First published back in December of 2016, David Moody and Wayne Simmons’ novella ‘Last Christmas’ formed the twelfth and final instalment within the ‘Year Of The Zombie’ series which saw a zombie story from a variety of different horror authors published (in ebook format) each month of 2016. All twelve stories were later collected together and published within the ‘Year Of The Zombie’ (2018) anthology (which was also published in paperback format).
The novella was also later reprinted within the special 10th Anniversary Edition of ‘Last Of The Living’ (2025) which was limited to just 150 hand-numbered hardback copies.
DLS Synopsis:
The outsourced security company had put Howard Stanton working the Christmas Eve shift. Although Howard had to admit, it wasn’t too bad. As the security guard for the Kaplan Industries Head Office, the job certainly had its perks. For example, that night the staff were having their office Christmas party within their brand new, multi-million-pound, state-of-the-art headquarters. This meant Howard could sit back watching ‘Die Hard’ in front of a bank of the CCTV screens displaying the various internal rooms and corridors of the building. Every now and again, nosing at what the office workers were getting up to.
However, knowing Debbie was amongst those at the party that night was proving to be more than a minor distraction for the security guard. Ever since he’d taken on the security guard position, a good year ago now, he’d been captivated by Debbie. To Howard, she was perfect. The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Probably the only woman he’d ever met whom he’d do anything for. The problem is that she didn’t even know Howard Stanton existed.
Although that night, all that would change. All it would take was the sudden arrival of the undead. A horde of flesh-hungry zombies emerging from the shadowy streets outside just as the office partygoers split between those wanting to go home, and those wanting to go into town.
Suddenly, Howard Stanton is thrust into a position of unlikely leadership. After all, he has the keys to the entire Kaplan Industries Head Office. A vast building that should offer safety and security. That is, as long as the zombie virus hasn’t already breached the locked doors…
DLS Review:
For this final novella within the ‘Year Of The Zombie’ series we have a festive cross between a comical zombie-apocalypse and ‘Die Hard’ (1988). Jointly penned by both David Moody and Wayne Simmons, when reading the story, you can almost sense the fun the pair had writing it. The comedy is frequent and colourful yet purposefully deadpan – in a similar way to a Duncan Bradshaw style comedy, only with less off-the-wall absurdity. Essentially, not too dissimilar to the likes of ‘Shaun Of The Dead’ (2004).
What we have is our protagonist – the security guard Howard Stanton – suddenly thrust into a position of leadership amongst the group of office partygoers, during the outbreak of a zombie-apocalypse. A position of leadership purely because he has the keys to the kingdom. The keys being an electronic key fob akin to a skeleton key for this high-tech office building.
The story has a whole host of characters, who person-by-person become fodder for the zombies. Pretty much as soon as we’re introduced to someone new, they last about a page or two, then they’re killed or infected and we invariably move onto the next!
The story’s honestly a load of fun. The banter between the characters is quick witted and colourful. The action is almost unrelenting, with a consistent urgency and pounding pace. Even the love interest between Howard and Debbie is equal measures comical and grim – you’ll see why I said that at the end!
All in all, it’s a quality zombie story, and a perfect way to spend an evening during the cold, wintry festive season.
The novella runs for a total of 56 pages.
© DLS Reviews
