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For some reason, horror fans seem to be drawn to zombies. There are podcasts of zombie stories, several books and, of course, the re-writing of Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice into Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  Many fans will consider George Romero's Dawn of the Dead as the beginning of this craze, and some die-hard fans will think of Max Brooks, with his Zombie Survival Guide, as reason for the trend.  But back before these guys brought about the flesh-eating scourge called zombies, L. Ron Hubbard wrote a mystery that brought the living dead into America.

  First published in 1934 in Thrilling Detective magazine, "Dead Men Kill" is a great zombie/detective story.  Galaxy Audio has released this novella as a pulp book and a pulp audiobook.  The audiobook is produced with the same fervor and nostalgia as all the other Hubbard audiobooks.  The narrator keeps you in the story, performing as a narrator from one of the old radio serials.  The actors in the performance definitely have that nostalgic feel when they perform scenes that are purely pulp fiction.  The melodramatic delivery of the voice of zombies on the kill is fun, but also chilling.  Even the incidental music, which was composed specifically for these productions, will launch you back to the mid-twentieth century when tales were told in magazines for a dime.

  The story follows the heroic Detective-Sergeant Terrence Lane as he investigates a series of murders among the wealthy in his town. The clues as to who did the killing point only to people that have been dead and in the grave for several days.  It seems that the people of status are all being blackmailed and when they can't pay, someone close to them that has recently died comes back from the dead to kill them.

  Lane's only clue is a receipt from a pharmacy in Haiti, and a note from Loup-Garou, a man who tells Lane to retire from the police force or suffer the same fate.  Lane gets some help from a female performer who works at a Haitian night club.  The adventures begin and the suspects are plenty as Lane digs up a grave and finds the body missing.  The same body is then found to have murdered a banker.  Lane is kidnapped, drugged, almost turned into a zombie himself, and escapes from a coffin to try and find the zombie maker.

  With an exciting story and some interesting twists, Hubbard weaves a fun tale from zombie land that will have a chill rolling down your spine in no time.

Gil T. has spent a quarter of a century working in radio and has lots of spare time on his hands and reading or listening to books takes up all that time. Check out his blog to find out what he's up to at any given moment.