Coldbrook

Lebbon creates a complex tapestry of myth, science, and horror, with an intricate plot strengthened by charismatic characters. Scientists at Coldbrook, a secret lab in the Appalachians, discover a gate to an alternate Earth. After a drooling, singing zombie tears into our reality, team member Vic Pearson breaks lockdown to rescue his family, freeing the infected dead from the underground facility, while aging project head Jonah Jones struggles to orchestrate man’s salvation from the overrun bunker. Technician Holly Wright plunges through the gate to avoid becoming zombie chow and encounters a warped reflection of our world, stumbling on the source of the dimension-crossing plague. Amid incredibly violent carnage, Jayne Woodhams, a woman suffering from a rare disease, discovers that she is resistant to the zombie infection. Will Vic and other desperate survivors find salvation in her bloodstream, or does humankind’s end come with the finality of grinding teeth? Archetypal themes of love, sacrifice, and guilt add emotional vigor and intellectual substance to what can also be enjoyed simply as a gutsy horror show. (Apr.)