I'm thrilled by the popularity of zombies in popular culture in the past few years. I've been a zombie movie fan since high school (which is 15 years ago for me), ever since I stumbled over Return of the Living Dead 3 on TV.
What appeals to me, and by "appeals" I mean "terrifies," is the implacability of these monsters. The symbolism of zombies range from consumerism (made most obvious in Dawn of the Dead) to PTSD to "the kids these days" of Shaun of the Dead, and there are various (and sometimes highly controversial) versions of the zombies (slow and fast), but what they all have in common is their universal ability to scare me silly.
It's interesting to see why certain genres become popular at specific times. I can only guess as to the current appeal of zombies that seems to have started around ten years ago... perhaps it's something to do with the economic depression that slowly began after 9/11 and has continued to get worse in the time since. Maybe it's a response to global overcrowding, as we surpass the 7 billion mark in world population. Or maybe zombies are just awesome.
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