Are Zombies Just Too Overdone?

[iCaptain Yaoi]

What do you think? I'm writing a novel about a zombie apocalypse and no one seems interested. stare

Here's a bit of the story, just because I know you want to read it. wink

Most of the roads are cracked with splotches of blood every few feet. Bits and parts of people lay in heaps, with bone and muscle revealed. I almost gag at the sight and cover my nose and mouth. If you've never smelled it, you won't know what I'm talking about, but it's a grotesque and nauseating smell.

The sky is darkening. Walking corpses stand at ready, their lifeless eyes staring off into nothingness. They're waiting for a sound, any bit of movement to tell them dinner is on its way. I cringe, watching one corpse eat the remaining flesh of a young girl. Casey moves a foot forward, and looks to Skye who has her bat held high and ready. She nods.

Skye yells as she whacks one over the head, and a corpse turns to grab her. Casey swings hard and knocks its head right off with a sickening crunch.

"Thanks." Skye mutters.

Casey grins and swings his bat spattering blood across the ground, "Let's clear a way for the two ladies."

I grimace and grip my bat tighter, "As if I'm gonna let you guys have all the fun." I'm lying through my teeth, but no one says anything. I walk slowly behind the two with Hope in the rear, my bat held high. Let me tell you, there's one thing I don't like about bats- They're too close contact. I don't want to feel myself killing another person. Or what used to be a person.

[I_Write_Ivre]

Nothing's overdone. It's all under-imagined.

[McPhee]

The only thing that makes an idea overdone is the approach that you take with it.

If you do it in a cliched way, it's overdone. If you can make it your own, with interesting characters and unique ideas, you can use any story setting or approach you want, including zombies.

[SebastiansLittleDoll]

McPhee

The only thing that makes an idea overdone is the approach that you take with it.

If you do it in a cliched way, it's overdone. If you can make it your own, with interesting characters and unique ideas, you can use any story setting or approach you want, including zombies.

I agree.

[Klaark]

Yes and no. I would say the idea on its own doesn't carry the same weight, but its hard to be original and keep true to the genre.

Personally, my zombie appetite isn't satisfied. Yet.

[I_Write_Ivre]

I read what you had but I couldn't figure out what would make your story stand out.

So, what is it?

[Sir Icehawk]

What's the actual story? I get it that there are zombies out there, but I don't know where this is going. Clearly their lives are at stack, but I don't know really anything about the characters. It just looks like another zombie story.

I was editing a zombie story earlier. It's focus is the characters and not the whole zombie thing going on. You get to know them and care for them. Most zombie movies I can think of start off before, so we get to know the characters a little. A few don't, but there's something about them that perks the viewer's interest.

[I_Write_Ivre]

Not that the OP mut do this, but why are all zombie stories about the beginning of the plague?

Zombies wouldn't last long, what with cold, heat, animals, weather, and lack of survival skills. What about when the numbers are thinned out? What's the world liked with only a few hundred people to major cities and no one's trained to run or fix technology? Who will keep the laws or heal the sick or raise enough food? What will people do with useless subways or cars or power plants or tv's?

Just something to think about.

[Tenshi Yaminade]

Zombie stories will NEVER be overdone!!! twisted Just poorly written or boring. Don't want either of those, right?

[marshmallowcreampie]

I_Write_Ivre

Nothing's overdone. It's all under-imagined.

Perfect way to describe it. I'm using it from now on. Usually when people say an idea is "overdone", they don't just mean they've seen it a lot, they often mean that they've seen it a lot done the same way. A zombie apocalypse where people travel around, killing zombies along the way? Most zombie apocalypse stories are just that. If that's all you told me about your story, I'd pass on it too. What makes your zombie apocalypse different from the many others? Does it explore new themes? Does it take the story in a different direction? Does it look at different implications of a zombie apocalypse other than the ones we usually see? With a zombie apocalypse, one can do more than just "people trying to survive and fighting zombies", it's just that most people choose not to do more.

[marshmallowcreampie]

I_Write_Ivre

Not that the OP mut do this, but why are all zombie stories about the beginning of the plague?

Zombies wouldn't last long, what with cold, heat, animals, weather, and lack of survival skills. What about when the numbers are thinned out? What's the world liked with only a few hundred people to major cities and no one's trained to run or fix technology? Who will keep the laws or heal the sick or raise enough food? What will people do with useless subways or cars or power plants or tv's?

Just something to think about.

Personally I love stories that explore further implications of their plot/premise. What does happen after people succeed in beating the zombies? (or as you said, waiting for them to die on their own. I live in freakin' Texas, I just have to wait in my apartment for a few days and the heat would've destroyed all the zombies) Really, this applies to any apocalypse scenario. How do societies work after what happened? Most seem to revolve around people walking through the wasteland.

[Tyrant Dread]

Yes, they're overdone, we've got so many quintessential pieces of Zombie fiction in every genre and medium, making more at this point just feels wasted effort. If your plan for zombies doesn't reinvent the genre entirely and turn it on it's head, you've got a bad plan.

I like zombies but if your story is basically like every other zombie story then why waste everyone's time, including yours. From what little you showed us there is nothing that sets this apart from other zombie stories, just people trying to survive. In reality zombies aren't your problem, a lack of originality is.

I wrote a zombie story once, it was about a pair of bantering and playfully competitive Irish brothers trying to stop a three hundred year old mad man from dropping a nuke on the last remaining vestiges of human society. Their only assets setting them apart from everyone else was a complete lack of fear and absolute trust in one another. Otherwise they were just typical survivors, brothers that would do anything for one another and found a certain joy in that adrenaline rush you get from saving the day. See what I did there? It may not be the most original zombie story ever but at least it's not what you expect when you think of zombie story.

[MasquedMartyr]

I_Write_Ivre

Not that the OP mut do this, but why are all zombie stories about the beginning of the plague?

Zombies wouldn't last long, what with cold, heat, animals, weather, and lack of survival skills. What about when the numbers are thinned out? What's the world liked with only a few hundred people to major cities and no one's trained to run or fix technology? Who will keep the laws or heal the sick or raise enough food? What will people do with useless subways or cars or power plants or tv's?

Just something to think about.

Totally agree with this. I would probably love to see something that took place after the number of zombies had dwindled and to see the people trying to restore order to their lives. A lot of zombie stories are written in the same way which is what makes them seem overdone. The way vampire stories are written makes them seem overdone as well. They always seem to be in hiding and remain undetected without their presence ever being discovered except by a potential love interest or victim. It gets redundant. It's why I loved Day Breakers as much as I did, because the movie took a different twist with it. The vampires outnumbered the humans and the humans had to go into hiding. That aside, I don't think anything is overdone as long as the story is original.

[Harumix3]

I LOVE ZOMBIES x3 El Zombie heart