Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zombie Writing! | 2012 | Joe McKinney | Buy |
Zombie Writing!, published in 2012, is Joe McKinney’s contribution to the writing craft genre. By that point McKinney had already published the core Dead World sequence and numerous standalone novels, so the guide draws on real experience rather than theory.
The book covers the practical side of writing horror fiction: how to build dread, how to handle pacing in survival narratives, and how to keep readers engaged across a long series without losing momentum. For aspiring horror writers, having a working genre professional walk through their process is more useful than generic writing advice.
McKinney’s police background also surfaces in the book – his emphasis on procedural detail and authentic human behavior under stress informs both his fiction and his advice about writing it.