"Dead Men (and Women) Walking" Shambles Into Booksellers

With more than two-dozen tales of brain-feasting, blood-drinking, revenge-seeking horror, "Dead Men (and Women) Walking promises to deliver for horror fans.

(PRWEB) September 15, 2006 -- Few monsters in horror generate the primal fear that one experiences from the walking dead. Whether it is a vampire rapping at the window or a horde of hungry corpses shambling through the streets, the undead scare us in ways other monsters do not. "Dead Men (and Women) Walking" (Bards and Sages ISBN 978-1-84728-906-3) collects two-dozen tales of zombies, vampires, revenants and other undead creatures from writers around the world.

"There is a universal fascination with the living dead," says editor Julie Ann Dawson. "There is more to a zombie story that a bunch of corpses attacking the living. The real power of such a story lies with the undercurrent of hopelessness compounded by a very real instinct to survive."

But not every story in the anthology focuses on such heavy ideas. Some take a more darkly humorous approach, such as Josh Benton's "Waking Finnegan", a tale of what happens after a fight breaks out at a wake for a dead friend. Or Arthur Sanchez's "Old Habit, New Habits", which asks the question "Can zombies be rehabilitated with a twelve-step program?"

The anthology was a difficult project for Dawson, a self-confessed zombie-phobe. "I read a zombie story and I have nightmares for days," she explains. "But my youngest sister loves zombie stories. So when she insisted it was time for Bards and Sages to put together a zombie book, I couldn't tell her 'no.'"

For more information on the anthology, visit http://www.bardsandsages.com/deadmen

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