Why I'm rapidly becoming disenchanted with the zombie genre

[BillTheButcher]

Reading over the average zombie genre fiction, I've come to the conclusion that there's only one of three, maybe four, routes to travel: 1. The "survivor" story set on the "new frontier": usually based on mindless violence, infantile gun-worship (inevitably with a detailed catalogue of the model and type of gun) and zombies described as "ghouls" (which they are not), "fiends" (which they also are not) and the like. Language is always sloppy and plots farcically predictable. 2. The "psychological" story: set in the mind of an individual who's trying his or her best to come to terms with the world falling apart around him or her. Usually ends tragically. I've written a couple, but the plotline isn't very flexible and has little potential for exploration once you've written more than two or three. 3. The "comedy" approach. I suspect that it's because the other two lines are pretty much played out that so many zombie films these days are comedies. In stories, comedies still work, and they're the only sort of zombie story I envision ever writing again (if, that is, I bother to touch the genre in future). But even there, the scope's limited. 4. Faux histories, like "World War Z' or my own "Battle of Kaesong". Good for one read, and that's it. Frankly, I'm looking for any zombie stories that can't be classified under these headings. The rest can collectively be dumped in my mental trash bin.

[AcesandEights]

First off, wlecome to the board! India, eh? Now to your question. To be honest, there's quite a lot that can fall within the broad areas you've outlined. Quality work in any of those areas will always be worth my consideration and will almost certainly find an interested crowd. Some of the most beautiful creative works are done within the tight constraints of one artistic/cultural tradition or another.

[Wyldwraith]

Agreed, Beyond that, there are loosely (conceptually) related sub-genres, that may use elements from any of the categories you describe. I believe that it isn't the lack of potential depth in authors/scriptwriters or the potential depth of the genre that's to blame for the genre's woes. Rather, too many scriptwriters/directors/producers get behind low-quality reiterations of done-to-death material rather than take a genuine risk and step out into unexplored/undefined territory. As evidence of this I point to the recent resurgence of high-quality zombie novels and anthologies. Many, many of these books are commercial as well as creative successes, strongly implying that the same sort of renaissance is more than feasible in the movie industry. The problem there is the problem that ALL movie genres are suffering from of late. To whit, producers don't want to approve any truly original movie because there's no real way to guarantee that such a movie will be a financial success. They'd rather do remakes of successful films for eternity, knowing that in all likelihood people who paid to see/buy the DVD of the original will pay to see/buy the DVD of their new remake. Unless something happens to eliminate that trend, the movie industry is headed for a hard crash. Nothing wrong with the zombie genre. Just go on Amazon.com and do a search for Zombie in the books section. You'll find dozens of 4-5 out of 5 star books.

[Nephilim]

Maybe the producers should read more?

[Wyldwraith]

Anyone writing a script for a new zombie movie DEFINITELY needs to be reading zombie novels. Just read an amusing, kinda sad, bit grisly one. Breathers: A Zombie's Lament. Now, that's the kind of dark comedy that a zomedy should be. Any genre gets stifled if creativity and originality become offenses to penalize instead of desired virtues. Yes, some of the zombie books coming out are crap, but not every creative effort is a success. If it was, everyone would be an author/scriptwriter. Something does need to be done on behalf of those who enjoy the genre's "classic" elements, because there are plenty of people willing to make a buck out of playing to the lowest common denominator of movie viewer/reader. There's a disturbing trend just beginning towards smart-as-human/human-like zombies. It'll kill the genre eventually if nothing else is put forward for viewer/reader consumption. Not that intelligence in zombies MUST be a bad thing. David Dunwoody's Empire and the upcoming Empire 2 handle it in a truly frightening yet intriguing fashion that has NOTHING to do with Bub/Big Daddy-like, Romero-esque fumbling. I don't know how to explain it, other than to say that any TRUE zombie fan should read Empire, because it breaks new ground in a VERY IMPORTANT AND EFFECTIVE manner. In fact, I don't believe it would be overstating matters to say that Mr. Dunwoody has discovered THE definitive/best answer to the issue of ghoul-ish intelligence/reasoning. Trust me, don't just go by the Blurb for the book. Take it on faith and read it. I PROMISE YOU, you'll enjoy it.

[deadpunk]

Reading over the average zombie genre fiction, I've come to the conclusion that there's only one of three, maybe four, routes to travel: 1. The "survivor" story set on the "new frontier": usually based on mindless violence, infantile gun-worship (inevitably with a detailed catalogue of the model and type of gun) and zombies described as "ghouls" (which they are not), "fiends" (which they also are not) and the like. Language is always sloppy and plots farcically predictable. 2. The "psychological" story: set in the mind of an individual who's trying his or her best to come to terms with the world falling apart around him or her. Usually ends tragically. I've written a couple, but the plotline isn't very flexible and has little potential for exploration once you've written more than two or three. 3. The "comedy" approach. I suspect that it's because the other two lines are pretty much played out that so many zombie films these days are comedies. In stories, comedies still work, and they're the only sort of zombie story I envision ever writing again (if, that is, I bother to touch the genre in future). But even there, the scope's limited. 4. Faux histories, like "World War Z' or my own "Battle of Kaesong". Good for one read, and that's it. Frankly, I'm looking for any zombie stories that can't be classified under these headings. The rest can collectively be dumped in my mental trash bin. Man v. Man Man v. Machine Man v. Nature Man v. Himself These are the only four plotlines that exist. By that definition, nothing is new, nor will it ever be new. In reading the OP, I'd say that the problem here lies more with the inability of those writing within this genre (be it script or story) to create new and fresh characters. There is plenty left to be done with the Zombie Genre, it just needs an infusion of fresh survivors that aren't being thrown out of the cookie cutter that Romero molded. His characters were the first, and therefore unique, but in trying to pay homage to the man, most Z-writers have fallen into the habit of stereotyping their characters into Romero-esque finger puppets.

[MoonSylver]

Hmmm, nothing new...I'm going to write a story about a man vs another man who is part plant & part cyborg that in a twist turns out to be him, from the future, so does that count?

[Mitchified]

Stop talking that way or Michael Bay might make it happen!