I have a confession to make: I love reading zombie books. I know, they’re not exactly high brow literature, and many are as rotten as the corpses they talk about… but I keep reading them, and I’m extremely happy each time I find a new one.
Today, I am here to share with you all my favorite zombie books – books (or series, as most are part of them) I’ve discovered over the past 10 years! Yes, I started listing my favorites in 2015… but I think it’s best to have them all in a mega-list for you to go through, than losing yourself through various articles.
And if you love zombie fiction just like I do, you know that there are tens – if not hundreds – of new releases each year. The ones below are the absolute best – make sure to read them if you haven’t done so already!
Please note: We get commissions for purchases made through links in this article.
The Brothers Creed Series – Joshua C. Chadd
This gripping, faith-infused zombie saga follows two brothers, Trevor and Doug, as they navigate a post-apocalyptic America overrun by the undead.
Bound by loyalty and their belief in God, they fight not just to survive but to preserve what’s left of their humanity. Along the way, they encounter ruthless survivors, terrifying hordes, and moral choices that cut deep.
Joshua C. Chadd delivers a refreshingly character-driven take on the zombie apocalypse – gritty, emotional, and surprisingly uplifting at times. A must-read for fans who like their end-of-the-world stories with both heart and horror.
👉 Click here to check out the series.
Children of the Apocalypse Series – Baileigh Higgins
Get ready for a binge-worthy collection of zombie thrillers that you will simply won’t be able to put down!
Even though I hated some of the plot twists, I have to admit that it’s great literature we’re dealing with and especially the first book in the series – Last Another Day – is amazing.
Higgins’ writing combines cinematic pacing with emotionally charged storytelling, making this one of the best one-stop zombie collections available.
👉 Click here to get the series now.
Dead World Series – Joe McKinney
Written by a former homicide detective, Dead World delivers realism, grit, and relentless action. The series kicks off with Dead City, where a deadly hurricane in Texas unleashes a terrifying plague that turns victims into flesh-hungry monsters.
As the infection spreads, each novel explores a different phase of the outbreak, from the chaotic early days to the brutal years of survival that follow.
McKinney’s background in law enforcement gives his world a hard-edged authenticity, and his attention to procedural detail makes the horror feel chillingly real, while the writing itself is perfect for any zombie fiction fan.
👉 Click here to start reading the series.
Day By Day Armageddon Series – J. L. Bourne
Told through the journal of a lone naval officer who records his fight for survival as civilization collapses, Day by Day Armageddon stands as one of the most immersive zombie series ever written.
The diary-style narrative makes readers feel like they’re right there, hunkered down in a bunker, rationing supplies, and scanning the horizon for movement.
As the days tick by, the horror grows both outside and within. J. L. Bourne’s minimalist, military-precise writing creates a tense, realistic survival horror experience that’s impossible to put down.
👉 Click here to check out the series.
Dead of Night Series – Jonathan Maberry
From the author of Rot & Ruin and Patient Zero comes a pulse-pounding zombie duology that starts with a killer premise: a prison doctor injects a condemned serial killer with a supposed bioweapon designed to keep his consciousness alive after death… and it works. But not as expected.
When the experiment goes wrong, the infection spreads like wildfire, creating one of the most chilling and intelligent zombie outbreaks ever written.
Maberry’s trademark mix of horror, science, and human drama shines through, making Dead of Night and its sequel, Fall of Night, absolute essentials for serious zombie fiction fans.
👉 Click here to get both books.
Monster Island Trilogy – David Wellington
This chilling trilogy (Monster Island, Monster Nation, Monster Planet) delivers one of the smartest takes on the zombie apocalypse.
From New York City’s fall to the undead to the global collapse that follows, David Wellington creates a world where both the living and the dead fight for control.
Intelligent zombies, desperate survivors, and the slow decay of civilization make this series stand out as a true classic of modern zombie fiction… perfect even for those who, just like myself, frown a bit when they hear “intelligent zombies”.
👉 Click here to check out the trilogy!
Wrack and Ruin Series – Otto Schafer
When the world collapses under the weight of a mysterious infection that starts as something completely unrelated, a group of survivors fights to stay alive amid the ruins of civilization.
Wrack and Ruin blends classic zombie horror with deep, character-driven storytelling where every decision could mean life or death.
Schafer’s writing shines through his balance of gritty realism, fast-paced action, and genuine emotion. This is a survival epic that feels frighteningly believable, with moments that will stick with you long after the last page.
👉 Click here to check out the series!
Until the End of the World Series – Sarah Lyons Fleming
This fan-favorite zombie saga combines end-of-the-world horror with powerful relationships and heartbreak. While this is far from the type of zombie fiction that I enjoy reading, I decided to give it a try and, looking past the sugar and honey, it’s good.
Cassie Forrest and her friends must navigate a collapsing world, finding love, loss, and redemption amid the chaos of the undead rising.
Sarah Lyons Fleming brings warmth and realism to the apocalypse – her characters feel alive, flawed, and human. It goes heavy on the emotional side, unlike the other recommendations on my list… but if you’re open minded, you might be pleasantly surprised, like I was.
👉 Click here to check out the series.
The True Story of the Zombie Apocalypse – Doug Ward
Told through the eyes of one man trying to survive the impossible, The True Story of the Zombie Apocalypse reads like a diary from the end of the world. The infection spreads, governments collapse, and the line between man and monster blurs.
Doug Ward’s series is raw, realistic, and often darkly funny – a grounded, first-person look at what survival really costs. It’s one of those rare zombie tales that feels like it could actually happen, which makes it all the more haunting and enjoyable.
👉 Click here to check out the series!
Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse – Shawn Chesser
A modern classic of the genre, Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse has become one of the longest-running and most beloved zombie series out there, and for all the right reasons. Shawn Chesser seems to always be able to deliver something new and exciting for the series’ fans, even after so many releases.
Following Delta Force operator Cade Grayson, the story combines military precision with raw, relentless tension as he battles the undead and the breakdown of humanity itself.
Across seventeen books at the moment of writing, Chesser builds an expansive world filled with action, loyalty, and moral struggle. It’s intense, cinematic, and deeply addictive – a must-read for anyone who loves tactical, survival-based zombie fiction.
👉 Click here to check out the series.
Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse – E.E. Isherwood
When a sudden zombie outbreak shatters the world, a teenage boy and his elderly grandmother must survive against all odds. Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse turns the genre on its head by focusing on family, courage, and the small moments of humanity that survive amid chaos.
E.E. Isherwood’s series mixes humor, emotion, and danger in perfect measure. It’s heartfelt, fast-paced, and surprisingly hopeful – proof that even in the darkest times, love and determination can still shine through.
👉 Click here to check out the series.
Positive: A Novel – David Wellington
An interesting take on the zombie genre from an author already featured on this list. This is a standalone novel – something you get to appreciate a lot after being in the zombie genre for years…
The tattooed plus sign on Finnegan’s hand marks him as a Positive. At any time, the zombie virus could explode in his body, turning him from a rational human into a ravenous monster.
His only chance of a normal life is to survive the last two years of the potential incubation period. If he reaches his twenty-first birthday without an incident, he’ll be cleared.
👉 Click here to check out the book!
Apocalypse Swordsman: A Hunter is Born – Shawn Scott
Not as popular as other novels on this list – but for this exact reason, I call it a hidden gem. Give it a try, it’s a standalone novel you will love. Here’s how it goes:
Hunter already has enough horrors in his head after suffering years of combat in the Airborne Infantry. But nothing he’s seen can prepare him for what he’s about to encounter: Hunter will put his training to the test when he confronts the undead.
After seeing a gruesome zombie attack on TV, he quickly discovers that the danger lurks right outside his front door. He must swing into action in a hurry if he doesn’t want to be dinner…
These Dead Lands Saga – Stephen Knight, Scott Wolf
The United States of America is falling before the armies of the dead. Leading the sole survivors of the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division out of the overrun city of New York, Captain Phil Hastings heads for the safety of Fort Indiantown Gap, a National Guard training facility deep in the woodlands of Pennsylvania.
Joining with other remnants of the military, government, and civilian communities, Hastings and his men must try to keep the tsunami of corpses from taking over the world and plan the resurrection of the nation.
Realm of the Dead Series – Jeremy Dyson
Rise of the Dead was obviously the beginning of a beautiful friendship. When the book was launched, back in 2016, I wrote: “The debut novel of Jeremy Dyson announces the birth of an upcoming fan-favorite zombie fiction writer. Mark my words!”
I am happy I was right the the debut novel became one of the best Zombie series ever!
It throws readers straight into a brutal, fast-paced world where civilization has fallen and survival means sacrifice. What begins as isolated outbreaks quickly spirals into a global catastrophe, forcing ordinary people to confront impossible horrors and their own breaking points.
Each book builds on the chaos with relentless tension, cinematic action, and grounded, human emotion. Dyson’s writing masterfully captures both the terror of the undead and the moral decay of the living, making Realm of the Dead a must-read for anyone who loves gritty, realistic zombie fiction with a beating human heart.
This Dying World: The End Begins – James Dean
Awakening to a nightmare, Dan Foster is forced to flee his suburban Chicago home. Together with his wife Abby and little girl Katie, they begin a dangerous trek across the wintery Midwest in hopes to reconnect with his brother in the heartland of Wisconsin.
Dan soon discovers the ravenous hordes of undead are not the only things out there that threaten the lives of his family. Can he stay the man he is, or will he need to become something more dangerous in order to protect the ones he loves?
(This is book 1 in the series, but I also recommend checking out the second, it’s great too!)
Lost World – Kate L. Mary
Lost World, the fourth book in the Broken World series, continues following a group of survivors after a super-virus has destroyed the world and the dead have come back to claim it as their own… You do have to read the first books in the series, but it’s well worth it!
The Beginning of the End – Sean Kidd
With millions of people being wiped out by a modern plague, the Government secretly creates a cure. Devastating side effects of the serum, have a catastrophic effect on civilization.
Disease ridden masses are turning into walking dead. Two unlikely heroes find themselves in the beginning of a zombie apocalypse, where the dead are feeding, and the living are collecting the weaker for their torturous pleasure.
With our heroes battling on two different fronts, and hope for mankind rapidly diminishing, this may truly be the beginning of the end.
👉 A great read! Click here to get it!
Zombie Attack! Rise of the Horde – Devan Sagliani
When 16 year old Xander’s older brother Moto left him at Vandenberg Airforce Base he only had one request – don’t leave no matter what.
But there was no way he could have known that one day zombies would gather into groups big enough to knock down walls and take out entire buildings full of people.
👉 Click here to check out the book.
The Hunt Chronicles: Awakening – J.D. Demers
After a contagion engulfs humanity, zombies rise to feast on the few survivors that are left. But they are not the worst monsters to come from this plague. There is hope, though. Christian Hunt is immune. But how many lives will it take to bring his gift to what’s left of mankind?
👉 Click here to get this book!
The Rising Dead – Devan Sagliani
Chaos breaks out when a virulent new strain of biological warfare is unwittingly released into the general population, causing all who are infected with it to turn into flesh hungry monsters driven by a hive mind that yearns to feed.
👉 Click here to check this book out!
Brink of Extinction: A Zombie Apocalypse – Nicholas Ryan
A well known author of great zombie fiction, Nicholas Ryan comes with a brand new standalone thriller that you can’t help but love.
A drifter in a savage wasteland, up against the evil that has risen from the ashes of the zombie apocalypse. In a brutal unforgiving world one man will be called upon to take up a fight to save those who remain.
He thought his last war had been fought in the trenches against the zombie hordes. Now there is one more bloody battle that must be won. But the enemy is no longer undead, it is much worse than that..
👉 Click here to get this novel now.
The Unkillables – J. Boyett
Zombies vs. Cavemen. Gash-Eye already thought life was hard, as the Neanderthal slave to a band of Cro-Magnons. Then zombies attacked, wiping out nearly everyone she knows and separating her from the Jaw, her half-breed son.
Now she fights to keep the last remnants of her former captors alive. Meanwhile, the Jaw and his father try to survive as they maneuver the zombie-infested landscape alongside time-travelers from thirty thousand years in the future…
I’ve rarely stumbled upon something as original as this and, as crazy as it might sound, the result is absolutely jaw-dropping. You will love it!
👉 Click here to check out the novel.
Hellspawn – Ricky Fleet
The first ZomPoc novel from Ricky Fleet takes us away from the US all the way to the UK, where weapons are not as common and people have to be very inventive when it comes to staying alive.
Kurt Taylor, a self-employed plumber, witnesses the start of the horrifying outbreak. Desperate to reach his family before they fall victim to the ever growing horde of shambling corruption, he flees the scene, watching the unfolding cannibalism and destruction in his rear view mirror.
A great read that sometimes makes you think that you’re reading a zombie novel by George RR Martin.
Born In The Apocalypse – Joseph Talluto
Abandoned houses. Burned out businesses. Towns overrun. Dead bodies left to rot where they fell. Hordes of the infected roaming the land, killing anyone they find. Survivors huddled behind walls, trying to scratch out an existence in a world turned upside down.
Walled in to preserve the remnants of the country, Josh and his friend Trey deal with growing up in a world that will literally tear them apart if they make a mistake. But that’s the price they have to pay for being born in the apocalypse.
You probably know Joseph Talluto already as he has published several other great zombie novels, including the great White Flag series, so you know you’re up for a treat.
Even though I personally prefer zombie novels that happen during the beginning of the apocalypse and not way after it happened, I can’t stay away from a good book and that’s exactly what we get here!
End Time – Daniel Greene
As civil war erupts and people rip each other apart in the streets of the African capital, a disinterested public across the globe turns the channel. They should have prepared accordingly.
A highly contagious microbe is spreading unchecked through the streets killing everyone in its wake only to bring them back again as the ravenous undead. Only a lone CDC virologist understands the extent of the outbreak at hand.
He cowers amongst the embassy staff praying for extraction from the hands of death, fearing his part to play in the epidemic. An easy read and a lovely thrill ride for the fans of the genre!
👉 Click here to check out the novel.
Fight the Hunger – William Allen
Brad McCoy is a survivor, and a cynical bastard. He lived through the bloody first few months of the zombie rising and lost everything he cared about before finding his place in this new, terrible world.
He fights alone, exterminating the hungry dead, and he is okay as long as he is doing the job. He is an exterminator, and instead of ants in the pantry or raccoons in the attic, he eradicates zombies and he’s damned good at it. He thinks the dead hold no surprises for him anymore, and he must only truly fear the living. Unfortunately for Brad, and the rest of the living population, he is wrong…
This amazing novel was started by a short story (Hunger Driven, which is also included) that was so great that the public simply deserved more. And they got it now – you’ll love this book!
The Apocalypse War – Peter Meredith
I know that I said there would be no books that are part of an existing series and I hitting you with the 7th in the The Undead World Series… but it’s Peter Meredith we’re talking about and an absolutely amazing zombie series overall, so you really have to read this (and all the previous ones) if you love the zombie genre.
The people of the Estes Valley have found their peace destroyed as they are attacked by the single greatest army left in the world.
Not only do they have to contend with an army of men equipped with the latest hi-tech military gear, they also have to battle a horde of undead half a million strong. But, perhaps worse that all of this, they have to deal with a seven year old girl – Jillybean.
Cruelly coerced into helping her enemies, Jillybean bends her mind to the destruction of the valley, the death of kings and the loss of her own soul, and when Jillybean puts her mind to something there’s no saving it, ever.
Generation Z – Peter Meredith
Instinct and love have combined to turn Darwin’s theory on its head. The strongest didn’t survive in this world. They were the first to die, leaving behind a generation of orphans.
It’s a generation that’s never had a full belly. It’s a generation that has no idea what an Xbox did, or what algebra is for. It’s a generation of children who never laugh out loud,and who have learned to cry softly because the dead are always near and the dead are always so very, very hungry. It’s Generation Z – and the survivors are out of bullets, out of food and out of time…
👉 Click here to get the book now
Zombie Armageddon (Last Man Standing) – Max Lockwood
No one thought that people would be able to turn into such horrible, violent creatures, even just in the metaphorical sense, let alone physically.
Matthew was a retired soldier who quit the army after seeing his friends die. It’s hard for him to trust anyone, but in this crisis full of zombies, he will need to trust the group he’s stuck with to survive.
A great read and the beginning of a very promising new series from well known post-apocalyptic fiction writer Max Lockwood.
👉 Click here to get the book now
ONSLAUGHT: The Zombie War Chronicles – Damon Novak
When the black rain began to fall, it was a worldwide phenomenon that mystified everyone. Unfortunately, there was little time to ponder the cause.
Most animals died at the onset. Others in the reptilian category merely changed. While some humans were unaffected, others experienced a half-death of sorts, morphing into blood and flesh-crazed creatures with a desire only to hunt the living and consume them.
A completely new take on the zombie genre, crazy and ambitious, this is definitely not something that fans of classic literature will easily digest, but for fans of zombie literature, this is pure gold! Definitely an author to keep an eye on!
👉 Click here to get the book now
Q Island – Russell James
An ancient virus has surfaced on Long Island, NY, turning its victims into black-veined, infectious, psychopathic killers. Chaos and madness rule.
In desperation, the military quarantines the island, trapping Melanie Bailey and her autistic son Aiden. Somehow Aiden survives infection. He could be the key to a cure…if Melanie can get him to the mainland. Heart-pounding action in a world filled with the undead.
👉 Click here to start reading this book now.
The Extinction Cycle – Nicholas Sansbury Smith
This is actually a series of six amazing books from the Extiction Cycle series, a series of zombie novels that has received thousands of amazing reviews since its launch. It has everything you can wish for from zombie literature, it’s well written and I am sure all zombie fans will love it.
Here’s a bit of what happens in Book 1:
Master Sergeant Reed Beckham has led his Delta Force Team, codenamed Ghost, through every kind of hell imaginable and never lost a man.
When a top secret Medical Corps research facility goes dark, Team Ghost is called in to face their deadliest enemy yet–a variant strain of Ebola that turns men into monsters. After barely escaping with his life, Beckham returns to Fort Bragg in the midst of a new type of war.
As cities fall, Team Ghost is ordered to keep CDC virologist Dr. Kate Lovato alive long enough to find a cure. What she uncovers will change everything.
👉 Check out the entire series here.
There you have it! Some great books that should quench your thirst for zombies and the end of the world as we know it! Got any other solid reads to recommend – either full series or standalone novels? Let us all know in the comments down below!
Thanks so much for putting Lost World on your list! I’m anxiously waiting to find out if Tantor will continue producing the series. Fingers crossed that they do because the narrator, Hillary Huber, did such an amazing job with it and I know she’s also hoping to keep it going.
New World, the next in the series, should launch this year, so we’ll surely get to taste a bit more of the great writing and adventure!
I would also highly recommend all of Nicholas Ryan’s zombie novels. They are Ground Zero, Die Trying, Dead Rage and Zombie War. They are all standalone.