Book Review: Zombie Survival Guide

The Zombie Survival Guide is a guidebook to help you survive a potential zombie outbreak. It provides proven suggestions on which weapons, vehicles, and defensible locations work best against the hordes of undead. It also has a chronological history of zombie attacks throughout history.

Obviously it is fiction, but the author has treated the subject as if it was an actual threat, and all of the suggestions are based on real-world scenarios, and reactions to them. The zombie threat is compared to a virus, rather than an attacking army in that there is no thought or tactics to the way they advance – food is sensed. Move toward food. Do not stop until food is consumed.

Considerable research was done to make the scenarios and how to prepare and react to them as realistic as possible, Everything from weapon selection to which type of buildings and terrain are the most easily defend are explained in great detail.

Interestingly enough, on the back cover of the book, above the ISBN number, it lists this book as belonging in the “humor” category. The book, while fiction, definitely is not tongue-in-cheek.

By this time, you are probably wondering why I choose this book to review on this blog. I’ll answer that questions with a couple of excerpts from the book. First off, on the back cover:

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack

1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

Then, on pg. 108-109:

The Bicycle


In a class by itself, this vehicle offers the best of both worlds. The common bicycle is fast, quiet, muscle-powered, and easy to maintain. Add to this the additional advantage that it is the only vehicle you can pick up and carry if the terrain gets too rough. People using bicycles to escape from infested areas have almost always fared better than those on foot. For optimum performance, use a mountain bike, as opposed to the racing or recreational model…

There you go, in a world where access to fuel is restricted, and where stealth and accessibility is prized, the bike reigns supreme.