The recent zombie resurgence that crossed over (infected) the classics ala Jane Austin et al was bound to spread to the most coveted of all sci-fi geekdom, Star Trek. Anderson and Stall’s Night of the Living Trekkies imagines a zombie outbreak at a Star Trek convention (something I dare say many a Star Wars Fanboy fantasises about, too). Cue zombie-intestine-munching mayhem with every ST cliché and red uniform jibe imaginable.

As for the story… Jim Pike was a ST fan, enlisted and had two tours in Afghanistan before it went pear-shaped. Shunning responsibility he now spends his time as a self-loathing ST bell-hop for a hotel where said Con will take place. When staff and guests complain about strange occurrences and people randomly biting each other Pike’s spider-sense tells him something is amiss. It’s not long before people end up undead and gnawing on Orion slave girls, and with his sister and her friends on their way to the hotel our reluctant hero is once more thrown into the thick of things, forced to lead an away-team of zombie-fodder costumed Trekkers to safety armed with Tasers and bat’leths. Along the way we meet an encyclopaedia of who’s-who in the ST universe, not to mention one out-of-place Princess Leia, internet star.

High-brow this is not. There are enough references in here to keep the average Trekker amused, with various characters arguing whether the ST animated show is canon or not, and the difference between Trekkers and Trekkies. Episode check lists abound plus shout-outs to other sci-fi shows - “I’d rather deal with the undead than a bunch of Babylon 5 fans!” And while there are several laugh-out-loud moments there are more than a couple of questionable paragraphs; at one point Pike is asked to prove his ST knowledge and asked 3 of the easiest questions ever to grace a pub quiz. Surely Trekkers pride themselves in immersing themselves in the most technical of techno-babble and obscure Trek references? It also raises the question, what of the die-hard fan? Will he or she be amused by the ‘There can only be one Kirk’ shenanigans within, or are the hardcore above such?
 
In the end, Night of the Living Trekkies is a light-hearted, fun, albeit predictable romp that self-professed geeks Anderson and Stall wrote with nerdy aplomb for a beloved cultural phenomenon. Depending on your stance on ST parody, Night of the Living Trekkies will either have you chuckling into your bloodwine or throwing this out the nearest airlock.  

Oh, and I really, really want to hear Elvis Borgsley…

Night of the Living Trekkies (2009)
Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall
Quirk Books
$14.95

Review by Ken Blackmore
First published online (05/09/10).

ALBEDO ONE - REVIEWS
Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall