A 10/10 Zombie Book That Makes The Walking Dead Look Small Still Deserves A TV Adaptation

There’s a 10/10 zombie book that makes The Walking Dead franchise look small, and it needs a TV adaptation asap. The zombie genre has held on longer than anyone could have guessed, with a new show or movie premiering every few years to remind us why we love the shambling corpses.

The Walking Dead, George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead films, and The Last of Us are all series and films out of different decades, and yet they all stand as some of the most popular franchises in their respective mediums. Zombies are fun and always a hit, so it’s a wonder why no one has tried to do a popular zombie book the right way.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is a 2006 zombie apocalypse satire novel from Max Brooks, the son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. The novel takes the form of a collection of individual accounts of the zombie apocalypse, years after it happened, recorded by an agent of a global post-war commission.

The agent in the novel travels around the world, meeting people from all walks of life from every part of the globe as they explain their experiences. It’s a carefully woven web that grows bigger and bigger with each chapter, and there are moments of extreme, violent horror; heart-pulsing battles; and slapstick comedy.

Brooks teases out how each country and culture would respond to a zombie apocalypse, and for the most part, we all fail, but it’s the rebuilding to victory that makes the novel so satisfying. With so many characters and storylines that don’t run into one another, World War Z is perfectly suited for television, something that hindered the 2013 movie adaptation.

World War Z Would Work Well As An Anthology TV Series

World War Z would make the perfect anthology series, a format that already aligns perfectly with the horror genre. Every chapter of World War Z begins with the introduction of a character, a date, and a location. It can be anywhere from a remote village in China to the deck of an aircraft carrier that has been converted into a floating village.

It would make for a perfect 8 multi-season series. The book is broken up into 8 chapters, and within each chapter, there are multiple interviews, and we often go back to the same characters for each section. For example, someone in the first “Warnings” chapter will explain what life was like when zombies first started rising, then in the seventh “Total War” chapter, that same character will explain how their community fought back.

This would make World War Z feel more closely linked than other anthology series. It wouldn’t be critical to watch every episode in order, but it would be a bonus for those who did. Despite a title that makes the book sound like it’s filled with massive battles, there are only a handful in the story, so a production company wouldn’t have to break the bank to put everything on screen.

2013’s World War Z Was A Good Movie, But A Bad Adaptation

World War Z was adapted in 2013 as a movie directed by Marc Forster and starring Brad Pitt. While it’s a tidy little action horror film with some good performances, exciting setpieces, and unique twists on the genre, those who read Brooks’ book were surely disappointed. Beyond the title and a few nods to scenes, the film has almost nothing to do with the book.

It’s a great example of a good film, but a terrible adaptation. What’s frustrating about Pitt’s movie is that it took the wind out of the sails of the novel. People unaware of the book would probably be confused if they heard that there was a new World War Z adaptation coming to television, and would not understand that they could have the next The Walking Dead on their hands.

Release Date

2010 – 2022

Showrunner

Frank Darabont, Angela Kang, Scott M. Gimple, Glen Mazzara

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  Norman Reedus

  Daryl Dixon

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  Melissa McBride

  Carol Peletier