What Do Zombies Mean?

[Natalie]

Great little deconstructive piece from cultural critic Mark Dery.

[Calvin]

That the majority rules and mob menality and fear can take over whether we "let it" or not turning us into something we never wanted to be and never thought we would become? Like a Systems Analyst for a large company where you find yourself saying things like "Paradigm" and "ROI" on a daily basis and being trapped by a mortgage before you even knew you had turned into a zombie? Or something like that...

[Steve]

I think you can interpret zombies in a number of ways. You can simply look at them as a smaller and usually slower replacement for the giant monsters of the Fifties SF films. They were often seen as a warning of nuclear war and the dangers of scientific experimentarion without ethics.

Romero used them in his films to make social comments about racial prejudice and consumerism. In this day and age you might see them as stand-ins for AIDS, or group/mob mentality.

I try to not overthink these things.

[Dana *]

I just got the best bookmark ever, at least for me, combining my two obsessions.

"Zombies are Crap at Knitting"

when worlds collide and all...........

[Calvin]

...but man can they quilt their a$$es off!!!

[Dana *]

Zombies are to me:

fear of death, fear of afterlife or lack thereof
thoughts of helplessness
thoughts on mob mentality
an alternative to vampires
visions of an apocalyptic future
laughing at the way we cling to the less valuable things in life
fear of those who are not like us, seen as 'opposites'
thoughts on people with no reason guiding them, no humanity

[Calvin]

I wrote a book from the Zombies Perspective and all those things came into play... The whole thing is fascinating...

[Dana *]

that sounds similar to Breathers, which I enjoyed. Think I have a new one to add to my list!!

[Calvin]

http://www.amazon.com/Het-Madden-Zomb... if you are interested. Also on Smashwords and Kindle. I had a lot of fun writing it. More Apocalyptic than Breathers :), but yeah Breathers is great!
Cal

[Cinsearae]

Hm, this is a fun question! For a more serious answer, I'd say a zombie is a person who has completely given up who they are, lost their morale, sense of humanity, succumbed to life's depressions, letdowns, and everything else negative that is thrown at them on a daily basis, and just doesn't give a rat's A$$ about anything or anyone anymore. In short, a friggin' unsympathetic, worthless drone. I see a whole lot of this where I live.
For a more funnier answer, I'd say a zombie is just a shambling dead person to laugh at and shoot in the head, lol! Target Practice! (^_^) Cinsearae Santiago

[Michael]

Hey, Cal, I almost won one of your free book give aways on zombie.ws! I'll eventually buy it, it's nice to see authors chatting it up with fans.