With the recent outbreak of real-life “zombie” attacks destroying the media, I wanted to take a moment to focus on what really makes these beasts so interesting. And no, it’s not the impending zombie apocalypse; I don’t even know where to begin surviving that mess.
Here it is: zombies are [unsexy] vampires. Now hear me out! I’ve got a whole list of comparisons!
1.) Undead
2.) Eat humans
That’s it. But I think it’s enough.
Here’s where zombies get a little cooler: they come from voodoo sorcery. Originating in the Congo, zombie legends got all mixed up during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and found their way into Voodoo. To put it as simply as possible, a zombie is a corpse that can be animated and controlled by a Voodoo Queen. Unless there are frogs around; apparently zombies are more terrified of frogs than of fire.
And while vampires may be dominating pop culture, the zombies are valiantly trying to make a name for themselves. Zombies are rising on tv with The Walking Dead, staring down from the big screen in movies like Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead, and crypt walking off the page in books such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and World War Z. And if Zombieland taught me anything, it’s that Emma Stone can look cute even wielding a chainsaw. Sookie, on the other hand, cannot rock out the weaponry on True Blood.
The pinnacle of zombie cool came when the game Humans vs. Zombies (HvZ for those in the know) began taking over college campuses. I still don’t understand the rules, but it involves Nerf guns and throwing rolled up socks at your friends. So I’m in. Do vampires have their own role-playing game? I thought not… nor did I research it at all. Please tell me if I’m wrong and there’s some awesome vampire RPG I’ve been missing out on.
For your zombie reading pleasure, check out Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard, Z by Michael Thomas Ford, Die for Me by Amy Plum and The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong!
What’s your favorite zombie novel? Vote in our favorite zombie novel poll!
Subscribe To RSS Feed
Never heard/saw that Z book before, but it seems that it’s about a video game, not a zombie-apocalypse.
Zombieland is one of my favorite movie. I love the Rules.
My favorite dystopian Zombie series is by Jonathan Maburry, about Benny and his brother. Rot & Ruin, Dust & Decay, Flesh & Bone.
Of course I love the Darkest Power series, and Revenants.
And I saw that Marquee Cautio Sign in the paper before. I saved it. It was some prank in Texas. Has anyone seen the video of this guy pretending to be a zombie and attacking people? And what about those kids who did a zombie prank and got a truck driver killed?