Tales Told by the Dead
Gail Davis, Eric S. Brown and John Grover
Review by Alyce Wilson
As the title promises, Poisoned Graves is a collection of stories about the dead: zombies, vampires and other denizens of the netherworld.
The better stories go beyond the horror genre to explore new territory. For example, "The Denaba Incident" by Eric S. Brown and Gail Davis, which combines science fiction and horror for a body-snatching alien story filled with suspense and colorful characters.
"Seeing Double" by John Grover is a more introspective story, especially when compared to some of the gorier tales. In this well-crafted tale, a man encounters his doppleganger and learns what that means for his destiny.
In "Immortal" by Eric S. Brown and John Grover, a scientist faces the terrible and ironic consequences of a deadly contagious disease he'd developed for military purposes.
The weaker stories in this collection, such as "Heading Home" by John Grover, resort to gore, with two-dimensional, dispensable characters meeting their ugly dooms. And some of the zombie stories concentrate more on military strategy and bloody fighting than on character development.
While the collection is sometimes uneven, the stronger stories are worth reading. Hopefully, these writers will collaborate again, perhaps crafting a collection that steps outside genre altogether and pulls together their strongest work.
Double Dragon eBooks; ISBN: 1554040388