Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist

“Viktor had been very sad about their grandfather's death, but Flora had intuited that it was less the person he grieved for than the fact of death itself. Death meant that people actually disappeared. That everyone was going to disappear.”― John Ajvide Lindqvist, Handling the Undead

Residents of Stockholm are experiencing an abundance of strange phenomenon. First the oppressive weather begins triggering headaches, followed by unusual power surges that trigger electronics to malfunction. Shortly after, the newly deceased wake up in morgues, dig themselves out of their graves, and try to return home...

Gustav Mahler's life ended the day his grandson died. Now he sees the possibility to take back what he's lost and make everything right. Flora's grandmother sacrificed years of her life to a catatonic husband. His death was a relief and she wants nothing to do with his afterlife. David wants everything back to the way it was before. He doesn't want to explain to his son why Mommy can't come home and he doesn't know what the right thing is. She horrifies him even as he loves her. Authors who tackle the subject of zombies, typically focus more on the mindless monster theme. The focus here is the living and how they handle and impossible situation.

I loved this story. It wasn't just another zombie-apocalypse, running and screaming and hiding from mindless murder machines. It wasn't scary in the sense that after the book was done, you had to look over your shoulder to make sure an Undead Menace wasn't crouching behind your reading chair. It was scary because it was an emotional look at what would happen if someone you loved/hated/grieved came back from the dead and which scenario would be worse? If they could come home or if they couldn't? And how far would you go to protect someone who technically, wasn't alive?

Rating: 5/5

Original Review Date:

Apr 11, 12