Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human Book

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction Sarah Juliet Lauro Deborah Christie 1

And the Dead Shall Rise Part introduction Kevin Boon 5

1 "They are not men ... they are dead bodies": From Cannibal to Zombie and Back Again Chera Kee 9

2 "We are the mirror of your fears": Haitian Identity and Zombification Franck Degoul (Translated by Elisabeth M. Lore) 24

3 Undead Radio: Zombies and the Living Dead on 1930s and 1940s Radio Drama Richard Hand 39

4 The Zombie as Other: Mortality and the Monstrous in the Post-Nuclear Age Kevin Boon 50

And the Dead Shall Walk Part introduction Deborah Christie 61

5 A Dead New World: Richard Matheson and the Modern Zombie Deborah Christie 67

6 Nuclear Death and Radical Hope in Dawn of the Dead and On the Beach Nick Muntean 81

7 Lucio Fulci and the Decaying Definition of Zombie Narratives Steven Zani Kevin Meaux 98

8 Imitations of Life: Zombies and the Suburban Gothic Bernice Murphy 116

9 All Dark Inside: Dehumanization and Zombification in Postmodern Cinema Sorcha Ní Fhlainn 139

And the Dead Shall Inherit the Earth Part introduction Peter Dendle 159

10 Slacker Bites Back: Sbaun of the Dead Finds New Life for Deadbeats Lynn Pifer 163

11 Zombie Movies and the "Millennial Generation" Peter Dendle 175

12 "Off the page and into your brains!": New Millennium Zombies and the Scourge of Hopeful Apocalypses Margo Collins Elson Bond 187

13 Playing Dead: Zombies Invade Performance Art and Your Neighborhood Sarah Juliet Lauro 205

Afterword: Zombie (R)evolution Sarah Juliet Lauro 231

Notes 237

Selected Bibliography 277

List of Contributors 285

Index 289