It could be said that I dislike zombies.
A lot.
When I was 4 I watched the fog.
As a teenager I had the same repeated nightmare involving a horde of zombies...which I can still vividly picture now. Let's just say I have experienced being chased and attacked with/by loved ones/zombies and been eaten alive and leave it at that. *shudder*
Zombies are, to me, the ultimate unstoppable horror. You can't reason with them. They have no keen intelligence-just instinct...and hunger. They slowly move towards sounds and if you are there, they will kill you, tear you apart painfully and then perhaps eat you. And after, you or ones you love will become one of them...
I've tried for years to get over this irrationality. Most movie zombies aren't that scary, as they aren't real. Too fast. Too slow. Very fake. Occasionally comics or movies get them right...and I'm terrified. The suspense of an empty world full of walking dead is just shivery. The waiting and watching...the fear. It would drive me mad I think.
And yet, the comic series Walking Dead fascinated me. Sure it's quite scary and not at all happy, but it focuses not on the gruesomeness of death so much as how the people who survive meet, work together and try and deal with things. How real people make it through in a new world.
I've enjoyed reading it for this reason. Maybe it's cathartic seeing the main character, a sheriff who wakes up in a hospital after recovering from a gunshot wound to find the world forever different. He searches for any family left (his emotionally distant wife and young son) and tries to accept how things are now. He tries to find sanity and friendship and reasons for living. Along the way he meets many people, not all good, but all of them dealing with things in their own way. And yes...also a lot of the "walkers"...reanimated people...worthy of pity and fear for what they can do to you and those you care for.
AMC (who did a great job of recreating the Prisoner a while back) have made a mini-series based on this long running comic, and the first installment aired over the weekend. I finally had time to sit down, hunkered tensely under a blanket next to J, and watch it. Yes, it gave me the gibbeleys, but I will watch the rest of it if I can catch it. It's quite faithful to the comics (so far) and is doing very well at focusing on what I find interesting...how real people deal with such a thing.
And yes...I'll likely hear things and be jumpy for weeks. I'm hoping that by putting on my big girl sparkle panties and watching this I'll help deal with this silly fear I have. We shall see.
If you get the chance, check either of them out. A bit dark, but they definitely will make you think.
1 comment:
I'm really looking forward to the TV series (I probably won't see it until it's on DVD), but the comic has always seemed a bit of a rabid survivalist's wet dream to me.
(Also, try watching [Rec] if you haven't already...)
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