RISE OF THE ZOMBIE SCARECROWS

The subject of a teenage filmmaker's horror flick transitions from fiction to fact.

Dylan's itching to make his own zombie movie, and he's got the perfect spin on the ubiquitous subgenre: zombie scarecrows. With his best friend, Cory, and girlfriend, Monica, at his side, he's confident he'll make an excellent movie on Halloween—the perfect night to shoot a film filled with terror. But then Dylan sees a real, live—err, undead—zombie scarecrow attack one of his neighbors. As the attacks and tension increase, it’s up to Dylan and his friends to figure out who's behind it all. There's a solid-enough premise here but very little else. The characters are all flat figures, spouting awkward dialogue and sounding improbably similar to one another. The novel is also incredibly short, clocking in at just 123 pages, but even there it feels like a short story stretched far beyond its limits. But these issues pale in comparison to the book's biggest sin: It’s not scary. There's no suspense or intrigue or danger on hand, not even any gore or guts or blood.

Great title, not-so-great book.