#Ghoulvember ‘Zombie’ by Joyce Carol Oates

About the book…

‘Zombie’ is a classic novel of dark obsession from the extraordinary Joyce Carol Oates. A brilliant, unflinching journey into the mind of a serial killer, Zombie views the world through the eyes of Quentin P., newly paroled sex offender, as he chillingly evolves from rapist to mass murderer.

Joyce Carol Oates—the prolific author of so many extraordinary bestsellers, including ‘The Gravedigger’s Daughter’, ‘Blonde’, and ‘The Falls’—demonstrates why she ranks among America’s most respected and accomplished literary artists with this provocative, breathtaking, and disturbing masterwork.

This has to be one of the most disturbing books about the human condition which I have ever read. ‘American Psycho’ has nothing on this novel which manages to do, in its short length, so much more than its better known shelf mate.

Loosely based on the case of Jeffrey Dahmer, the diary entries of one Quentin P, on probation for sexual assault of a minor , is in search of the perfect specimen. He is living in a boarding house that his parents own, using the caretaker space as his living quarters cum laboratory.

Here, he brings his specimens, the ones he thinks that no one will miss, and by this he means people who are black, indigenous, homeless or otherwise, society’s unwashed and unwanted.

He drugs them, has several close calls, and one actual arrest because his mobile pick up vehicle, a quintessential murder van, was not as fool proof to his plans as he thought. One of his subjects escaped.

He has no insight into his crimes, and sees his victims as easy pickings that no one, no system, cares about. He indulges his sexual fantasies to a point where it no longer excites him. His ideal would be a zombie, someone who does everything he is told without objection. This will provide him with the love and affection that he no longer gets from his parents, his father a celebrated academic who believes his son is a reject from natural selection, a blank canvas with warped threads and an uneven weft. He details, explicitly, the things he will do with, and to, the zombie and sees himself as a crusader when he is in reality, a sinister, creepy person with absolutely zero humanity in him.

His crude cartoons across the pages of his thoughts take on a sinister life of their own as he details the means, methods and plans to abduct the perfect specimen. He takes their names away and gives them monikers such as Gold Tooth or Rabbit Gloves. They are less than human, and , when his plans fail spectacularly, because he is not able to perform a pre-frontal lobotomy with stolen dental equipment and a library book.

Increasingly grotesque, one of the worst scenes is when he stalks the street, dressed in the clothes of his victim, disguising himself , making himself out to be just an ordinary person when he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The herd of people he walks in are seen as zombies , a herd from which he can pick someone who will take everything he can throw at them, and then spoon him to sleep.

And, in a way, Quentin is right. The people he kills, and goes at great length to dispose of, are not missed, they are not noticed. The detailing of his childhood brings up some uncomfortable truths about white privilege, and refusing to see what is under your very nose. When Quentin finally takes someone of note, a blue eyed blond haired, all American boy, you get the feeling that a part of him is actually excited about the police visiting him. I was certainly excited as the narrative made me, as a reader, feel complicit in his crimes as he details them. And I hoped he would be caught.

But this is Joyce Carol Oates’ story, and you are at her mercy. Neat endings are not par for the course, she will take you where she takes you and you will like it.

Dark, eerie and compelling, I found this disturbing read pushed every single button of my twisted little horror fan’s control panel. Highly recommended but best read in daylight.

About the author…

Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction.

She is also the recipient of the 2005 Prix Femina for The Falls. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and she has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.

Pseudonyms … Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly

Links-http://celestialtimepiece.com/

Twitter @JoyceCarolOates