Zombies aren’t sexy.
For one thing, zombies don’t sparkle. And there’s nothing sexy about filthy clothes, matted hair and open sores. Not to mention their rabid hunger for flesh and brains.
However, not all zombies are mindless creatures seeking to devour. Some even have feelings.
In “Warm Bodies,” the zombie R finds himself drawn to a human, Julie, and gradually becomes more and more alive in her presence. As an aside, he first eats her boyfriend’s brain, which makes R even more drawn to Julie. But after that he has feelings.
“We Live in Water,” a short story collection by Jess Walter, has a zombie tale titled “Don’t Eat Cat.” A popular club drug causes addicts to become, basically, zombies, with varying levels of slow-wittedness and aggressiveness. Some are still able to work, and people aren’t supposed to call them “zombies,” since they can’t help their symptoms and mostly eat stray cats and squirrels, rarely a human.
Teen romance and zombies are combined in “I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It” by Adam Selzer. At Ali’s high school, it’s not uncommon for a human to date a vampire, werewolf or zombie. Ali isn’t interested in dating anyone, undead or otherwise, until she falls for Doug, a singer in a band who also happens to be a zombie. His formaldehyde kisses are too sweet to resist.
So what have we learned? Eat your boyfriend’s brain. No, that’s not right. Stray cats are tastier than squirrels? Hmm. Maybe there are no morals to zombie stories.
A wide selection of books, music and films is available at the Flathead County Library System in Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Bigfork and Marion. For more information, visit www.flatheadcountylibrary.org.