So do I still consider this a guilty pleasure? Not at all. While the book does not reach the sinister atmosphere of the game as the characters explore the overrun police station or the other settings, it does create creepy moments that aren’t featured in the game with characters such as the perverse police chief. S.D Perry does an incredible job of translating the story to the page, fleshing out characters that only come alive in cut scenes in the game by providing an insight into their motivations, feelings and fears. The book is a quick read, despite, it’s 300 plus page count.

I always loved the blend of sci-fi about biological warfare leading to zombie outbreaks in the Resident Evil series, especially as it allows for other monsters beyond the zombies themselves. These are infected people from a man made virus that kills and reanimates them. Unlike the common zombie lore at the time of its publication these aren’t the rise from the graveyard type of zombies. By chance they meet up after discovering that this quiet, isolated city has become overrun within zombies. Leon Kennedy, a rookie cop, is journeying to Raccoon City to start his first day on the force while Claire Redfield is heading there in search of her brother, Chris, a character in the previous books. Just to be confusing the book is actually the third in the book series, despite featuring the story from the second game. For those that don’t know City of the Dead is the novelisation of Resident Evil 2. The games themselves were my first taste of horror, particular the third one, establishing a love for the zombie genre that still exists today so, of course I have a special place for them in my heart. It was nerdy enough playing videogames or enjoying reading at my school let alone doing something that sort of combined the two. At least, that’s what I thought when I discovered them in my school library as a teen, reading them them with the books pressed flat against the table.

Why? Because even as a fan of horror it’s pretty nerdy to love the second hand version of a story. You know the books your afraid to openly love for fear of being judged.įor me that’s a series of books written by S.D Perry in the nineties that novelised the resident evil gaming franchise. Let’s talk about guilty reading pleasures.

City of the Dead by S.D. Perry