Scott G. Browne will be visiting Powell’s today to read from his new book Breathers, a romantic zombie comedy set in an alternative reality where zombies live among humans in a world where they have no respect.
“They have reality shows like we do and reality shows with zombies,” said Browne. “[But] they’re the lowest of the low, they have no rights [and] they’re not even considered second-class citizens.”
Breathers is another addition to the array of literature about these supernatural beings, but don’t let the generalization of yet another zombie book fool you. The book talks about zombies from the zombies’ perspective, rather than a fatal plague for the living. Unlike movies such as Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and countless others, this book offers a new spin to the zombie phenomenon.
“Those movies are about the people and how they deal with the problem of zombies,” Browne said. “[In this book] zombies are the heroes, and it’s about how they’re dealing with humans. I thought it’d be a fun way to approach the zombie in a different way.”
Browne, who has been writing since 1990, has written many short stories, and Breathers is his fourth published novel. His previous novels were supernatural horror books, and his short stories have always incorporated his dark sense of humor. Browne first began thinking about creating a novel that included aspects of supernatural science fiction and comedy just a few years ago.
“I realized it probably in October 2002—well, that was the first seed of the idea,” Browne said. “I had actually written a short story in 2001, ‘The Zombies Lament,’ and then I read by Chuck Palahniuk in 2002, a dark comedy with supernatural horror.”
The author’s inspiration to write Breathers came from a combination of the short stories that he wrote and the novel by Palahniuk. The desire came from his enjoyment in reading stories that had elements of the supernatural and rough, dark comedic edge.
“It’s the type of stuff that I would like to read or see in films,” Browne said. “If you’re writing something that you like to read, chances are it will resonate with someone else. I’ve been fortunate enough to have my novel resonate with enough people to read my book.”
In his book, the main characters meet at an Undead Anonymous meeting, a zombie support group for zombies dealing with the plight of new “life” as the undead. At the meetings, the zombies Andy, Rita and Jerry create a bond through the unique circumstance. A romance occurs between Andy, a new member of the undead, and Rita, a suicide survivor.
“Their romance gradually takes place, and they find each other because they’re both missing something. There aren’t really any other options for either of them, when you’re a reanimated corpse living as the undead. [Both of them being zombies] enhances their romance, the things they do, the choices they make and the nature of their existence draws them together.”
Some of Browne’s characters were inspired by little pieces of himself and a combination of many different experiences. There is a little bit of Browne in the character of Andy Warner, but Jerry was probably his favorite character to write.
“Jerry is your typical 21-year-old,” Browne said. “He says ‘dude’ all the time because ‘dude’ is my favorite word. The thing about Jerry that I love is that he has no self-awareness, he just says whatever comes to his mind without thinking that there’s anything wrong with it. He doesn’t edit himself.”
Breathers is a dark comedy in every sense of the word and will be a surprise to readers from the first chapter where Andy’s parents are found in a certain household appliance. The interactions between the undead and the humans in this alternative reality will be an entertaining, funny and horrific new perspective on the zombie horror genre.