Characteristics of the Zombies Throughout Different Works
The idea of modern zombies was created in 1968 when George Romero created the movie Night of the Living Dead. Since this was a new idea, authors were able to twist and bend the rules when writing their own unique takes on the zombie apocalypse. Two books that include zombies are Max Brooks’ World War Z and The Enemy, by Charlie Higson. Though both of the books are considered zombie literature, the zombies differ from each story. The rules of zombies have changed throughout each work, including how the zombies appear, their weaknesses, and how they function individually as well as in a group.
Throughout Night of the Living Dead, World War Z, and The Enemy, the zombies appearances vary greatly. In Night of the Living Dead, the zombies looked like normal humans from far away. They would slowly stumble around with their arms hanging to their sides, as if they were in a trance. In close-up shots the zombies had visible wounds, probably from where they were killed or infected. In World War Z, when “Patient Zero” was examined the doctor said, “The boy’s skin was cold and gray as the cement on which he lay. I could find neither his heartbeat nor his pulse. His eyes were wild, wild and sunken back in their sockets” (7). It was also noted that the zombies did not bleed, however they did excrete a brown sludge, and they move sporadically and violently. The Enemy seemed to have slightly more gorey descriptions for the zombies,
Although the zombies are not as complex of monsters, they are still representative of fears in the
When people combine their fears and imaginations, they end up with some fascinating, yet horrifying, creatures. Killers of the night, such as vampires, or the extinction of the human race, usually due to a zombie outbreak. Vampires and zombies are both fictional beings who have made their way into society through years of storytelling, novels, and media. However, what sets them apart from each other? While they are both products of our eerie imagination, which one’s existence is more believable?
Zombies, as we know them today, have mortified movie viewers for the last forty six years. Modern zombies first appeared in George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead in 1968. These zombies were the slow moving, staggering ghouls that one has seen in countless films, but in 1985, Return of the Living Dead featured a new kind of zombie, the first fast moving and talking ghoul. Both Night of the Living dead 1968 and Return of the Living Dead 1985 feature the zombie as its villain, but Return of the living dead’s fast moving, talking zombies are a more modern take on the movie monster.
Your zombie usually does not behave normally that resembles anything that was once human. Once mutation has occurred, it is easy to tell at first look that that risen zombie is no longer a living member of the human society. Its movement is generally slow with very poor skills and coordination. Its walk is clumsy and unbalanced. This is caused in part by the cellular decay of their nerves and tissue, and also the poor functioning of the portion of the brain that controls functions. Without control of their circulatory and other systems, the body begins to decay quite fast. This rapid decay occurs in all parts of the body including the eyes, leaving zombies with a very poor sense of sight. This makes them even
First off, zombies have a unique history. The first part of this exclusive history is that zombies have a few originating points with places ranging from ancient past times to well known movies. According to an archaeological study
Today, the new movie "Zombieland" has just been released into theaters so the zombie is still going strongly through culture. Night of the Living Dead was a serious horror look at zombies but society has turned a once terrifying genre into some humor. Spoofs like ‘Shawn of the Dead’ and ‘Zombieland’ “has fun messing around with the rules of the post-apocalyptic zombie movie genre” (Machosky). However the reason the undead have survived so long is because they have broadened their publicity range. Not only does the world see zombies in movies, but mankind must “watch out for Nazi zombies rising from the grave in videos games like ‘Dead Snow’ and ‘Call of Duty: World at War’” (Greene). Zombies have been expanded into music as well with the Kingston Trio’s release of the song “Zombie Jamboree”. Even books have been used to spread the disease, such as “at Borders zombie literature runs the gambit from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to Zombie Haiku” (Greene). In addition, David Lubar has just recently expanded the zombie craze to elementary school children with his newest novel, My Rotten Life (Lauer-Williams). This is a children’s book about a middle school student who is also a zombie. Zombies, once a scary menace only for the brave at heart, have become a friendlier topic for everyone.
When analyzing this piece of writing it is clear that the purpose is not to entertain or persuade. The purpose, instead, is to inform and give a new perspective on zombie movies in a simple way that an audience of all ages can understand. In Andrew Cooper and Brandy Blake’s, “George Romero Zombie Films: A Plague of Meaning,” the authors walk the reader through how as time changed zombie movies changed with it. The authors further explain how zombies in many movies represent the time and culture. The writers inform the reader through their use of information from past zombie movies and analysis of the events of the times they were made.
Ever since the first zombie movie was created in 1932, there has been a constant rise of zombie appearances in popular media. Like with all monsters, the majority of zombie media aimed to represent a certain aspect throughout the society in question. Whereas vampires represented romanticism and Dracula represented how a certain social group was viewed during a certain time period, zombies in Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” aimed to create a situation whereby a group of people had to survive a night together, despite their racial tensions between one another. Being the founder of all subsequent zombie films, “Night of the Living Dead” provided a guideline for zombie behavior. As time passed, more and more versions of the zombie came out, whereby zombies stopped being a plot device and turned into the focus of the film itself. The Walking Dead, currently standing as the fourth most popular TV series, took a turn from this progression and decided to imitate Romero’s take on zombies. By including zombies which simply aimed to sustain themselves by consuming the flesh of the “live,” the creators of The Walking Dead caused the remaining survivors to gather together and rely on primitive human instinct to survive. Even though the zombies in this series run rampant, they play a very minimalistic metaphoric role. Instead, by presenting the zombies as a plot device, the characters in this series were able to demonstrate their true prejudiced view on society, ultimately revealing
Rodney Clapp, writer, editor for Wipf and Stock Publishers and expert in topics such as theology and culture, in the article, “Attack of the Zombies”, argues that many things in life are beginning to resemble zombies. Clapp assumes that the audience also views zombies as lifeless creatures that go around spreading their disease. The author’s purpose is to persuade the audience to believe that many things they see today are starting to resemble zombies. The author writes in a challenging tone for people who question the similarity of zombies to every day life. Clapp supports his argument by comparing and contrasting, and exemplification.
Zombies continue to keep their popularity alive through the entertainment industry. Zombies have been around for years now with no sign of leaving anytime soon. In the story Max Brooks suggests that zombies have given the other horror movie monsters a run for their money because, zombies are the only monsters that keep their popularity going strong in today’s society. I enjoyed the way Max Brooks shows the reader that he is a fan of zombies and thinks that zombies have been dominating the entertainment industry.
This problem from the past, the fear of war or lack of safety. In the time of war, a lot of people told different stories about zombies. It was horrible time, and people lived without hope, the faith, and without prays. The war made from people monsters, and zombies. World War Z is a novel by Max Brooks which chronicles "World War Z" or "Zombie World War". It is a follow-up to his previous book, The Zombie Survival Guide. The book was released on September 12, 2006. Through a series of oral interviews, Brooks, as
Zombies or cannibalistic humanoids are popular among the horror genre of myths and legends. As a result, they have became dominant in the pop culture with their appearance in numerous iconic films and shows. Within these legends, stories or films, zombies have been depicted in different versions. They can either be quick and cunningly vicious or slow and mindless. Some stories even portray them having a smart efficient society where they utilize a strange sense of teamwork. Although all of these versions have its comparisons, zombies always end up having a relation to the infamous virus that infects
World War Z: An Oral History of The Zombie War is by New York Times bestselling author, Max Brooks. Maximillian Michael Brooks was born on May 22, 1972, in New York, NY. He attended Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences K-12th grade where he was diagnosed with dyslexia (Biography). He later graduated from American University’s film school in 1994 (Biography). Brooks married Michelle Kholos Brooks in 2003, and they have one son named Henry (Biography). Brooks is an accomplished writer, releasing a novel in 2003 named The Zombie Survival Guide, and his 2006 novel, World War Z: An Oral History of The Zombie War (Biography). He also wrote for Saturday Night Live in the early 2000s, when he won a Primetime Emmy in 2002 for outstanding writing for
Critics and cultural writers assert that my monster, zombies, is vulnerable to change. I agree with many authors, scholars and critics that the zombie has been evolving over the course of time, but I wanted to go deeper into this idea and add to it. How have they evolved? In what ways? Everything evolves overtime. This is just how the world functions. We are always craving the newest technology, the newest line of clothing. We as humans strive for the very best and will restlessly keep on changing the world until we are satisfied. I believe that this has a huge impact on how zombies are depicted nowadays. Over time zombies have been constantly changing in a variety of ways. Not only have they changed in their appearance, but they have grown
The History Channel’s presentation on the history of zombies provided a wealth of information that was both informative and entertaining. The origin of the zombie is far more than a simple fictitious story about shambling ghouls that pose little threat. Everything from the creation of zombies by viruses to the concept of a relentless horde that threatens the destruction of civilization has a basis in historic events (Zombies: A living History, 2011).