"Better off Undead" is an anthology with an interesting premise. Many people are used to thinking of the undead as creepy and horrifying, but what if life as an undead was actually better for some than their lives as a warm human had been? That was the challenge that was placed before these writers. Not all the stories were superb in my opinion, but many of them were quite entertaining!

The book is divided into four sections. "Afterlife" deals with those who have died, find themselves in the afterlife, and now have some rather interesting adventures. "Spirit" deals with ghosts and haunting's. "Flesh" deals with zombies and revenants. And lastly, "Undead" deals with vampires, that which we originally and traditionally think of as undead.

It was interesting to see some authors I'm familiar with in this anthology. Especially because I'm more familiar with them as science fiction authors! I always love to see writers working in a different genre.

As always with an anthology, it's hard to pick out my favorite stories to talk about. Two of my favorites from this one were "Genius Loci" by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and "Two All Beef Patties" by Jay Lake. I think these two stick out in my mind because they both have great endings! ( )

The premise: it's simple, really: eighteen stories explore the actual perks of being undead, and therefore, it's a kind of celebration of the paranormal and all the goodness that comes with it. These eighteen original stories are split into four categories: Afterlife (stories that take place in some form of the afterlife), Spirit (ghost stories), Zombies (need I say more?), and Undead (vampires, yo).

My Rating

Wish I'd Borrowed It: The only reason I bought it was for the Carrie Vaughn story, which was a cross between a ghost-story and a superhero story and therefore entertaining in its own right, but it didn't do anything for me, and that was par for the course with this anthology. However, I applaud the fact that this anthology featured ORIGINAL stories that DIDN'T DEPEND on the author's previously-published books. That's such a sad relief it's not even funny. The stories were, for the most part, pretty well written, and if you make it through the entire book without even cracking a smile once, there's something wrong with you (or you don't like this type of fiction no matter what form it takes, and in that case, you don't need to be reading this anthology to begin with). There's quite a lot of light, humorous stories here, which makes the darker ones stand out in a bad way (IMHO), but as far as UF anthologies go, it's got some serious variety, and that's a plus. But overall, it's like cotton candy: it doesn't stick with you for very long.

For the full review, which includes NO SPOILERS and very brief reactions (both positive and negative) to certain stories, may be found in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: BETTER OFF UNDEAD edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Daniel M. Hoyt

List of Contributors

Sarah A. Hoyt
Dave Freer
Laura Resnick
Esther M. Friesner
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Alan Dean Foster
Carrie Vaughn (Odyssey Writer)
Irene Radford
Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Fran LaPlaca
Jay Lake
Devon Monk
Robert A. Hoyt
Kate Paulk
Rebecca Lickiss
Charles Edgar Quinn
Amanda S. Green
S.M. Stirling

Happy Reading! :) ( )