Living dead take slow walk into popular culture

Vampires had better watch their pasty, sparkly backs, because a different kind of monster is leaping (or, rather, limping) its way into the hearts and horror of the American public.

I am speaking, of course, about zombies. Zombies have evolved from cultish obsession to full-blown cultural phenomena.

Zombie movies both old and new are seeing a definite increase in popularity. There are now books offering tips on how to survive the zombie apocalypse. People dress up like zombies en masse and some people even have zombie weddings.

But why are decaying corpses who hunger for human flesh so popular?

The answer could be that zombies are actually the most realistic of any mythical monster.

In the olden days, zombies were the creation of black voodoo magic, but now they are mostly just scientific experiments gone wrong. This addresses a very real fear that many have about the dangers of science going too far.

There is also a relatable factor in that zombies are essentially normal human beings who had something bad happen to them.

S.G. Brown, the author of the dark zombie novel, Breathers, said in an article in the Chicago Tribune that, "There's a sadness. They used to be us. But they're tragic and comical and they want to be friends, but we run. Vampires are Brad Pitts. Zombies are more like the Steve Buscemis. We can relate."

On the other hand, zombies are also extremely terrifying.

The combination of slow but deadly (as well as extremely grotesque-looking)is surprisingly scary. I'm pretty sure that if I saw a zombie ambling up to me on the street, I would not try to be its friend.

Zombie culture has reached far beyond the realm of entertainment and has evolved into an entire lifestyle. They give people an outlet to play out their apocalyptic anxieties.

From racism to consumerism to paranoia, zombies serve as metaphors for the problems we as a culture are encountering.

And, considering the current state of the world, I don't think these brain-sucking monsters are going anywhere fast.