Why are Zombies so popular?

[BlackLagoon]

Not saying I'm not enjoying it, I like my living dead just fine, I'm just not sure "why" or "how" the subject matter has gotten so popular so fast. Zombies are pretty much the "in" thing now.

I can understand Vampires. Things like Twilight (hate to admit that one) and True Blood definitely pushed Vampires to the mainstream with love stories, characters with severe vulnerabilities and such--draw in a much larger crowd. Things like Blade, 30 Days Of Night and Let The Right One In.....that's for the rest of us.....with a brain 

Why Zombies? We go back to White Zombie then move up what? 30 years to NOTLD and thats the story that really we're still watching, reading, playing etc. It's still the be all end all I guess much like Dracula is. Zombies have no human emotions, no plight, no love or hate--it's not the zombie you care about, it's all the characters the undead affect. Look at Walking Dead. That show has so much story going on and zombies are sometimes 2nd place to whatever is going on in Rick's day.

Marvel comics retold a few classic stories in their successful Marvel Zombies series not to mention a NOTLD comic, Deadworld and of course what kicked off the show...The Walking Dead.

Kids and adults alike are blasting, torching and hacking their way through levels of zombie attacks in some of the most popular video games today.....so what is it about the reanimated dead that has them at the forefront of the genre? Why are zombies becoming what vampires were to this genre of entertainment a few years back?

One thing I can see is that it's "Ok if it happens to a zombie"--A parent might care a bit more if a kid is blowing people up in Grand Theft Auto, but if it's zombies...no big deal. No personality, no strings attached mayhem--gore is more and it's what's expected.

Why do you think horror fans love it and the subject matter has moved on to and been accepted by most mainstream audiences?

[charp13]

I wish I knew! My 7 year old grandson has read Zombiekins, and now he's reading The Zombie Chasers books. He is really entertained by the "horror" of the books and he tell me about the "gross" parts with sheer delight. He seems to think that zombies are cool    I really don't understand how they just seemed to be the in thing- all of the sudden. I thought when the Wolfman movie came out (the new one), everything would be werewolf themed. But everything seems to be zombie related lately.
I really think you're on to something when you talk about the annihilation of zombies being acceptable to parents. It's a lot more fantasy based than the human shooting games. We only let our little guy watch movies/tv shows where robots, cartoon villains or Lego characters get destroyed by the hero. It's really hard because you want them to stay being a kid for as long as they can, but there are so many video games and violent shows that they want to watch because they are marketed towards them. So you compromise and let them watch the zombies get wiped out.  We always discuss fantasy vs. reality with him, and he says "I know....zombies aren't real"! hahahahaha!

[tv horror]

Why? Because zombies are the bop bags of the horror genre, I'm not sure if the U.S  calls them bop bags but they use to be the inflatable clowns that you use to buy years ago. One punch and that sucker came back for more, maybe that's what the appeal is they are just walking targets a thing that is inanimate devoid of feelings or emotion. The very thought if one was to read more into it is scary there is no doubt about it, they are disgusting things the smell, fear of infection and becoming one yourself are all primal fears. Think about how when a dream you've had were you have tried to kill something but it does not die, think of that frustration and you will know what I mean.  Send more paramedics!

[seed_murda]

Because killing real people in grand theft auto got boring.... 

[Dr. Madd]

Zombies give me the creeps. I've never got zombies. Mindless, vicious, and cowardly. They remind me too much of  an angry mob

[FACTO2]

The simple answer.  Because they are us and we are them.

[Street Worm]

Never really cared for Zombies...

I like my Monsters to know they're Monsters
& strive to be better (more monstrous) Monsters~ 

[Paul L]

With the exception of some notable classics like White Zombie, NOTLD &  Hammer's Plague of the Zombies, I could take 'em or leave 'em. The popularity escapes me.

[MDG]

The simple answer.  Because they are us and we are them.

Bingo. Robin Wood described horror movies as "the return of the repressed."

These days, I think a part of it is the feeling that we live among "others" who at any moment may attack your home, your rights, your possessions, your "liberty."

[Monster Bob]

Because they are cooler than lemmings, and people in general are lemmings.

[Pauspy]

Zombie Movies; the Dark Perspective: I've wondered if there was a darker urge that's at the root of zombie popularity. Do we just want an excuse for killing other humans? Sure zombies are "dead" humans, and that makes it OK, but basically zombie movies are about shooting people-shaped targets in the head. Are zombie movies a safety-valve for our frustrations with each other?

Zombie Movies; the Light Perspective: On the other hand, maybe the appeal is about "facing death". Zombies, like death itself, movie inexorably towards you. By watching movies about shooting and destroying zombies, are we taking our "shot" at death itself? Could zombie movies be a healthy safety-valve for dealing with tensions around mortality?

Anyone want to write a sociology paper on this one? 

Zombie Movies; the Cynical Perspective: From the film-makers perspective, however, I think they're popular because many of them are cheap and formulaic and easy to make for the direct-to-video market.

[Dr.Terror]

I just wish they would stop calling the living dead, zombies.

[Sleepyhollowstudios]

Zombies represent chaos, a loss of order, and the collapse of society. Something many people, even if only subconsciously, feel is happening in our country right now for a myriad of reasons. Just like giant animal and insect movies, including Godzilla, were popular in the 1950s due to the scare of nuclear war and radiation, and how the vampire film business boomed during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. In a way, movies help people realize that as bad as their situation might be, it could be much worse.

One of the reasons the comic strip Li'l Abner was so popular during World War 2 is because Dogpatch, Kentucky was much worse off than any number of rationing, victory garden-growing, war bond-buying communities in the country. Same principle as before.

At least, it's a theory. 

-Andy 

[Monsterama]

Never really cared for Zombies...

I like my Monsters to know they're Monsters
& strive to be better (more monstrous) Monsters~ 

Can't agree more. Zombies are definitely not my thing either.

With the possible exception of White Zombie (1932), never had any interest in this type of film.

Rick

[Zombiology]

Zombie Movies; the Cynical Perspective: From the film-makers perspective, however, I think they're popular because many of them are cheap and formulaic and easy to make for the direct-to-video market.

I think this is the biggest part of the commercial aspect.  Since NOTLD, Romero has shown us you can do it with a low budget and less than quality actors and do it well.  Gives the feeling that anyone can give it a try.  Think of how much easier it is to dress up and act like a zombie than a Karloff Frankenstein or a Lugosi Dracula?  Anything would come off as a cheap imitation.  With Zombies, we are a cheap imitation of a cheap imitation.  Easy.