The Zombie Feed reviews Michele Lee’s unique zombie novella Rot.

I was watching George Romero’s Survival of the Dead last night (watch for the review next week). There’s a scene early in the film where a group of men come into the home of a seemingly peaceful man and wife. The group of men (carrying lots of guns) are there to take care of business–rid the house of zombies.

But there is a dark secret.

The couple has been hiding and taking care of their undead children!

This is a fairly common act in zombie fiction. It parallels nicely with our innate need to protect our loved ones at any cost, even if they’re ravenous, rotting undead. The scene in the film reminded me of ROT by Michele Lee.

ROT comes from the Skullvines (an imprint of KHP Publishers). It’s really a chapbook, as the whole story runs around 17,000 words, but is published in trade paperback format (to me, chapbooks are saddle-stitched single sheet folded mini-books).

Zombies have become a problem. While not necessarily menacing brain munchers, they do stink to high heavens and somebody has to take care of Uncle Morton after he dies and comes back. Humans being…well…humans, somebody finds a capitalist opportunity and opens Silver Springs Specialty Care Community. If it sounds like a nursing home for the dead, then bingo, you’re an astute reader. At Silver Springs, your zombie relative receives the best of care, and is fed ‘zombie milk’…if you’ve got the dollars to pay.

Dean, a war veteran, runs security at Silver Springs. With a little digging, he finds something rotten in the heart of the care center. Along the way he picks up a companion, Patrick (a zombie), and together they suss out the details of the heinous crime.

Lee does a fine job of juxtaposing the abuse of our elderly with the disrespect of the dead. It’s quite horrifying, actually. And she’s not afraid to bring the ‘ick’ into the picture. Both Dean and Patrick are in love with a dead woman.

It should also be noted that there are some nice interior sketches by Mechelle Sizemore (no relation, that I know of).

As with many micro-press productions, the editing is a bit loose. I’m an editor so I had to fight the urge to take a red pen to the book. I also do book design, so the interior Times New Roman with an unjustified right margin drove me batty. The later isn’t such a big deal, but the fore… Finally, the price is steep for a 17,000 word, 56 page production ($14.95).

Despite the negatives, this is an excellent novella. Michele Lee is a writer with a promising future. You want to read a high quality zombie story, then ROT is for you.

Buy ROT at The Merchant’s Keep