After a recent showing of the German zombie film “Rammbock: Berlin Undead” at the Joplin Electric Theater (check them out on Facebook), I realized that in a zombie apocalypse I would be so dead right out of the starting gate. Definite zombie fodder.

Perhaps that’s why I love zombie books, movies and TV shows so much. In a real-life situation, chances are that I’d completely lose it.

But in a pretend world, I can observe, without impunity, how others survive — or don’t survive — the dangers.

Zombie fiction is on my must-read list year-round, but leading up to Halloween, I devoured it. Here are a few books the Joplin Public Library has recently acquired.

“The Walking Dead:  the Road to Woodbury”

By Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga

I’m a wee bit obsessed with Kirkman’s “Walking Dead” epic; the classic graphic novels, the acclaimed TV show, and now the full-length novels.

His first novel, “The Walking Dead: The Rise of the Governor,” details the journey of the Governor, a memorable villain from the comics, through the early days of the outbreak to his takeover of the protected town of Woodbury.

The newly released sequel, “The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury,” picks up several months after the outbreak has happened, and it features a cast of characters new to the “Walking Dead” universe.

It depicts the struggle of Lilly Caul and those with whom she’s joined forces to find a safe place, which at first glance seems to be Woodbury, now firmly under the Governor’s control.

The reader witnesses Lilly’s development from a frightened, anxiety-ridden young woman into a person of strength and courage, who is capable of doing whatever it takes to survive.

The writing seems a little stilted at times, and I had difficulty with the lapses into omniscient narration, but the nonstop action more than made up for those flaws. Lilly’s journey is horrifying, violent and bloody. Several times I wondered how she and her friends were going to escape from the threats — both zombie and human — that befell them.

Well worth the read if you’re a fan of “The Walking Dead” in any of its incarnations.