The book will tell the story you didn’t see in the undead classic.
RUE MORGUE got the first word that Echo On Publications will release a novelization of Lucio Fulci’s Italohorror landmark ZOMBI 2 (a.k.a. ZOMBIE) October 30 in paperback, hardcover and eBook, with an audiobook edition coming in winter 2026/27. As the title suggests, author Christian Francis has returned to Elisa Briganti’s original screenplay for his adaptation, restoring and expanding material that was altered, omitted or unrealized during filming.
“Even the characters have been drawn from their original descriptions on the page rather than the appearances of the actors who ultimately portrayed them,” according to Echo On. “The plot, though, remains unmistakably ZOMBI 2: A deserted yacht drifts into New York Harbor, sending Ann Bowles on a search for her missing father. Joined by journalist Peter West, she follows the trail to the remote Antillean island of Matul, where the dead are rising…and rotting, maggoty flesh is never far from sight.”
“I never wanted to simply recreate Fulci’s film,” Francis says. “It’s such a visual piece of cinema that trying to reproduce it scene for scene, describing it verbatim, would be a fool’s errand. Instead, I wanted to go back to the material that it was based on and see where it would take me. That gave me the freedom to approach the story differently and explore things that never made it to the screen. Of course, the famous moments are still there because many of them were there from the beginning: shark vs. zombie, that wooden splinter…but the novel takes those initial ideas down roads the film never had the opportunity to go. Readers should expect the brutal and gory ZOMBI 2, but not the film that you’ve seen.”
The book’s cover will sport art created by legendary British artist Graham Humphreys for the film’s UK release (as ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS)—which fulfills a lifelong ambition for Francis. “I grew up with Graham’s artwork for A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2 and EVIL DEAD II on my walls,” he says, “and it’s been a dream of mine to have his artwork on one of my books. To have it on ZOMBI 2 makes this even more special to me.”
Pre-orders for ZOMBI 2 will begin soon at the Echo On website, which has just added novelizations of a bunch of other cult titles, including Stuart Gordon’s CASTLE FREAK, Richard Franklin’s LINK, Rick Roessler’s SLAUGHTERHOUSE, John Fasano’s ROCK ’N’ ROLL NIGHTMARE, Fabrice-Ange Zaphiratos’ BLOODBEAT and more!
