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Alaric Cabiling is a Filipino American horror author. His debut novel, Below, is set in the slums of Manila, Philippines, a horrific place for a zombie outbreak due to its congestion and urban decay. Cabiling loves to feature indigent characters based on Filipino settings and cultural stereotypes. His work seeks to expose the horrors of capitalism, poverty, a lack of quality education, and government corruption. He lives in Manila, Philippines, and is also a citizen of the United States.
Reviewed by Gaius Konstantine for Readers' Favorite
“Poverty was one thing; a catastrophe was another,” and there is plenty of both in the novel Below by Alaric Cabiling. Young 12-year-old Luzvimindo Arnaiz (Min) scavenges through the polluted wastelands of Tondo, Manila, trying to earn some extra cash for his poverty-stricken family. He is dirt-poor in every sense of the word but happy with his life of school, family, and friends. Yet poverty is not the only struggle in Min's life as he has to contend with rampant drug use in a declining society of corruption and filth. When the cheap meth used by people as an escape rots their brains and turns them into mindless killing machines, Min watches everyone he knows die. As his country is overwhelmed and comes apart, he stows away on a freighter bound for the U.S. Denied asylum by the authorities, he runs away and makes a home in the sewers of New York, only to find that the zombie plague that destroyed his world has followed him.
Deeply dark and violent, Below by Alaric Cabiling is a zombie-apocalypse-themed novel with some fresh ideas. The main plot is one of survival against the odds in a world teetering on the brink of extinction with a heavy anti-drug use theme. In the story, drugs will literally rot your brain and turn you into a crazed zombie. Strong character development, primarily focused on Min, results in a connection with the young boy and his fate as I found myself rooting for him. The pace is swift and impactful, but it is the exceptional writing style I liked the most. It seemed as if a 12-year-old boy was narrating the tale, and during the second half of the book, which is set 7 years later, the narrative matured accordingly. Below is an excellent read for fans of zombie tales, replete with a surprising and bold finish.
