In a modest Manhattan walk-up, a group of survivors are on their last
legs. As the end seems nigh, a teenage girl is spotted on the avenue,
not only alive but repelling the undead like Moses parting the Red Sea.
When she comes to their aid questions of who, what and why she's immune
to attack arise.
Almost like a play, this single location-centric story features a strong
cast of archetypal, yet fully fleshed-out, distinct, characters. The
artist; the young widow; the elderly couple; the bros living a new
normal, for one of whom it's also finally living his truth; the country
boy who's turned his back on his faith only to have it return in
earnest. And the mysterious stranger that arrives as their savior, only
to confound them, even as she complies with their ever-increasing
impositions. PARIAH sets the classic zombie tropes on their ear as the
element of immunity to attack is introduced into the mix. Very
contemporary, but also taking cues from the classic New York cinema of
Martin Scorcese, Neil Simon, Woody Allen and other gritty cinema and
literature, PARIAH thrusts the reader into a truly dire survivors' tale,
capturing the desperation and resolve of its disparate cast.
