Synopses & Reviews
Add a gurgling moan with the sound of dragging feet and a smell of decay and what do you get? Better not find out. The zombie has roamed with dead-eyed menace from its beginnings in obscure folklore and superstition to global status today, the star of films such as
28 Days Later,
World War Z, and the outrageously successful comic book, TV series, and video gameandmdash;
The Walking Dead. In this brain-gripping history, Roger Luckhurst traces the permutations of theand#160;zombie through our culture and imaginations, examining the undeadandrsquo;s ability to remain defiantly alive.
Luckhurst follows a trail that leads from the nineteenth-century Caribbean, through American pulp fiction of the 1920s, to the middle of the twentieth century, when zombies swarmed comic books and movie screens. From there he follows the zombie around the world, tracing the vectors of its infectious global spread from France to Australia, Brazil to Japan. Stitching together materials from anthropology, folklore, travel writings, colonial histories, popular literature and cinema, medical history, and cultural theory, Zombies is the definitive short introduction to theseand#160;restlessand#160;pulp monsters.and#160;
Review
andldquo;Luckhurstandrsquo;s wide-ranging history of this cult phenomenon is a richly detailed and eminently readable, nuanced, and rigorous story. He outlines the different shapes the complex, colonially driven monster takes in its century-long journey through the imperial American sub-Zeitgeistandmdash;including its surprising global resurrection in the new millennium. Everyone from Zora Neale Hurston to 1950s pulp comics to esoteric space scientists and Kirkman had a hand in fashioning the imaginary creature we know today as the zombie.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;No matter how lurid and pulpy, popular culture is Luckhurstandrsquo;s meat and drink, and heandrsquo;s a connoisseur. He interprets historical shifts and nuance with scrupulous attention to detail and a lucid grasp of the larger picture; in this succinct yet rich study, the case he makes for zombiesandrsquo; political and psychological significance is compelling, disturbing, and consistently lively.andrdquo;and#160;
Synopsis
"These sixteen original essays by an interdisciplinary group of scholars examine how the zombie has evolved over time, its continually evolving manifestations in popular culture, and the unpredictable effects the zombie has had on late modernity"--Provided by publisher.
Synopsis
Growing from their early roots in Caribbean voodoo to their popularity today, zombies are epidemic. Their presence is pervasive, whether they are found in video games, street signs, hard drives, or even international politics. These eighteen original essays by an interdisciplinary group of scholars examine how the zombie has evolved over time, its continually evolving manifestations in popular culture, and the unpredictable effects the zombie has had on late modernity. Topics covered include representations of zombies in films, the zombie as environmental critique, its role in mass psychology and how issues of race, class and gender are expressed through zombie narratives. Collectively, the work enhances our understanding of the popularity and purposes of horror in the modern era. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.
About the Author
Roger Luckhurst is professor of modern literature at Birkbeck College, University of London. He has written many books on film, horror, science fiction, and gothic literature, most recently Alien and The Shining.and#160;