Zombie (novel)
![]() First edition cover art | |
Author | Joyce Carol Oates |
---|---|
Cover artist | Leonard Telesca |
Language | English |
Genre | Fiction, Horror, Thriller |
Published | 1995 (Dutton) |
Pages | 181 pp |
ISBN | 0-525-94045-6 |
OCLC | 32168426 |
813/.54 20 | |
LC Class | PS3565.A8 Z43 1995 |
Preceded by | What I Lived For |
Followed by | We Were the Mulvaneys |
Zombie is a 1995 novel by American writer Joyce Carol Oates, which explores the mind of a serial killer. It was based on the life of Jeffrey Dahmer.
Dahmer stated in an interview with Stone Phillips, "The only motive that there ever was to completely control a person, a person I found physically attractive, and keep them with me as long as possible, even if it meant keeping a part of them."[1]
A short-film adaptation starring Bill Connington, developed from his successful one-man stage adaptation, was directed by Tom Caruso.[2]
Plot
The protagonist, Quentin P, seeks to create a zombie out of an unsuspecting young man. He intends to find a perfect young male companion and re-wire his brain, thereby turning the victim into a mindless sex slave.[3] His several attempts at creating a zombie, by doing improvised surgery on the victim's brain, all end in failure, however, as the men he abducts, rapes and tortures all die at his hands. By the end of the novel, he has begun to enjoy killing for its own sake.
Adding to his frustrations is his increasingly suspicious family, particularly his father.
Awards
The book won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel.[4]
References
- ^ Phillips, Stone. "Jeffrey Dahmer Interview - Extended Footage". Interview. Archived from the original on 2021-12-19. Retrieved November 27, 2008.
- ^ "Home". zombiethefilm.com.
- ^ Johnson, Greg (1998). Invisible Writer: A Biography of Joyce Carol Oates. New York City: Dutton. p. 201.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 10, 2006. Retrieved October 23, 2006.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Boston Book Review's Fisk Fiction Prize
- 1995 American novels
- Novels by Joyce Carol Oates
- American novels adapted into films
- American novels adapted into plays
- American horror novels
- American zombie novels
- Novels about serial killers
- Dutton Penguin books
- Cultural depictions of Jeffrey Dahmer
- American LGBT novels
- Novels with gay themes
- LGBT-related horror literature
- Novels about necrophilia
- Bram Stoker Award for Novel winners
- 1990s horror novel stubs
- 1990s novel stubs
- LGBT novel stubs