Are Zombies Just Too Overdone?

[marshmallowcreampie]

MasquedMartyr

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.

Pretty much this. A single thing can only be "overdone" when it's being done the same way over and over. If one tells me "Hey, check out this new vampire romance! It's about a girl who falls in love with a vampire, and he turns her into a vampire and they live happily ever after!", I'd politely tell them I'm passing on the story. Same goes with a lot of popular storylines, like zombie apocalypse, or secret hidden fantasy world and/or a kid who has a double identity as going into the fantasy and regular world. If you just tell me those aspects of the story, I pass because I've seen it done a lot.

You gotta find a way to do the story in a different way. Add different elements that aren't used much in that type of plot, or perhaps explore new themes. Most zombie apocalypse stories are about people wandering around the wasteland and fighting zombies. What makes yours different? Does it take place in a fantasy world? Is the main character a dog? Are the zombies made of powdered sugar?

[Tympest]

As others have said, zombies in and of themselves aren't overdone, it's all in what you do with them. Think about it, over the years they've been used to express fear of everything from Communism to mindless consumerism all the while showing us that we are the monsters no matter how hard we fight it. Some better works of zombie fiction have focused in on just that, that the survivors become monsters while the zombies themselves are an excuse for it, an enabler for the living humans to let there inner monster out. Even if you don't look for something that's never been done before, look for how it applies best to the here and now or what a modern survivor's reactions would result in.

[starrygir1]

The thing about it is you have t make it original, it cant just be like every other zombie tale around. You know, walking through a city, running from the dead, people die and eventually they make it to a safe zone. thats cliche. so just be creative. a great zombie read for inspiration might be World War Z by Max Brooks. He wrote the zombie survival guide, which is also great for ideas. good luck smile

[I am The Compendium]

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.

To follow up, the OP's idea and this aren't exclusive. Maybe they're fighting the straggler zombies that found shelter from the elements and animals. Zombies as surprise loners would still work if people try to get back to their lives soon enough.

[Amy Storm]

Zombie stories can usually be summed up by the following:

It's (the present day/20 minutes into the future). (Some dolt at X corp/A plague/The wrath of God) has turned most of the human population into zombies, which roam the streets aimlessly. For some reason zombie plagues prefer to strike American cities. Everything in the cities is broken or on fire. Somehow the dumb zombies don't all wander into the fire and die. A ragtag group of survivors, consisting of an ex military dude, a white collar deskworker, a girl, a totally useless kid, a minority whose purpose is to get killed, a low-class southern gunowner, some stupid teenagers who can't keep it in their pants, and an employee of X corp, fight for survival in this city, usually coming into stupidly close contact with zombies instead of doing anything sane for very contrived reasons. A minimum of half of these survivors die, usually the minority, the gunowner, the military dude, and the X corp guy, aka, all the people who had the better chances of surviving. The remaining crew of dumbasses somehow survives long enough to (get rescued by the military/get to a 'safe place'/oh no wait everyone dies this time.)

If your story looks like that, don't bother. If you want to write the perspective of the EU combined military doing airstrikes on the zombie infested cities and trying to keep the plague from getting out of North America, go for it. It really has to be that different though.

[Mochi Doughnut]

I would think of the zombies as a...place instead of a thing, if that makes sense. Hear me out. razz People that read zombie stories usually have knowledge of zombies already. How to survive (for the most part, hopefully), how zombies act, etc. You play up character development more with stories like these. I personally think it's because it can be grouped in, say, a world of magic. There are spells, potions, creatures, all that jazz...and people assume as much going into those stories too...until you move them in a different direction, or place a fork in the road. Give them something new to expect.

I dunno, that's just what I'd do. /shrug I hope that helped? xD Good luck!

[D0kt0r Bulletz]

I'm sick of zombies.

[Old Man Maj]

Yes. Zombies are overdone. Especially these:






Try writing something from the heart.

[Tympest]

D0kt0r Bulletz

I'm sick of zombies.

But why are you sick of zombies? It's worth thinking about to see what can be tweeked and turned into an awesome story. They're the most recent supernatural fad, like vampires were a few years back. It's not like they haven't been in fiction forever but fascination with them hits in cycles, the tropes used now will be the ones that are mocked and subverted the next time zombies get popular.

It's all about the why though. What makes you tired of zombies?

[xBlazing_Bladex]

My stiff on the Walking Un-dead:

Writers always use the
same "zombie" of the want the brains, eat
the living, do the dead on shuffle in walking
or hey they can run like out of the blue but here
is the thing:

There is more then one type of Zombie/Walk Undead
if you look at the world. Many different cultures have
their own kind of undead with a lot of rich background
if writers did some basic re search or even "googled" somethings.

I would love to see a new twist on zombies in
the writing world.

[I_Write_Ivre]

xBlazing_Bladex

My stiff on the Walking Un-dead:

Writers always use the
same "zombie" of the want the brains, eat
the living, do the dead on shuffle in walking
or hey they can run like out of the blue but here
is the thing:

There is more then one type of Zombie/Walk Undead
if you look at the world. Many different cultures have
their own kind of undead with a lot of rich background
if writers did some basic re search or even "googled" somethings.

I would love to see a new twist on zombies in
the writing world.

I wonder what the zombie apocalypse would be like if they were vodoun zombies.

[xBlazing_Bladex]

I_Write_Ivre

Thats my point, lets
get some new blood/idea's
into the zombie world

[infect]

I think generally speaking everything is overdone. I think it depends on how you, as an author, choose to write it. dramallama

[Lil Tiffa]

Sounds good!! mrgreen mrgreen I love stories with zombies in them.I've created a few myself and I am currently working on a story with zombies in it!! surprised surprised