tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4741080303395651095.post7234011251341873645..comments2024-03-26T23:09:17.902+00:00Comments on She-Wolf: Can Zombies Be Gothic?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4741080303395651095.post-13387083611694592602020-05-15T23:58:36.201+01:002020-05-15T23:58:36.201+01:00I think there is something else that can be consid...I think there is something else that can be considered in a Gothic Zombie. That is of course relatability. Modern zombies do not have any relatable traits and are shown to familiar in that they were once people but the zombie has little in common with humanity. <br /><br />If you look at Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Lovecraft's The Outsider, however you get a monster who has risen from the dead but have very human traits. They may not be called zombie but from the way they are described I think you can call both of these monsters zombies. <br /><br />Frankenstein's monster just wants to be loved and understood. He has never experienced love because he is rejected at each turn and that is what causes him to be violent.This is a very human trait and I think we have all felt that at times. <br /><br />The Outsider also craves company and has had enough of living alone. This is why he is upset when he sees how others see him. Yet again this is very human and so he is a creature we can relate to.<br /><br />Both of these stories I have read in Gothic Studies and are considered to be Gothic. However I would say it is the human traits that make them Gothic and especially when you look at Freud's essay on The Uncanny. Cath Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15765166427369478699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4741080303395651095.post-61115198636713946112011-05-24T17:42:22.749+01:002011-05-24T17:42:22.749+01:00Fascinating stuff and very illuminating. I don...Fascinating stuff and very illuminating. I don't watch or read much zombie-related fiction (I'm rather gore averse) but I can think of one example of a more or less gothic zombie film. The 1966 Hammer film *The Plague of the Zombies*. The Zombies are locals and ideas of feudalism and capitalist exploitation are quite important - there's also some science verses tradition with an outsider doctor. I don't want to give away the plot, though, so I won't say more. But it is atypical, and it just about predates the modern conventions of zombie fiction.<br /><br />Another semi-example is the Lovecraft story *The Outsider*. The 'creature' in question might be a ghoul of some kind, but is very zombie like. The story has many classic features of the high gothic, including a crumbling castle. This story was/is pop culture; but it very definitely predates the more recent zombie genre.<br /><br />I wonder where more traditional zombie stories stand. I don't mean folk tales, but those that have more place for a person or people who raise the zombies, typically through voodoo-related magic. I think Anita Blake and the zombies on Buffy would fall into this category. Don't these stories often have a Souther Gothic feel to them? I'm sure I've seen an episdoe of *Bones* that played with this. Again, location was very important as were local politics.<br /><br />But perhaps voodoo zombies fall slightly outside of your target category.<br /><br />Anway, thanks for the great post; lots to think about.<br /><br />Brian FelthamAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4741080303395651095.post-53170358596588744402011-05-23T00:14:07.658+01:002011-05-23T00:14:07.658+01:00I can't think of a zombie that is Gothic. I ca...I can't think of a zombie that is Gothic. I can think of vampires that are not. For instance the vampires of the Black Court in the Harry Dresden novels by Jim Butcher are very unappealing, while the vampires of the White Court fit the gothic very well. Ilona Andrew's vampires are viciously ruthless zombies that are controlled by necromancers. This does not negate your argument, but provides examples that are outside the model.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com