Noted zombie novelist Jonathan Maberry as a two part post on his blog, Why Zombies? and Why Zombies? - Part 2.
The second post, btw, has one of the classic blog sentences of all time: "When I reached out to the zombie community to ask 'WHY ZOMBIES?' I got so many terrific responses that I broke the blog into two parts." Zombie community. Only on the internet!
Anyways, I digress. Maberry's researches with the zombie community include short bits from a ton of zombie novel authors.
Here's his initial question:
We kick off our rolling series of ZOMBIE PANEL DISCUSSIONS by addressing the fundamental question: Why zombies?
Here are a couple of responses, taken from the two posts:
DAVID WELLINGTON: I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, where George Romero made his zombie films. They would be shown uncut in prime time on the local television stations back then so they were among the first horror movies I ever really saw. Before I read Dracula for the first time, before I read Stephen King, I knew all about zombies. It was only after the remake of Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later that I even thought I could write something about zombies myself.
ROBERT KIRKMAN: Why not zombies? They're a mighty easy way to get things good and fucked up in a fictional world, and that leaves for some pretty interesting character development. So...yeah. Zombies.
TIM LONG: Because vampires just aren't dead enough. When you are dealing with the classic monsters, nothing is newer than or as popular as zombies are right now. Sure they have a long history in myth but only the last 40 years have seen them rise and lurch toward us like a tidal wave. They are everywhere, movies, books, comics, even the ad you see before a movie which tells you to turn off your cell phone. Zombies are scary because they are us. They are our neighbors, our friends and co-workers. They give us the opportunity to show how the worst in people can come out, in both survivors and the dead ... and how to take an ax to their heads.
In any case, there's tons of cool stuff in the two posts. Enjoy!
(BTW, I think I have one more zombie post in me -- my own favourite zombie novels!)
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When I was originally planning my then 'next' website, I was torn between creating an all encompassing vampire website or an all encompassing zombie website. In the end 'vampire' won. It was a tough choice for me though. I try and see every zombie movie made, without fail. Fast zombies, slow zonmbies, dumb zombies, evolving zomies... I'm gonna be there!