Author Language English Pages 181 pp | Cover artist Leonard Telesca Published 1995 (Dutton) | |
Genre Fiction, Horror, Thriller | ||
Zombie is a 1995 novel by Joyce Carol Oates that explores the mind of a serial killer. It was based on the life of Jeffrey Dahmer.
Contents
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."
A short-film adaptation starred Bill Connington, developed from his successful one-man stage adaptation, was directed by Tom Caruso.
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. 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, and experiments with cannibalism and necrophilia.
Adding to his frustrations is his increasingly suspicious family, particularly his father.
Acclaim
The book won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel.