In today’s world, zombies, also referred to, in some cases, as “The Living Dead”, are a problematic group for the human race, both in regards to an individual’s safety and the functionality of an entire society. A zombie comes into existence when a recently deceased person is brought back to life in the original body, although the means in which this is done is not entirely determined. What has been concluded from decades of research, however, is that these creatures are violent and hazardous to human life. Since zombies are reanimated human corpses, differentiating a living person and a member the living dead can be difficult sometimes. Thankfully, there are telltale signs that help distinguish if a human is really a zombie, many of which that have come to light for many people thanks to the films of zombie documenters such as George A. Romero.
The behavior of a zombie is very distinctive. Members of the living dead are known to be very aggressive, which has been cited in nearly every documentary covering the subject, such as Romero’s informative film, “Night of the Living Dead”. These creatures have an undying tendency to hunt for human flesh and brains. Rather than satisfying hunger, the reasoning for this seems to stem from more primitive instincts. The mind of a zombie seems to focus only on the hunt, losing all recollection of its former life, personality, and memories. It also seems to forget how to complete simple tasks. A common example is as basic as opening a door, which is replaced with the action of constant banging, hoping that instead, the door will break down or open automatically. As a zombie outbreak commences, zombies tend to only work individually at hunting down innocent bystanders. As time progresses, and more people become zombies (almost at an exponential rate), the zombies will start grouping together to form large hordes. The hordes, however, lack teamwork, and the zombies continue to work at an individual level.
One of the best ways to tell if someone is actually a zombie is to merely look at the person. No matter how long ago the person ‘changed over’, there are key elements in appearance that give the zombie away. One of the first noticeable changes is in the facial region. Members of the undead tend to show an expression depicted as “vacant, with a hint of sadness” in the 2004 mock-documentary film, “Shaun of the Dead”, noted in many cases due to a lack of conscious thought. Zombies also tend to have a change in eye color, going from normal pigmentation of the pupils to a more glassed-over look, to the point where the eyeball seems almost transparent. In overall appearance, a zombie will tend to look like a fresh human corpse, since, essentially, it is one. A zombie will also typically appear to be untidy and scruffy, as seen on their own clothing, stained mainly in dirt or the blood of their victims.
One issue of that has stereotyped the undead for years is their movement capabilities. Since the 1960’s and 70’s, with the release of Romero’s four documentaries over the living dead, it has been highly believed that all zombies are very sluggish and would only gain a small burst of energy when lunging at its human prey. Since then, however, there have been new citations that have proven this claim to be untrue. In 1983, the undead were shown to be able to move rhythmically and in perfect choreography with each other in the 14-minute mini-film, ‘Thriller’. In 2004, Zack Snyder released his own documentary, ‘Dawn of the Dead’. The zombies depicted in the film shared many elements that were cited in many of the early ‘Romero Zombies’. The one highly noticeable difference, however, was the zombies caught on camera in this film were far from ‘sluggish’. These zombies were capable of running long distances to catch up with their victims. A sort of evolution took place for the walking dead since the 1960’s and 70’s, almost as if they were trying to catch up with today’s fast-paced society.
The zombie menace could strike at any moment. They could already be among us. Being able to tell the difference between friend and foe is the best way to survive the outbreak. Knowing what the enemy looks and acts like is a key element to staying alive. The best ammunition in this case is knowledge.
