Zombies 101

Where was this class when I was an undergrad?

How cool does this sound:

Is "Night of the Living Dead" a simple zombie film or a subtle antiwar statement? Precisely when did viral pandemic supplant nuclear radiation as the leading cause of zombification? And which sort of animated dead has the greater potential to frighten: shambler or sprinter?

Those questions and others will be laid to rest -- and then grotesquely revivified -- in a new course at the University of Baltimore called "Media Genres: Zombies."

As far as the shambler vs sprinter debate goes, I have to say when I was 13 or so and saw Night of the Living Dead on the old KVRR late night horror show featuring Madd Frank.  When those stumbling zombies attacked that farmhouse, I just about lost it.  They terrified me.  In fact, I stopped watching at that point.  It was years later that I saw 28 Days Later and was introduced to the sprinter.  These zombies didn't stumble around and overwhelm their victims by sheer numbers.  Nope.  These guys were fast.  I'll never forget the scene early on in the film when the main character comes across the first zombies (well, they aren't really zombies, but close enough) in a church.  When they chase after him, it terrified me.  But I was too old to stop watching like I did all those years ago with Night of the Living Dead.  28 Days Later is still one of the most frightening zombie films I've ever seen.  So I have to side with the sprinters.  (In fact, AMC's excellent The Walking Dead has a great combination of the two.  Somtimes the zombies scare you with their slow, methodical persuits and others scare you with how quickly they run down (and consume) their victims).

I'm envious of the students at the University of Baltimore (and leave it up to a city associated with Edgar Allan Poe to offer one of the first classes on zombies).

Here is a great list of the 15 most interesting/odd university classes available.

Make me wish the elective Science Fiction (or speculative fiction as it is now called) class I used to teach here.