News of the death of the zombie genre has been greatly exaggerated time and time again. Much like its titular antagonist, it will likely live forever. What’s the secret to its enduring success and seeming immortality? The ever-suave YouTube channel Ahoy is here to give you an education.
Once more, Ahoy’s Stuart Brown delves into the history of another of gaming’s staples: the undead. What’s great about the video is that it looks at the zombie genre as a whole, from its simple beginnings, drawn from voodoo, to George Romero’s defining films and the influence they had on cinema, television and of course, games.
It also explores the psychological horror of zombies, which isn’t always explored that well in, say, a gore-filled shooter. Despite these aspects being left by the wayside in today’s modern titles, it’s these fundamental, almost subconscious elements, that make zombies both “jump scary”, as well as eerie and unsettling.
The clip has a healthy 22-minute running time — the perfect thing to watch over lunch. Well, depending on what you’re eating for lunch.
Zombies. [YouTube]
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