Review: The Dead and Empty World (Forest of Hands and Teeth #0.2 – 0.6)

The Dead and Empty World, prequel novellas 0.2 to 0.6 in The Forest of Hands and Teeth Series by Carrie Ryan

Publication Date: October 1, 2013
Date Read: August 23, 2025
Genre: YA – Dystopia / Horror
Source: Bought
Format: E-Book
Pages: 121

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Stories included in this collection:
“Flotsam & Jetsam,” originally published in The Living Dead 2, edited by John Joseph Adams and published by Night Shade Books;
“Scenic Route,” originally published in Enthralled, edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong and published by HarperCollins;
“Bougainvillea,” originally published in Zombies vs. Unicorns, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier and published by Simon and Schuster;
“A Game of Firsts,” originally published in The First Time, edited by Jessica Verday and Rhonda Stapleton;
“Hare Moon,” originally published in Kiss Me Deadly: 13 Tales of Paranormal Love, edited by Trisha Telep and published by Running Press Teens; later published in a slightly different form by Random House.

This is going to be a very short and different kind of review as this book includes multiple short stories set in the world of The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I came across this collection just before I was due to start re-reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I am a huge fan of the series, but didn’t know about many of these short stories. I had previously read Hare Moon and you can find my separate review of that one by clicking here.

The majority of these novellas are not specifically related to The Forest of Hands and Teeth, just set in the same world, around the zombie apocalypse. I enjoyed some of them more than others. The first few novellas such as Flotsam & Jetsam, and Scenic Route were really fun to read. I enjoyed seeing people’s reactions just as the apocalypse happened. When you’re reading the main series, it’s been a long time since the zombie apocalypse happened so it was nice to see some short scenes back when it was first happening. Some of the other novellas, such as ‘Bougainvillea‘ and ‘A Game of Firsts‘ were less enjoyable to me. I found these ones just okay and a little boring.

In general, these novellas are more just little extras that have been wrote for anthologies and so I didn’t really find them all that important. If you’re a long time fan of the series like me, you’ll really enjoy this as it’s fun to get some little extra content from a beloved series. However, if you’re new to the series, I would recommend reading the main trilogy first. The only one that is linked to the main series is Hare Moon and even still I think it’s important to read at least The Forest of Hands and Teeth first.