Okay, having just caught the closing credits of the Dawn of the Dead remake, I can definitively say that zombies creep me the fuck out. Which is somewhat odd, as vampires, werewolves, and more grotesque alien and demonic monsters in movies don't bother me at all, and at best can startle me if shot suspensefully. (Well, actually one vampire has inspired the flesh-crawling feeling: the exceedingly zombielike Mina in the Langella Dracula.) I'm wondering if this is an instinctive Uncanny Valley response that the other monsters somehow avoid tripping.

C for Cookie

What happens in a futuristic world where the consumption of cookies is controlled by the government?

Matt, we were just talking about that, in regard to the game Doom 3. The only monster that gets to me as much or more than zombies are ghosts, and it's a different reaction.

No idea why, but the reaction is there.

Greece apparently just released its first-ever zombie movie. I'm interested to see it. This doesn't seem like a culture where the zombie thing would get much traction.

I love zombies, because they creep me out (also for unknown reasons). Zombie movies are some of my favorites, and I love love LOVE the Rsident Evil series of video games, partially because I like primarily puzzle games, but also because the zombie factor CREEPS ME RIGHT OUT. Those video games are fun, but they also scare the bejeezus out of me.

I do wonder why it is that zombies hit at the very bottom of the Uncanny Valley for so many people. It's not as if there were packs of them chasing after our neanderthal ancestors and we evolved a fear response through natural selection. Before the advent of movie makeup, what would have triggered that emotional reaction—lepers and plague victims?

Before the advent of movie makeup, what would have triggered that emotional reaction—lepers and plague victims?

Probably. And there's certainly a heavy element of "Yep, you too are going to DIE someday," with zombies. With lepers and plague victims as well. And none of this cool action hero death stuff, it's all about the "no, you're going to be a rotting and bloated corpse."

I think that's a large reason the ending to Carpenter's Thing hit me so hard. I did watch it at a fairly young age, but the ending was all about "Sure, you can beat the monster. Maybe even kill it. You're still going to die, though. Have fun!"

I think it's like motion sickness in that your brain is putting up with two contradictory signals-- some human, some not.

I'm looking forward to the movie version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for their version of zombies (crossed with the Dead Marshes bodies from LotR).

C for Cookie

Okay, that was awesome.

And none of this cool action hero death stuff, it's all about the "no, you're going to be a rotting and bloated corpse."

Yeah, unlike the modern vampire myth, which makes un-death look pretty damn appealing, the modern zombie myth isn't really good advertising for undeath.

The original zombies, voodoo slave guys, don't scare me (although voodoo really used to). I think part of it is the implacable, alligator-brain-ness of the modern zombie. They are less defeatable than animals, because even a hungry animal is always weighing its own long-term survival against the short-term gain of food. (Well, except for the feral cat colony in my back yard, but they are cat zombies, all lurching towards any sign of life, massing at the door, paws reaching through to grab something, anything, no impulse but food).