Zombiefied
written by C M Gray (HarperCollins) PBK $14.99 ISBN 9780733334214
Reviewed by Sharon McGuinness
Benjamin Roy is an 11 year old with a
passion for zombies – movies, video games and zombie comics take up most of his
leisure time. Together with his best friend and sidekick Sophie, they spend
many afternoons after school doing their own brand of ‘homework’, immersed in their
zombie games and movies.
After Ben is knocked down by the school
bully Tank, he escapes to the boys toilets to wash his scraped knee, things
take on a mysterious turn however, when Ben stumbles on a secret doorway at the
back of the toilets. Just when he is about to investigate, one of the teachers
Mr Slender, startles Ben from behind and he falls down for the second time that
morning, grasping a wooden shelf in an attempt to save himself. Not only does
the secret doorway then disappear, but he is given an afternoon detention for
his trouble.
Ben confides in his friend Sophie and
together they try to find the secret doorway, but are unsuccessful. Later when
he is again at her house Sophie’s dad, a writer, overhears them talking and
calls Ben to the kitchen where he tells Ben he has known about the secret
doorway, warning him not to investigate further. Was Sophie’s dad spying on
them? Ben’s suspicion is aroused and as he leaves for his house, he can’t help
but look inside the bus that Mr Knight used as a study to write. Slipping in
via the back window, Ben is intrigued to find corkboards lining the walls with
notes and pictures of zombies. Surprised to learn that Mr Knight was interested
in zombies, Ben is astonished to see a plan of the school. He could even see
the staircase which led to the hidden room. It had been marked with a red
cross!
Now Ben is undeterred to find out more
about the secret doorway and hidden room, which had obviously been an interest
of Mr Knight. Maybe he was intending to write a book about it, but Ben was
determined to find out.
Ben does investigate again, joined by
Sophie and is successful in locating the secret to the hidden doorway. It leads
to rooms filled with cages of rats, another with dogs and the last for ‘Homo
Sapiens’. One cage is even labelled ‘Benjamin Roy’.
Ben and Sophie are horrified to learn
that mild mannered teacher Mr Crumpet is responsible and has an evil plan.
Corvus, Mr Crumpet’s raven attacks Ben, digging his talons into his skin and
begins pecking at his neck. Ben is forever changed – he now craves to eat meat.
Here, the story becomes a little
gruesome, with Mr Crumpet encouraging Ben to kill his friend Sophie and eat
her. Then the dogs are let loose and turn on Mr Crumpet, devouring him.
Ben saves Sophie and they escape to the
waiting arms of their parents, yet Ben has changed. Suddenly everything flashes
blue and he seems to have the power to look inside people’s bodies. Corvus, the
raven follows Ben and his parents home where Ben is greeted by his brother Michael,
who tells Ben he thought his brother was lost forever. ‘No such luck,’ Ben
replies. ‘I plan on being around forever’.
This story contains simple illustrations
and larger print – giving the impression it has been written for younger
readers. As the story reaches its climax with Mr Crumpet urging Ben to kill,
however, it takes a more sinister turn, before ending on a lighter note with
Ben’s acceptance of himself as a zombie.
It is obviously the first in a series
devoted to Ben’s zombie adventures and I believe children aged nine and above
would enjoy reading it – hopefully without any nightmares!
