The Zombie Apocalypse is Already Here

The Conclusion of

KILLER FUN WITH A SERIOUS SIDE OF BRAAAAINZ!!!

 a "newspaper article published in the Edgemont Daily Register"
(an excerpt from):

Infected: Hacked Files from the GAMELAND Archives

Part One

Killer Fun with a Serious Side of Braaaainz!!!

 Part Two

Team Daryl! Or "Aren't Zombies Supposed to Scare the Living hell out of Us?

Part Three

Modern Magic and Science in our Popular Zombie Culture

Part Four

Zombies: No Monster More Malleable

In Parts 1-4 of this article, we talked about the recent rise of the zombie in our popular culture and fictional horrorscape paralleling the rise of technology in the second half of the twentieth century and the first decades of the next, and why it is the ideal metaphor for our cultural pessimism. It is clear that our relationship with the monster reflects our own love-hate relationship with ourselves.

I asked, at the beginning, whether the zombie apocalypse was upon us and, tongue-in-cheek, suggested that it already was. But there's a seriousness to that claim which speaks directly to all this: While neither the technology nor the biology of Reanimation yet exists, while the dead haven't risen to walk among us, there is an apocalypse upon us. We just chosen to put the face of the zombie on it.

The Zombie Apocalypse:

Where do We go from Here?

When dawn rose over Romero’s stricken Pennsylvania farmhouse and the crisis was over, we breathed a collective sigh of relief. The world had been saved. We heard the radio announcer tell us, “Everything appears to be under control.” But if we were being honest with ourselves, we would have admitted that those handful of words did little to reassure us. We knew everything really wasn’t under control. Humanity wasn’t really safe. Of course it wasn’t. Romero proved it to us, over and over again, didn’t he? And, like toddlers picking at scabs, we kept going back for more.

It’s cathartic. Except the catharsis is so terribly short-lived.

Yes, we laugh and celebrate the undead, because it is all we can do. We subconsciously personify our fears, give them human form — the perfect representation for them — so that we can mock them and thus exorcise them. Or at least try to.

But though we laugh outwardly, deep inside, we know this is deadly serious. Everything only appears to be normal. The zombie apocalypse is here. It always has been, in one form or another.

Now, excuse me. I’ve got The Walking Dead cued up on TiVo.

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I hope you've enjoyed reading "KILLER FUN WITH A SERIOUS SIDE OF BRAAAAINZ!!!" If you'd like more commentary about the zombie apocalypse, please leave a comment. For more about Infected: Hacked Files from the GAMELAND Archives and the epic cyberpunk thriller horror series GAMELAND, to which it is a companion book, please visit my website.

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