In reference to another thread, what makes good living dead fiction good?

[brer]

I have heard and seen others claim that the genre is dead or dying. I really do not think it is.

I think many of the people that write it tend to fall into common plot traps and effectively write the same novel over and over.

Why don't we try to bring the genre back to it's roots? A reasonable discussion may actually shed some light on many of the failings in recent years and possibly rejuvenate the subject.

What are some of your favorite stories from the genre and why? What basic plots have been overdone and which ones have not?

[Mitchified]

The major issue with the zombie genre currently is that its strongest and most compelling setup (a single survivor or a group of survivors trapped somewhere and trying to survive the zombie apocalypse while society collapses) has been overdone. You can change the people and change the location, but at the end of the day it's the same thing.

You've also got antagonists (aka the zombies) that for the most part are carbon copies of each other. No real interaction with the survivors except for wanting to eat them, and it's not like you can get witty banter going on between the protagonists and antagonists. Standard Romero-esque zombies actually make for pretty crappy villains when you compare them to other monsters (whether those monsters are supernatural or not).

The novel that I recently submitted to this very site (Cheap plug alert! Be on the lookout for Zombies by the Numbers: The Writer's Cut, coming soon to HotD!) is a comedy/parody because, honestly, I think it's the only way to go with the standard zombie story without going into very played-out territory.

There's still obviously room for growth in other non-traditional zombie stories, of course. There haven't been a whole lot of futuristic zombie stories (or at least good ones), for example. To me, though, the "traditional" zombie story has completely oversaturated the market and should be put to rest for a while.

[brer]

I have done one futuristic story involving zombies. In my own defense, it is not well written. I am still learning and often will get tired and rough finish a story. The only answer to this as I understand it is to continue to write more and more until the words flow easier. Give Neil a chance to update and look up Galatea's Child.

The core concept of a surviving group is central to much of the current fiction. I agree with this, but I really do not agree that it has been overdone. I can think of many ways that that can still be made fresh.

Now, and I am guilty of this also mind you, the zombies do have to get better. In this I am in total agreement. I am not talking about just as a bigger threat, nor increased performance, but they almost have to become a more personal threat to the reader. Zombies acting different from the rest of the group, neurological defects from resurrection such as rattling jaws, or even remnants of their old personalities coming through can be used to make them create a bigger impact for the reader. They can no longer remain just a faceless members of a horde.

Maybe your right though. I'm several thousand words into a full length living dead novel, but I have also the basic plot line generated for a science fiction novel. I am aiming to become a writer eventually and I really do not need the competition in a field that has already been done to to it's living death.