Not only does Adam Cesare excel at telling haunted tales in cornfields, but excels at crafting horror stories with nostalgic feelings that also terrify. Zero Lives Remaining, originally released in 2016 is back with a new edition filled with fun survival horror blending indie film vibes with ghost-in-the-machine frights.
It’s 1989, and Robby Asaro is making FunCave Arcade’s pizzas when his sleeve is caught on the pizza oven conveyor belt, and he dies a brutal death. But that wasn’t the end for Robby, who is now a friendly ghost watching over the gamers of the arcade.
Fast forward to 2014, and this retro video arcade is still going strong as teens flock to both the new games on the main floor and the old classics on the second. What they don’t know is that FunCave is now haunted by the man who died there in the 1980s. Robby cares about the regulars, especially Tiffany Park. When Robby tries to protect Tiffany from a bully, his first kill has unintended consequences as he absorbs his victim’s hate and rage. He can’t help what he does next as more bodies pile up and the patrons of the arcade are trapped inside.
It’s exciting to see Cesare re-release a few of my favorite of his older stories including Video Night and now Zero Lives Remaining, not to mention the long-awaited physical release of Mercy House. Some of these stories are absolutely fantastic and deserve a wider audience, especially one such as Zero Lives Remaining.
This book is as much nostalgia as it is straight mayhem. A survival horror novella set in a haunted arcade with strong B-movie vibes, Zero Lives Remaining is fast-aced and gruesome. While the blood and gore is present, the book also has a glimpse of heart with someone trying to help but ultimately going too far. Even with the short length, there was something special about this story. It’s a ghost story with a 1980s slasher vibe which is all nostalgia.
The neon-soaked setting of the arcade is one that most of us 1980s kids can vividly remember. The easy-going days of tossing a few quarters in the machine and playing until you were out of money and even at that moment you waited until those around you were out of cash before heading home on your bike. The simple days. Cesare takes these fun childhood memories and slashes the hell out of them with brutal kills and haunted nightmares.
The opening chapter with Robby making a pizza was so relatable, that is until he gets sucked into the pizza oven and ultimately becomes a ghost that haunts the arcade. But it’s really all the characters that you can either relate to, know someone who could relate to them, or have been have seen similar situations play out. Again, that is until people start dying and the place becomes mayhem.
While Clown in a Cornfield continues to top the list of Adam Cesare books, Zero Lives Remaining is a testament to Cesare’s knack for crafting terrifying tales out of nostalgia. Filled with video game references and gruesome kills, Zero Lives Remaining will make you think twice when putting more quarters in the machine.
The new edition of Zero Lives Remaining hits bookstores everywhere on September 1, 2026 from Union Square & Co. The audiobook, narrated by Chelsea Rebecca, is available via Libro.fm!
