Are you prepared for a zombie apocalypse? The threat is real enough that the Pentagon actually has a laid out a plan for one so, it is probably best you start thinking about yours! Binge watch The Walking Dead, download Zombie, Run and listen to these 17 best zombie audiobooks to prepare yourself.
1. Zone One by Colson Whitehead
Set in a post-apocalyptic New York, the world is divided by the living and the undead. With a nascent government successfully established in Buffalo, the attention turns to reclaiming New York City, starting with Manhattan, Zone One. Areas of Manhattan are still infected and so civilian volunteers are tasked with removing the final zombies to allow civilisation to begin. Mark Spitz is one of these volunteers and over 3 present days and flashbacks from his life during the outbreak, we learn the struggles of an everyday man living in a post-apocalyptic fallen world. Colson is not a typical zombie writer and this is clearly reflected in Zone One.
Audiobook length: 9 hrs and 57 mins Narrated by Beresford Bennett.
2. The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
A thrilling and original take on a zombie novel. Melanie goes to school, enjoys learning and has friends but each morning she waits to go to class from her cell. Getting to class involves being strapped into a wheelchair with a gun pointed at her. This intelligent girl, like the other children at the base, is a zombie. And their purpose at the bass is so scientists can find a cure and understand why Melanie is so intelligent. At the heart of the story is Melanie’s relationship with her teacher Miss Justineau. This paternal love story leaves you attached to both characters.
Audiobook length: 13 hrs and 3 mins Narrated by: Finty Williams
3. This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
Six students have taken shelter in a high school to escape the zombie uprising. Yet whilst most of them want to survive, one girl, Sloane Price is severely depressed and doesn’t think dying seems so bad. As the days go by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and the group’s fate becomes more about the psychological than the threat from outside.
Audiobook length: 6 hrs and 58 minutes and is Narrated by: Stephanie Cannon Get on Audible
4. The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
How would you handle a zombie apocalypse? Would you get consumed in the outbreak or last until the world is rebuilt and be a hero? Perhaps you actually want to be a zombie? Max Brooks, the author of World War Z writes a somewhat humour somewhat reference book on his guide to surviving a zombie apocalypse. It is comprehensive, illustrated and entertaining and covers topics like spotting symptoms, weapon selection, different terrains, and why you should destroy your stairs. If you’re a zombie book fan and currently feel a little ill-prepared then get this book.
Audiobook length: 8hrs 42 minutes and is Narrated by: Stephen Hogan
5. Pride And Prejudice And Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
Yes, you read that correctly. Using the original text mixed with a twist, the book keeps the general outline by Jane Austen but with added zombies. What you have is early 19th-century England being threatened by the undead. The Bennet sisters are now also martial arts warriors and Mr Darcy is a famed monster-hunter with ancient Japanese fighting skills. Sounds pretty great right? This is a wonderful combination of the civilized, well mannered back and forth between the two young lovers and hordes of rotting corpses being slain.
Audiobook length: 11 hrs 5 minutes and is Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
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6. Feed by Mira Grant
The first book in the Newflesh trilogy, Feed is an interesting look at journalism and politics in a post-zombie world. 20 years after a virus decimated the population and world resources, Georgia and Shaun Mason, go to cover Senator Ryman’s presidential campaign. Traditional news companies have been replaced with internet journalism, and the bloggers (Georgia and Shaun) uncover a terrible conspiracy behind the infected. Now they must risk their own lives to get the story out.
Audiobook Length: 15 hrs 10 minutes and is Narrated by: Paula Christensen & Jesse Bernstein
7. The Rising by Brian Keene
One of the best selling zombie novels of all time, The Rising is the first book in The Rising series by Brian Keene. In this story, the zombies are not the speechless, brain dead type they are inhabited by demons with all of the knowledge of their hosts. Whilst still slow moving they can speak and use tools making for an interesting twist. The story follows Jim Thurmond, a determined father fighting his way across a post-apocalyptic zombie world, searching for his son. On this journey, Jim is accompanied by a preacher and a recovering heroin addict as they travel across states through an onslaught of the undead.
Audiobook length: 11 hrs 16 minutes and is Narrated by: Joe Hempel
8. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.
Audiobook length 9 hrs 31 minutes and Narrated by: Vane Millon
9. The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell
15-year-old Temple was born 10 years after the world was devastated by Zombies. This life is all she knows. As she wanders a desolate post-apocalyptic world she comes across the helpless Maury and attempts to return him safely to his family whilst seeking redemption along the way. Temple is a refreshing character and the story is mainly told through her inner voice. If you enjoyed Justin Cronin’s “The Passage” or Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” then you should enjoy this.
Audiobook length 7 hrs 28 minutes and is Narrated by: Tai Sammons
10. World War Z by Max Brooks
Not your usual beginning, middle and an end the book is a series of eyewitness accounts from people affected in some way by the zombie apocalypse. It moves through different places and perspectives as you build up an overall picture of what happened never reaching a climax but rather a series of crescendos throughout. You learn how the outbreak started in China and nearly wiped out the human race. This is the zombie book that blasted the genre into the mainstream, and it is probably the most popular, best zombie audiobook but don’t think it is similar to the movie, far from it.
Audiobook length 13hrs 56 minutes
Read our list of Best Vampire Audiobooks
11. Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne
Chaos and violence are spreading through U.S. cities. An unknown evil is sweeping the planet. The dead are rising to claim the Earth as the new dominant species in the food chain. Day by Day Armageddon is the first book in the Day by Day series which also includes Beyond Exile and Shattered Hourglass. Armageddon follows one man’s struggle for survival in a nightmare world told through his journal. Full of horrifying, life-threatening moments, this is a hardcore zombie action book.
Audiobook length 6 hrs 38 minutes and is Narrated Jay Snyder
12. Slow Burn: Zero Day by Bobby Adair
The first in the Slow Burn series, Zero Day introduces us to a world where a new flu strain has been spreading across Africa, Europe, and Asia turning people into crazed zombies. The protagonist Zed is a classic anti-hero, a guy who is a bit of a waster. During the early outbreaks, he ends up being bitten then arrested for murder and wakes up in jail, not as a zombie but having survived the initial infection. Zed and people like Zed are known as ‘slow burners’ somewhere between a zombie and a human. Still hunted by zombies and not trusted by humans. The book is full of action, gore and tension.
Audiobook length 3 hrs 30 minutes and is Narrated by Jason Damron
13. The Becoming by Jessica Meigs
In the heart of Atlanta, Georgia, the Michaluk Virus has escaped the CDC, and its effects are widespread and devastating. Most of the population of the southeastern United States have become homicidal cannibals. As society rapidly crumbles under the hordes of infected, three people—Ethan Bennett, a Memphis police officer; Cade Alton, his best friend and former IDF sharpshooter; and Brandt Evans, a lieutenant in the US Marines—band together against the oncoming crush of death and terror sweeping across the world.
Audiobook length 8 hrs 58 minutes and is Narrated by Christian Rummel
14. Zombie, Ohio by Scott Kenemore
A fun take on the zombie genre, Zombie, Ohio tells the story from the zombie rather than the humans. The zombie, Professor of Philosophy Peter Mellor, isn’t like any other zombies. Following a car accident during a zombie outbreak he is reborn as an intelligent undead. He can still talk and think but still eats brains. This is a story of how Peter finds redemption and tries to be a moral zombie whilst trying to solve his own murder. It has a good mix of humour and film zoir, merging murder mystery and a zombie outbreak.
Audiobook length 10 hrs 55 minutes and is Narrated by Danny Campbell
15. Zombie Fallout – Book 1 by Mark Tufo
With the H1N1 virus running rampant throughout the country, people lined up in droves to try and attain one of the coveted vaccines. Within days, feverish folk throughout the country convulsed, collapsed, and died, only to be reborn. With a taste for brains, blood, and bodies, these modern-day zombies scoured the lands for their next meal. Overnight the country became a killing ground for the hordes of zombies that ravaged the land. This is the story of Michael Talbot, his family, and his friends: a band of ordinary people trying to get by in extraordinary times. When disaster strikes, Mike, a self-proclaimed survivalist, does his best to ensure the safety and security of those he cares for. Book one of the Zombie Fallout Trilogy follows our lead character at his self-deprecating, sarcastic best. What he encounters along the way leads him down a long dark road, always skirting the edge of insanity.
Audiobook length 10 hrs 28 minutes and is Narrated by Sean Runnette
16. Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies combined Jane Austen with zombies, Ex-Heroes mashes up zombies with another well loved genre, superheroes. A plague of the undead terrorises the world and in LA superheroes, Stealth, Gorgon, Regenerator, Cerberus, Zzzap and The Mighty Dragon vow to protect the living. With thousands of humans seeking refuge in their film-studio-turned-fortress can they overcome their differences and keep everyone safe?
Audiobook length 8 hrs 33 minutes and is Narrated by Jay Snyder and Khristine Hvam
17. The Morningstar Strain Series: Plague of the Dead by Brad Munson and Z.A. Recht
When a massive military operation fails to contain the living dead it escalates into a global pandemic. In one fell swoop, the necessities of life become much more basic. Gone are petty everyday concerns. Gone are the amenities of civilized life. Yet a single law of nature remains: Live, or die. Kill, or be killed. On one side of the world, a battle-hardened general surveys the remnants of his command: a young medic, a veteran photographer, a brash Private, and dozens of refugees, all are his responsibility—all thousands of miles from home. Back in the United States, an Army colonel discovers the darker side of Morningstar virus and begins to collaborate with a well-known journalist to leak the information to the public…and the Morningstar Saga has begun.
Audiobook length 10 hrs 55 minutes and is Narrated by Oliver Wyman
