My Zombie Hamster by Havelock McCreely (review)

In Edenvale, the walls around the city, giant zap traps, and life-monitoring chips implanted in every animal are designed to keep out the zombies—or deadbeats, as they’re colloquially called. Matt and his family are safely inside … until Matt’s dad goes to the sleazy, cheap pet store for a hamster, which dies and is immediately reborn as Anti Snuffles. Matt and his group of friends must fly under the radar of the Zombie Squad in search of his undead rodent, who appears to be amassing an army of zombie pets. As you’d expect, there are jokes left and right in this kooky zombie novel, but they’re occasionally pitched over the heads of the target audience. Matt is a pretty average kid, with his reluctance to go to school and frustration with his parents, but beyond his quirky, geeky dad, other characters are one-note, and there’s a bit of a slow start. There’s also a jarring shift in tone—from Bunnicula-esque to a kid version of Warm Bodies—when Matt’s best friend dies and returns as a non-flesh-eating zombie, and the rush toward an abrupt end is likely to leave some bewildered. Still, the zombie thing just won’t die, and with the need to keep Goosebumps fans entertained without going too creepy, this may fill an important niche.