The Zombie Round

OCT. 30, 2025

The Zombie Round

Welcome to our first-ever horror pop-up, a weeklong tournament where you decide which book you want to advance—and your comments and upvotes could sway the outcome of every match. Here’s a recap of how it works.

Here we are: the most thematically appropriate Zombie Round in Tournament history. And we can now see our two top vote-getters in the pre-popup reader poll emerging from their still-fresh graves, and they are: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and The Shining by Stephen King.

Now it’s up to you: Are you ready to cast your votes?

Tell us which books should advance to Friday’s final match. Please note, only votes registered before midnight ET will be counted.

Or do you want to join the discussion?

In the Zombie Round, the comment that receives the most upvotes in favor of one the books in each matchup will have each upvote converted to one whole percentage point to be awarded to that title’s poll tally. (Though if a single comment in favor of multiple books receives the most upvotes, the additional percentage points go to each book in that comment.) Please note, only upvotes added before midnight ET will be counted.