I’m afraid I might be watching too much of The Walking Dead these days, because when I got to work this morning and two coworkers were complaining about being sick my first thought was, I hope this isn’t the start of the zombie apocalypse. They’re both sniffling, sneezing, coughing, and lethargic. So far there is no blood trickling from the corners of their mouths, but I’m keeping a close watch on them just to be sure.
One can never be too careful these days.
As you’ll recall, we’ve been binge-watching TWD because Tara finally came to her senses got tired of listening to me rave about it all these years and decided to check out what all the fuss was about for herself. I’m thrilled over this development, because now I have somebody else I can talk to about the show. She used to say, “I’m not interested in anything having to do with zombies,” which kind of broke my heart a little because it turns out I blog about zombies a lot. To wit, I have written no fewer than five zombie-related posts, including these gems:
- The fact that there are no bright colors in the zombie apocalypse
- People should hop on bicycles to quickly and efficiently escape approaching zombie hordes
- Paper currency is useless in a zombie-infested wasteland
- Backing your car into a parking spot can save your life when the zombie shit hits the fan
Which is interesting, because I’ve never even seen the grandaddy of all zombie movies, Dawn of the Dead. Go figure.
What’s also interesting is that nobody on The Walking Dead ever refers to the zombies as “zombies.” Instead, they are called walkers. Or biters. Or a bunch of other names depending on the particular group that encounters them. The list of monikers includes cold bodies, creepers, dead ones, floaters, geeks, lamebrains, lurkers, monsters, roamers, rotters, and skin eaters. Why not just cut to the chase and call them what they are? It turns out that series creator Robert Kirkman intentionally avoided this because he didn’t want the concept of zombies to exist in Rick Grimes’ world. “This isn’t a world [where] the Romero movies exist,” he explained. Apparently he didn’t want his survivors to understand at first that shooting the undead in the head is the only way to make the undead dead.
Makes sense, I suppose. If the show were about vampires instead they’d probably call them “coffin sleepers” and have no idea about things like garlic and silver bullets and stakes through the heart.
Which is all fine and good, but does that mean that in TWD universe, this song does not exist?
That’s a damn shame, because it’s a great little ditty. Maybe in this parallel universe it’s a Monkees tune instead.
Mark My Words 
Unfortunately, my diligence wasn’t enough and I fell victim to the infected. Then again I’ve always known I wouldn’t last in the Zombie apocalypse. gwahhhhhwwww..
If you haven’t yet seen Dawn of the Dead, have you at least seen Sean of the Dead, Zombieland, Warm Bodies, or Aaah! Zombies (also known as Wasting Away)?
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I have seen the first three and enjoyed them all! Warm Bodies in particular surprised me. A zombie love story…how sweet.
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Warm Bodies surprised me too. I watched it thinking it was going to be some fluffy (but fun) teeny bopper movie and was stunned to realize it was not only funny but had a solid story backing it up.
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I recently watched the Dawn of the Dead again as it has always been my favorite. TWD has completely ruined that movie for me. It seemed so cheesy in comparison! I can’t wait for the new season to be released so I can watch it! I don’t have cable and trying to avoid spoilers has been beyond impossible it seems!
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There’s just no way an older movie like that one, classic or not, can compare with the special effects of the series! Good luck avoiding those spoilers. You didn’t see anything about Rick dying, did you?
Oops…
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Mark, I REALLY need to see if I can find past episodes of The Walking Dead (I don’t have cable) because you’ve shared about this show before and I honestly think I would enjoy it. I love anything that has to do with vampires, so I’m sure I would find zombies interesting as well.
LOVE the video! OMG…that song brought back so many memories for me!
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That’s such a great song, isn’t it, Ron?
I think you’d like TWD, too. You’d probably get sucked in like Tara has, and once that happens, you can kiss the next month of your life goodbye as you play catchup.
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I have only watched TWD when someone is in my home and demands I participate in their fetish. Yes, I admit it is quite engaging. I simply don’t have the patience to figure out when it is on and then watch it.
I know, I don’t fit well with my friends.
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You could always just set a series recording on your DVR. No thinking involved then! (Except for remembering to set the series recording in the first place, I suppose. Sorry. I can only help you so much.)
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I wondered why they were called ‘walkers.’ I’ve only watched the show by second-hand osmosis. I’m just not a fan of the gore. But I do love the Cranberries song.
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That happens to be my favorite Cranberries song! Brings back very fond memories of 1994.
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Ok I’m glad you didn’t have spoilers because we don’t have cable so we haven’t seen the newest season that’s one. I’ve already happened upon one spoiler online. *sigh*
We are big fans of the series though and we’ve both read the graphic novels (Joe more of them than me). My biggest aha about the zombie apocalypse is that you never see anyone with glasses. Contacts don’t last forever, so if I lost my glasses I’d be screwed. Is it a zombie? Nah…probably just a tree waving slightly in the wind. 😉
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You’re right! There have been zombies with helmets and riot gear, but nary a single bespectacled one. Maybe in this alternate universe where zombie movies did not exist, poor eyesight also did not exist? Food for thought.
It’s definitely a “survival of the fittest” scenario, though. So eventually everybody in the gene pool would presumably have perfect vision.
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