The Loving Dead

By Amelia Beamer

Kate and Michael are roommates living in the Oakland hills, working at the same Trader Joes supermarket. A night of drunken revelry changes their lives forever, but not in the way that anyone would expect. A slow-spreading plague of zombie-ism breaks out at their house party, spreading amongst their circle of friends, and simultaneously through the Bay Area. This zombie plague — an STD of sorts — is spread through sex and kissing, turning its victims into mindless, horny, voracious killers. Thrust into extremes by this slow- motion tragedy, Kate and Michael are forced to confront the choices they've made in their lives, and their fears of commitment, while trying to stay alive and reunite in the one place in the Bay Area that's likely to be safe and secure from the zombie hoards: Alcatraz.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Night Shade Books
• Release date: Jul 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781597802451

Amelia Beamer

Amelia Beamer works as an editor and reviewer at Locus. Her publications include articles in Foundation and Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, and short fiction published or forthcoming in Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Red Cedar Review, Interfictions 2 and other venues.

Reviews for The Loving Dead

[kingrat_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I suppose if I am going to suspend disbelief for zombies, I ought to be able to suspend disbelief for characters doing really stupid shit. But I couldn't. For instance: pack 4 people into an airplane sized bathroom, make two of them zombies and the other two people who need to survive, and they decide to have sex rather than bash the zombies heads in. That sort of thing happens all the time in the book.

[xandylion · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found Beamer's writing to be quite good, personally, and felt that the book was well written with an interesting plot and outcome. I wasn't expecting how sad the book made me though. Perhaps I was just really sensitive when I read it, but the tragedies in it really struck me. I think there are some metaphorical parallels you can draw from it about modern day relationships, promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases, and a small glimpse of what it might be like to live with a chronic condition.

[ibnalnaqba · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Loving Dead isn't an awful work, but it's certainly inconsistent. Amelia Beamer seems to have a real talent for writing erotic scenes... the parts of the book dedicated to sexuality flow with a certain eloquence and intensity that make them without question the best parts of the work. Unfortunately, once she steps away from sexuality she starts to falter. First, the characters are pretty unappealing. I suppose there may have been something honest in the depiction of them as slacker twentysomethings who spent their time partying and sleeping around, and I'm by no means condemning those who choose to spend their lives that way, but at the same time, they came off as overprivileged slackers... spoiled, self-absorbed brats, basically. They were shallow. This would have been perfectly acceptable if the book were a literary expression of nihilist philosophy, but really it isn't. The structure of the story seems designed to attempt to elicit sympathy for the main characters, and in my case at least, if failed to do so.Still, though the work is slightly hobbled by the personalities of the characters, it could readily surpass that flaw if not for the fact that once she departs the comfort zone of sexual encounter scenes, Beamer's writing skills start to stumble. Depictions of violent or even just physically active scenes, especially aboard the Zeppelin, are weak at best. I found her descriptions of people interacting with their environments to be confusing and hard to visualize. In fact, at times the physical description just resulted in my thinking "Ummm... I don't think so. Sorry, no." But there are some strong points to this work, and they shouldn't be overlooked. For all its flaws, it is fairly creative. And like I said, Beamer's erotic writing is pretty remarkable stuff. Plus, one has to be impressed with the premise of the work... this may not be the first time anyone's mentioned the notion of the sexual transmission of a zombie virus, but I'm pretty sure it's the first time anyone's gotten a book published based on that premise. And while it may have been in part an attention-getting ploy to catch the eye of a publisher, one has to admit that it takes a certain amount of courage for a young author to base her first major work on such a controversial concept. I've mentioned the book to a number of people in my bookstore, and their reaction usually seems to be hesitant at best, in part perhaps because they assume the book is heavy on actual necrophilia (which it isn't... while the book makes clear that zombies are sexually inclined, there are no scenes I can recall of actual sex between zombies and humans, or even zombies and zombies for that matter. All sexual encounters are between humans and other humans, or humans and humans who've been infected somehow but who have yet to turn into zombies. It may come close at times, but it never crosses that line). One should not be deterred from this book by the notion that it violates social taboos about necrophilia. Thankfully, it doesn't, but it handles its premise cleverly and with some degree of skill, and for that alone deserves recognition.

[titania86_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kate and Michael are roommates and work at the same Trader Joe’s in the California’s Bay Area. One fateful night, Kate’s friend Jamie from her bellydancing class is attacked by a seemingly crazed homeless person. Kate brings her home and starts to become intimate with her when Jamie suddenly turns a sickly shade of grey and her eyes film over. She has become one of the walking dead. After subduing the zombie, her roommates hope this is an isolated incident, but she is only the first of a great many to come. The disease is discovered to be transmitted through bodily fluids, so Kate is worried about turning into one of the walking dead. The next day, Kate leaves to go on a date with her boyfriend, which turns out to be a huge mistake involving a Zeppelin full of zombies. It’s also a mistake because she leaves Michael alone with a house full of zombies. Can these two reunite, admit their feelings for each other, and survive the zombie apocalypse?When I first heard about this book, I was so excited. It sounded delightfully disturbing and funny. The actual novel isn’t as good as I expected, but not terrible. I like the new take on zombies. It’s always refreshing when an author is innovative and makes a change to make their novel stand out. These zombies can speak, eat flesh, and exhibit heightened levels of arousal and promiscuity. Basically, these zombies want to eat and have sex with you. Plus, they can be subdued with whips or anything that can make a whipping sound (including iPod apps). Even though it sounds kind of like the plot to a badly written porno, I assure you the writing is excellent. The apocalypse is portrayed very well. Many people had to see the zombies killing people before they believed those who warned them. By then, frequently, it was too late to escape. I think this is how really people would act. In addition, certain individuals would try to exert power over those weaker than them and hold valuables over the other’s head. It’s sad, but true. The ending of the novel is the best part, but I won’t elaborate and spoil it for anyone. The pacing of the novel was the thing that bothered me the most. There is too much time in between patient zero and the full outbreak with the chaos that comes with it. A lot of the narrative is a weird in between area where there are some zombies, but the majority of people still don’t realize something is amiss. I think if people saw a giant Zeppelin fall from the sky and crash to the ground, they would know that something was wrong. The characters are a little vapid and fake to me. They are supposed to be portraying my age group and all they do is sleep around, party, and work at dead end jobs. Other than these things, I definitely enjoyed The Loving Dead and I would read more books from Amelia Beamer.The Loving Dead is an undeniably unique zombie novel that, at its core, encourages its readers to embrace real love over meaningless, empty relationships even if it’s in opposition to what is popular.