The Zombie Group! discussion

I know zombies existed before Romero, but his are what I always thought of as being proper zombies. I don't mind minor variations, but there are a few things that just annoy me. Talking zombies is one, running zombies is another.

What would spoil a zombie story for you?

NOTHING CAN RUIN A ZOMBIE STORY FOR ME....Unless they do what they did to vampires....and just go against everything that they do.

(In case you don't know what I am referencing to it's Twilight)

Marcus wrote: "I know zombies existed before Romero, but his are what I always thought of as being proper zombies. I don't mind minor variations, but there are a few things that just annoy me. Talking zombies is ..."

Do you mean running zombies as in the new Dawn of the Dead? That just added a whole other level of "scary" for me. Or what about the whole 28 Days later debate?

I agree with you though, talking zombies or.....ok, let's just use the example of Land of the Dead for everything that zombies shouldn't be. I won't mention the name of the book, but there was one I read this summer which was just plain stupid. zombies as mummies, and a "master" zombie who was attempting to take over the new world. I guess to sum it up, no supernatural crap in zombie stories!

I like my zombies stupid and shambling. I do think the super fast 28 Days Later*/Dawn of the Dead remake zombies added a good new element, but if zombies start to sparkle like Twilight vampires, I'm OUT.

*Even though in 28 Days they weren't "zombies", they were "infected", but that's another conversation for another thread.

I am also a Romero purist. I hate running zombies, talking zombies...but what bugs me the most...zombies that LEARN. Every time I see that I wanna smack someone.

Which is why when I write zombies, they're slow they shamble, and they almost never moan. (dead lungs don't breathe)

Felicia wrote: "I like my zombies stupid and shambling. I do think the super fast 28 Days Later*/Dawn of the Dead remake zombies added a good new element, but if zombies start to sparkle like Twilight vampires, I..."

It never actually occured to me that they weren't zombies in 28 Days Later until I stumbled across a huge debate online. I think in the context of the story, it works as zombies. All other aspects of the zombapocalypse are there except for the death part....oh and I guess the killing them through brain destruction.

Cassandrastryffe wrote: "(dead lungs don't breathe)
.."

I think that's taking it a bit too far. They would need some sort of rudimentary respiratory and circulatory system otherwise all they would be able to do is just lie there as if they were dead.

I like my zombies to be shambling, arms out-stretched and moaning.

I can tolerate thinking zombies (particularly the ones that evolve), but if I EVER come across a sparkly zombie, I shall be having a big old temper tantrum/book burning.

I've already seen one YA Zombie romance and was a little bit sick in my mouth.....*shudders* - I mean, really, how attractive can a zombie be? The smell should be enough to put you off from a mile away!

I don't mind variations in zombies. I'm reading Soulless right now and the zombies run, talk, think, set traps for people. Makes it more interesting. The people need to be smarter to survive.

I like the idea of zombies being able to run. But talking and thinking is a little far fetched. The only thing they should be able to think is EAT!

Braaiiinnnnssssss

HAHA yes exactly!

I think flying zombies would kill it for me. I can take just about any other type, but they better not be able to fly. :)

I saw "Night of the Living Dead 3-D" last night. It was utterly, mind-bogglingly horrible, but it had a sort of interesting twist in the zombie mythos--some of the recently reanimated could speak, but then lost the ability as they, uh, devolved. That's the sort of talking zombie I could go along with.

Also agree with Kat regarding attractive zombies...I'm sorry, no amount of concealer is going to cover up the missing flesh.

I have to admit I'm something of a 'Romero purist'. I've said before and I'll probably say it again.....dead lungs don't breathe. i.e. no talking!

I took a sort of new twist on zombies in my "Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption."Zombie Apocalypse:Redemption

My zombies while freshly dead (before decomposition takes place) can move rather fast like a normal human, and think...now as the zombification lengthens they become shamblers. They are not able to speak- moan and groan, yes similar to the 3D version of "Night of the Living Dead." In the new one a zombie can strategize...they key is eating brains. They don't breathe or have a heart beat. In fact in book 1 an infant is put on life support to keep circulation and body functions going until a cure is found for the virus.

Cassandra wrote: "I am also a Romero purist. I hate running zombies, talking zombies...but what bugs me the most...zombies that LEARN. Every time I see that I wanna smack someone.

Which is why when I write zombie..."

I love the Romero zombies too...but even in Day of the Dead they had Zombies who could learn. Really though they are never called Zombies in the movies and the Romero-type seem more like Ghouls anyway. So my take is The Romero Zombies are Ghouls, but the 28 days living zombies are still zombies...and so are the fast ones in the Dawn remake. (I still prefer the slow shamblers though) I don't mind variations as long as the brutal horror and sense of dread is kept.

Alexis wrote: "Marcus wrote: "I know zombies existed before Romero, but his are what I always thought of as being proper zombies. I don't mind minor variations, but there are a few things that just annoy me. Talk..."

THIS!

First post to the group, so first, hello.

I am for the most part a zombie purist. Slow, Stupid, Hungry. Head shots can be the ONLY thing to take one down. Cut one in half and only the half with the brain stays after you. I did enjoy the recent emergence of "sprinters", terrifying. I like the idea of howling to alert others. The thought of a wave of groans spreading away from me sends chills down my spine. But that is about it.

I was a huge fan of the series that @Alexis mentioned, until the last book when it got all magic and hocus pocusy. It sucks because he stayed so true and so on point with vampires, and I really need to read into his werewolf series. High hopes for what he can do, but he now needs to walk away from the zombie genre.

I'm currently reading The Official Zombie Handbook: The Ministry of Zombies and in it they make a point of saying a zombie brain needs to be destroyed past a certain percentage point to actually stop it, for the most part a single bullet to the head wouldn't stop the zombies in the book. I'd thought of this before, but the head shots are such a part of the zombie mythos I rarely stop to question how much of a brain a single bullet would actually take out.

I read the Australian version of that one, Holden. It's got some good ideas that Zombie writers could, erm, 'borrow'.

But the brain idea could also be argued that a certain part of the brain needs to be damaged to dispose of a walker.

As far as the zombie/non-zombie debate, I have always believed that to actually BE a zombie, you have to have first died. Meaning, in 28 Days Later, they were infected with a virus but did not die, and were therefore "infected", not zombies. Zombies die, then reanimate, thus becoming a true and proper zombie.

The debate on whether "infected" are truly living or still have a soul is a whole. other. conversation.

I prefer the slow moving zombies. Even if they're freshly killed. Slow never stopping lust for your brains zombies

What do you think about "Cured Zombies?" I tried to take it in an entirely different direction. Check out my synopsis if you have time.
Aftereffects: Zombie Therapy

Intelligent Zombies. David Wellington's Monster trilogy usually gets lumped into Zombie Fiction despite the origin of his undead antagonists. Although, as the trilogy went on I did find his brand of undead intriguing.

On the issue of Cured Zombies, I find that variety almost, if not more troubling. Because true Romero zombies are reanimated corpses. To be cured would mean the resurrection of the already dead.
I am currently reading Rebirth, in which the main character is one who has recovered from an epidemic that causes the victim to crave live flesh, but other than that has no similarities to zombies, yet the description for Book 1 clearly states zombies on the back. False advertising. (Yet I still picked up Book 2.)

Alexis wrote: "I won't mention the name of the book, but there was one I read this summer which was just plain stupid."

I believe I just mentioned it for you.

I think it's odd that “true Romero zombies” are used as some sort of fundamentalist movement in literature. The story of the zombie spans far back into human history. In fact, there are historical depictions of both types of zombies people like to argue for supremacy. Animated corpses (walking dead) are as prominent in our writings as the (walking alive) zombies created by so-called witch doctors in many of the tribal cultures. The Haitian and African history of the “zombie” are much more like the contagion zombies of modern film and literature. Like you, I have my own favorite zombie type (cough… cough Romero…) I just don't see why one detracts from the other. I would imagine that Romero is happy that stories have developed throughout the years that differ from his own. I can’t imagine he meant for it to become a theology.

Hi all.
I prefer the "Romero" zombies to any other. I don't mind the "sprinters", I could understand freshly made zombies who had been athletic being able to run for a period of time, until decomp starts of course, and then they too should become the slow shufflers.
Evolving zombies are a no go for me. I also would not enjoy seeing the Left4Dead variations in a movie. In a video game it's fine, but if a movie or book were to feature the witches and boomers I would be very disappointed.

I guess I am such a zombie nut that it cannot be ruined for me. I love it all cheesey, bad, or good I love me a zombie.

Zombie attack in Miami over the weekend!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-ca...

...A witness said the aggressor continued to eat the victim, before the officer opened fire several times, killing him...

About 75% of the victim's face was reportedly missing...

Cyclist Larry Vega said there was "blood all over the place" when he came across the horrific scene by MacArthur Causeway.

"I told him get off," Mr Vega told WSVN Fox 7. "The guy just kept eating the other guy away like ripping his skin."

He said he alerted a police officer, who warned the attacker several times to back away from the victim.

"The guy just stood his head up like that with a piece of flesh in his mouth and growled," Mr Vega said.

The victim, who is said to be a homeless man, remained in a critical condition in hospital on Tuesday...

Miami police said they still do not know what prompted the bizarre and savage assault, which has been compared to a "zombie" attack.

I always said it would happen.lol I gotta tell my friends they are here!!