Movies
[Book Review] Smart, Profane “Zombie” Really Brings The Attitude
Zombie is not a horror novel. Let’s get that out of the way right off the bat. There is no zombie apocalypse to be found in J.R. Angelella’s debut, no undead corpses clogging the streets. But don’t let that stop you from checking out this dark, witty coming-of-age story, written entirely for horror fans. Narrator Jeremy Barker, a 14-year-old attending a Catholic boys’ school, is forced to draw on his expansive knowledge of zombie films when confronting the day-to-day horrors of adolescence. Sound familiar? We horror dorks have been there, one and all, and Angelella captures the puberty pain with cleverness and candor. Zombie seems more melancholy and profane than your usual YA fiction, which is my way of saying that I wish someone had plunked this one into my hands back when I was 14. I loved this book. Soho Press, an indie publisher specializing in literary fiction and crime novels, released Zombie back in June. Read on for the full review.
Even by the normally brutal standards of puberty, Jeremy Barker has got it rough. His mother walked out on the family in the wake of an affair, leaving Jeremy to cope with his brooding, unpredictable father, a Vietnam veteran. Freshman year at Byron Hall Catholic High School for Boys is about to start, forcing Jeremy to contend with sadistic teachers, plaid-clad bullies, and the incredibly hot girls from nearby Prudence High. It’s almost too much for a lowly 14-year-old to handle. Lucky for Jeremy, he abides by an airtight set of Zombie Survival Codes that help him cope with the angst and bullshit. “Avoid Eye Contact”, “Keep Quiet”, and “Forget the Past” are among the survival techniques he’s gleaned from years of watching zombie movies with his dad, their only real form of bonding. At times, these Codes seem to be all that stands between Jeremy and a complete mental breakdown.
Smart, breezy dialogue drives most of the action in Zombie. An observant, judgmental narrator, Jeremy’s voice smacks of Holden Caufield in Catcher in the Rye (or, to namedrop a lesser known character, Flannery Culp from Daniel Handler’s The Basic Eight). Jeremy’s verbal interactions with teachers and classmates sparkle with juicy burns and abject humiliation, making Zombie one hell of a fun read. But as the pages fly by, it becomes harder and harder to tell where Angelella’s plot is headed.
Jeremy’s father disappears from the house most nights, refusing to answer Jeremy’s questions regarding his absence. When Jeremy finds a disturbing DVD among his father’s possessions, thy mystery deepens. What, exactly, is his father up to? This remains a question for most of the novel, and the relationship between Jeremy and his father is the heart and soul of Zombie. But Angelella has an obvious affection for his secondary characters, a love he demonstrates by fleshing out even the most minor fringe players. Frequent narrative detours through Jeremy’s social circles may distract from the central plot, but Angelella manages to pull all his shit together with a shocking last-minute twist. While it may not qualify as a horror novel, it’s a story told with the singular voice of a zombie nerd, and in that regard, Zombie nails it perfectly.
4.5 out of 5 Skulls
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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