New Life For The Dead

At the end of the horror boom, one of the names being touted for “the next big thing” was the talented Alan Rodgers, who had edited the horror digest Night Cry in the 80s, and turned to writing his own fiction after Night Cry folded. Perhaps because of the implosion of the horror markets, or perhaps disinterest, Rodgers has drifted away from horror, but he is still fondly remembered.

New Life For The Dead was his first collection of short fiction, published by Wildside Press. It is a thin novel, containing five stories and six poems. The stories tend to have a certain whimsy that is rarely found in the genre, but Rodgers can go for the gross-out with the best of them. The highlight of the volume is the 1987 Stoker Award winning story “The Boy Who Came Back From The Dead.” The book is listed as out of print, but it isn’t difficult to find used copies of either the hardcover or trade paperback floating around.