I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It (review)

Alley revels in her snarky ice-queen persona as she and her friends pass sardonic judgment on her fellow students, some of whom are "post-human" (as the zombies and vampires are now known). Despite being surrounded by post-humans, Alley has no taste for them, unlike many of the girls in her school, who think it's cool to date a post-human and who even consider "converting." She's caught off-guard, then, when a hot emo-looking guy sings a couple of Cole Porter and Leonard Cohen songs for a band she's reviewing for the school paper; the band sucks, but she's smitten by the singer, and they start dating. By the time she realizes what everyone else already knows—that Doug is a zombie—she's beyond caring. Although her parents are supportive, not everyone is—her creepy vampire guidance counselor, for instance, doesn't approve of mixed relationships and wants Alley to convert as soon as possible. Selzer is full of his usual slick suburban rue here, but the potential action/comedy plot derails a bit into pathos and melodrama while he explores just about every possible metaphor dating an undead could imply, from a girl losing herself in a relationship to the contemplation of suicide to the complexities of interracial dating to the heedlessness of teens not appreciating life when they have it, à la Our Town. Fans of the whole undead-romance phenom might find their enjoyment rather uncomfortably psychoanalyzed and summarized here, but on the other hand, they might discover the pleasures of Leonard Cohen and Cole Porter, which compensates for a lot.