Author: Joyce Carol Oates
Title: Zombie
Genre: Horror
Publication Date: 1995
Number of Pages: 181
Geographical Setting: Mt Vernon, Michigan
Time Period: 1980s
🏆 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel 1995
Summary
This story gives us a glimpse inside the twisted mind of a sexual serial killer as his obsession with creating a submissive zombie lover escalates from fantasy to torturous experimentation to murder. Throughout the novel, the protagonist, Quentin P, attempts to convince his family and doctor that he is indeed a successfully recovering sex offender all the while we are invited in to witness his dark, disturbing thoughts weave together with his uncontrollable sexual urges to formulate a masterplan for the creation of the ultimate sex slave.
Subject Headings
Serial murders - Fiction
Psychopaths - Fiction
Michigan - Fiction
Appeal
Stories that fit in the horror genre, shock readers and creates feelings of “disgust, revulsion, unease, high suspense, and anxiety” (Wyatt & Saricks, 2019, p. 239). That is exactly what this novel does.
Three words that describe this novel: disturbing, character-driven, violent
TONE
A hallmark of horror is that it “must evoke an emotional response” (Wyatt & Saricks, 2019, p. 239). This is achieved through explicit scenes of sex and violence (Wyatt & Saricks, 2019, p. 239). There is no lack of either in this novel. As Quentin is pulled deeper into his fantasy, the sexual intensity and violent experimentation fueled by his obsession escalates into unimaginable depictions of evil.
LANGUAGE
Oates uses illustrations throughout the book, mostly handwritten notes and drawings by the protagonist. The entire novel is written from the main character's point of view and alternates between Quentin’s thoughts and interactions with others. Many times, characters in the story are referred only by the first letter of their name, including Quentin, often referring to himself as Q_ P_.
CHARACTERIZATION
The main character in this novel is evil personified. The main protagonist in a horror novel is usually a “haunted, shattered individual(s)” (Wyatt & Saricks, 2019, p. 243). Wyatt & Saricks (2019) also note, “If readers follow the story from the point of view of the villain, then they experience the story from the heart of the evil” (p. 243). This novel delivers.
PACING
According to Wyatt & Saricks (2019), the pacing of many horror novels is “erratic” (p. 243) and this sense of being out of control “captures the essence of living a nightmare” (p. 244). In Zombie, we are taken on a journey through the mind of a sex offender turned murderer and witness firsthand what a true nightmare is.
Non-Fiction Read-alikes
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule (1994): an autobiographical true crime novel about the serial killer, Ted Bundy, written by crime writer, Ann Rule, who at one time worked at a crisis center where she spent many years working alongside Ted, answering a suicide hotline.
Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original “Psycho” (1989): The story that inspired the movies Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs, this book chronicles how Ed Gein turned his mother’s farmhouse into fun house for his ghoulish delights.
Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas & Mark Olshaker (1995): a must read for true crime fans, this novel traces the development of criminal profiling and the FBI’s behavioral science unit.
Fiction Read-alikes
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum (1989): This novel is a fictionalized account of the murder of Sylvia Likens, a 16-year-old girl tortured and murdered in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1965 at the hands of her caretaker, housemates, and neighbors.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1966): a true crime non-fiction novel which captures the events and investigation surrounding the 1959 murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (1991): a first-person account of a charming, psychopathic Wall Street yuppie swept away by a growing obsession with torture and murder.
Wyatt, N., & Saricks, J. (2019). The reader's advisory guide to genre fiction (3rd ed.). ALA Editions.
Wow, this novel sounds great for hard-core horror fans, definitely sounds like its on the "visceral" end of the spectrum. I had no idea Joyce Carol Oates ever wrote anything like that. I think you are smart to use non-fiction true-crime for read-alikes, the plot of "Zombie" sounds like a fictional version of Jeffrey Dahmer.
ReplyDeleteWow! This sounds like a dark creepy read! Sounds very Dahmer-esque. Great write up and full points!
ReplyDeleteI've never even heard of this book, and I'm also surprised that Joyce Carol Oates wrote a horror novel. I had no idea. I think you read-alikes are great too. I like how you connect a fictional novel about a serial killer with nonfiction books about serial killers. Thanks for the recommendations!
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