Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Handling the Undead  By  cover art

Handling the Undead

By: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Narrated by: Steven Pacey
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.24

Buy for $20.24

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

In his new novel, John Ajvide Lindqvist does for zombies what his previous novel, Let the Right One In, did for vampires.

Across Stockholm the power grid has gone crazy. In the morgue and in cemeteries, the recently deceased are waking up. One grandfather is alight with hope that his grandson will be returned, but one husband is aghast at what his adored wife has become.

A horror novel that transcends its genre by showing what the return of the dead might really mean to those who loved them.

©2005 John Ajvide Lindqvist; Translation copyright 2009 by Ebba Segerberg (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“A unique and humanistic take on the undead that has a place alongside thoughtful horror novels like World War Z.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“The first fresh take on the zombie since [Dawn of the Dead].” —Chud.com

“Sophisticated horror that takes the genre to new and exciting levels.” —Suspense Magazine

What listeners say about Handling the Undead

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    63
  • 4 Stars
    90
  • 3 Stars
    72
  • 2 Stars
    24
  • 1 Stars
    13
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    90
  • 4 Stars
    61
  • 3 Stars
    30
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    47
  • 4 Stars
    69
  • 3 Stars
    52
  • 2 Stars
    15
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great Book But...

This is neither a horror novel, nor really about Zombies. This is a very well written piece of literature about grief. It's a character study and really not much happens. I really enjoyed it, but it is not for everyone.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant! (and very very different)

First of all, please know that if you are looking for the usual Romero style flesh eating zombie mayhem, you will be waiting a long time for it in this story. This novel is a very different thing. It has been said of Stephen King that his stories arent about the haunted house, but about the people that own that house. That same idea is very true about this book. This is the tale of how the presence of the zombies affects the lives of the people who knew them when they were alive. It is also a tale of people and institutions trying to manage a situation for which there is no precedent in the best way that can think to do so, and how that leads to what is both a simultaneously tragic and heartbreaking yet beautiful and hopeful conclusion. Rest assured that for the patient horror-hound the expected zombie horror (that beyond the gross-out descriptions of the undead) does eventually appear, it does so at its natural place in this story, very near the climax, and only happens because of the course of events in the book. This isnt to say that the majority of the book isnt frightening; it is, very much so, but it is the horror of the cold chill and the creepy variety that comes from ideas and implications, instead of the "fight or flight" scares that comes from violent and unnatural events. So if you are only looking for the sort of zombie apocalypse found on the silver screen, you'll be very disappointed, but if youre looking for something deeper, something that asks what it might really be like, youre in for an engaging treat. 5 stars across the board.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Wanted more, got it, but not what I hoped for.

I had to try this after I read "Let Me In". This story doesn't glitter the way the other did, but it's satisfying, still. It's unique in its concept, and delivers interesting perspectives. What happens to family relationships if the dead stay around? Naturally, families are different. I think some people with enjoy this a lot more than others. It's thought provoking.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Shouldn't be listed as a zombie novel

First off, I am an avid audiobook listener. I go through about one every week or two (gets me through long work days in a research lab).I really hate writing negative reviews, especially about the zombie genre. I just don't know what to write about this that would be good. I don't want to spoil the book but I feel obligated to throw out a couple of details that might have saved me from buying this audiobook. First, it has a bunch of funky Stephan King "The Cell" kind of stuff (i.e. telepathy with zombies and humans). Second (contrary to one of the other reviewers statements), gore NEVER happens. During the entire listen, the first bit of horror related anything does not occur until the last hour and a half! This "suspense" is quickly let down in an M.Night Shyamalan style of disappointment. The zombies in this book are almost completely lifeless (no pun intended). They literally just sit motionless. Total body count in this book---1. This book has more feelings moments than anything else. I really don't know what more to say. By the time you think something is finally going to happen, it doesn't. If you buy it, good luck and prepare to be as scared as if you were reading Forest Gump.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A Classic

The author's prose is excellent which is doubly impressive considering this is a translation from the Swedish. The narration is good. I wish I had the money to buy the film rights to this novel. It lends itself to film and I believe it would be a blockbuster. I fear this may be the kind of excellent novel which slips through the cracks. I hope that doesn't happen. All else is said in Raymond's articulate review.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great Horror Read

The characters are interesting and well developed. The suspense is gripping with and interesting Stockholm twist.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

alot of writing, but nothing really hapened

I feel I wasted several hours listening to this book, waiting for something to really happen...but it never did. Too bad, author was on to an interesting twist for zombie books, but never really took it anywhere. Somewhere in the middle of the book I thought that "here we go" things are going to start moving...but no. The writing was nicely done, but the story just never really developed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not a very satisfying book

When you read a story, you kind of want to find a character you can empathize with.. or at least tolerate. There are none of those here. Not a single one of the lead characters in the various plot lines is someone I could bring myself to care about. Not a one. And that makes for a fairly painful read. But I persevered to find out how it would all end, only to find the ending as unsatisfying as the rest of the book. If you think this book will do for the zombie story what Let Me In does for the vampire story, you are sadly mistaken. Don't brother, save your credit for something better, which shouldn't be too hard to do..

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Booooring!

Classic zombie fans - Beware!
Slow-paced and anti-climactic. The zombies are not stereotypical brain-eating zombies, either. I'm really wondering if this did translate well, because this was just plain boring. The "climax" was so disappointing - the whole story left me with a bunch of questions but without any real interest in indulging in sequels.
Seriously, I should have ordered ordered Book Yourself Solid. This was a waste of time. And credits/money.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

interesting

I liked the premise, but things left unanswered. ..no explanations as to why things happened. missed that follow through. ended without that A-ha moment.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful