Michael A. Appel 
Zombies aren’t everyone’s favorite horror monster, but people who love zombies really do. There are tons of great zombie stories that could have made a list of best zombie books, but we’ve chosen to focus on novels that offer a wide variety of zombie takes. There’s something for everyone, whether you think you like zombies or not. And if you like any of these best zombie books, be sure to check out what else their authors wrote; many of them are true masters of the horror genre.
best zombie books
1. Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament – SG Browne
Breathers isn’t your usual zombie tale, of course, and that uniqueness earns it a spot on the list of best zombie books. It’s a funny and rather touching story about the afterlife – and the reality of living as a zombie in a world that isn’t ready for you.
Andy Warner recently died and a brand new zombie. He’s been shunned by his friends and by society, but when he goes to a meeting of the Undead Anonymous, he meets new friends – Rita and Jerry – who make him feel a little more normal. But then a rogue zombie introduces them to the taste of human flesh, and Andy finds himself embroiled in a lawsuit on behalf of the zombie genre. This book is a riot.
2. Cell – Stephen King
Clay, a struggling artist, has just landed a graphic novel contract when a signal called The Pulse is sent over the global mobile phone network. The signal turns anyone who uses a cell phone into a vicious, animalistic zombie. Clay must return to Maine to find his young son, traveling through zombie-infested New England.
Stephen King is, of course, a horror institution, and his take on zombies is every bit as original and interesting as any of his best novels. Cell is a bit technophobic and deeply pessimistic, but sometimes the best horror stories are.
3. Devil’s Wake – Steven Barnes and Antananarivo Due
Devil’s Wake is the first in a series from these two established horror authors, following what happens when an alien race nearly brings Earth to its knees. Barnes and Due have some real horror chops, and their collaborative effort is a great read – and is sure to be one of the best zombie books.
An alien invasion brings a radical infection to Earth, an infection that turns people into not just zombies. They become deadlier than anyone could ever imagine. In the midst of these voracious hordes and human enemies too, Terry and Kendra must cross the lonely desert that the United States has become.
4. Dread Nation – Justina Ireland
With Dread Nation, Justina Ireland has combined two things that readers love; zombies and alternate histories. Dread Nation is a YA novel, but don’t let that put you off. It’s a really interesting and unique take on zombie stories and alternate history.
The American Civil War ended the day dead soldiers began marching on the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville. In the new United States that emerged, some children (Native American children and black children) must attend combat schools to learn how to fight the dead and protect the majority. Dread Nation is so creative and unique that it more than deserves a spot on the list of best zombie books.
5. Everything I Know About Zombies I Learned in Kindergarten – Kevin Wayne Williams
It’s one of those standalone novels that might fall under the radar, which would be such a shame because it’s definitely one of the more unique “brave band of survivors against the world” novels. And that’s because the main actors in the book are all under ten.
Letitia Johnson has lived a difficult life, moving from foster home to foster home. When the apocalypse strikes, Letitia locks her little sister’s kindergarten class in the school bathroom to try to protect them. When they emerge five days later, Letitia and the twelve youngest are alone. And the zombies haven’t left.
6. Flow – Mira Grant
Feed is a zombie book for people who don’t necessarily want to know much about zombies. There are zombies in it, and zombies are often mentioned, but there aren’t any of the usual gory, gory tropes that define many books in the genre.
Instead, Feed is a novel about young investigative bloggers in the year 2039, living in a world decimated by the Kellis-Amberlee virus that has turned people into zombies. Georgia, Shaun and Buffy cover a presidential campaign in this new world, but soon find themselves embroiled in a plot that could threaten their lives.
7. The Forest of Hands and Teeth – Carrie Ryan
The Forest of Hands and Teeth again earns a spot on the list of best zombie books for its unique perspective; while most zombie stories follow a protagonist who often seems like the only sane person in a world gone mad, The Forest of Hands and Teeth gives us someone watching while all they think knowledge is stripped from them.
Mary lives in a village with a fence, outside of which the Relentless are still massing, and inside which the Sisterhood and the Guardians protect everyone from the outside. But as Mary begins to learn things she doesn’t want to know about the Sisterhood and the Guardians, she must choose between her village and her future – and the Relentless are about to breach the fence.
8. The Girl With All The Gifts – MR Carey
The Girl With All The Gifts is a deeply philosophical zombie story, centered on the nature of humanity, and written with a very strong worldview that allows readers to immerse themselves in this truly, very frightening dystopia.
Melanie is a ten-year-old girl who every morning is strapped into a wheelchair and taken to class with other children also strapped to chairs. Mélanie is bright and intelligent and she loves her teacher, Miss Justineau. But then two of Melanie’s classmates disappear, never to return, and the true nature of this world begins to unfold before us.
9. Reapers Are Angels – Alden Bell
The Reapers Are The Angels is a bit more traditional in terms of zombie novels, but the fact that it reads much like a zombie apocalypse western sets it apart and puts it on the list of best zombie books.
Temple is fifteen years old, born into a world that collapsed twenty-five years ago under the weight of a zombie infestation. She has never experienced anything different in the life she leads, wandering the ruined United States and trying to find where she belongs. Temple is a devastatingly realistic character, and she is definitely the best part of this book.
10. Wanted: Dead or Undead – Angela Scott
Speaking of zombie westerns, Angela Scott’s Wanted: Dead Or Undead is a much more explicit example of the genre. There are saloons and stetson’s all over this story, and the wild, wild west is teeming with hordes of zombies.
Red is the woman with the ability to shoot with a knack for taking down the zombies that plague the west. Trace Monroe is the guy who wants to join her group, but Red has rules; no names, no questions and if Trace gets bitten she will kill him. Trace agrees, because Red is amazing and she’s also beautiful – and all he wants to do is try to survive the undead by her side.
11. World War Z: An Oral History of Zombie Wars – Max Brooks
We can’t have a list of the best zombie books without including Max Brooks and his modern zombie classic World War Z. If your only exposure to this story so far has been through the aggressively mean film of a few years, so do yourself a favor and check out the original. Zombie fans really love Brooks for a reason.
World War Z is billed as a non-fiction book, a collection of interviews and testimonials from people who survived the zombie apocalypse that tore the world apart and caused the near eradication of humanity. What makes World War Z so clever and compelling is how Brooks covers this Extinction event from every angle; it’s not a western-centric story. Survivor stories come from all over the world, and the one thing they have in common is that everyone is human – and everyone, in one way or another, made it out.
12. Area 1 – Colson Whitehead
Similar to World War Z, Colson Whitehead covers the zombie apocalypse from a “what comes next” perspective. The plague that turned people into the living dead is gradually receding and the US government is rebuilding. Their first mission; clear Manhattan – Area One – of the remaining undead.
Zone One manages to make taking down zombies a bit mundane; Mark Spitz is just a regular guy working on the Manhattan mission. But behind it all, Mark is a man struggling to come to terms with all he’s seen and all he’s done. Whitehead focuses on the cost to humanity of one man living through the end times and examines what comes out the other side.
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