The Bone Houses

Ryn and her younger brother and sister have been scraping by since their parents died.  She's taken up her father's position as a gravedigger for their small village at the foot of a mountain range.  But in Colbren, the dead don't always stay in the ground. 

For years, bone houses have appeared in the forest, but lately, they've been appearing more frequently and venturing into the village.  Ryn knows how to dispatch them with her ax, but because she is so efficient there are some who don't believe the bone houses exist.  When the local landowner decides to evict them to pay their missing uncle's debts, they must abandon their home or find a way to pay. 

Ellis is an apprentice mapmaker who is nearly killed by a bone house as travels toward Colbren.  He is lucky Ryn is nearby with her ax to save him.  After Ellis sets up at the local boarding house, the bone houses begin to attack with greater ferocity, and the town is quickly overrun. 

Soon Ellis and Ryn are on a quest through bone house infested forests to break the curse that started the whole problem.  Aside from saving the village and finding enough money to save her home, Ryn is hoping to discover the truth about what happened to her father who disappeared into the forest years ago and never returned.  And Ellis is hoping to discover the truth about his own history.  He stepped out of the forest as a child with a terrible injury as a child with no memory of his past. 

Will they be able to survive the bone houses, or will they become just two more victims of the curse?

Emily Lloyd-Jones's take on the zombie narrative is suspenseful and heartfelt.  It manages to be both a zombie horror story and fairy tale/quest story at the same time.  There is a romance subplot, but it's very light.  Good creepy fun!  Recommended.