D.B: Why are we so afraid of Zombie horror?

Psychologically Speaking

The horror-film appeal of zombies can be rooted from an instinctive discomfort of faces that are almost human, says a psychologist. In the 1970s research into whether giving robots human features would make them more reassuring to humans. The research found that initially people were more receptive to robots which were made slightly human looking, but if they began to imitate humans too closely, people were repelled. Instead of being reassured, to close to a resemblance to the human form was seen as sinister. The uneasy reaction could be caused by the sudden disruption in how the human brain processes human faces

The research named the ominous reaction toward almost-realistic human-like features, the "uncanny valley" effect. The effect is the sudden plunge in reaction at a point just before the face is fully humanised. This explains why blank eyes, masks and ventriloquists' dolls are common cinema devices to instill fear. For instance the empty eyes of a zombie figure in an otherwise human face is highly disconcerting. And it explains why the faces of dolls, clowns and dummies are used so regularly to frighten audiences

Valued Observations

People love the Zombie Scenario because they believe they can survive it.  It has been presented to us in such a way that anyone can survive if they use their head, and when necessary their fire axes and hunting rifles. Other end-of-world scenarios don’t provide the opportunity for anyone, old or young, of any race or creed, gender or hairstyle to survive the way slouching, moaning zombies allow us to. The part that says, “It doesn’t matter that I’m an insurance adjustor.  I’m really, actually, a ninja.” Or, “So what if I got a D in Chemistry? I learned how to use mercury fulmate as a badass explosive from Breaking Bad.”   I can be a hero.  A leader.  A survivor!

In thinking about the Zombie Scenario one cannot gloss over the ugly truth that a lot of people out there relish the idea of bashing someone on the head and getting away with it.  The righteous killing of a despotic psychopath leading a tribe of survivors on a spree of destruction.  This might, possibly, be a projection of every petty middle manager we’ve ever had to deal with.  Or simply that killing zombies is like killing people, without the guilt. We are a species prone toward violence living in a highly militarized media culture that is saturated with the ideals of kicking ass, blowing s**t up, and maximizing our K/D ratio.  Of course, zombies appeal to us.

Everything talked about in this post suggests that Zombie Scenarios mainly appeal to the lesser parts of human nature. And, in fact, I do think that they’re so popular partly because they excite our egotistical, greedy and violent sides.  That having been said, zombies stories also leave room for our heroic, compassionate, and valiant sides to shine forth.  They give us a way to carve out a new space from a world we see as damaged, and a system that many of us view as broken and in need of a serious reboot.

A more light-hearted point of view

The first zombie horror film was called 'The night of the living dead' (Romero, 1968). The extreme hype around vampires is starting to phase, but the human munching obsession may have stuck around with the rediscovered love of the zombie genre. Zombies are much more graphic than vampires. The appearance of a vampire can still be portrayed without the need for any signs of blood, whereas with zombies, you have to show the gore no matter what.

Zombie movies do not develop the character of the zombie as an individual; instead focus the story on the characteristics of the instinctive human nature amongst the victims. Apocalyptic zombie movies show what happens when everyday people are put in apocalyptic situations, quickly establishing the survivors, the victims, the heroes and the villains. We question ourselves about what we would do in those situations and therefore the relatability of the movies become ever more present.