| Zom-B | |
| Author: | Darren Shan (O'Shaughnessy) |
| Illustrator: | Warren Pleece and Nick Stearn |
| Cover Artist: | Warren Pleece and Cliff Nielson |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Horror and zombie apocalypse |
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Pub Date: | 2012–16 |
Zom-B (alternatively known as the Zom-B Chronicles) is a young adult zombie apocalyptic-thriller novel series by written by Irish author Darren O'Shaughnessy under the pen name Darren Shan. The series is told by first-person perspective of B Smith, a teenager turned into a zombie. Like Shan's previous series, Zom-B is notable for exploring themes of racism, xenophobia, and the sociological concept of "us and them".
The series has received a universally positive critical reception.
Cover illustration copyright Warren Pleece
A short novella titled , set between Zom-B: Gladiator and Zom-B: Mission, was released on 27 April 2014, following one of B's teachers, Cat Ward.[2]
The series centers around Becky "B" Smith, who finally rejects her racist father at the beginning of a zombie apocalypse after being forced by him to throw a black classmate to the zombies. B later has her heart ripped out by the same classmate. Awakening eighteen months later as a "reviitalised" zombie, B explores the world at large, the ongoing battle between Dr. Oystein and his Angels and Mr. Dowling and his mutant-controlled zombies. The series also explores B's own connections to the instigators of the apocalypse, including the Owl Man and a mysterious group of babies.[3] The majority of novels in the series are written as concluding with a cliffhanger leading to the subsequent book, structured in a manner similar to television serials.[4]
In the first novel, the titular B Smith is described with gender neutral terms until the final chapter, in which their first name is revealed to be Becky.[5] The decision to leave B's gender initially ambiguous was explained by Shan to allow the reader to question their own assumptions and biases with regards to the way B acts and how women "should" be written in works of fiction.[6] [7]
| Character | Zom-B | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zom-B | Underground | City | Angels | Baby | Gladiator | Mission | Circus | Clans | Family | Bride | Fugitive | Goddess | ||
| Main characters | ||||||||||||||
| Becky "B" Smith | colspan="5" | |||||||||||||
| Tom White | Owl Man | rowspan="2" colspan="5" | ||||||||||||
| Zachary Dowling | ||||||||||||||
| Mr. William "Billy" Burke | colspan="5" | |||||||||||||
| Vinyl "V" | ||||||||||||||
| Todd Smith / Dad | rowspan="2" colspan="3" | |||||||||||||
| Daisy Smith / Mum | ||||||||||||||
| Mrs. Lynne Reed | colspan="2" | |||||||||||||
| Michael "Rage" Jarman | ||||||||||||||
| Reilly | colspan="2" | |||||||||||||
| Josh Massoglia | ||||||||||||||
| The Zom Heads | ||||||||||||||
| Barnes | ||||||||||||||
| Coley | ||||||||||||||
| Timothy Jackson | colspan="4" | |||||||||||||
| Sister Clare of the Shnax | ||||||||||||||
| Dr. Oystein Dowling | colspan="2" | |||||||||||||
| Master Zhang | colspan="2" | |||||||||||||
| The Angels | ||||||||||||||
| Holy-Moly Smith | colspan="3" | |||||||||||||
| Emma | colspan="4" | |||||||||||||
| Declan | colspan="4" | |||||||||||||
| Lord Daniel Wood | Dan-Dan | colspan="3" | ||||||||||||
| Vicky Wedge | ||||||||||||||
| Justin Bazini | ||||||||||||||
| Luca Wood | colspan="3" | |||||||||||||
| Sakarias | ||||||||||||||
| Mr. Albrecht Dowling | colspan="3" | |||||||||||||
| Kinslow | colspan="3" | |||||||||||||
| Cat Ward | ||||||||||||||
Zom-B opened to largely positive reviews by critics.
Shan brings back his tried-and-true shock and gore narratives, with gruesome brain scooping and death-defying action sequences. Troubled by divided loyalty between father and friends, B's character is well-drawn though occasionally naïve; B often elects not to make any choice in difficult situations, and Shan doesn't fully explore the consequences of those moments of inaction. The English slang may cause momentary trouble, but tension over immigration crosses the pond easily enough. Shan packs in the bites, and he rips out enough entrails for even the most jaded zombie fan; the cliffhanger ending, now expected by his fans, closes on just the right note to leave the audience gnawing for more. A series opener to sink your teeth into.[8]
Shan [e]nters the zombie genre in a thoroughly bloody fashion with this slow-burning horror piece, which opens a planned 12-book series. Character development is impressive for a relatively short book, and Shan executes the transition from normalcy to wholesale terror masterfully. It's a strong start, but there's a lot of story left to go.[9]
[Zom-B is] a clever mix of horror, fantasy and realism – about the damaging 'virus' of racial hatred and social paranoia. The horror scenes are well choreographed and not without the useful escape valve of humour. There is some earthy language ("I thought she was going to chew me a new arsehole," says B Smith) but it fits the tone and characters in the book rather than seeming gratuitous.[10]
Dealing in some decidedly edgy material and a brilliant secondary twist that'll have you kicking yourself for being taken in, Zom-B is a book that'll make young readers think as well as making them gag. With its kids who smoke, shoplift and talk of "copping a feel", Zom-B almost makes the existing Young Adult zombie series, Charles Higson's The Enemy, look like the Blue Peter to its Grange Hill, even though Higson's books are pretty damn ruthless themselves.[11]
These books aren't beautifully written works of art but they are mindless fun with a deeper message if you want to get into it. The characters are really interesting and the plot twists are always wild. Though that being said things are pretty deep at times, this series makes you feel really sorry for the person who's the villain and it forces you to question everyone at all times. Also there's a lot of racist themes throughout so be aware of that before you start reading these books. I love the journey B goes on and was so much more interested in them trying to justify the racism that they see from their father and that they find themselves involved in than the zombies themselves. I really love character growth and think if it's done well then it's so amazing.[12] [13]
In May 2019, Zom-B was optioned for a ten-part television series adaptation by London-based production company The Electric Shadow Company.[14] [15] In March 2020, it was announced that The Electric Shadow Company had partnered with Slam Films in developing the series.[16] In March 2021, Susan E. Connolly was announced to be attached as the lead writer on the project, with The Electric Shadow Company releasing a teaser image depicting a blood-spattered B Smith opposite her best friend Vinyl to their website.[17]
In December 2022, Darren O'Shaughnessy confirmed that while the series' television pilot script "didn't get any takers in the UK", that it was still in active development in "a different part of the world" as a non-English language series.[18] In January 2024, O'Shaughnessy announced that the adaptation was "no longer under option" following an unsuccessful succession of pitches in Finland.[19]