The Dead is a mere title, but one that does not mimic the complexity of the level within. Rogers' 1989 novel has been reprinted by Permuted Press in a tome containing over 30 original illustrations by the author. Rogers has managed to play in zombies with an intricate religious plot that hinges on sin and repentance.
We are introduced to Gary, an atheist who begins the floor with strange dreams about his father's death that come true. Disappearances, strange mechanical failures, and shared nightmares preclude the zombie apocalypse, which soon becomes a struggle for survival when Gary and his family, especially his brother Max, are targeted by the big bad daddy Legion in his request to damn them to Hell.
The primary aim to get up about Rogers' story is the fact that it manages to give free of the stereotypical zombie genre to admit a logical plot about religion. Zombie films tend to make note of some kind of religious aspect as a case of the zombie outbreak, specifically blaming God for the distress caused, but mostly it remains two-dimensional in scope. Rogers' plot is more focussed on the Final Judgment, and zombies are only a side-effect of that event. This makes the floor so much more intriguing - instead of requiring the subscriber to trudge through 300 pages of zombie mayhem which differs but slightly from others of the same ilk, we get drama that originates from the battle of religion.
One of the better things around The Dead is its reluctance to skip right into the violent, gory nature of zombies. Instead, we're hardened to creepy, atmospheric dreams and frantic conversations that form the lead-up to the Last Judgment so much more eerie than being thrown into the process right away. Rogers has done a secure job of creating tension throughout the piece, enough to keep the reader going without knowing just what is happening.
The zombies are intense, especially because they can't be killed with just headshots. They're practically unstoppable, continuing to raise even when they're in pieces. It makes the action much scarier when the opposition is barely susceptible to weaponry. Legion also has some solid dialogue that gives him a very menacing quality.
The apparatus is good, it's no lie, but there's a place where Rogers starts to suffer a hold on concluding the story. The redemption of the right is somewhat confusing; some suffer, some don't and are just divinely spirited to Heaven. There are a few instances where the ideas are presented but never cleared up; for one, the mechanical failures don't appear to have sense, because the entities that are creating the problem seem to be against the zombies.
There's also a disposition to trust too often on religious dialogues to promote the plot. There are times when whole chapters are devoted to the characters waxing philosophical on their own ideas of religion, and piece it adds good characterization, it can get a little tiring to wade through all of the mumbo-jumbo.
But summationally, The Short works good to combine suffering and sin with zombies in a crazed world, with characters who are continually tested by ultra-stressful events. There's some great imagery here that provides a thick atmosphere, one which can become creepy in the correct setting. While the illustrations could be best in printing quality, they do add a lot to the story alongside it, and Permuted Press' new variant of Rogers' novel thankfully reprints this worthy zombie read. Labels: