Sunday, December 8th, was the day it all started. Some might call it a catastrophe, some call it The End of Humanity, but I, Eli, call it an experience; even if it is evidently more extreme. Caused by a scientist’s mistake, humankind was at serious risk of extinction. What is this life-changing event? It is something so hysterically implausible that I thought I was merely living in a dream. It is the Zombie Apocalypse of 2014, and here is my story:
Today was the third day the zombies have been here, yet I still cannot acknowledge their existence, it seems so unreal. ¼ of the world has already died, or technically, infected and are transitioned into horrible, foul-looking creatures. They haven’t arrived at Atlanta yet, where I live, but are very close. My parents don’t plan on an attempt to safety, or taking any precautions. Like the pessimists they are, they expect the worst out of this supernatural situation. The T.V. isn’t helping at all either, besides reminding us that we are going to die very soon. There is a one minute video on write now, some guy was taking a video on his phone and it’s being broadcasted.
The creatures were ugly looking, vomit-green, saliva dripping out of their mouth, dark, black circles under their eyes, making hissing noises at the man taking the video (imagery). Suddenly, the camera went black, not before I saw a green hand reach out for him. I guess he didn’t survive then. I felt bad for the man. I guess my death is coming soon as well. I feel calm, ready for my decease, indifferent. The zombies are predicted to arrive in Atlanta in a day or two. There is officially no hope in civilization. I picked up the remote, ready to change the channel. The door suddenly came crashing down. Then, chaos.
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...ddenly saw me and grabbed the gun and shot the zombie. I ran up to him, grateful and happy.
“Thank you so much, really, thank you.” I smiled at him.
“You’re very welcome.” He smiled back at me.
I suddenly collapsed, my ear was stinging. I touched it. It was a bite. No, this can’t be. I didn’t feel anything at all. Kolton stared at me, fear in his eyes. My pulse was speeding. My hand was turning greenish-yellow, my nails grew, saliva was beginning to drip grossly, my hair was partly falling out slowly, my vision was blurring, my body was getting stronger, and my body was vibrating (imagery). I was sitting at Kolton’s feet. I looked up, I was staring in horror. I need to do the right thing, if I complete my transition, I’ll turn him into a zombie.
“SHOOT ME, NOW!” I yelled.”
“What? No!!”
“NOW!” I shouted louder.
The last thing I heard was a bullet shot.
World War Z was written as a collection of stories from all around the world about the war against zombies. These stories cover the events that happened before and after the war. I really appreciate how Brooks took the initiative to describe the initial stages of the infestation all the wa...
James Parker essay “Our Zombies, Ourselves,” informs readers that the zombie has almost outranked the vampire, and why they’re so popular. This undead monster originated from a Caribbean folk nightmare and was adapted over time by, the Halperin brothers, William Seabrook and George Romero and numerous others. Much like the vampire, zombies owe their fame to the progressiveness of technology, allowing them to consistently invade various media forms. The zombie has infested countless tv shows, movies, video games, and books, throughout the 21st century. Zombies themselves are soulless corpses who were regurgitated back into the world of the living. This making them rejects from the underworld, this presents the zombie as rejected yet inexpungable. What makes the zombie so popular, however, is that symbolizes everything that is rejected by humanity. “Much can be made of him, because he makes so little of himself. He comes back, He comes back, feebly but unstoppably” (Parker). The zombie represents humanity itself as well as what is rejected by humanity. Much like individuals today, the zombie is burdened by life’s demands, converting to nothing but a rotting, groaning human shell that stumbles through life without a purpose. The zombie is symbolizer of the real world, and all things irrepressible, whereas the vampire is a symbol of an alternate world and all things
“The zombie frenzy is growing, and it has cast its shuffling shadow on nature, mathematics, biology, and survival. So what can these shambling monsters teach us?” (Seifert 62) Before one can talk about zombies, one must first understand what a zombie is. The Oxford English Dictionary is known to be the most comprehensive dictionary in existence, its definition for the word ‘zombie’ may not be up to date anymore. In the dictionary, it describes a zombie as one of the Vodou zombies from Africa and Haiti and not any of the un-dead creatures seen today. Informally, zombies nowadays are described as a very aggressive, reanimated human corpse that is driven by a biological sickness or infection (Mogk 5-6). The effects these informal zombies have on people are starting to show in recent generations from young children up to grown adults. Whether these changes are for the better or not remains to be unseen but to prevent these changes to worsen, the portrayal of zombies in media should be changed to positively affect current generations.
A zombie is a monster that has been a horror movie legacy for many years now. Zombie is defined as “a dead person who is able to move because of magic according to some religions and in stories, movies, etc.” Zombies haven’t always been the creature that we see today though. George A. Romero merged the old-forgotten zombie into the standardized version we see today. James Conroy writes, “With his 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, George Romero brought the concept of the slow-moving, flesh-eating zombie into mainstream American culture.” (1) Night of the Living Dead not only set an iconic image for zombies, but it also brought issues you would not normally see in a Zombie film, dealing with race and gender stereotypes.
Zombies have become very popular due to their depictions of being easy to kill and being communal. Zombie apocalypses are also very relatable due to the fact that they are set in lives similar to our society and seem easy to overcome. Zombies, themselves, can be identified with because we see ourselves when we look at a zombie. Zombies drudge on through the same task of finding human flesh to consume every day just like we drag ourselves to either class or our job in order to sit through another boring lecture or perform the same menial task every day. Just like the zombie, R, in the book, Warm Bodies, said, “I am Dead, but it’s not so bad. I’ve learned to live with it,” we have learned to succumb to our daily routines and just live with
How many times have you been scared awake by zombies after watching shows or reading comics? Zombies, a particular group of survival horror, are basically dead people who come back to us in an evil way. From novels to Hollywood films, we look like cowards who are repeatedly scared by zombies. How can we still get shocks in this age of scientific society? The answer is that zombies come back with cultural messages in stories, which express our extraordinary fears. Such a horrible story was created by Kirkman, in The Walking Dead he depicted zombies as a horrible metaphor for xenophobia by combining fear of otherness with infectious disease; as a result, fear of contagion fuses with our fear of outsiders, increasing the unequal treatment of immigrants in contemporary society.
In Night of the Living Dead, the zombies were eventually eliminated. Or were they? Theorists argue that the monster’s elusiveness is due to its physical, psychological and social characteristics that cross the lines of classification. Human’s innate fear of the unknown is due to their inability to make a distinction or draw a clear conclusion. This is explained further in Jeffrey Cohen’s second thesis in “Monster Theory” that claims that; “the monster never escapes” (Cohen, 14). The zombie as a monster can never be destroyed completely and if it is, it leaves a remnant the make people feel uncertain of its destruction. Base on Cohen’s theory, the zombie’s different interpretation allows it to emerge in other forms (a faster, smarter zombie?)
The zombie race is very different. It doesn't not have many abilities and is not advanced like humans. Their behavior patterns are different. They cannot stand cold or winter weather. Their behavior is very different and difficult to calculate. They usually stand around lingering and waiting to attack when they hear something. They follow noises.Some abilities that they do have is that they have excellent hearing and can walk but aren't blind.The also can smell human blood. Zombies are generally weak but don’t underestimate what they can do to a human.
Do you ever wonder what you would do if you were being chased by a zombie? Last October on the weekend before Halloween, I got to find out the answer to that very important question. My friends Ashley, Anna, Vikram, and I decided to go to the Great America Fright Fest. It’s a very unique event where the whole park is decorated for halloween and filled with lots of scary attractions for the entire month. It had been a sweltering day for late October filled with lots of cotton candy and rollercoasters, and as the sun sank lower into the sky the real fun began.
Though fictional, this novel illustrates the fear surrounding disease, viruses, and contamination and how if uncontrollable, could lead to a global spread that could jeopardize the human race. Traveling internationally, World War Z represents a zombie epidemic that brings forth infection, which can be considered an unconscious actor during this time of confusion and destruction. Scientifically, fear is defined as a natural response found in almost all organisms that revolve around the emotions and feelings induced by perceived threats and danger. Max Brooks illustrates the societal interaction with fear, “Fear of aging, fear of loneliness, fear of poverty, fear of failure. Fear is the most basic emotion we have. Fear is primal. Fear sells. That was my mantra. ‘Fear sells.’” (Brooks 55). The fear of a zombie virus spreading in fact just produces more fear into the mind of the individual. Through research and scientific advancements, fears and anxieties have been proven to put an individual more at risk of developing health issues. How ironic, right? Our fears and anxieties surrounding diseases and the spread of them cause our society to be more susceptible to obtain and contract more health related problems. The fight against the zombie metaphor within World War Z gives the reader a purpose for finding a way to hold
“Zombie killings are similar to reading and deleting 400 work e-mails on a Monday morning or filling out paperwork that only generates more paperwork, or following Twitter gossip out of obligation, or performing tedious tasks in which the only true risk is being consumed by avalanche” (41). These are all similar to zombie killings because zombies will never go away unless you turn to really harsh tactics like aiming for one’s brain with a shot gun and repeating this for every zombie you come in contact with. In order to clear those 400 emails after reading them you must repeat the steps for each and every one, which is time consuming and can be very frustrating. Completing paperwork is very tedious, and can sometimes become overwhelming you may begin to feel as if it will never end which is common well it can feel similar to that when it comes to zombie killings as well because there will be one zombie followed by another one and many more to come. “Battling zombies is like battling anything….. Or everything” (42). Never assume the war is over because it is not, there will be one or more zombies hiding out, the war is never over. “The zombies you kill today will merely be replaced by the zombies of tomorrow” (44). Zombies are a “live-stock” they are brain dead but they travel in packs and have no limit as to how far they will go. In the movie Dawn of the Dead the zombies actually
While becoming the afternoon snack of a gigantic shark is not a pleasant thought, and neither is being murdered by a psychopath in horrific fashion, the key to understanding the hold that zombies have on our collective imagination is that not only is it easy to see ourselves in them, it is frightening to see how easy it was for another person to become a zombie – to lose herself or himself and everything that made them unique – and succumb to and fade into the zombie horde. At the same time, the way in which people react, the ways in which they become less human themselves when they come into contact with zombies and the zombie apocalypse is another horrifying way of losing oneself that zombies force us to c...
You don’t want to die alone now do you? Grab a partner or a friend as a meat shield so you can run away while they stand there getting slaughtered. Make sure you find some shelter and a nice secure door so they won’t be able to get in because zombies love breaking the doors down. If you’ve lost your mind because you’re not smart, you might hide in a house and be scared to death. Use your brain and go out there! Your brain might not be the most powerful tool for fighting, but you might’ve been dead before you could even fight with your brain. Fight ‘till every last zombie has died or until you died because your brain probably won’t help you at all with math equations, and writing essays because that’s not the point in the zombie
... of the undead. Either way an outbreak is caused that is a growing crisis. With this is the proliferation of a zombie plague that overtakes military and law enforcement leading to the collapse of a civilian society. This collapse leads to isolated packs of survivors scavenging for food, supplies and life in a world abridged to hostile extremes. The day that a zombie apocalypse begins is sometimes referred to as Z-Day; the movie Shaun of The Dead and the book World War Z reference this term.
In recent years, there have been a plethora of film releases that pertain to the central topic of zombies. Typically “zombies thrive in popular culture during times of recession, epidemic and general unhappiness” (Drezner). Zombie films began around the 1920’s, and continue to fill modern day theatres. These films, although dramatized for entertainment, are something that truly could, and have, occurred. These films have been modernized, in order to fit the desires and demands of a modern-day audience, and therefore are tremendously different from their original zombie-film counterparts.