What makes a good Zombie story?

[Jack Frost]

I love Zombie stories and movies, and I plan to make a book about Zombies. So what makes a good story about Zombies in your opinion?

[Silence Sei]

Zombies.

You can't have a good zombie story without them.

:D

In all reality, just make sure you follow one cardinal rule.

IF a zombies blood or salvia enters your bloodstream in any way, you contract the zombie virus.

Dawn of the Dead pissed me off by not obeying that rule.

HE FELL INTO THE FOUNTAIN AND GOT AN OPEN CUT! HE SHOULD HAVE BECOME A GOSH DARN ZOMBIE!

[Rhelin]

Chaos. Pure chaos. The detailed break down of social order and having the basic ideas of a civilized society fall to the instinct of survival.

That's just me though.

What I don't like about a Zombie book is a love story. Citing Dawn of the Dead again, when a girl steals the box van to save a stupid dog...at that point, she's on her own. The dog was just fine!

Like I said, love story + Zombies = unacceptable. Unless it's a love story between two Zombies...

[Jack Frost]

Like I said, love story + Zombies = unacceptable. Unless it's a love story between two Zombies...
Ewww.....

[orphans]

Shawn of the Dead? I liked that....

[Arsène]

Chaos. Pure chaos. The detailed break down of social order and having the basic ideas of a civilized society fall to the instinct of survival.

That's just me though.

What I don't like about a Zombie book is a love story. Citing Dawn of the Dead again, when a girl steals the box van to save a stupid dog...at that point, she's on her own. The dog was just fine!

Like I said, love story + Zombies = unacceptable. Unless it's a love story between two Zombies...

Fido (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fido_(film)) had a love (though in a boy in his dog way/friendship/some weird shit going on next door.) story in it. I'd argue that Zombie Comedies (Zombidies) are exceptions to this rule.

Dawn of the Dead (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_of_the_Dead) (1978) had a love story sideplot. It worked out nicely when it came to the climax. But it wasn't a main focus of the movie, just shown during the tedium after the mall is sealed up.


In all reality, just make sure you follow one cardinal rule.

IF a zombies blood or salvia enters your bloodstream in any way, you contract the zombie virus.

I actually don't think a virus is needed for a good zombie movie. Movies like Fido (a comedy) and Død snø/Dead Snow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Snow) didn't have viral transfer through bite. (Fido said anyone who died came back a zombie and Dead Snow never fully addressed the issue, making zombification seem more like voodoo-nazi magic.) Though I do agree it's a bit jarring in the fringe logic zombie movies with viral transfer use at times, but that usually indicates plot armor.

[Nightstalker]

If you plan on having a little humor in it, then make sure to throw in some good puns, like at one point have the hero/heroine ask for a hand, and then have a zombie remove its hand and give it to her.

[Revenant]

SUrprisingly, I don't think a good zombie story is about zombies. Zombies merely serve as a background catalyst for human interaction.

Also, there are plenty of non-virus/zombie bite mythos. Hell Romero's zombies had nothing to do with a virus. In the original Night/Dawn/Day movies everyone who died became a zombie. Bites hastened death through infection but that's about it.

[Bite to Break Skin]

Fun fact Zomie derives from the african term zombi, which was a person whos soul had been captured by a warlock. They were said to have been turned into mindless slaves.

[Saint]

I honestly think a good Zombie story would be something not described by anyone above. Something possibly more original. Maybe a story from the side of the zombies? Daily life as the undead, hunting the last few morsels of living flesh before facing an agonizingly long [or short] life as a crawling husk of what you once were meandering an empty planet filled with nobody but other lifeless husks.

If your going to follow the trends set above, then why should it be read? Why not just read the original trend. Yeah, there's vampires. If all the vampires are the same, it gets boring. Same thing with zombies.

The only reason twilight was fun was because we could make fun of them sparkling.