Zombies In The Night Of The Living Dead?

Zombies have been around since George A. Romero first introduced them in the movie Night of the Living Dead in 1968. However, over the past decade, the American public’s interest in zombies has skyrocketed, especially in media culture. Since the year 2000, over one-hundred and fifty zombie movies have hit the screens of the American people. Furthermore, countless zombie themed video games, books, comics, and television shows have also entered into American society. There are even zombie themed 5k races, parades, and events of all kinds surfacing across American cities. Surprisingly, “Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have gotten into the act. In May 2011, the CDC posted a small item on its blog about what to do if the dead should rise from the grave to feast upon the entrails of the living. Within two hours, it had gone viral; the CDC's Web server crashed from the surge in traffic,” (Drezner). America is, no doubt, experiencing a zombie craze, but the big question remaining is “why?” Why is the undead taking over our lives, and why have so many other areas of American culture been so eager to jump on this frightening bandwagon? What is it about our culture that stimulates our interest in zombies?
As a whole, the American people have become more and more paranoid and fearful over the past few years, especially since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. According to Michael Delahoyde, a Washington State University professor, “In the years since the 9/11 attacks, national polls show that Americans feel less safe and secure. With a faded sense of safety and predictability, ‘more of us can identify with the anxieties conveyed by humans about zombies and the prospect of annihilation,’” (Delahoyde). The periods of time dur...

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... zombie craze is not over yet and it will most likely continue on as more and more threats continue to plague the United States. People will respond to these threats in a number of ways, but the most prominent will be to plan, prepare, and hope for the best. Zombie movies not only give people a way to relax, but while watching, viewers are also given a chance to see themselves in the place of the actor and plan out how they would react in such a situation. Zombie movies allow us, according to Sean Robson, “to confront the likelihood of human extinction - probably at our own hands - and somehow come to terms with it,” which is something that no other theme has offered, and that’s what captures our interest the most (Robson). No one truly knows what the future has in store for this world, but odds are that if it’s a zombie apocalypse Americans will be pretty prepared.