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Posted By: Cyrus Mar 03, 2003 - 11:21 am

This is about zombies and sci-horror.

The current state of the zombie is sad, plain and simple. Zombies are effectively the pawns of the horror genre. The popular zombie is shambling, dumb, and hungry. Romeroesque.

My zombie is so much more. The intellect and ability of the living dead should be proportionate to their state of decay (I've heard evidence for a growing popularity of this in the proposed script for the Dawn of the Dead remake).

When a person is zombified, for lack of a better term, they do not become shambling, hungry morons. Instead, their serotonin levels are sapped, aggression is stimulated, they either feel no pain (afferent channels either shut-off or are ignored) or the pain that they feel only drives their aggression, their biology goes chaotic with certain support systems shutting down while others stay functional (some parts may rot faster than others). Habitual instincts may stick around (an affinity for their previous home or workplace may contribute to their behavior), emotional, reasoning, and language capacities deteriorate rapidly, but not instantly.

The need to feed is, of course, visceral, but it is not their primary goal. The primary goal should be to lash out at pre-determined targets (the objects of their aggression in their former life). The pain and a lack of reasoning capacities will certainly cause them to lash out at others (be they zombies or not). And the inability to properly sustain themselves will eventually drive them to feed on whatever they can (be it living or "living").

And unless your willing to do some heavy duty research, the reason for the manifestation of the zombies shouldn't even be TOUCHED! The virus idea was good for its time, and it still has some life left in it, but if you're gonna tell a zombie story, just tell the dang story. I don't care WHY the zombies are there, I just wanna know that they are. Don't come off with some mysterious meteor overhead, or some voodoo priest screwing the military installation over, just get to the plot and characters.

I wanna see some hardcore human emotion in the face of impossible odds. I want to see innovation and problems solved. I want to connect with the horror and pee my pants on the edge of my seat, overcome with empathy for the characters and their impossibly absurd plight.

I want the zombies to be true monsters, hunters in the darkness. I want to know that they are inescapable and yet yet believe in the characters' efforts to get the f*** outta dodge.

I'll have write more later, I have class for now. But I've still got the ressurection of the demon to rant about, and the holy grail of it all, the ORIGINAL monster.

Posted By: Axzazz De`Nyde Mar 03, 2003 - 05:04 pm

I wanna see a good story with a zombie as the protagonist. Somehow zombified, maybe by accident, or by someone trying to save her life, or by some malevolent being with its own plans for her.

Now she's undead, decaying but still conscious and capable of feeling. She has to seek out a way to undo the zombification -- to bring her back to life before her thought processes deteriorate too far. Of course she can't do it alone, doesn't know where to start and can't exactly go around asking people who might notice her condition.

So in comes the hero to rescue her, only to find that those he's seeking help from (occultists, priests, whoever) actually want to destroy her or use her for their own evil plans. Now they're being hunted by maybe two powerful evil magic-wielding factions and a secret society of vigilantes. And while on the run, they have to watch out for ordinary people who might make things worse by trying to help and sending her to a hospital or something. And, of course, the whole time they're running and battling the forces of good and evil, time is running out...

Hmm...well, I think it would make a good movie.

Posted By: Cyrus Apr 21, 2003 - 08:26 am

Ahh, the ressurection of the Demon...

Demons are potentially the most versatile creatures of the horror genre, unless of course you stick to traditional church mythology (then you're somewhat bound, but not much). The idea of the demon, horned and clawed, hairy hides and beady eyes, captures the popular imagination. In DOOM they were aliens, but the demonic form is one of the most potent for symbolizing evil.

The demonic form was simply built for perverse pleasures (sadism, sodomy) and the utter vileness of it will make most people retch. Quite simply, the demon is instantly recognizable. When people see a monster that they don't recognize, they call it a demon. Even when the phenomena is perfectly natural.

The demon seems to be the sort of default, anything-goes type of creature. It takes all forms, does all things, and taps into the human consciousness like almost no other concept.