Night of the Living Dead Christian - Review

Are you a vampire - sucking the life out of others while only thinking of yourself?  Or maybe you're a werewolf following your basest instincts and wreaking havoc on those around you?  Maybe you're a zombie - mindlessly being led through life without questioning those who lead?  Who is the monster that resides in you?

Night of the Living Dead Christian is a humorous allegory showing the monsters in all of us.  From the beginning, the reader is drawn in by the humorous storyline and the author's use of himself as the main character and narrator traipsing through a rural neighborhood saving the innocent unknowing citizens for the monsters living all around them.

Matt Mikalatos ends up trying to save his werewolf neighbor from the monster hunter determined to do him in.  He discovers his friends are vampires, mad scientists, robots and even zombies.  Eventually, most come to see that it is their lack of spritual faith and awareness that leaves them captive to their baser instincts.  Even Matt himself realizes that he's more of a mad scientist than he would like to admit - fixing the world whether it wants it or not.

It took me a while to finish reading this book - not because I didn't enjoy it, but because my son 12-year-old got ahold of it and wanted to read it as well.  He really enjoyed the monster motif while learning about how we must reject our inner human failings in order to truly follow Christ.

Night of the Living Dead Christian is a fun read with heavy theological undertones.  While much of the book has you enjoying the "b-rated" monster movie approach, heavier topics like abuse, divorce, neglect and some violence are also present.  They are all the more shocking because of the otherwise lighter tone.  Mikalatos helps us see our more monsterous side and to realize that choosing to follow Christ isn't an easy path.  It's not one that erases our inner monster, but one that helps us to choose light instead of darkness and to get back on the right path when we stray.

My son and I really enjoyed this fun perspective on what it means to be a Christian. 

*** I received this book free of charge from Tyndale in exchange for my honest review.