Description
Book Synopsis In 1968, George Romero''s film Night of the Living Dead premiered, launching a growing preoccupation with zombies within mass and literary fiction, film, television, and video games. Romero''s creativity and enduring influence make him a worthy object of inquiry in his own right, and his long career helps us take stock of the shifting interest in zombies since the 1960s. Examining his work promotes a better understanding of the current state of the zombie and where it is going amidst the political and social turmoil of the twenty-first century.
These new essays document, interpret, and explain the meaning of the still-budding Romero legacy, drawing cross-disciplinary perspectives from such fields as literature, political science, philosophy, and comparative film studies. Essays consider some of the sources of Romero''s inspiration (including comics, science fiction, and Westerns), chart his influence as a storyteller and a social critic, and consider the legacy
Trade Review
Clear, coherent, and containing the best examples of academic critical integrity, it promises to be an indispensable work that will provide a very serious foundation for taking the work of George A. Romero into this new challenging millennium." —Tony Williams, author of The Cinema of George A. Romero and George A. Romero. Interviews
"The essays in this volume show us how Romero's prophetic legacy continues to reverberate through popular culture, helping us to think about the all too real horrors that we continue to face." —Steven Shaviro, author of
The Cinematic BodyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vi
Introduction: Are They Coming to Get Us?
Gloria Pastorino 1
Splat Panel Shocks: Romero, EC Horror and Innovation
Emma Austin 15
No Grave Can Hold Them: Night of the Living Dead and the Rise and Rebirth of Zombies in Comics
Chera Kee 32
Blowing It All to Hell: Zombie Films as Allegorical Westerns
Gloria Pastorino 54
Dead Men Telling Tales: From Night of the Living Dead to Zone One
Angela Tenga 80
The Night of Spaghetti Horror: The Flesh-Eating Frenzy of Italian Zombies and Cannibals
Fulvio Orsitto and Gloria Pastorino 98
From Fiddler's Green to Juiced Up Islands: The State of the State in Romero's Zombie Narratives
Bruce Peabody 117
"They're [Still] Coming to Get You": White Liberals as the Zombie Horde in Jordan Peele's Get Out
Cammie M. Sublette 143
Rousseau, Romero, and the "Sentiment of Existence": The Search for Perfectibility in Dawn of the Dead
Benjamin Isaak Gross 155
Conclusion: Do Not Go Gentle into That Bad Night: Humanism, Violence, and Plumbing the Romero Legacy
Bruce Peabody 170
Filmography 189
Bibliography 193
About the Contributors 205
Index 207
