Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Z is for Zombies....naturally



Z is for Zombies

I've been putting off this post.

"Because you're so sad to see this challenge over?" you might ask.

Not exactly.

Despite the amount of time this challenge has sucked out of my life taken up, I have actually enjoyed it. Shh! Don't tell my hubby who has only heard me whine and complain about the posts I "had" to write or the blogs I "needed" to visit - two very good excuses to get out of doing dishes. ;)

Ahem.

I've been avoiding this post because I hate to end on a negative note. I also don't want to offend anyone with what I'm about to say. So, here's my disclaimer before my mild rant: If you write about zombies, this has nothing to do with your writing ability or the fabulous story I'm sure you've crafted. It's just...well....zombies? I don't get them.

I want to - it's the trend right now. Everyone LOVES "The Walking Dead" and swears that it has strong characterization and a great plot line. And it does, sure. But I can't get into the show because of the zombies. Their skin is rotting, and they want to eat people. They walk too slow. They aren't too bright. I just don't get what it is about them that fascinates people or scares people or attracts people. So please, tell me why they are awesome, because I think they're....err...not for me.

Keep in mind, a few years ago I probably would have told you I hated vampires and werewolves, but I jumped on that bandwagon and became transformed. I'm willing to follow the crowd, succumb to peer pressure, and all that. I just need convincing. Give me an argument and maybe, just maybe you can convince me to dig into a few books I have on my "to read" list that I can't read because I can't get past the zombies.

And that ladies and gentlemen is my 26th post. My boys are in bed. My hubby is off painting our new house. I feel like I need at least a high five for surviving this challenge.  A round of virtual high fives to all of you for completing this challenge on your own or putting up with me and my 26 most recent posts.

See you all Wednesday for IWSG.


14 comments:

  1. Congrats on surviving the Challenge! It wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. As for the zombie thing, I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of them. I do like the Walking Dead, but not for the zombies. I read a fascinating piece written by a psychologist about how zombies represent our fears of mindless crowds on people mauling our opinions/beliefs/institutions because of complete misinformation or out of lazily following some sort of a despot. I doubt that's why everyone likes them. I personally find ghosts, Bigfoot and other paranormal creatures to be much cooler, but then again that's just me :)

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  2. I'm not into zombies, either. They just don't do anything for me. However, I did write a post about why I think they are such a big deal:
    http://strangepegs.blogspot.com/2011/06/zombies-cultural-metaphor.html

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  3. I've never been as zombie-obsessed as many other people, either. (Although, somewhat ironically, I am currently writing a zombie story -- but I'm breaking all the rules). Still, there's a few things about them that make them culturally relevant:

    -- They create a secular apocalypse. We've been fascinated by "the end times" since civilization began. The zombie apocalypse is a way to explore that infatuation without stepping on any particular religion's toes.

    -- The survival aspect creates interesting opportunities for characterization, such as the popular question, "Is it worth sacrificing our humanity to survive" that is really at the core of The Walking Dead. The villains of that show aren't the zombies, it's the desperate people doing terrible things to each other.

    -- They combine several of our primal fears into one tidy package: fear of dead things, fear of disease (ie, turning if you get bitten), fear of being eaten.

    -- They look cool. I wrote an essay a while back for a horror magazine about our obsession with zombies in video games, and I think it partly comes down to this: they're cool to design and animate. The same is true for movies. Since they're humanoid, you don't have to go crazy with special effects -- you can use human models/actors and just add some makeup -- but you can make them so outlandish and grotesque.

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  4. You aren't going to get any explanation from zombies here. I don't get it either. Zombies are creepy. I don't watch The Walking Dead. I don't understand how something that moves that slow kills anyone. Vampires I get. Werewolves I get. Witches I get. Other paranormal stuff I get. Zombies are a brain scratcher. So, if someone gets you excited about The Zombie Parade, please let me in on the secret!

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    1. Herds at least the ones that are not fresh. You get enough of something and you are going to get bit.

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  5. It is funny I am not a Zombie fan, but I am a great story fan, so ZombieLand and The walking Dead just are good to me because of the story, if they were about killer plants I would still watch...I think. Now I can't stop thinking about Killer Tomatoes....hmm.

    Anyway I don't understand the love of Zombie, but a great story always gets my attention.

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  6. I so agree. Zombies are to be avoided! And yes we all deserve a high five. Congrats on completing!!!

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  7. That's okay. I'm not into zombies either. Though I did like Carrie Harris' Bad Taste in Boys. Congrats on finishing the challenge.

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  8. No help here either. I don't dislike or really like them. I've actually not seen many zombie movies or read book. Most of the movies are the older classics, minus the one I watched for A to Z, but I don't think I've ever read a zombie book.

    I just tend to stick to contemporary. Read vampire and a few witch books. But haven't read any fairies or mermaids. At some A to Z post, the book was about evil fairies; thought that was cool. Can't remember the name though since I didn't write it down.

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  9. I'm not interested in zombies either, I don't really understand the draw. Each to their own, I guess.

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  10. I'm not really a zombie-lover either...
    I suppose it's a case of different strokes for different folks...
    Congrats on crossing the A to Z finishing line!

    Writer In Transit

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  11. I like horror films, so zombies are all right with me. I won't ever write about them though.
    And not on the Walking Dead bandwagon because I lost track of it. And it seems a main character dies every week.

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  12. I don't watch The Walking Dead either and I steer clear of horror books. Come to think of it, there was once a Zombie movie I watched four years back (don't remember the title now) but I couldn't sleep that night.
    High Five on completing the challenge...I had fun reading your posts!

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  13. For me, Zombies are a study in inevitability. Their strength is really in their overwhelming numbers. You want the humans to fight, but you don't believe they could honestly conquer something so widespread. So they run, they hide, they fight, but the zombies just keep coming. How could such a story possibly have a happy ending? I'm not sure, that's why I want to read.

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