Stephen King's Danse Macabre is a scholarly yet accessible study of the horror genre published some thirty years ago. King knows his stuff, and it shows. The scope of his book is vast, encompassing nearly all things horror from the the last (at the time) thirty years—books, films, etc.

In his introduction, King calls the book his Final Statement on the genre. It is indeed a book length paean to a genre he so obviously loves. In the book, he contends that "horror appeals to us because it says, in a symbolic way, things we would be afraid to say right out straight with the bark still on; it offers us a chance to exercise (that's right; not exorcise but exercise) emotions which society demands we keep closely in hand."

Which brings me to Clay Morgan.

Like Stephen King before him, he has written a great book about the undead. Also like King's it's scholarly (Morgan is a professor and historian), yet accessible—and chock full of zombies, vampires, and other things that gives us frights, and go bump in the night. Also like him, Morgan views the undead allegorically: they are us (or were us), and represent many things:

Unrestrained id

Rampant consumerism

The unredeemed life.

It is this last with which, as he looks at six tales of the undead from the New Testament, Morgan deals the most.

But it is no dry, dusty tome full of dead men's bones; rather, like Stephen King, Clay is clearly a pop culture aficionado. He knows his Zombieland, Night of the Living Dead, and the Walking Dead.

But he also knows his Bible, and his purpose in writing this book—along with providing an entertaining ride though history—is simply to point out that the same Jesus who brought the dead to life in New Testament times still raises the living dead today.

I didn't know what to expect when I agreed to read Clay Morgan's debut book: "Undead: Revived, Resuscitated, and Reborn."

Well, that's not entirely true. I was familiar with Morgan's blog so I knew that it would be funny, relevant, truthful, and full of pop culture references. But a Christian non-fiction book about being undead? What was up with THAT? And zombies? Really?

I read it anyway.

I didn't expect to like the book half as much as I did. But the thing was, once I started it, I couldn't put it down. I started highlighting different quotes. Writing out questions. And telling a few of my friends that they had to read this book about Jesus and the undead. I found myself thinking a lot about life, death, and yes, zombies.

For some people, death is a taboo subject. I can kind of get that. It's painful. Most people are happy to distract themselves from the question of death and eternity. We're busy chasing the fountain of youth and developing an industry around the idea of living forever here on earth. Some of our attempts are laughable, but others are downright creepy (looking at you, cryogenic labs full of frozen bodies).

The fact is, if you live, you'll die. And once you accept that, a whole lot of questions come up.

But what about...the UNdead? Ranking life and death should be simple but what if the undead came back to life? What if there's something beyond physical death? What if we're the walking dead? Could we be brought back to a vibrant life? Morgan dives into pop culture, ancient culture, and the Bible to answer those questions and a few more along the way. He has a way of injecting humor into familiar scenarios that makes you snicker and then rethink the whole situation. That happened to me as I read about the people in the Bible who had come back to life after dying. Somehow, those are the stories that never get enough screen time from the pulpit. But they should as they point to the answers for the questions all of us want to ask.

See, Jesus loves the Undead. I love this quote from Morgan, "God came to the land of the living dead so that the dead might live."

UnDead is a great read. Period.

Don't get caught up in the zombies aspect as there's much more to it than that. Instead of feeling like a funeral dirge or messily indulging in the macabre, the book offers the hope of a new life. The book is more about spiritual life/death than the physical, and never feels preachy or forced...a great feat for any author.

If you have a teenager or college kid who loves the undead AND Jesus, I'd highly recommend this book.

I loved the pop culture references and found myself laughing before the introduction was over. I was transported to a land of zombies, but also loved the link between emotional tombs and spiritual tombs. One of my favorite quotes was: Zombies lead a very active lifestyle. So should you (Zombieland)

I also liked Morgan's easy way of taking me to the time when Jesus physically walked the earth and healed many zombies (like Lazarus). I can't say enough about how much i enjoyed this book - I devoured it in 3 days! Highly recommended.