The Penguin Book of the Undead

Fifteen Hundred Years of Supernatural Encounters

By: Scott G. Bruce - Editor

Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith

The dead live again in this haunting compendium of ghostly visitations through the ages, exploring the history of our fascination with zombies and other restless souls.

Since ancient times, accounts of supernatural activity have mystified us. Ghost stories as we know them did not develop until the late 19th century, but the restless dead haunted the premodern imagination in many forms, as recorded in historical narratives, theological texts, and personal letters.

The Penguin Book of the Undead teems with roving hordes of dead warriors, corpses trailed by packs of barking dogs, moaning phantoms haunting deserted ruins, evil spirits emerging from burning carcasses in the form of crows, and zombies with pestilential breath. Spanning from the Hebrew scriptures to the Roman Empire, the Scandinavian sagas to medieval Europe, the Protestant Reformation to the Renaissance, this beguiling array of accounts charts our relationship with spirits and apparitions, wraiths and demons over 1,500 years, showing the evolution in our thinking about the ability of dead souls to return to the realm of the living - and to warn us about what awaits us in the afterlife.

©2016 Scott G. Bruce (P)2016 Recorded Books

Fantastic

This historical account of undead encounters is fascinating and well put together. The voice actor is okay but makes me feel a bit sleepy.

Not what you're hoping for...

I was hoping for a compendium of ghostly tales through the ages, and while there were some, this was mostly a dissertation on the literary portrayal of the paranormal in early Christian Europe. Which is to say it was dully interesting but by no means spooky or engaging. I gave up during act 2 of Hamlet, yes, there's a full on half hour of Hamlet, and it's actually a relief after the hours and hours of dark ages christian theology that precede it. The one redeeming characteristic of this audio is the reading, which is surprisingly good.
Long story short, if you're looking for a creepy satisfying diversion this is a hard no go.