Need opinions for a plot for a zombie book

[The Dead Writer]

Hey guys, I'm writing a new book and I was wondering how you liked the plot.

A family of four has to deal with the uprising fear of the dead. Jack (The main character) invites his friends and his friends family to barrack up in his zombie proof house on the outskirts of Raleigh North Carolina But he must leave the house with the whole group ( Kids, parents, girlfriends, boy friends, and enemies) and head north away from the horde coming from Raleigh and go on the road, expiriencing tough challenges with zombies and other humans. Learning how it all started and how to stop it. Testing their morals and beliefs, dealing with certain death, and 2 different types of zombies. The Alpha, and the Bravo. Finding new places, communities, and enemies. And a flower.

I would love your feedback on the plot. Does it sound cliche, are you Intrigued, ETC. Thank you.

[EvilNed]

Well, yeah it does sound kinda cliché. I mean, I haven't read that specific plot before but I've read things that come close to it.

Maybe you should try to add one little twist to it. Like;

*All water is contaminated and has to be boiled.

*Jack's kid is in a wheelchair.

*There is perpetual darkness because reasons.

You get the point...

[The Dead Writer]

Thank you for the ideas! Great feedback. You are right, I do need something more and I will look into that. Thanks man.

[Wyldwraith]

First,
Lose the whole "Zombie proof house." If you want something advantageous for the occupants in a zombie apocalypse without being cliche, make the house an old Victorian with a wrought iron fence around it, or have it be built into the side of a hill or bridging a waterfall (there's a particular architect famous for building memorable homes like that, whose name escapes me at the moment)...the point being, make the place being defensible coincidental, without stretching too far into unbelievably convenient (no eight foot high two feet thick stone walls surrounding the property).

Second: The whole "fleeing the zombies, find unexpected trouble along the way" has, as others have said, been done to DEATH. If you want your characters moving across the landscape of the zombie apocalypse, add more to it than a vague move-to-elsewhere for survival's sake. Maybe someone they encounter as things go completely to hell was an epidemiologist separated from the military unit he was working with. They need to help him get info he's discovered about the zombies to authorities that can do something about it, but with infrastructure having broken down and society unraveling as the number of zombies mounts, it becomes a harrowing cross-country trip.

Or maybe the zombie apocalypse was caused by an Umbrella Corp-style bioweapon, and there's a cure for the infection (before it kills and reanimates the person, obviously) but the only remaining viable sample is in some incredibly dangerous locale.

In other words, the idea is to tell a story DURING the zombie apocalypse. Trying to have the story simply BE the Zombie Apocalypse has been done so many times, from so many different angles, that it's incredibly hard to stand out in that crowd.

Want an excellent example of the kind of Zombie story I'm talking about? Look at Empire, by David Dunwoody. The Grim Reaper becomes involved as the zombie apocalypse begins...and the story is combined with a truly novel and/or believable mechanic of the zombies growing more dangerous over time. Empire is a great example of what the Zombie Survival Horror subgenre would benefit by becoming. Rewriting Night, Dawn and Day has been done so many times the dead horse has been beaten so thoroughly the atoms said horse is made from have broken down into subatomic particles.

Just my .02. Your mileage may vary.

[Moon Knight]

First,
Lose the whole "Zombie proof house." If you want something advantageous for the occupants in a zombie apocalypse without being cliche, make the house an old Victorian with a wrought iron fence around it, or have it be built into the side of a hill or bridging a waterfall (there's a particular architect famous for building memorable homes like that, whose name escapes me at the moment)...the point being, make the place being defensible coincidental, without stretching too far into unbelievably convenient (no eight foot high two feet thick stone walls surrounding the property).

Second: The whole "fleeing the zombies, find unexpected trouble along the way" has, as others have said, been done to DEATH. If you want your characters moving across the landscape of the zombie apocalypse, add more to it than a vague move-to-elsewhere for survival's sake. Maybe someone they encounter as things go completely to hell was an epidemiologist separated from the military unit he was working with. They need to help him get info he's discovered about the zombies to authorities that can do something about it, but with infrastructure having broken down and society unraveling as the number of zombies mounts, it becomes a harrowing cross-country trip.

Or maybe the zombie apocalypse was caused by an Umbrella Corp-style bioweapon, and there's a cure for the infection (before it kills and reanimates the person, obviously) but the only remaining viable sample is in some incredibly dangerous locale.

In other words, the idea is to tell a story DURING the zombie apocalypse. Trying to have the story simply BE the Zombie Apocalypse has been done so many times, from so many different angles, that it's incredibly hard to stand out in that crowd.

Want an excellent example of the kind of Zombie story I'm talking about? Look at Empire, by David Dunwoody. The Grim Reaper becomes involved as the zombie apocalypse begins...and the story is combined with a truly novel and/or believable mechanic of the zombies growing more dangerous over time. Empire is a great example of what the Zombie Survival Horror subgenre would benefit by becoming. Rewriting Night, Dawn and Day has been done so many times the dead horse has been beaten so thoroughly the atoms said horse is made from have broken down into subatomic particles.

Just my .02. Your mileage may vary.

Excellent advice.