George A. Romero’s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead is hailed as the first full fledged zombie film, although elements of the subgenre had been used in very small doses a few years prior. Since They came to get Barbara over four decades ago we’ve been lucky enough to see literally hundreds of zombie films of all budgets on the big screen and on home media. The fact of the matter is – horror fans love zombies. However, it’s only been within the last fifteen years that the full range of zombie potential has been reached due to film making innovations and catalyst shows such as “The Walking Dead.”
To me zombies are the most frightening ghouls in the horror genre because, in the event that a real life zombie outbreak were to occur, there would be a never ending supply of ravenous corpses who want to eat me alive. It becomes, basically, one person against several billion members of the walking dead who want to tare you limb from limb. Not to mention the fact that your chances of survival are at an all time low. Based on the bible of zombie rules, even the slightest zombie induced bite or scratch would mean your demise and re-animation as one of those who just ended your life.
This got me thinking… Since we’ve seen all sorts of zombies within the last couple decades, I was wondering which category scares you the most: shamblers or runners? I’m going to give you a breakdown of both categories before I open the floor for comments with this poll.
- Shamblers –
1. Slower of the two zombie races.
2. Retain more human characteristics, both mentally and cosmetically
3. Rarely they show the briefest glimpses of humanity
4. Sneak up on you easier because, for the most part, they’re quieter
5. Have varying turn times so you never know then they’ll re-animate
6. Scary in a classic sort of way - Runners –
1. Obviously the faster of the two zombie races, capable of running 10 miles per hour…for hours…
2. Start to look more like an autopsy patient more than a re-animated corpse
3. Show no signs of humanity at all, just the need to feed
4. Can’t sneak up on you as easily because they’re louder and clumsy
5. Turn quickly, thus allowing you to kill them sooner
6. Scary in a fucked up sort of way
So, which race is your favorite zombie race? Shamblers or Runners? Which race scares you the most? Shamblers or Runners? Comment on this post, Facebook, or Twitter to voice your opinions. Feel free to mention other +/-‘s that I may have missed!
