Other fungal horror books to read:įungi edited by Orrin Grey and Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2012) Agents of Dreamland by Caitlín R. 'While there are obvious similarities here to The Last of Us, The Girl With All the Gifts does something quite different with that basic premise,' Vulture opines, especially with the ending, which is drastically different. The two escape and join a group of people on their way to a larger stronghold. Melanie is one of those children being studied and 'vivisected in hopes of finding a cure.' One doctor still sees Melanie as human, and when some of the less intelligent infected attack, she saves him. Most of the 'fungally challenged' in The Girl With All The Gifts act like typical zombies, but 'some of the younger ones retain their intelligence along with their need to consume human flesh, and scientists want to know why,' Vulture writes. Some of the infected in the novel behave differently than the creatures Joel and Ellie face on their journey.

Carey's The Girl With All The Gifts features zombies created by Cordyceps. Potters,' taking them on a journey that leads to what Vulture called 'quite a climactic end.' What Moves The Dead is a 'knife-sharp tale in which absolutely nothing is wasted or unnecessary,' Paste Magazine opines. Alex teams up with the 'formidable de facto mycologist Ms. This invasive mushroom also afflicts the hares living on the grounds. It turns out that the whole Usher family is sick, and the mansion and surrounding lake are covered in fungal growths. The story is set in 1890 when non-binary retired soldier Alex Easton shows up at their friend Madeline Usher's manor after hearing she is gravely ill. Kingfisher's What Moves The Dead, a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. The ways fungi can affect the mind is a central part of both The Last of Us and T. If you're intrigued by the spore horror subgenre There's even a 'spore-horror' subgenre, also known as 'sporror' or 'spore core,' says Vulture, 'where mycelia and mosscaps become a driving force of terror, death, and destruction.' Whether you're looking for more fungal horror, or to revisit a quarantined post-apocalyptic world, here are a few books to occupy you until The Last of Us returns. But don't fret! If you're looking for something to fill the void that reminds you of the hit video game and series, there's a host of books you can read. HBO's The Last of Us just wrapped its first season, and while a second season has been confirmed, it might be a while before fans reconnect with Joel, Ellie, and the Cordyceps-based zombie fungus threatening their world. Fly agaric mushrooms iStock / Getty / grafxart8888

Fungi by Orrin Grey