Flesh-eating marauding monsters – frightening? You betcha. Like many of us, I love a good scare every so often and Halloween is a great time to do it. In terms of nightmarish thoughts, there’s little to top a zombie apocalypse. The prospect of being chased by a half-decomposed Granny truly scares me.
They say adrenaline-stimulating shocks quench our pent-up neolithic instincts. Unlike vampires, demons and ghouls, zombies have found phenomenal appeal in recent years. I expect that this year zombie costumes will be more popular than ever. Moreover, other bump-in-the-night-nasties are literally being devoured by the zombie theme. Entertainment is awash: when I last checked, there were 1,400 zombie games in Apple’s iTunes Store (My personal favourite is the bizarrely named ‘Plants vs. Zombies’. There are hundreds of zombie books (I tried counting and gave up) and about 500 movies.
Vampires have been trendy amongst the teens – thanks to the Twilight saga and the adolescent-teenboy-pinup, Buffy. They have probably had their day. I’m convinced the Z-uprising will to outlive other horror fiction and prove to be far more than a passing fad. Yes, the lumbering undead are here to stay. Why? Because like all classic fantasy, they can speak into our world today. Good zombie stories are not only about cheap thrills but can resonate with popular culture on many levels: our fears, our politics and our world views. And no, their significance has nothing to do with the thought of shooting a granny in the head. Read more
The carpet is sticky and the smell of hotdogs mingles with sweet popcorn. The trailers are rolling. Even though person’s knee from the seat behind jabs into my back, I don’t care. The summer blockbuster is about to start and I’ve heard great things about it…