I just turned in the manuscript for The Living Dead 2, the follow-up to my World Fantasy Award-nominated anthology The Living Dead. Here’s the cover copy:

Two years ago, readers eagerly devoured The Living Dead. Publishers Weekly named it one of the Best Books of the Year, and Barnes & Noble.com called it “The best collection of zombie fiction ever.” Now acclaimed editor John Joseph Adams is back for another bite at the apple — the Adam’s apple, that is — with 44 more of the best, most chilling, most thrilling zombie stories anywhere, including virtuoso performances by zombie fiction legends Max Brooks (World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), and David Wellington (Monster Island).

From Left 4 Dead to Zombieland to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, ghoulishness has never been more exciting and relevant. Within these pages samurai warriors face off against the legions of hell, necrotic dinosaurs haunt a mysterious lost world, and eerily clever zombies organize their mindless brethren into a terrifying army. You’ll even witness nightmare scenarios in which humanity is utterly wiped away beneath a relentless tide of fetid flesh.

The Living Dead 2 has more of what zombie fans hunger for — more scares, more action, more… brains. Experience the indispensable series that defines the very best in zombie literature.

The Living Dead 2 comes out in September is now available!. Meanwhile, here’s the table of contents (original stories are in bold text, reprints are in regular text):

• Introduction — John Joseph Adams
• Alone, Together — Robert Kirkman
• Danger Word — Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due
• Zombieville — Paula Stiles
• The Anteroom — Adam-Troy Castro
• When the Zombies Win — Karina Sumner-Smith
• Mouja — Matt London
• Category Five — Marc Paoletti
• Living with the Dead — Molly Brown
• Twenty-Three Snapshots of San Francisco — Seth Lindberg
• The Mexican Bus — Walter Greatshell
• The Other Side — Jamie Lackey
• Where the Heart Was — David J. Schow
• Good People — David Wellington
• Lost Canyon of the Dead — Brian Keene
• Pirates vs. Zombies — Amelia Beamer
• The Crocodiles — Steven Popkes
• The Skull-Faced City — David Barr Kirtley
• Obedience — Brenna Yovanoff
• Steve and Fred — Max Brooks
• The Rapeworm — Charlie Finlay
• Everglades — Mira Grant
• We Now Pause For Station Identification — Gary Braunbeck
• Reluctance — Cherie Priest
• Arlene Schabowski Of The Undead — Mark McLaughlin & Kyra M. Schon
• Zombie Gigolo — S. G. Browne
• Rural Dead — Bret Hammond
• The Summer Place — Bob Fingerman
• The Wrong Grave — Kelly Link
• The Human Race — Scott Edelman
• Who We Used to Be — David Moody
• Therapeutic Intervention — Rory Harper
• He Said, Laughing — Simon R. Green
• Last Stand — Kelley Armstrong
• The Thought War — Paul McAuley
• Dating in Dead World — Joe McKinney
• Flotsam & Jetsam — Carrie Ryan
• Thin Them Out — Kim Paffenroth, Julia Sevin & RJ Sevin
• Zombie Season — Catherine MacLeod
• Tameshigiri — Steven Gould
• The Days of Flaming Motorcycles — Catherynne M. Valente
• Zero Tolerance — Jonathan Maberry
• And the Next, and the Next — Genevieve Valentine
• The Price of a Slice — John Skipp & Cody Goodfellow
• Are You Trying to Tell Me This is Heaven? — Sarah Langan

UPDATE: The website for the anthology is now live! It features the introduction, header notes to the stories, and interviews with most of the authors, PLUS 8 FREE STORIES!

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