What’s with our love affair with Zombies? 5 fun theories
What is the fascination that we as a society have with zombies and zombie-like abominations? Whether you’re into books, movies, tv series or gaming, you’ll find a sometimes overwhelming variety of choice when it comes to zombies. From what is thought of as the first Zombie film ever made, Victor Halperin’s White Zombie (1932), through to the likes of George A Romero’s The Night of the Living Dead (1968), Mary Lambert’s Pet Semartary (1989), the amusingly titled Boy Eats Girl by Stephen Bradley (2004) and the Zombie-like infected humans in Francis Lawrence’s I am Legend (2007), there are hundreds of Zombie movies made over the last ninety odd years to choose from.
Of course, many of these movies started from books where you can find hundred’s more titles, like Max Brooks World War Z: An Oral History and Stephen King’s Cell. My book Salvage edges into this category with its zombie-like mutes. There are highly successful and long running TV shows like The Walking Dead and iZombie, and you don’t have to go far in the gaming world to find more zombie’s gracing our screens, like Resident Evil and Minecraft. If you really want to get your nerd on, (which I do, frequently) there are plenty of roleplaying games that feature zombies, amongst other things, such as Pathfinder, Ravenloft and Dungeons & Dragons.
So what is it about walking, rotting corpses with a healthy appetite for human brains that has created such an fascination for the zombie genre across so many forms of entertainment? I mean, you can understand the vampire fascination to a degree, what with the charm, the good looks/never growing old and the ability to have a conversations that involves words other than Brrraaaiiiinnnnns. I can see that Vampires might make reasonable partners; it would be somewhat akin to sleeping with a fridge, and you’d have to cut out all garlic dishes which would be a bummer, but they’d look good on your arm, the super human strength and speed would have its upsides and they’d certainly have staying power in the bedroom. Plus, if you needed a bit of a break, you could just walk outside during the day and you’d have your alone time!
But zombies don’t have any of this sort of appeal. Think about it; they’d leave pieces of themselves all over the place, they’d smell about as rank as a port-a-loo after a three day music festival, and even the well-behaved ones would be likely to constantly annoy you with a straw trying to get to your juicy brain-parts. So I’ve had a dig around to look at the theories on why zombie stories are so compelling; do any of these explain your interest?
1. Zombies = fear = adrenalin = good. I get this one. While fear is generally considered an unpleasant emotion, it does have the tendency to result in an adrenalin hit, and that can be attractive for many. I mean, why else would sky-diving be a thing? As a society we generally fear death a fair bit already, so the thought of having said dead person then get up and try to bite out our throats is going to elicite some reasonable adrenalin responses!
2. It’s in our DNA. Okay, this one’s going to take some explaining. The theory isn’t that zombies specifically are part of our DNA but relates back to the fear thing above. Harking back to our Hunter Gatherer days where scary stories and situations would help train our danger-preparedness. So that when that hungry lion, angry grizzly, or perhaps spurned lover charges, we are ready to act. So basically, zombie stories = survival training!
3. We all have a beast within. I’m not sure I love this theory, basically suggesting that our civilized behaviour is a thin veneer under which we secretly want to do horrible things to each other. This theory essentially means we like the thought of biting someone’s face off and eating their brains out through their eye socket. Loving zombie stories = we’re all secretly sicko’s!
4. Zombies bring us together, socially. Another one that might need some explaining! Again, this theory references fear broadly more than zombies specifically. Essentially that when we watch a zombie flick with others, we feel closer having endured the fear together. That’s the tasteful version of this theory. But basically we are talking about it being worth going through the fear of the zombie movie ourselves, in the hope that our hot date seeks comfort in our arms! Zombie movie = making 3rd base!
5. The Zombie is the epitome of a Monster. I get this one. A true monster is something that completely violates the laws of nature. Zombies (and maybe some politicians!) pretty much nail that. It’s something to do with clawing its way out of a grave two weeks after being buried and proceeding to go and feast on human flesh that does it. The great thing about a true monster is that any social or moral dilemma around blowing its head off with a shotgun are completely mitigated! So shoot away! Zombie story = guilt free violence!
Interestingly, this last theory made me think of the Terminator movies as much as zombie movies. If you think about it, the Terminator shares a lot of qualities with zombies and similarly epitomizes the perfect monster; relentless, unfeeling, deadly and inhuman. Yet like zombies it has a human appearance, making it even more monstrous to us. Which is why Arnie was given a level of humanity in the second film, to flip from being the monster to the hero; well-played James Cameron!
So there you have it, a bunch of theories on why we can’t get enough of zombies in our entertainment. Do any of these theories resonate with you? Or do you have a different reason for your zombie crush? Please share, along with any recommendations on your top zombie book/flick/ series/game/other!