The Hierarchy

[Stewart]

At a convention this weekend, one of the panels I was on turned into a discussion of a hierarchy in monsterdom. Vampires were seen as aristocratic, a metaphor for self-indulgence and privilege. The werewolf was more the average man or the working class, the skilled laborer. Consider the werewolves of Harris, Hamilton, Meyers, Butcher, and many others, often in the field of urban fantasy.

The zombie was seen as the drone, the mindless worker or proletariat. In the case of Dawn of the Dead, the mindless consumer.

If this metaphor holds true, then is one of our fascinations for the zombie rooted in this metaphor? I'm just asking and wondering how people agree or disagree.

In my own novel, THE RAVENING, the Zagreus dead, as they are called, after the virus that killed them, don't fulfill that role at all. They are rather a mirror of humanity's cruel nature, but they are also pure because their motives are primitive.Stewart SternbergThe Ravening: A Zombie Novel

[Nate]

I think we definitely make the association with the drone. It seems to me that most of us have experienced the feeling of zombification in a job we didn't like or during education courses that seemed pointless. Then there's also the endless programming we receive from the media to consume. I would add to all this the taboo of cannibalism. The fate of the zombified in a novel of movie setting is the worst imaginable...either you are bitten, infected and become one of the drones or you are utterly devoured. Not only is the latter fate horribly painful, but there's also nothing left of you to speak of your previous existence. Compare this to lycanthropy, a curse to be sure, but somewhat predictable and you're basically the same person when in human form. Vampirism, by contrast, is presented as sexy and it seems that, once turned, you become stronger, smarter and sexier. The zombie fate is far worse and I think this leads to the fascination. Either you become part of the nameless, faceless horde or you cease to be entirely. I've noticed that most fans of the genre, in one way or another, could fit into the archetype of "rugged individualist." Zombie fate is anathema to us and therefore completely fascinating and terrifying by turns.

[Dana *]

I like that analogy. Certainly haven't read about any elitist zombies.

[Brandy]

I like Nate's ideas, but I also like the idea of the unending struggle. Survivors are always constantly fighting, constantly struggling to stay alive. We experience this to a far lesser degree the workplace and in the work around the home. Constantly fighting back the tide in order to live is a great theme, and it's the one I enjoy most. While I can enjoy even the cheesiest zombie movie/book, it's how the main characters react and try to survive that gets me involved.