Why is everyone afraid of the dead?

[Wyldwraith]

Hmm, I gave this question a lot of thought. What I came up with was that the zombies THEMSELVES aren't the frightening part, it's what they represent. Previous posters have pretty much covered the reasons, so I'll just say that there's a certain instinctive terror attached to the concept of being preyed upon for food. Especially by something that used to be part of your own species. All of the arguments for why zombies are ineffectual adversaries break down if you happen to find yourself on a battlefield that favors their strengths and not your own. If you're on the Great Plains with a 4-wheeler, plenty of gas, food and water then zombies aren't very scary. If you're in downtown NYC, with 18 million zombies lurching through every street and alleyway between you and even the hope of freedom, then they're more frightening than the Wrath of God. One objection about the numbers argument about how many zombies would be rising per day. The 145,000 by natural causes is fine, but the math breaks down with the whole "If each zombie bites just one person" clause. If a zombie has its way its going to eat enough of its victim that there won't be enough left to make a very viable zombie. Ironically, its only when you already have LOTS of zombies that they seem to stop spending bunches of time chewing on any one victim. What this basically boils down to is that a large % of zombie victims won't be reanimating in a dangerous form, because the zombie(s) who infected them chewed through the connective tissues of their arms and legs while chewing the meat off of them. The % you have to worry about are the "too-close calls". Ie: The people who ALMOST got away clean, with just a nip or gash in an extremity before making good their escape. Those will be what make up your new zombies. As prey grows more scarce you're going to have legions of zombies for every live human they catch. By the time there's anything approaching a number of zombies you could call a mob or a horde of any size, anyone they catch will simply be torn to pieces. I'm not so sure I agree with the argument that it's a foregone conclusion that superior numbers will automatically give the victory to the undead. I mean we are talking about creatures that are dumb enough that you could dig a large pit and have a person stand on the far side of the pit and just watch zombies tumble into the pit until it reached capacity. Anything that's simply response-driven could be beaten. What scares us is that deep down we all suspect that our fellow man would rather push us into the outstretched arms of the looming undead than work with us to try and defeat them. WE scare us. The zombies just provide the catalyst for stripping away our illusions.

[Thorn]

Excellent post Wyld. I found the line "WE scare us. The zombies just provide the catalyst for stripping away our illusions." very poignant.

[Wyldwraith]

Thanks Thorn I probably spend more time thinking about these fictional eventualities than is healthy, but it's interesting to me. Human behavior when facing the unimaginable is such an interesting topic to ponder over IMO. Your posts rocks btw. Half the time I'll be reading one, and it's like you read my mind heh.

[AnxietyDilemma]

How about the fact that in a world where the dead come back to life, there aren't enough bullets because in addition to the walking dead and their victims, people die every day.

[sammylou]

Sure, the dead are easy to deal with when there's just one or two of 'em, but when you've got 10, 20, or 100 of those things coming, it's not so easy. Add to that the fact that there would be probably tens of millions of those things in the world, and it's a pretty scary thought. Or maybe you're just gutsier than the rest of us

[LoneCrusader]

'cause they eatchoo

[Trencher]

Lots of great points and posts here. I just want to add that people have a natural aversion to corpses because corpses harbours diseases by the bucket load. Finally the worst thing about zombies in contrast to vampires, werewolves, ghouls (running zombies) or insane people is that with zombies all it takes is ONE SINGLE MISTAKE and its all over. They bite you you die, you can plow through hundres but if one bites you, you will sicken and die slowly and in great pain.

[blind2d]

xcellent point. Also the whole "they're your former friends/family/loved ones" thing is a bit creepy...

[archivesofthede]

What scares us is that deep down we all suspect that our fellow man would rather push us into the outstretched arms of the looming undead than work with us to try and defeat them. WE scare us. The zombies just provide the catalyst for stripping away our illusions. Fantastic statement. The social conditions are it. This is what we have become as a society. It's how most people are rasied in this system designed to encourage Dog eat Dog competition. Me, Me, Me! Yes! You've got it.

[Debbieangel]

and to add to the undead I think of the disease that would spread fast from all the decay and insects flying and crawling around the zombies. If you think of it, who are our first line of defense? Doctors, Paramedics, EMTs, etc...they would be the first bitten so, where would the help come from when all the disease would happen? I don't know about you all but, hospitals,clinics would be the places I would definitely avoid at all costs. At first the doctors and first responders wouldn't have a clue what was going on until it was too late so there would be less medical help out there to go to for help with the disease from the zombies. Can you imagine the diseases? All the disease not heard of in years since modern medicine like typhoid, chlorea, etc...well in most civilized societies you dont hear a lot about these diseases. Also just getting close like one on one near the zombie with the open wounds that they had sustained before and after death,the infection alone would be a worry if you had an open cut of any kind.

[SRP76]

Forget the living and all the "humanity" issues. Even all by yourself, if you don't get scared when a billion hungry corpses are trying to gnaw your guts out every second of the day, there's something wrong with you.

[rightwing401]

I'd be afraid of the fact that if I had a rifle with 43 rounds of ammunition, and 50 zombies were coming at me, even if I managed one round per zombie, the seven left would keep coming without a flinch. And like a lot of others have pointed out, there's no way any kind of credible response could be mounted in time to stop the spread of the dead. When you think about the situation, it really isn't so hard to imagine the dead winning. Factoring how many would die due to the dead and the living, authorities and anyone else would be facing a foe whose numbers would be increasing by well over 10,000 a day in just the U.S. The military, and most certainly not the police, are not trained and equipped to a prolonged total war slug match against a foe numbering in the millions in just a week or two, numbers which grow every day, that will never, ever stop until every last one of them has been destroyed. You want a good example of why you should be afraid? Play Dead Rising, and try getting from one end of the mall to another without getting your butt bit. I can't do it. And one little bite is all it takes to finish you.

[Debbieangel]

I'd be afraid of the fact that if I had a rifle with 43 rounds of ammunition, and 50 zombies were coming at me, even if I managed one round per zombie, the seven left would keep coming without a flinch. And like a lot of others have pointed out, there's no way any kind of credible response could be mounted in time to stop the spread of the dead. When you think about the situation, it really isn't so hard to imagine the dead winning. Factoring how many would die due to the dead and the living, authorities and anyone else would be facing a foe whose numbers would be increasing by well over 10,000 a day in just the U.S. The military, and most certainly not the police, are not trained and equipped to a prolonged total war slug match against a foe numbering in the millions in just a week or two, numbers which grow every day, that will never, ever stop until every last one of them has been destroyed. You want a good example of why you should be afraid? Play Dead Rising, and try getting from one end of the mall to another without getting your butt bit. I can't do it. And one little bite is all it takes to finish you. I agree with you rightwing,for me, I would gather my family in one place in our rural area and try to fend for ourselves until all of us were dead. I would rather die at my own home than out on some strange street I dont know with people I dont know. If really its gonna be death I would choose where and how I would die in a world like that, but, I would fight to live as would my family.

[Mr. Beakman]

For me there are several reasons why zombies frighten us. First it is shear numbers. One honeybee doesn't scare me, but a whole swarm of them does. The fact that zombies are slow and mindless only adds to this fear. One on one I would have no problem, but there are just so damn many of them! They are unrelenting, always after you. They don't sleep, they don't need to eat, they don't even rest. It is this constant threat that is frightening. Second it is the fear of being eaten. This is one of humankinds primal fears. Most of us have lost touch with this fear, since the threat of being eaten is almost nil. Nevertheless, it is a fear that effects our basic nature. Third, you have the fact that society has crumbled. We have become consumers and without someone producing goods we are incapable of getting what we need. Most of us cannot machine tools, render fat to make candles, or produce many of the other basics we would need. If you live in a colder climate, how are you going to heat your home? How will you eat? Farming is difficult when you are in danger of being eaten. Do you even have seeds to plant? Most of us freak out if our cable goes out. How do you expect people to live like it was the 1800s while there is the ever present threat of zombie attack?

[Trencher]

I belive that given the chance the vast majority of people would adapt to living without modern luxuries.