Zombie Town

R. L. Stine's Zombie Town is a gross-out horror story for 9 year olds about a boy who hates scary films and gets talked into the scariest one around.

What happens

Mike is twelve and scary films still give him nightmares. (And "day mares", as he puts it.) His best friend Karen across the road isn't scared of anything. It's a rainy Saturday, there's no skateboarding, and she's desperate to see Zombie Town at the cinema.

So off they go. And from the moment they walk in, something's wrong.

The cinema is completely empty. There are no adverts and no trailers. The film has barely started when the projector breaks, and then they find the doors are locked. Then something starts shuffling about behind the screen.

It's one of the zombies from the film. Then another. And another.

Karen has a sensible explanation once they get outside. It's a publicity stunt, obviously. But the streets are strangely empty. Front doors are swinging open. A slushy machine is overflowing in a shop with nobody in it. Mike's own house isn't the safe place he'd hoped it would be either.

This is Stine doing what he does best. Short, snappy sentences. A cliffhanger every few lines. A narrator who's frightened and funny at the same time, and a best friend who keeps telling him to chill. It's short enough to finish in one sitting, which is just as well, because your reader won't want to stop.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

It's gory, and it enjoys being gory. There are eyeballs sliding out of sockets, a human hand dangling from a zombie's teeth, bits of people dropping off, and a dog that is no longer a very nice dog. The people Mike loves most aren't safe from it either.

For a child who finds that sort of thing upsetting, or who has nightmares easily (like Mike!), this one is probably best left for later. If your reader loves being grossed out and giggles through the scary bits, they'll have a brilliant time. It's more squelch than true terror.

What to read next

If they're hungry for more of the undead, try Why I Quit Zombie School. Twelve-year-old Matt is a horror fan who gets sent to a new boarding school, and he's convinced something is wrong with it the moment he sees it sitting in a shadow on a sunny hill.