Invasion of the Zombies
What came first--the zombies or George A. Romero? To be technical on the issue, the zombies did indeed come first. From the accounts in Haiti when the dead are said to have rose and ended up ambling around for a remaining 20+ years of their “lives” was the concept brought to most of the world’s attention through documentaries of stories that were very old. I suppose some people have also argued that zombies existed during the biblical era as well when the miracles ran rampant and the pronounced dead were said to have been resurrected. But that’s too political and far beyond the entertainment spectrum that I’m aiming for with this one little article. The zombies may have come first, but Romero perfected the formula that have since rendered them a perpetuated horror franchise that has made them a $100 million+ commodity.
And they’re not just in the movies anymore.
On the show Cake Boss, starring Buddy Valastro, he made a rather realistically gruesome looking human-piece pile mess (in a good way) for something called a “zombie walk”. And guess what: it wasn’t Halloween. The idea of regular people in zombie costumes isn’t relegated to the one time one day of the year anymore; Now people want fear year-round. There’s also been talks of a zombie amusement park being made in Detroit that with the popularity of the…um…species, it will no doubt be a hit. I also have no doubt that the little concept of a zombie amusement park may have been an idea sparked from a little film called Zombieland.
So whether you’re talking the TV show The Walking Dead, the original or remade film version of Dawn of the Dead, or the pop fiction novels that have popped up as of late centered around the undead, I seriously doubt they’re a subject that will mosey away anytime soon.
