INFECTED

Humor and horror are seldom far apart in this tale about a virus that turns people into enormous animals.

A passage near the end of this novel says: “The flashing lights and sounds in the mall made Ben feel like he was in a video game, but he knew in his heart that a video game about an Infection apocalypse could never be made. Some things were better as real stories.” Given that the book is based on a video game, it’s a fun piece of metafiction—and apt, as many scenes in the book feel like levels in a game. Ben and his friends fight off giant monsters in one location after another: a mall, a train station, carnival grounds. The cartoonish tone may come as a relief at a time when actual viruses are spreading around the world. And the story is never quite as terrifying as it might have been. Ben never has to face a monster who was once a friend or a member of his family (though that could change in upcoming installments). Most of the characters, infected or not, are talking animals. Ben is an exception, like a guest star on an episode of The Muppet Show. His appearance is rarely described, but the illustrations portray him with dark, textured hair. Widdowson’s drawings are comfortingly geometric, full of circular heads and ruler-straight furniture.

Just scary enough to make people feel braver for reading it.