Horror and science fiction tends to get dismissed as undignified stories made just for their visuals and to allow storytellers and audiences to play make believe with often bleak situations and grotesque characters. But often, beneath that exterior, there are layered ideas, sophisticated storytelling elements, and fascinating characters that make these stories more than just entertaining horror.
Zombie stories are a perfect example of how seemingly surface-level stories have a lot more to say than it initially seems. They are full of plausible scenarios that make us question our fragile society, our personal survival skills, and our future. Below are seven of my favorite zombie tropes and how they open us up to specific ideas and scenarios that are both fun and important to think about.
Their relevance
How will the world end? Will it just explode like the planet Krypton, or will it be a much slower burn where we die slow and painful deaths on a decaying Earth? Or will the world end only for humans while the next round of surviving animals and plant life evolve and mutate into the next dominant species?
This idea is something that everyone has thought of at one time or another. And of course, every generation thinks that their era could, or even will be, the final batch of our species.
The societal fears that shape these apocalyptic scenarios are played out in zombie stories. Whether it’s the original Night of the Living Dead either inadvertently or intentionally commenting on racism in its final moments or The Last of Us warning about global warming and how it could cause previously harmless lifeforms to evolve and attack us, these stories reflect how all it takes is one tip of the scale to throw our entire reality off balance and transform us into our own worst enemy.
Where do we go?
Zombie stories are fun because it puts you in that “what if” scenario and gets you thinking about how you would react to an outbreak. Where would you likely be? How do you get to safety? How do you meet up with loved ones? What skills do you have to survive?
Life in a zombie apocalypse gets simplified into very basic needs. Find safety, water, food, and shelter in that order. Luxuries become a tub of hot water so that you can bathe and fresh food that doesn’t come from a can or packed full of preservatives.
Some survivors head to underground bunkers while others make their way to the mall. Some live like nomads, traveling from place to place in order to stay ahead of the hoards. Stephen King’s novel, Cell, contains a great opening scene which shows the breakdown from order to chaos in minutes. And zombie stories in general show that the survivors are either lucky or prepared.
Could you murder another person if they were about to murder you? Would you put your life on the line to save others, even strangers? What weapons can you use? How would you deal with antagonistic humans who are up to no good? It definitely inspires you to make a plan in the event of that situation and hope you’re in the right place at the wrong time. And if you are, are you one of the lucky ones, or have you just prolonged your suffering?
The found family
Zombie stories tend to pair up groups of people who wouldn’t have met otherwise. They are often separated from loved ones and then have to forge new relationships with strangers, and in some cases ward them off.
George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead’s basic concept has to do with putting a group of strangers in the house and seeing how they manage. The answer is: not well.
As zombie stories evolved, the tendency was to allow the characters to bond over time. In this way, you begin to root for them, warts and all, and that makes it even worse if they don’t make it to the end of the story.
The crew from Zombieland continually resist their found family status until they realize how crucial it is to have others care about you. It not only keeps you safe from danger but gives you a purpose in a world that feels otherwise pointless.
The redeeming characters
There’s a character in the remake of Dawn of the Dead named C.J. He’s a stubborn, misogynistic security guard who uses the apocalypse to take advantage of his job title and put himself in charge of the mall that others flock to for safety. Early on, you’re hoping that he gets picked off sooner rather than later, whether it’s from a pack of adrenaline-filled zombies or a bullet to the head from one of the other survivors.
But by the film’s end, C.J. grows as a character, and audiences grow with him, making him a great character to root for because he has earned our respect. And because he starts out so despicable, you get to reset your opinion of him with each repeat viewing, and you get to watch this evolution of a character from antagonist to hero.
Intense situations can make or break our spirits. And zombie stories are filled with all types of people. Sometimes it’s the people who are more threatening than the zombies. Because while the zombies ultimately can’t help themselves, the humans who consciously make evil choices are the most terrifying of all. So, to have a character grow and change for the better in a lawless, consequence-free environment is both admirable and fascinating.
Their origins
Speaking of the zombies themselves, the modern zombie origin story has also evolved and become a very intriguing element of the genre. How did we get zombies? Before the Romero era, a zombie was just a person under mind control that often did what they were told by the one who had them hypnotized using some spiritual or supernatural means.
Romero’s films are pretty vague. Night of the Living Dead hints that the vehicle causing the dead to rise from the grave and attack the living may have come from outer space. However, due to the circumstances which don’t allow much time or resources for investigation, this is just one theory that gets tossed around half-heartedly on the evening news.
As the genre evolved, viruses became a great tool for explaining the zombie outbreak. Whether it’s well-intentioned scientists hoping to cure cancer in I Am Legend or tainted meat creating a patient zero in Zombieland, this apocalypse seems to be our fault in messing too much with science.
I like how the genre tends to keep its origin story brief, to the point, and plausible. In an emergency situation, no one has time to analyze the cause to death, though commentators in the original Dawn of the Dead certainly try. In real life, the rumors would sound just as possible as the truth, and the cause would take a far back seat to the chaos.
The special effects
Zombie stories, particularly those from 1960 to the present, are not for the faint of heart. Whether it’s a visual medium like a movie or TV show, or a print one, such as a novel or even a graphic novel, audiences should expect and even anticipate some descriptive and visual gore.
Everything from simple gray face paint to rotting flesh to CGI creatures can be an acceptable look for a zombie. But they are ultimately hunters, and whether they’re there to eat their victims or just rip them apart, the things that are going to happen to the human body aren’t going to be pretty.
From a visual standpoint, though, horror fans are fascinated by the gore and the methods used to pull off the special effects. Makeup artists such as Tom Savini, Rick Baker, and Stan Winston are titans in their industry in roles that are often thankless, behind the scenes, anonymous positions. But they have been able to shine through their work and bring their own names and images front and center.
The people who bring zombies to life are like magicians who are often willing to explain their magic tricks. However, it takes nothing away from the end result. Exposed insides, blood, explosions, and wounds all play a major role in shaping the look of this world and the horrors in which their inhabitants have to become immune, or at least desensitized.
These are injuries and symptoms often seen in only the most horrific situations. But when the world has become a nightmare, it has to look the part.
The range in tone
Horror stories are so pliable that they can be shaped to fit into the molds of any genre. And this goes for a concept even as bleak as a zombie story. There have been comedies, like Shaun of the Dead, romance stories, such as Warm Bodies, and even animated movies like Paranorman.
Every tone is acceptable, mainly because there are so many stories out there that it creates room for all of them. That and their undefined rules allow storytellers to create their own rules and individual images that help to sell the world that they are trying to create, whether it’s a plate full of rotting food on the table inside a home located in a once bustling neighborhood or a highway full of vehicles that were left behind in the initial panic.
We can see thousands of zombies piling on one another to reach a high point such as in World War Z or we can see them dancing with Michael Jackson in the Thriller music video, and it all looks good and makes sense. The freedom of being able to twist and turn numerous possibilities into its own unique version of this broad definition is such an exciting concept that keeps the genre fresh amid the decay of rotting corpses.
What are your favorite zombie stories? Leave your answers in the comments below!
Buy it!
Buy a copy of World War Z here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.
Pin it!
Share your comments