Ontological Anxiety Made Flesh: The Zombie in Literature, Film and Culture

The etymological roots of the monstrous imply a boundary space between human and non-human (originally, human and animal)—the imaginary space that lies between being and non-being, presence and absence. The zombie transgresses this boundary, giving corporeal shape to all that is not spirit—the remains of our humanity after the loss of any unique soul. Thus the zombie is the antithesis of our human identity (therefore, monstrous). This paper seeks to formulate the characteristics of the zombie myth as it is found in literature, film and culture, tracing its collision with the ghoul (originating in literature with H.P. Lovecraft and in film with George Romero), and examine the role identity plays in shaping the reception of the zombie in popular culture.