Zombies Need Love*, Too

Hello again! Today is the second Saturday of October, and I’m certain I don’t need to remind you that’s when we all observe World Zombie Day.

Well, actually…you can be forgiven if you didn’t know about this, because there’s no real consensus about the date and the proper nature of the observance. For example, Wikipedia declares that May is Zombie Awareness Month ^[1], a time to bring awareness about zombies and the possibility of a future zombie apocalypse. I would not argue that that’s not a worthwhile endeavor.

But, according to this website, World Zombie Day is on October 13th each year, and this one declares July 7th as National Zombie Day (it’s unclear exactly which nations are to observe it).

Regardless, since I don’t have another post prepared for today, October 10th is my zombie story and I’m sticking to it. And to help you commemorate the occasion properly, I’m offering the following Best Of… guide for your consideration.

Best Zombie Movie [Drama]: World War Z

With all due respect to George Romero’s classic, Night of the Living Dead, which jumpstarted the genre ^[2], it lacked the panache and star power of World War Z, which was released in June (not May or October…an obvious oversight), 2013. It has a first-rate cast, anchored by some guy named Brad Pitt. The film was based on a novel by the same name (subtitled An Oral History of the Zombie War); I’ve never read it so I can’t comment on it. The movie, which is rated PG-13, consists of non-stop plot twists as Pitt, cast as a former U.N. “investigator” (your guess is as good as mine) tries to (1) find the source of whatever is turning people into zombies, and then (2) discover a potential solution, presumably one that doesn’t require nuking the world.

Best Zombie Movie [Comedy]: Zombieland

Frankly, this was a tie, and I was able to break it only by doing rock/paper/scissors with myself (fortunately, my left hand never knows what my right hand is doing). This category could easily have gone to Shaun of the Dead, and I can recommend it and Zombieland without reservation (unless you don’t like zombies or laughing…you know who you are). It’s not hyperbole to describe the cast of Zombieland as star-studded, with Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin in lead roles, and a terrific cameo from Bill Murray. The movie was released in the US in October (they got that right), 2009. The plot makes no pretense of solving the zombie origin story, nor of any solution to it other than to kill as many as possible, in the most imaginative ways possible. It’s rated R for language, and, possibly, for violence/gore (surprise!).

Best Zombie Poetry: from Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry for Your…Brains

A dude named Ryan Mecum has made a career out of writing books filled with horror-themed haikus, including Vampire Haiku and Werewolf Haiku. His books — full disclosure: I’ve never read any of them, as far as you know 😬 — employ a consistent theme of telling the story of someone who has been “turned,” presented in haiku form and from a first-person perspective. In other words, a zombie talks about being a zombie, etc. Good stuff, huh? Thing is, Mecum’s a pretty funny guy and has a gift for turning a three-line, seventeen-syllable poem into something either meaningful or humorous…and usually both. I’m a man of simple tastes and easily entertained, and here’s my favorite offering from Zombie Haiku:

Brains brains brains brains brains
Brains brains brains brains brains brains brains
Brains brains brains brains brains

Best Zombieized Version of a Classic Book: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (aka PP&Z)

I did a search for “pride and prejudice variations” on Amazon.com’s Kindle Store and was presented with “over 5,000 results.” Would Jane Austen be bemused, bewildered, and/or bothered by the fact that her 1813 novel would be subjected to such, uh, reimagining? Who knows? For the record, I did take a run at reading the original, but gave up fairly quickly, primarily because I had actually read PP&Z and liked it better. The addition of sword-wielding ladies of proper upbringing, dealing with occasional intrusions of the undead, removed much of the snooze factor (YMMV, of course) baked into the original. Anyway, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a remarkably well-written satire of the original novel, and undoubtedly superior to others such as A Genderbent Modern Reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, Southern Pride, Northern Prejudice : A Modern Pride and Prejudice Retelling, and Homeless: A Pride and Prejudice Enemies-to-Lovers Forced Marriage Steamy Survival Romance (although the latter does seem to stand out a bit based on the author’s reference to forbidden heat).

Best Zombie TV Series (Comedy): Santa Clarita Diet

Santa Clarita Diet was a Netflix series that ran for three seasons, beginning in 2017. It featured another cast full of well-known actors: Timothy Olyphant, Drew Barrymore, Natalie Morales, Nathan Fillion, Joel McHale, Portia de Rossi, Andy Richter, Goran Visnjic, Linda Lavin, and Alan Tudyk. The cast would be its biggest strength…and possibly its downfall, as the salaries may have eventually outweighed the revenue stream. Anyway, the plot centers on Barrymore’s character becoming a zombie because — well, never mind; no spoilers here — and her and her husband (played by Olyphant) attempting to lead a normal life as “relators.” (They never could quite master the pronunciation.) The writing and acting were top-notch and some of the characters were over-the-top funny, one example being Nathan Fillion’s turn as a literal talking head. Netflix calls it a dark comedy, and it’s both…lots of gore and really bad language (rated TV-MA), but also hilarious.

Best Zombie TV Series (Drama): The Last of Us

I guess The Walking Dead would have been the logical and popular choice for this category. The original series lasted eleven seasons, and there are at least three spin-offs still showing up on TV. I watched the first season — maybe two; I forget — but it just wore me out and I gave up on it. Fortunately, another series with a new twist on the genre appeared to take its place. The Last of Us is the newest creation in this zombie lineup, premiering on HBO in 2023; the second season premiered in 2025, and a third season is reportedly expected in 2027. It’s based on a video game with the same name, and the plot centers around a mass fungal infection of mutated Cordyceps that transforms people into zombie-like creatures. The idea of using Cordyceps — an actual fungus — as the driver is genius, because in real life it has the proven capability of taking over and controlling its hosts, which are primarily ants and other insects (not humans…so far). The basic plot of The Last of Us is the search for a cure that may or may not exist. The first two seasons were occasionally edge-of-your-seat spellbinding, although the second season twisted off a bit into some social commentary that might be offputting to some. Also, in the style of G.R.R. Martin, the writers had no compunction about killing off main characters. Unsurprisingly, it’s not a show for kids; rated TV-MA for violence, sex, and language.

Best Zombies Song: She’s Not There (1964)

You didn’t see this coming, did you? Having spotlighted zombie-related content via television, movies, books, and even poetry, I could have stopped, knowing that I’d covered the zombie waterfront, but I realized there was one medium I’d failed to consider: music. Fortunately, The Zombies were an excellent band (of my vintage, mind you), and thus an easy choice for closing this post on a high note…well, a musical note, anyway.

Now, I could have included an original performance by The Zombies, but that’s a bit too obvious. So, with all due respect to the band, my favorite arrangement and performance of their most successful song — it was their highest charting song in the U.S. — is not theirs, but Santana’s. I had the privilege of seeing Santana in concert a decade or more ago when they performed She’s Not There, and it’s stuck with me ever since. I can’t think of a better way to wrap up this post.

Also, the only infectious thing about this is the potential ear worm. Feel free to thank me in the comments.

Footnotes of Dubious Value

[1] October would be a better choice, as it is also National Dental Hygiene Month. Coincidence? I think not; if anyone is in need of better dental hygiene, it’s a zombie — that is, if the movies are to be believed (and I’m certain they are). [Return]

[2] Romero might be the modern zombie pioneer, but movies featuring the undead preceded his offering by decades. In fact, a film entitled White Zombie was released in 1932 and is considered to be the first feature-length zombie movie. It featured Bela Lugosi as the “zombie master” (Madge Bellamy — a Texas native with connections to Hillsboro, San Antonio, and Brownwood; she was sometimes referred to as “Miss Firecracker” due to her temper, fitting for a Texas gal — is the zombieized protagonist) and spawned a sequel, Revolt of the Zombies, in 1936.

White Zombie was set in Haiti, which was fitting because the word zombie is partially rooted in Haitian Creole and Haitian French. [Return]