Zombies are all the rage. They refuse to die, in both fictional combat and in pop culture. The Walking Dead is still a huge hit on TV and as a comic book. The TV show is even getting a spin off show. Nazi Zombies is still a common fixture of Call of Duty games. They represent the fright of the masses, and mindless mob mentality. Zombies traditionally come in two varieties. Magic zombies are mind controlled living or recently living beings, headed by a single magic user. Science zombies are caused by radiation or viruses, a lesson of science gone wrong. Which one is the scariest one?
Magic Zombies:
Magic zombies are scary because they represent the strange forces of the occult and the unknown. They tend to come from foreign nations and places the common person wouldn’t know much about. Utilized less commonly in recent years, magic zombie tend to represent an insidious outsider gaining control of your friends and family. Think of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, or the Manchurian Candidate. It’s the idea of loss of control to a foreign entity that’s frightening. Thankfully, they tend not to eat you. If they do, it’s secondary.
They can be stopped. While invulnerable to most harm, if you destroy the body then they are incapacitated. Being magic, stronger magic would of course overrule their chain of command. Taking out the leader immediately frees all the zombies under his command. The catch is, you can’t let the leader know what your plan is. If they catch on, then boom! You’re zombied. Also, if you’re cornered y a magic zombie, then you pretty much have no way of fighting back. Since they need a magic leader, that means they are a localized but powerful threat.
Science Zombies:
These are the zombies that you, and I, and your grandmother all know. They are nasty, mean, rotting monsters. They have no rhyme or reason. They just need to consume. Many times their movies & TV shows they aren’t even given a detailed explanation. Maybe there was a flash of light in the sky, maybe a government truck crashed, who knows. They pop up in the worst places, like sewers, closets showers, anywhere you don’t want them to be. They represent the unstoppable minds of the masses who don’t think, only act. All it takes is contact to turn one of us into one of them.
Science zombies tend to be weak. Since they are undead, and not magic, they are constantly fighting a battle for survival. They are rotting, generally shambling, and lacking in higher brain function. Unlike magic zombies, they have no higher goals or aspirations. They also have the ability to spread out way further than magic zombies. They can be defeated with damage to or separation of the head. They can be fended off one on one, but if they bite you, you’re doomed to turn into one of them. A cure is possible, but rare.
Verdict:
In the endless struggle between magic & science, this is a case where science wins out. The idea of a growing boundless mass of chewing nightmares edges out the fear of losing control to a foreign body. Both are frightening in their own right, but it’s the fear of the unknown that really drives home to scary aspects of the science zombies. While magic is unknown, it also has to abide by magical rules. That’s a staple in all magic fiction, like Harry Potter & Cinderella. Science is always changing, so there are no constant rules. That’s seen in Frankenstein & 2001, among others. Science is the knowledge that turns ideas into real fear.
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