If you’re looking to get into spirit of Halloween with the help of zombies, allow me to make two reading recommendations.

First published in 2006 and edited by Jay Slater, Eaten Alive is a book that has played a huge role in developing my own horror sensibility.  Whenever anyone asks me how I managed to learn so much about Italian horror, this book is one of the sources that I always cite.  The film features reviews of films that are both well-known (like Fulci’s Zombi 2 and The Beyond trilogy) and obscure (like 1979’s I’m A Zombie, You’re A Zombie, She’s A Zombie).  The book features a wonderful list of guest reviewers.  Lloyd Kaufman writes about Cannibal Holocaust.  Ramsey Campbell demolishes Nightmare City.  Giovanni Lombardo Radice both reviews a cannibal movie and is also interviewed throughout the book.  Catriona MacColl discussed what it was like to work with the notorious Lucio Fulci.  Ian McCullough, star of Zombi 2 and Zombie Holocaust,  is also interviewed and he comes across as being just as eccentric and British as one could hope for.  This is the book that really introduced me to filmmakers like Lucio Fulci, Jess Franco, Ruggero Deodato, and Michele Soavi.  I would not be the horror fan that I am today if I hadn’t stumbled across it at Recycled Books all those years ago.

Jamie Russell’s Book of the Dead is another book that definitely helped to shape me as both a reviewer and a horror fan.  The book takes an in-depth look at the development of the horror genre, from the cheap B-movies of the 30s to Romero to the Italian zombie boom to the rise of SOV filmmakers and Resident Evil.  Along with providing a fascinating history, this book also includes a comprehensive appendix that lists and reviews hundreds of zombie films.  If you’re searching for a previously unseen zombie film to watch, this book is essential.

Happy reading!