Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A-Z: Classic Monsters: Z is for Zombie

Z is for Zombie for the last post of the A-Z Challenge and in terms of classics, I'll highlight their origins and also the classic film, Night of the Living Dead.

About Zombie Folklore


Source
Did you know you can trace zombies back to Haitian folklore and specifically, Voodoo magic.  A zombie is defined when a dead corpse is brought back to life by a supernatural force like magic.  Zombies served as evil minions to a powerful master.  Cool, huh?  I love the whole evil minion angle.

Nowadays, we see zombies as more of a scientific accident or a deadly outbreak like the undead plague.  Books like World War Z, Patient Zero and The Reapers Are the Angels are some of the top zombie books that feature the undead as we know them today.



About the Night Of the Living Dead


The Night of the Living Dead debuted in 1968 and is one of America's classic horror films.  It features our classic monster, the zombie and since sparked our love and obsession with the undead.  The film is about two siblings who travel their home to visit their father's grave.  Long story short, there is a group of "inhuman creatures" who were created from "the radiation from a satellite that was returning from Venus has somehow reactivated the brain of the dead."   Read more about the film here.

Have you seen this film?  What about the remakes?




Are you a zombie fan?  Do you have a favorite movie or television show?

20 comments:

Cathrina Constantine said...

Hahaaa...I believe Night of the Living Dead was my very first zombie movie! Scared the pants off me at the time!!

The Happy Whisk said...

We drove there one weekend to get pictures. Nicholas Kramer's headstone and all.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I've seen the original and all the remakes and sequels. Day of Dead is my favorite for that type of zombie for the sheer gore factor of the film. Otherwise - Zombieland!
Congratulations on completing the Challenge!

Sophie Duncan said...

Zombies aren't my favourite supernatural creature, but Night of the Living Dead deserves respect for its genre defining position. :)

It's been great reading about your fav movies and supernatural creatures this month, I loved the tone of your posts, there was always something to keep me interested.

If you ever want to do a guest post on my blog, I'd be glad to have you. :)

Sophie
Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles - A to Z Ghosts
Fantasy Boys XXX - A to Z Drabblerotic

djinnia said...

zombies actually creep me out. just the thought of someone trying to eat my flesh. not for me.

congrats on surviving the a to z. **fireworks**

Laura Clipson said...

I'm not really a big fan of zombies. I prefer the original story, that they were brought back using voodoo and controlled.
Congrats on making it through the challenge! :)

S. L. Hennessy said...

Z is just too easy. And zombies are just too awesome. LOVE their monsteriness.

mshatch said...

Love zombies. Interesting though how they started out as the resurrected dead and became brain eating ghouls.

Tasha Duncan-Drake said...

I've never been a huge zombie fan (as you can guess I prefer my undead with fangs :)), but I do enjoy some zombie movies. They have their own section on my DVD shelf, so they definitely deserve a mention :). The Evil Dead franchise kind of has zombies and they're my fav.
Congrats on making it all the way to the end of the AtoZ, it's been such fun this year. I've really enjoyed our supernatural mini-hop :D.
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings - AtoZ (Vampires)
FB3X - AtoZ (Erotic Drabbles)

Michelle Wallace said...

Congrats on crossing the A to Z finish line, Mina!

A Tarkabarka Hölgy said...

Not exactly fond of zombies, but fascinated by the fact that so many people are. I love having long conversations about why that is so prevalent today.
Thank you for your A to Z! It was fun :)
Cheers,

@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary - Tales of colors
MopDog - The crazy thing about Hungarians...

Heather R. Holden said...

Love zombie folklore! Zombie movies can be hit-or-miss for me, but I remember enjoying Night of the Living Dead. Never seen the remakes, though!

klahanie said...

ZOMBIE ALERT! Ah yes, I love zombies. I watched the film, "Shawn of the Dead", with my humans. I had to keep him calm.

The following comment was typed in front of a dead studio audience...

Pawsitive wishes,

Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet superstar! :)

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Stephsco said...

I really liked World War Z (book and movie) and I watch The Walking Dead, but I cover my eyes at least twice an episode. I know it's supposed to be gory but ... yuck. I'm amazed how popular that show is with how violent and disgusting it can get.

Here's my A to Z wrap-up post. I also have an End of Challenge book giveaway going on for either contemporary romance or contemporary YA

Misha Gerrick said...

Not much of a Zombie fan, but I do find myself intrigued by The Walking Dead. :-)

Ava Quinn said...

Zombies are a total classic. I wrote about them too for Z, though mine were zombie stinkbugs.

Night of the Living Dead is another great film, but I've been enjoying the funny zombie movies of late. As in Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland.

Great atoz theme, Mina! Glad I found your blog!!

Mich said...

I always thought it was crazy that zombies became a huge thing, considering they started as a sort of obscure west African (and later Haitian) folklore...

I didn't like the zombie genre until 28 Days Later. Even then, I think I may have just liked Cillian Murphy more than the zombies. ;)

Elise Fallson said...

Hey Mina, just stopping in to say wazzzz upppp! Hope you're able to recharge after the A-Z challenge, congrats for completing yet another year of alphabet madness. Any news on BB? How's Fred? Miss ya!

Michelle Woods said...

I've seen the World War Z movie and I started reading the book, but I just couldn't get in to it. I am a huge zombie fan though, and thoroughly enjoyed The Walking Dead comics and TV show. I'm also currently reading the Zombie Survival Guide!

Michelle @ In Media Res