[Luis Dias]

Zombies have been in fashion for over 40 years now, since the debut of "The night of living hell", and I wonder why? What is it that is so fascinating about these apocalyptic creatures.

Since I was a child that I also wondered why so much of literature of the 20th century revolved around detective stories (why not medical stories or architecture stories?), until I figured out that it scratched an human itch over how we find things to be true, about epistemology, about methodologies, rationality and intuition. Since then I think that detective stories are about the empirical method of reaching a truth (and a quite optimistic take on it too).

But I never got the zombie stuff. Has it got to do with the current fascination with "Consciousness"? Has it got to do with the "Semantical Apocalypse"? Or just Apocalypse in general? (there is no other creature that cries "civilization is over" as well as a zombie).

There's probably a hint in the fact that they generally seem to love eating brains...

What do you think?

[Snail]

Pitting smart thinking humans against mindless humans maybe. And blood and guts and stuff.

[Ghostavo]

Love/hate relationship humans have with the uncanny valley. Zombies lie at the very bottom.

[General Battuta]

People want to be able to slaughter those around them with a clear conscience and the justification of necessity?

[Snail]

People want to be able to slaughter those around them with a clear conscience and the justification of necessity?

Totally

[Mustang19]

Zombies have been in fashion for over 40 years now, since the debut of "The night of living hell", and I wonder why?

Mostly boredom with civilization, necrophilia and postapocalyptic adventure fantasies.

[Luis Dias]

So it's all about giving yourself a fantasy of murdering everyone around you?

A dehumanization so you can be morally relieved of butchering everyone, just like you really want to but don't admit to?

That kind of thing?

[Snail]

I guess. Sounds fun.

[Mustang19]

Nah, not entirely. Simply the desire for civilization to end and idealized fight club anarchoprimitivism to reign, resulting in increased personal drama levels.

[Darius]

I thought it was less about the violence against shambling corpses and more about the breakdown of society and carving your own path in it.

[Destiny]

Humanity created the theory of zombies, so they could combat future opponents that resemble zombies and already have the best tactics, drilled into the hearts of every zombie-slaying fan.

[newman]

Because going through dozens of zombies with a chainsaw is a brutal kind of fun while going through a bunch of regular humans with a chainsaw is a somewhat less acceptable massacre. You strip away their humanity, make them a threat, and it's fair game to murder them by the hundreds. Add the basic fun elements of survival horror and beer into the mix and you'll generally end up with a winner. Sure it's not a Fellini kind of cinematic experience but sometimes you need some good old junk to unwind with a bunch of semi-drunk friends. It's the kind of movie I only find entertaining if in proper company/mood. It's not something I'd find remotely entertaining just watching on my own.

[Luis Dias]

While I find that kind of (otherwise good) explanation still incomplete, I'd also like to point out a curious irony in it.

By creating a fantasy where brainless monsters are out to kill you, so that you must kill them yourself brainlessly, aren't we creating fantasies about being ourselves turned into zombies, while deluding ourselves we still bring "civilization" in our hearts?

But I still find it slightly unsatisfactory. It kinda misses something. Idk, probably just a vague feeling without merit.

[Mustang19]

By creating a fantasy where brainless monsters are out to kill you, so that you must kill them yourself brainlessly, aren't we creating fantasies about being ourselves turned into zombies, while deluding ourselves we still bring "civilization" in our hearts?

Yes thats totally correct and you could work that sentence into the doctoral thesis for your cultural theory program. However one of the big things about zombies is that they never really die while at the same time confronting humans with their mortality.

[The E]

Zombies are, in a way, a representation of the "industrialized" human being. The kind of person who mindlessly goes about their day, toiling day-in, day-out without a clear understanding of purpose, following directions without even trying to understand them. By fighting them, the heroes assert their individuality, confirming their own separate identities.

[NGTM-1R]

Zombies are the mechanistically drilled soldiers of the Roman Principate or the sarrissa-wielding phalanx of the post-Alexander world. They are a horde of screaming Gauls, the Mongols at the charge, the Old Guard advancing before Waterloo.

They are, in short, a way to portray combat simplistically and not get called on your bull****.

[Mustang19]

Actually zombie combat is really complicated with weapon selection ranging from chainsaws to pool sticks, varying revive rules by canon and numerous ways to score headshots.

[General Battuta]

Plus you have to deal with mechanisms of transmission/generation and the varying mobility of the different classes of zombies.

[NGTM-1R]

Actually zombie combat is really complicated with weapon selection ranging from chainsaws to pool sticks, varying revive rules by canon and numerous ways to score headshots.

You say that like we wouldn't use those things on anything I described.

Plus you have to deal with mechanisms of transmission/generation and the varying mobility of the different classes of zombies.

Differing classes!? Heresy!

More generally though, I selected people from a time where you'd loldie if you were wounded, or maybe if you weren't wounded, or if you just stuck your foot in some water once a week ago.

[Snail]

There are running and walking zombies, and then there are crawlers and those missing limbs.