Zombies in Pop Culture

Zombie Culture
The impending apocalypse

*ideas adapted from Dan Birlew‟s “Why are Zombies so Popular?” (2010)

• Dawn of the Dead
• Shaun of the Dead
• Zombieland
• The Walking Dead (tv)
• Dead Set (tv)

Zombies in Pop Culture

• Castlevania
• Doom
• Resident Evil
• Silent Hill
• Left 4 Dead


• Pride and Prejudice and
Zombies
• How to Survive a Zombie
Apocalypse


• Founded in 2007
• 60+ thousand members


• “Dedicated to raising the level of
zombie knowledge and respect in
the Arts and Sciences”


• Slogan: “What you don‟t know
can eat you.”


• “Naked man eats face off victim
when high on LSD”
• “Another „zombie-like‟ attack?
Man eats family dog after police
say he ingested synthetic drug K-
2”
• “Catholic priest bites ear off
other priest: Ungodly battle over
parking space”


• Nachzehrers: Germanic creatures
that consume already-dead bodies

The Origin of Zombies

• The word “zombie” comes
from African and Haitian
legends regarding voodoo
doctors
• People thought these doctors
could temporarily resurrect
the dead and turn them into
slaves


• A 1929 account of meeting a
Haitian zombie:
"The eyes were the worst. They
were in truth like the eyes of a
dead man, not blind, but staring,
unfocused, unseeing. The whole
face, for that matter, was bad
enough. It was vacant, as if there
was nothing behind it."


• In reality, the doctors
administered a powerful
narcotic that induced a
coma-like near death state
• People only seemed dead
• “zombi” = spirit of the dead


• The walking corpses
associated with zombies
today is closer to Arabian
legends of ghuls
(a.k.a. Western “ghouls”)


• Ghouls are shape-shifting
demons that typically
assume the form of hyenas
• They eat people and rotten
flesh


• Because they can take the
form of what they eat, they
sometimes appear as the
recent dead (sound
familiar?)


• 1920s: Author H.P.
Lovecraft was famous for
his short horror stories
• He blurred the line between
ghouls and zombis


• In “Re-animator,” a mad
doctor revived the dead; the
zombies were murderous
and violent cannibals (sound
familiar???)


• 1954: Richard Matheson
published the novel I am
Legend
• an infection turns people
into vampires, who create
other vampires during the
night


• 1968: George Romero‟s
movie, Night of the Living
Dead
• Influenced by the I am Legend
concept of “monsters creating
other monsters”
• Finally, the “classic” zombie
they crave flesh and are
capable of creating other
zombies through biting


• 2002: Danny Boyle‟s 28
Days Later
• People infected by a virus
(like in I am Legend) and
experience uncontrollable
rage
• Gave birth to the idea of the
“quick zombie” (no longer
laughably clumsy)


• Don‟t like
your boss?
If he‟s a
zombie, you
can smash
his head in!

Why are they so popular?

• Food, liqu
or, cigarett
es, cars, an
d guns are
all free for
the taking!


• The guy or
girl you‟ve
had a crush
on is now a
possibility
(everyone
else is a
zombie!)


• You might
even get to
rescue
him/her
from being
eaten!
You‟ll for
sure get a
kiss then…


What does this say about society?

• Dan Birlew: “Perhaps
swinging on a guy‟s head
with a cricket bat is starting
to sound like a good way to
blow off some steam….


• Dan Birlew: “…But the only
problem is, you‟re talking
about a person…”


• Dan Birlew: “…So you need
something that‟s not a person,
but a kind of
rudimentary
semi-person
with no
intelligence”


• Dan Birlew: “[Zombies are]
former people that you can
beat down and tear apart in
the most gruesome ways you
can think of…”


• Dan Birlew: “…The more
clever and savage, the
better”
*warning: upcoming image contains some
graphic elements


In the end, just remember this…

How else would they get to your brain?

Zombies in Pop Culture

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