, Vermont, the cheerleaders really are monsters.

Zombies vs. Unicorns anthology: Twelve short stories by a variety of authors seek to answer the question of whether zombies are better than unicorns.

The Enemy by Charlie Higson: After a disease turns everyone over sixteen into brainless, decomposing, flesh-eating creatures, a group of teenagers leave their shelter and set out of a harrowing journey across London to the safe haven of Buckingham Palace.

Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel (first in a series): In the year 2195 when society is technologically advanced but follows the social mores of Victorian England, recently orphaned Nora Dearly is left at the mercy of her domineering, social-climbing aunt, until she is nearly kidnapped by zombies and falls in with a group of mysterious, black-clad commandos.


 

Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby: While trying to cast a love spell on her date on the eve of the senior prom, Mia inadvertently infects her entire high school class with a virus that will turn them all into zombies.

Never Slow Dance with a Zombie by E Van Lowe: When most of their high school classmates turn into flesh-eating zombies, Margot and best friend Sybil see an opportunity to finally become popular and find boyfriends--if they can just stay alive.

The Cellar by A. J. Whitten: Seventeen-year-old Meredith Willis has seen the monstrous truth about her new next-door neighbor, Adrien, who is wildly popular at school and her sister Heather's new love interest, but trying to stop him could be fatal.

Undead by Kirsty McKay: When their ski-coach pulls up at a cafe, and everyone else gets off, new girl Bobby and rebel Smitty stay behind. They hardly know each other but that changes when through the falling snow, the see the others coming back. Something has happened to them. Something bad...

The Infects by Sean Beaudoin: Seventeen-year-old Nero is stuck in the wilderness with a bunch of other juvenile delinquents on an "Inward Trek." As if that weren't bad enough, his counselors have turned into flesh-eating maniacs overnight and are now chowing down on his fellow miscreants. These kids have seen zombie movies. They know the rules. Unfortunately, knowing the rules isn't going to be enough.

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter: Alice Bell must learn to fight the undead to avenge her family and learn to trust Cole Holland who has secrets of his own.

Zom-B by Darren Shan: When the news starts reporting a zombie outbreak in Ireland, B's father thinks it's a hoax-but even if it isn't, the two of them joke, it's only the Irish, right? That is, until zombies actually attack the school. B is forced on a mad dash through the serpentine corridors of high school, making allegiances with anyone with enough gall to fight off their pursuers. But when they come face-to-face with the ravenous, oozing corpses, all bets are off. There are no friends. No allies. Just whatever it takes to survive.
 

Have any others or do you have a particular flavor of favorite zombie story? Share it in the comments. Oh, and this is worth checking out, too: 19 infographics about surviving the zombie apocalypse. Then if you need some more ideas for surviving the zombie apocalypse, here's yet another guide.