Dragon Head

Dragon Head Volume 1 by Minetaro Mochizuki, 220 pages

It had been quite awhile since I had read any manga. This was not because I disliked it in any way but I because I was unsure what to read. I initially considered going back to One Piece but since I didn't like the direction it was going, I was not looking forward to it. Luckily before I could check out the next volume I realized that surely manga has to have reading advisory sites just like the rest of the fiction world. Trust me when I say there are more sites than you could ever use. I ended up going with one that broke it down by genre, which lead me to Dragon Head Volume 1 which happened to be at the top of their horror list.

Dragon Head is about a young boy and his class who are on a train because of a school trip. While in a tunnel disaster befalls Japan. Part of the tunnel collapses derailing the train and trapping him and some other survivors in the tunnel. What at first seems like just a survivor thriller quickly turns into a horror story as one of the survivors starts to lose their grip on reality.

This horror manga while still in its infancy, is off to a really good start. It has the darkening mood of an unknown disaster, the fear from being trapped in a tunnel, and then the panic that is starting to spread. I eagerly await the next issue of this series.

Hack/Slash Part 2

Hack/Slash Omnibus #2 by Tim Seeley, 422 pages

This continues the adventures of Cassie Heck and Vlad as the continue to hunt down and kill serial killers known as "slashers". Slashers are like your B movie killers. They kill anyone who gets in their path and are very hard to kill, they also have a bad habit of not staying dead.

This series has been quite good as it embraces the fact that rarely do the heroes walk away unscaved. Much like the low budget horror films the comic is based off it is not uncommon to see lots of skimpy outfits and some overdone nudity. If you enjoy those types of films you should give this series a try.


Note: Link goes to a book that is currently on order. I cannot tell if the order was just for the first omnibus volume or all of them. But if you are going to read this one you should read the first one too.

The Remaining

The Remaining D.J. Molles
416 Pages


A virus called FURY has spread throughout the world turning it's victims into mindless animals, attacking uninfected humans.  The United States Army had a contingency plan where each of the lower 48 states has one person inserted into a bunker at the start of any crises to lead and restore civilization using a number of materials silos.  If "Zombies" weren't enough, the survivors also have to deal with militants intent on seizing control of what remains.

 
This is another book that started as an internet bestseller before being picked up by a major publishing house.  Since zombies are popular it fits right into that genre, I especially like how Amazon describes it as Survivor Horror.  It is sort of ironic that I am reading this series at the same time I'm reading a non-fiction book that lays out how to survive a catastrophe and restart civilization.