Zombies Are Us

On the surface, the zombie seems the polar opposite of the human—they are the living dead; we, in essence, are the dying alive. But the zombie is also “us.” Although decaying, it looks like us, dresses like us, and sometimes (if rarely) acts like us. In this volume, essays by scholars from a range of disciplines examine the zombie as a thematic presence in literature, film, video games, legal language, and philosophy, exploring topics including zombies and the environment, litigation, the afterlife, capitalism, and the erotic. Through this wide-ranging examination of the zombie phenomenon, the authors seek to discover what the zombie can teach us about being human.
Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Christopher M. Moreman is professor and chair of the department of philosophy and religious studies at California State University, East Bay. He has published widely on topics relating to death, dying, and popular culture.
Cory James Rushton is an associate professor of English at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

Edited by Christopher M. Moreman and Cory James Rushton
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 228
Bibliographic Info: notes, filmography, discography, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2011
pISBN: 978-0-7864-5912-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8808-7
Imprint: McFarland
Series: Contributions to Zombie Studies

Acknowledgments      vii

Introduction—They’re Us: Zombies, Humans/Humans, Zombies

CORY JAMES RUSHTON and CHRISTOPHER M. MOREMAN      1

I. The Zombie in Humanity

Your Zombie and You: Identity, Emotion, and the Undead

CRAIG DERKSEN and DARREN HUDSON HICK      11

Rave from the Grave: Dark Trance and the Return of the Dead

GRAHAM ST JOHN      24

Porn of the Dead: Necrophilia, Feminism, and Gendering the Undead

STEVE JONES      40

Modern Zombie Makers: Enacting the Ancient Impulse to Control and Possess Another

SUZANNE GOODNEY LEA      62

“Corporate Zombies” and the Perils of “Zombie Litigation”: The Walking Dead in American Judicial Writing

SHARON SUTHERLAND and SARAH SWAN      76

II. Zombies in the Sacred

The Living Word Among the Living Dead: Hunting for Zombies in the Pages of the Bible

MICHAEL J. GILMOUR      87

Religion, Blasphemy, and Tradition in the Films of Lucio Fulci

JAMES REITTER      100

The Mutated Spirit: The Hollywood Zombie as Psychopomp

KEIRA MCKENZIE      112

Dharma of the Living Dead: A Buddhist Meditation on the Zombie

CHRISTOPHER M. MOREMAN      123

III. Zombies into the Future

Digital Dead: Translating the Visceral and Satirical Elements of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead to Videogames

GARETH SCHOTT      141

How the Zombie Changed Videogames

MATTHEW J. WEISE      151

Undead Is the New Green: Zombies and Political Ecology

GREG POLLOCK      169

Plans Are Pointless; Staying Alive Is as Good as It Gets: Zombie Sociology and the Politics of Survival

SARA SUTLER-COHEN      183

Bibliography      195

Filmography      206

Video Games and Discography      210

About the Contributors      211

Index      213

“very informative”—Critical Mass; “plenty of excellent, well-thought-out and entertaining reading”—Scarlet.