Bay of the Dead (novel)

Something has sealed off Cardiff, and living corpses are stalking the streets, leaving a trail of half-eaten bodies. Animals are butchered. A young couple in their car never reach home. A stolen yacht is brought back to shore, carrying only human remains. And a couple of girls heading back from the pub watch the mysterious drivers of a big black SUV take over a crime scene.

Torchwood have to deal with the intangible barrier surrounding Cardiff, and some unidentified space debris that seems to be regenerating itself. Plus, of course, the all-night zombie horror show.

Not that they really believe in zombies.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

Joe and Jackie have been visiting Mike and Sue Roach.
Toby has a sister called Jess and a girlfriend called Lauren.
Curtis' friends call him Audley, after Audley Harrison.
Steffan has an uncle.
Gwen has nightmares following the deaths of Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato.
Betty Prudom lives in the flat below Gwen and Rhys.
Kathy thinks Myers is a nuisance.
Sophie has a lodger called Kate.
Emily Holroyd ran Torchwood in the 1890s.
Ianto places Mildred in the cell next to Janet.
Jasmine has a toy rabbit called Sunny.
Gwen mentions her gran, who bought her a toy monkey called Bonzo.
Alexander's nurse is called Ben.

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

Leet is a "child of the Dellacoi".
Rhys at first believes the zombie outside his flat to be a Weevil.
Leet uses search units based on stereotypical zombies.

Geography[[edit] | [edit source]]

Roads and streets in Cardiff include Gabalfa Road, James Street, Greyfriars Road, Bradford Street, Corporation Road, Harrowby Street, Penarth Road, North Road, Bute Street, Railway Street and Madoc Road.
Districts in Cardiff include Llandaff, Grangetown, Trowbridge, Butetown, Canton and Splott.
Places in Wales include Cowbridge, Bonvilston, Merthyr and Penarth.
Students attending Cardiff University come from Leicester, London, Newport, Liverpool and Southport among other places.

Businesses[[edit] | [edit source]]

Rhys crashes his Saab.
Gwen and Rhys take cover behind a Citroën.
Gwen sarcastically asks Rhys if he is trying to call Rentokil.

Sport[[edit] | [edit source]]

Audley Harrison is a boxer.
Stan has had football trials with QPR and Southport.

Popular culture[[edit] | [edit source]]

Steffan mentions Pirates of the Caribbean.
Rhys compares a man to Jacob Marley.
Rhys mentions Night of the Living Dead.
Gwen compares Oscar's falling body to the flying Darling children from Peter Pan.
Nobby refers to Naomi as Cruella De Vil's more obnoxious sister.
Nobby's mobile ringtone is the theme tune from The A-Team.

Music[[edit] | [edit source]]

Jackie and Joe listen to Elbow on the car radio.
Andy owns the Only by the Night CD by Kings of Leon.
Mildred wears a gore-spattered Girls Aloud T-shirt.
Oscar is played Queen, Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen in his hospital bed.

Miscellaneous[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gwen suggest calling UNIT for help.
Staff and visitors to St Helen's Hospital show a touch of Dunkirk spirit.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

The title appears to be a reference to Romero's Living Dead movies, most notably Day of the Dead.
The dense fog which foreshadows the appearances of zombies in the novel appears to reference the cult horror film The Fog, in which a glowing fog sweeps over a Californian town, bringing with it the vengeful ghosts of mariners killed in a shipwreck 100 years prior.
Although it remains unnamed in the book, a reference is made to the film The Incredible Shrinking Man. Reference is also made to The Addams Family.
This book is also available as an ebook from the Amazon Kindle store.