Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Zombies

873 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Influence of Media on Society

Zombies have established a hold on the people of the twenty-first century. There are books, movies, TV shows, and video games about zombies. AMC’s “The Walking Dead” is a TV show about a group of people trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. While fans of the show may already love zombies, some fans watch the show with little knowledge on what zombies really are. Matt Mogk’s “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Zombies” is a book that is written to inform readers on everything they would want to know about zombies. According to Mogk, zombies need a new definition in the dictionary because the modern zombies are more than just corpses brought back to life through witchcraft. Mogk wrote the book for a wide audience, it was meant be interesting to fans of zombies, and informative to the general population while also educating people at the same time. While it is very difficult to write a book for such a large audience, Mogk effectively appealed to his wide audience through the use of evidence and analysis for everything about zombies.
Section one of Mogk’s “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Zombies” is about “Zombie Basics”. In the first chapter of the book, Mogk introduced the definition of the word “zombie” out of the Oxford English Dictionary. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a zombie is “a corpse said to be revived by witchcraft, especially in certain African and Caribbean religion” (Mogk 5). After this definition Mogk states that a modern zombie are defined by three elements “(1) it is a reanimated human corpse, (2) it is relentlessly aggressive, and (3) it is biologically infected and infectious.” (Mogk 6). In the rest of section one, Mogk gives more basic facts about zombies and the origins of the mode...

... middle of paper ...

...e the book “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Zombies” to argue that modern zombies needed a new definition, but he achieved more than just his goal. Mogk defined what he believes the modern zombie is, and he effectively argues why zombies are important. Mogk targeted a very wide audience, but he was able to appeal to that audience because he effectively used qualified evidence and backed the evidence up with a clear analysis. “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Zombies” is a very informative book and it taught the readers many facts about zombies and important tips on how to survive in an emergency. While zombies have not made an appearance in reality, when they do the readers of this book will be prepared to survive the zombie apocalypse.

Works Cited

Mogk, Matt. Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Zombies. New York: Gallery Books, 2011. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Book Analysis of World War Z by Max Brooks

    529 Words  | 2 Pages

    No book has captivated the zombie apocalypse better than World War Z. Max Brooks creatively presents “a worldwide zombie pandemic from outbreak to aftermath” (Boyd, Tristan). His book encompasses many social and political themes in the world today. The book reveals true fear and shows the strength of the human race.

    Read More

  • Similarities and Differences between the film White Zombie, and W.B Seabrook’s short story "Dead Men Working in the Cane Fields"

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    Victor Harplin’s black and white film, White Zombie, and W.B Seabrook’s short story, “Dead Men Working in the Cane Fields”, both were produced in the early twentieth century and were among the first works to capture the nature of the zombie. The zombie being a unique monster, it originated in the folkloric and ritual practices of the New World, specifically in the Republic of Haiti (The Sub-Subaltern Monster). They both centralize around Zombies, however they do differ in the way that they are portrayed. Both were set in Haiti where the zombie originated. Also around this time the U.S. occupied Haiti and American businesses were moving to the island. America was going through serious social change in this time as well. Both women and African Americans were trying to get more rights. Women were also acting more provocative and doing things that would have been seen as inappropriate at the time. The social mold was being shattered. America was in a boom period with big business and new technological innovations. Also both the story and the film relate closely to Cohen’s first thesis. These two literary works have similarities and differences to them, however both tend to play on social and political differences of the 1920’s and 1930’s.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of 'Our Zombies, Ourselves'

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • How the Portrayal of Zombies in Literature Reflect the Beliefs of a Given Era

    2173 Words  | 5 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of George Romero And Max Brooks

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    In interviews with Max Brooks he shares how he got the experiences and ideas for his zombie writings. Brooks used his dad’s war stories and transformed them for his stories on zombies. In an interview with Brooks he told us that “And my father’s war stories I thought were interesting not because of the combat element but the smaller things” (Empire). In his stories he is detailed on how everyone feels and their experiences because of his dad’s detailed war stories. When Brooks was asked if he picked up his interest in the period from his dads stories of the time he replied with, “It’s those minutiae that have always driven me to be as detail-oriented as possible” (Empire). Brooks has always had a passion for zombies and believes there will be a zombie apoca...

    Read More

  • Monsters And Messiahs

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    It has a lot of examples that it used like “The principal downside to any zombie attack is that the zombies will never stop coming the principal downside to life is that you will never be finished with whatever it is you do” (pg.41). This can be tight to the current times because we as people never stop, we are always afraid of getting behind, that we have become like zombies or running from zombies. This author also points out are fascination with zombies a growing fad that has people preparing and imagination what their reactions would be in a situation like what people believe will one day happen. He compares other movies that are related to the poplar series “The Walking Dead”

    Read More

  • Night Of The Living Dead Research Paper

    1767 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • My Zombie Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead Analysis

    919 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Night Of The Living Dead

    1341 Words  | 3 Pages

    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?)

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Torie Brooks 'First Eat All The Lawyers'

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    Torie Boschs “First eat all the lawyers” appeared in Slate october 2011. Her piece was to reach out to horror fans and to explain to them why zombies are a great monsters in current media. Zombie fanatics who read this short essay will love her vast knowledge of zombies while others who still do not understand why zombies are horribly terrifying can get behind her argument. Bosch explains that the current zombie craze has to do with our current society and how white-collar workers would be left defenceless in a world over run with a rampant horde of zombies. While blue-collar workers can flourish in this current state as they have more skills suited for survival. Boschs essay uses rhetorical devices such as ethos, foil and satire to make her

    Read More

  • Abilities And Behavioral Patterns Of Zombies Essay

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Cannibal To Zombie And Back Again By Chera Kee's Better Off Dead

    1643 Words  | 4 Pages

    As said in the previous discussion regarding the second chapter of Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human, zombies and their culture are examined and broke down in order to understand their motives for the progression of zombies globally. Through different perspectives from individuals based around the world, the discussion of the zombie culture debates over the idea that zombies have not just evolved within the narratives that have brought them to life, but they have evolved in such a way that ultimately transforms the narrative itself. However, in this specific chapter, “They are not men…they are dead bodies!”: From Cannibal to Zombie and Back Again, Chera Kee breaks down the introduction of zombies into mainstream consciousness,

    Read More

  • Stephen King: Why We Crave Horror Movies

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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

    Read More

  • Possibility of Zombie Apocalypse

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    I have taught the facts, the opinions, and the theories on the possibility of a zombie apocalypse. I have explained with facts and statistic the ramifications of it if it was to happen, the way and speed at which it can spread, and the cruelty that will follow. You can protect yourself and the ones closest to you but first you have to believe it. Can you survive a zombie apocalypse?

    Read More

  • A Zombie Manifesto Article Analysis

    2093 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the article, “A Zombie Manifesto: The Nonhuman Condition in the Era of Advanced Capitalism” by Sarah Juliet Lauro and Karen Embry, the authors’ evaluate the idea of the zombie and its connection to capitalism and post-humanism. According to the authors, the zombie represents much more than just a fear, it represents a loss of oneself to many different things, primarily to a capitalist society. The authors have come to the conclusion that humans have a fear of what they cannot control, and that is why the zombie is so big in entertainment. We see zombies everywhere, in movies, books, tv shows, fundraisers, marathons, and so much more. They have been around for decades, but recently they have become very popular. The authors believe this is

    Read More

More about Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Zombies

Open Document