Zombie apocalypse
A zombie apocalypse is a particular scenario of apocalyptic literature . In a zombie apocalypse, a widespread rise of zombies hostile to human life engages in a general assault on civilization.
In some stories, victims of zombies may become zombies themselves if they are bitten by zombies or if a zombie-creating virus travels by air, sexually, or water; in others, everyone who dies, whatever the cause, becomes one of the undead. In some cases, parasitic organisms can cause zombification by killing their hosts and reanimating their corpses, though some argue that this is not a true zombie. In the latter scenario zombies also prey on the living and their bite causes an infection that kills. In either scenario, this causes the outbreak to become an exponentially growing crisis: the spreading "zombie plague" swamps law enforcement organizations, the military as well as health care services leading to the panicked collapse of civil society until only isolated pockets of survivors remain. Basic services such as piped water supplies and electrical power shut down, mainstream mass media cease broadcasting and the national government of affected countries collapses or goes into hiding. The survivors usually begin scavenging for food, weapons and other supplies in a world reduced to a mostly pre-industrial hostile wilderness.
Genre
History
The founding work of the genre was Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend (1954), which featured a lone survivor named Robert Neville waging a war against a human population transformed into vampires.[1] The novel has been adapted into several screenplays, including The Last Man on Earth (1964), starring Vincent Price, and The Omega Man (1971), starring Charlton Heston. A 2007 film version also titled I Am Legend starred Will Smith in a more contemporary setting.[2] George A. Romero borrowed the idea for his apocalyptic feature Night of the Living Dead (1968) from Matheson, but substituted vampires with shuffling ghouls, identified after its release as zombies.[3]
Thematic subtext
The literary subtext of a zombie apocalypse is usually that civilization is inherently fragile in the face of truly unprecedented threats and that most individuals cannot be relied upon to support the greater good if the personal cost becomes too high.[4] The narrative of a zombie apocalypse carries strong connections to the turbulent social landscape of the United States in the 1960s when the originator of this genre, the film Night of the Living Dead, was first created.[5][6] Many also feel that zombies allow people to deal with their own anxiety about the end of the world.[7] Kim Paffenroth notes that "more than any other monster, zombies are fully and literally apocalyptic ... they signal the end of the world as we have known it."[8]
Story elements
There are several common themes and tropes that create a zombie apocalypse:
- Initial contacts with zombies are extremely traumatic, causing shock, panic, disbelief and possibly denial, hampering survivors' ability to deal with hostile encounters.[9]
- The response of authorities to the threat is slower than its rate of growth, giving the zombie plague time to expand beyond containment. This results in the collapse of the given society. Zombies take full control while small groups of the living must fight for their survival.[9]
The stories usually follow a single group of survivors, caught up in the sudden rush of the crisis. The narrative generally progresses from the onset of the zombie plague, then initial attempts to seek the aid of authorities, the failure of those authorities, through to the sudden catastrophic collapse of all large-scale organization and the characters' subsequent attempts to survive on their own. Such stories are often squarely focused on the way their characters react to such an extreme catastrophe, and how their personalities are changed by the stress, often acting on more primal motivations (fear, self-preservation) than they would display in normal life.[9][11]
Generally the zombies in these situations are the slow, lumbering and unintelligent kind first made popular in the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead.[10] Motion pictures created within the 2000s, however, have featured zombies that are more agile, vicious, intelligent, and stronger than the traditional zombie.[12] In many cases of "fast" zombies, creators use living humans infected with a pathogen (as in Zombieland and Left 4 Dead)—instead of re-animated corpses—to avoid the "slow death walk" of Romero's variety of zombies.
Reception
Academic research
“ |
While aggressive quarantine may contain the epidemic, or a cure may lead to coexistence of humans and zombies, the most effective way to contain the rise of the undead is to hit hard and hit often. |
” |
—Philip Munz, Ioan Hudea, Joe Imad, and Robert J. Smith? [sic],
"When Zombies Attack!" (2009)[13]
|
According to a 2009 Carleton University and University of Ottawa epidemiological analysis, an outbreak of even Living Dead's slow zombies "is likely to lead to the collapse of civilization, unless it is dealt with quickly." Based on their mathematical modelling, the authors concluded that offensive strategies were much more reliable than quarantine strategies, due to various risks that can compromise a quarantine. They also found that discovering a cure would merely leave a few humans alive, since this would do little to slow the infection rate.
On a longer time scale, the researchers found that all humans end up turned or dead. This is because the main epidemiological risk of zombies, besides the difficulties of neutralizing them, is that their population just keeps increasing; generations of humans merely "surviving" still have a tendency to feed zombie populations, resulting in gross outnumbering. The researchers explain that their methods of modelling may be applicable to the spread of political views or diseases with dormant infection.[13]
The Zombie Institute for Theoretical Studies (ZITS) is a program through the University of Glasgow. It is headed by Dr. Austin. Dr. Austin is a character that has been created by the university to be the face of ZITS. The ZITS team is dedicated to using real science to explain what could be expected in the event of an actual zombie apocalypse. Much of their research is used to disprove common beliefs about the zombie apocalypse as shown in popular media. They have published one book (Zombie Science 1Z) and give public "spoof" lectures on the subject.[14]
Government
On May 18, 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published an article, Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse providing tips on preparing to survive a zombie invasion.[15] The article does not claim an outbreak is likely or imminent, but states: "That’s right, I said z-o-m-b-i-e a-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you’ll be happy you read this...." The CDC goes on to summarize cultural references to a zombie apocalypse. It uses these to underscore the value of laying in water, food, medical supplies, and other necessities in preparation for any and all potential disasters, be they hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, or hordes of ravenous brain-devouring undead.[16]
The CDC provides a Zombie Pandemic graphic novel.[17]
Weather
On October 17, 2011, The Weather Channel's published an article, "How To Weather the Zombie Apocalypse" that included a fictional interview with a Director of Research at the CDD, the "Center for Disease Development".[18] Based on a seasonal attraction in the Atlanta area called The Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse, Weather.com interviews "Dr. Dale Dixon" (subtle references to characters in AMC's "The Walking Dead") asking questions about how different weather conditions affect zombies abilities.[19] Questions answered include "How does the temperature affect zombies' abilities? Do they run faster in warmer temperatures? Do they freeze if it gets too cold?"[20]
Genre examples
Films
- Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978), Day of the Dead (1985), Land of the Dead (2005), Diary of the Dead (2008) and Survival of the Dead (2010) by George A. Romero.[21] Night of the Living Dead was remade in 1990, Dawn of the Dead in 2004, and Day of the Dead in 2008.[22]
- Zombi 2 (1979), starts with a small group of zombies, which expands to engulf a city.[23]
- 28 Days Later (2002), and its sequel 28 Weeks Later (2007), in which a man-made "rage" virus is unleashed in Britain, and then continental Europe.[24][25]
- Resident Evil film series, based on the Resident Evil game franchise, including Resident Evil (2002), Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) and the upcoming Resident Evil: Retribution (2012).
- The Zombie Diaries (2006), in which a virus creates a plague of zombies.[26]
- Fido (2006), a zombie comedy set in the 1950s, where humanity is saved from a zombie apocalypse by a corporation who turns zombies into personal servants.[27]
- Planet Terror (2007), a biochemical agent causes a worldwide zombie infection.[28][29][30]
- Colin (UK, 2008), at the onset of an apparent zombie apocalypse, Colin is apparently bitten and is turned into a zombie, yet his point of view implies residual human memories of the recent past.[31][32]
- Zombieland (2009), a comedy where the United States is ravaged by a zombie plague caused by a mutated form of mad cow disease, but a small group attempts to survive while traveling across country to an amusement park in California.[33]
- World War Z (2012), based on the book by Max Brooks.
- American Zombie (2007), A mockumentary about the daily lives of a small community of zombies who make their home in Los Angeles.[34]
Comics
Literature
- The Zombie Survival Guide (2003) by Max Brooks that details how one can survive various sized zombie outbreaks, including a world-wide outbreak that collapses civilization.
- Monster Island, Monster Nation and Monster Planet (2004-2004) by David Wellington.[41]
- World War Z (2006) by Max Brooks which details humanity's efforts to defeat a worldwide zombie apocalypse.[42][43]
- Forest of Hands and Teeth (2009) by Carrie Ryan which is set over 100 years after the zombie apocalypse in an isolated village surrounded by a forest full of zombies.[44] It was followed by two sequels set some years later, The Dead-Tossed Waves (2010) where the daughter of the first novel's protagonist returns to the Forest, and The Dark and Hollow Places (2011) which moves the story to a city on an island.
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009) by Seth Grahame-Smith which combines Jane Austen's classic 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice with elements of modern zombie fiction.[45]
- "Zombie Apocalypse in the King James Bible" Numerous Bible passages speaking of the "Resurrection of the damned, or the dead" who then wreak havoc on the survivors in the earth.
- Warm Bodies (2010) by Issac Marion is set in a zombie apocalypse but is told through the viewpoint of a zombie known only as R who regains his humanity after developing a relationship with a human girl that he spared.[46]
- The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor (2011) by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga is set within the universe of The Walking Dead comic books, which were also created and written by Kirkman. It follows one of the most villainous characters of the comics, Philip Blake, aka "The Governor", as he, two friends, his brother Brian and daughter Penny struggle to survive in a world where an undead plague has rendered the human race outnumbered.[47]
- Feed (2010) by "Mira Grant" (Seanan McGuire)
- The Enemy by Charles Higson. The zombies are humans afflicted with a disease that only affects people above 15 years of age.
Television
Video games
- Zombie Panic features a human and a player-controlled zombie team fighting against each other in a zombie apocalypse.[52][53]
- Left 4 Dead, and its sequel Left 4 Dead 2, a co-operative horror, first-person shooter where a rabies-like pathogen infects humanity.[4]
- Zombie Apocalypse, released as a downloadable title for the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade is a shoot 'em up title. The player takes control of four survivors and may fight against hordes of mutated zombies as a team, rescuing other survivors and investigating the cause of the infection.[54]
- Dead Nation, a shoot 'em up for the PlayStation Network.[55]
- Dead Island, a first person action-adventure game with an emphasis on melee combat, set on a Pacific island resort that has become exposed to a zombie virus.
- Dead Rising, and its sequel Dead Rising 2 made by Capcom. A sandbox adventure game in which the main character is trapped in a mall full of zombies and almost anything that can be found in the mall can be used as a weapon.[56]
- Project Zomboid, An isometric RPG which aims for a degree of realism. It is being developed in a similar way to Minecraft.[57]
- Abomination: The Nemesis Project, A real-time tactics/action video game.
- Fort Zombie, a third-person shooter where you have to search houses for equipment and secure locations.
Role-playing games
Music
- The zombie parody of The Beatles, the Zombeatles, began in 2006 with the song "Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead" and are set in a world where the zombies have eaten all the remaining humans.[61]
- Technical death metal band Brain Drill's 2008 album Apocalyptic Feasting has cover art and songs depicting a zombie apocalypse.
- All music, lyrics and imagery surrounding metal/hardcore band Zombie Apocalypse revolve around the idea of a zombie apocalypse.
- The 2008 Metallica music video for the song "All Nightmare Long" features the Soviet Union using a spore found after the Tunguska event on the United States to covertly create an army of zombies, and then openly destroy all of them, in order to take over the US.[62]
- Metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada released their Zombie EP on August 24, 2010. The five song EP is about an impending zombie apocalypse derived from lead vocalist Mike Hranica's strong interest in the subject.[63]
- Songwriter Jonathon Coulton's 2006 "Re:Your Brains" satirizes office culture and buzzwords using the zombie apocalypse theme. Incidentally, this song can be played on the various jukeboxes found in Left 4 Dead 2. As it plays, a zombie horde is summoned.
- Send More Paramedics were a horror film-influenced crossover thrash band from Leeds in the north of England. The band played in the 1980s crossover style, what they described as "Zombiecore...a fusion of 80s thrash and modern hardcore punk", with lyrics about zombies and cannibalism, and are heavily influenced by zombie movies. On-stage, they dressed as zombies.
See also
- Zombie Squad, a non-profit charitable organization that uses an upcoming zombie apocalypse as its shtick.
References
- ^ Clasen, Mathias (2010). "Vampire Apocalypse: A Biocultural Critique of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend". Philosophy and Literature. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/philosophy_and_literature/v034/34.2.clasen.html.
- ^ "One for the Fire: The Legacy of Night of the Living Dead" — Night of the Living Dead DVD, 2008, Region 1, Dimension Home Entertainment
- ^ ZRS Staff. "Romero Invented Flesh Eaters". Zombie Research Society. http://zombieresearch.net/2010/11/23/romero-invented-flesh-eaters/.
- ^ a b Christopher T. Fong (December 2, 2008). "Playing Games: Left 4 Dead". Video game review (San Francisco Chronicle). http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/01/DD4R14F77J.DTL. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
- ^ Adam Rockoff, Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, 1978–1986 (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2002), p.35, ISBN 0-7864-1227-5.
- ^ "Zombie Movies" in The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, ed. John Clute and John Grant (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999), p.1048, ISBN 0-312-19869-8
- ^ Cripps, Charlotte (November 1, 2006). "Preview: Max Brooks' Festival Of The (Living) Dead! Barbican, London". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/features/preview-max-brooks-festival-of-the-living-dead-barbican-london-422481.html. Retrieved September 19, 2008.
- ^ Kim Paffenroth, Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero's Visions of Hell on Earth. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2006.
- ^ a b c Todd Kenreck (November 17, 2008). "Surviving a zombie apocalypse: 'Left 4 Dead' writer talks about breathing life into zombie genre". Video game review. msnbc. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27770863/. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
- ^ a b Brian Cronin (December 3, 2008). "John Seavey’s Storytelling Engines: George Romero’s "Dead" Films". Comic Book Resources. http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/12/03/john-seaveys-storytelling-engines-george-romeros-dead-films/. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
- ^ Daily, Patrick. "Max Brooks". Chicago Reader. http://events.chicagoreader.com/events/Event?oid=852597. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
- ^ Josh Levin (March 24, 2004). "Dead Run". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2097751/. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
- ^ a b "When Zombies Attack!: Mathematical Modelling of an Outbreak of Zombie Infection", by Philip Munz, Ioan Hudea, Joe Imad and Robert J. Smith? [sic]. In Infectious Disease Modelling Research Progress, eds. J.M. Tchuenche and C. Chiyaka, Nova Science Publishers, Inc. pp. 133–150, 2009. ISBN 978-1-60741-347-9.
- ^ "Zombie Institute for Theoretical Studies". 2011. http://zombiescience.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
- ^ Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse
- ^ Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse
- ^ http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/documents/11_225700_A_Zombie_Final.pdf
- ^ How To Weather the Zombie Apocalypse
- ^ The Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse
- ^ How To Weather the Zombie Apocalypse
- ^ Dawn of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "TheMovieBoy Review - Dawn of the Dead (2004)". Themovieboy.com. 2004-03-20. http://www.themovieboy.com/reviews/d/04_dawnofthedead.htm.
- ^ "Zombi 2 - The Deuce". Grindhousedatabase.com. 2009-01-15. http://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Zombi_2. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ^ Mark Kermode (2007-05-06). "A capital place for panic attacks". London: Guardian News and Media Limited. http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2073292,00.html. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
- ^ "Stylus Magazine’s Top 10 Zombie Films of All Time". http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/movie_review/stylus-magazines-top-10-zombie-films-of-all-time.htm.
- ^ "The Zombie Diaries press kit". ZombieDiaries.com. http://www.zombiediaries.com/PressKitZombieDiaries.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
- ^ Pascal. "Fido Movie Review". Movie review. Movies Online. http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie_review_detail.php?id=12254. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
- ^ ""Grindhouse" double feature a gloriously entertaining contrast". Scene Stealers. April 6, 2007. http://www.scene-stealers.com/print-reviews/grindhouse-double-feature-a-gloriously-entertaining-contrast/. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
- ^ Quint. "Updated! GRINDHOUSE news from Comic-Con! Snake Plissken to be Tarantino's villain! Plus more!!!". Ain't It Cool News. http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=23947. Retrieved 2007-01-06.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (April 4, 2007). "Grindhouse (2007)". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20033672,00.html. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
- ^ Michael Brookes: "Review: Colin" Sight and Sound 19:10: November 2009: 52-53
- ^ http://www.colinmovie.com
- ^ Carroll, Larry (2009-03-04). "‘Zombieland’ Monster Maker Has Emma Stone, Mila Kunis Eating Brains". MTV Movies Blog. MTV/Viacom. http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/03/04/zombieland-monster-maker-has-emma-stone-mila-kunis-eating-brains/#more-10483. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765430/
- ^ "Deadworld - Information about the comic series from Caliber Comics". Caliber Comics.. http://calibercomics.com/DEADWORLD/comictitle.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ^ Jeffrey Bloomer (June 12, 2009). "Zombie-Ridden Post-Apocalyptic Graphic Novel Gets Film Treatment". Paste. http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/06/zombie-ridden-post-apocalyptic-graphic-novel-gets.html. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
- ^ WEEK OF THE DEAD I: Robert Kirkman, Comic Book Resources, May 19, 2008
- ^ "The Dead Walk the Earth... in Spandex!" Article/Review from I-Mockery
- ^ "HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD story by Daisuke Sato, art by Shouji Sato". Yen Press. http://www.yenpress.com/highschool-of-the-dead/. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
- ^ Bertschy, Zac (14 June 2011). "High school of the Dead BLURAY - Complete Collection - Review". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/high-school-of-the-dead/bluray-complete-collection. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
- ^ Richards, Dave (June 23, 2009). "Marvel Zombies: The All-Star Return!". Comic Book Resources. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21726. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
- ^ "Exclusive Interview: Max Brooks on World War Z". Eat My Brains!. October 20, 2006. http://www.eatmybrains.com/showfeature.php?id=55. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
- ^ Currie, Ron (September 5, 2008). "The End of the World as We Know it". Untitled Books. http://www.untitledbooks.com/pages/features/index.asp?FeaturesID=74. Retrieved September 21, 2008.
- ^ "Zombies Rise in Teen Lit". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. 2009-05-26. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09146/972132-44.stm. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- ^ Grossman, Lev (2009-04-02). "Pride and Prejudice, Now With Zombies!". Time. http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1889075,00.html. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
- ^ http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/04/warm-bodies-by-isaac-marion.html
- ^ The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor on Amazon
- ^ Dance of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "SFX interview with Charlie Brooker". Sfx.co.uk. 2008-10-22. http://www.sfx.co.uk/page/sfx?entry=charlie_brooker_on_dead_set. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ^ "The Walking Dead - Television Adaptation". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead#Television_adaptation. Retrieved 2011-05-16.
- ^ Bertschy, Zac (14 June 2011). "High school of the Dead BLURAY - Complete Collection - Review". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/high-school-of-the-dead/bluray-complete-collection. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
- ^ "A Half-Life 1 & 2 Modification". Zombie Panic. http://www.zombiepanic.org/site/index.php. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ^ "Zombie Panic: Source mod for Half-Life 2". Mod DB. http://www.moddb.com/mods/zombie-panic-source. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ^ "Zombie Apocalyse at Konami". Konami. October 16, 2009. http://www.konami.com/games/zombie/. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
- ^ David Bullshit (November 29, 2010). "Dead Nation Hits Playstation Store this Week, Eradicate the Infection!". Official US Playstation Blog. http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/11/29/dead-nation-hits-playstation-store-this-week-eradicate-the-infection/. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ Jeff Cork (September 24, 2010). "Dead Rising 2 Review: The Apocalypse Shouldn’t Be This Much Fun". Game Informer Magazine. http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dead_rising_2/b/xbox360/archive/2010/09/24/the-apocalypse-shouldn-t-be-this-much-fun.aspx. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
- ^ "The Zombie Survival RPG". The Indie Stone. http://projectzomboid.com/blog/. Retrieved 2011-07-02.
- ^ "All Flesh Must Be Eaten RPG homepage". http://www.allflesh.com/. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ^ "Yellow Dawn RPG homepage". http://www.davidjrodger.com/yellowdawn.htm. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ^ "Dead Reign RPG homepage". https://palladium-store.com/1001/product/230-Dead-Reign-RPG.html. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
- ^ "The ZomBeatles: All You Need Is Brains Tastes Funny". Fan Cinema Today. March 24, 2009. http://fancinematoday.com/2009/03/24/the-zombeatles-all-you-need-is-brains-tastes-funny/. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
- ^ Burkart, Gregory S. (December 8, 2008). "Behold Metallica's "Nightmare" Zombie Apocalypse!". FEARnet. http://www.fearnet.com/news/b13980_behold_metallicas_nightmare_zombie.html. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
- ^ "Zombie EP". http://www.tdwpslays.com. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
External links
|
|
Media |
|
|
Subgenres |
|
|
Related genres |
|
|
Others |
|
|
Category · Portal
|
|