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Film
"The flesh-craving undead return to the land of the living and raise a little hell of their own..."
—Tagline for The Beyond
"The seven dreaded gateways to hell are concealed in seven cursed places... And from the day the gates of hell are opened, the dead will walk the earth."
—Tagline for The Beyond
"Every dead body that is not exterminated becomes one of them. It gets up and kills! The people it kills get up and kill!"
— Dr. Foster, Dawn of the Dead (1978)
When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth.
— Peter, Dawn of the Dead (1978)
"Zombies are people, too... Okay, dead people, with poor verbal skills. And the only communication they understand is blowing off their heads."
— USA Network commercial for Night of the Living Dead (1968)
"Eyewitness accounts described the assassins as ordinary-looking people, misshapen monsters, people who look like they're in a trance, and creatures that look like people but behave like animals. Some tell of seeing victims that looked as if they had been torn apart. This whole ghastly story began developing two days ago, and from that point on, these terrible events kept on snowballing in a reign of terror that has not abated. Military personnel and law enforcement agencies have been working hard in an attempt to gain some kind of control of this situation, but most of their efforts have been marginally futile up to this particular time."
—Newscaster, Night of the Living Dead (1968)
"Since they will not listen or respect our existence, they cannot help but believe our powers when they see their own dead walking around again, brought about by our advancement in such things. As soon as you have enough of the dead recruits, march them on the capitals of the Earth; let nothing stand in your way. Their own dead will be used to make them accept our existence and believe in that fact."
—The Ruler, Plan 9 from Outer Space
"When the earth spits out the dead... They will return to tear the flesh of the living."
"Oh, America. I wish I could tell you that this was still America, but I've come to realize that you can't have a country without people. And there are no people here. No, my friends. This is now the United States of Zombieland. It's amazing how quickly things can go from bad to total shitstorm."
—Columbus, Zombieland
Literature
Stop being so pathetic! ...Humans send robots to Mars. Zombies are baffled by doorknobs.
— How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith
"Dead people walking around is unhygienic."
— Archchancellor Ridcully, Reaper Man
Live-Action TV
"You know the key strategic weakness of the human race? The dead outnumber the living."
"We can destroy them by burning them, and we can destroy them with dragonglass. If we don't win this fight, then that is the fate of every person in the world... There is only one war that matters: the Great War. And it is here."
— Jon Snow, Game of Thrones
"I don't think any one decision makes your life. Unless you accidentally invent some sort of zombie virus or something."
— Finn, Glee
Got bit
Fever hit
World gone to Shit
Might as well quit
Fever hit
World gone to Shit
Might as well quit
— Message etched into a tree with a zombie hanging from it, The Walking Dead
"I can't profess to understand God's plan, but Christ promised a resurrection of the dead. I just thought he had something... a little different in mind!"
— Hershel Greene, The Walking Dead
Music
"We are outnumbered. The virus has completely devastated over 150 of the world's major regions, and is spreading rapidly. At this point in time, we know of only one method of killing the creatures: destroy the brain. Be on the guard of any loved ones who may have recently been in any sort of contact with the infected, and if you find yourself in a threatening position, please, do not hesitate to act. Again, this is not a test. This is not a joke. We as a species are overwhelmed. We are outnumbered."
I don't want to nitpick, Tom, but is this really your plan,
Spend your whole life locked inside a mall?
Maybe that's OK for now but someday you'll be out of food and guns,
Then you'll have to make the call.
I'm not surprised to see you haven't thought it through enough.
You never had the head for all that bigger picture stuff.
But Tom, that's what I do, and I plan on eating you slowly!
Spend your whole life locked inside a mall?
Maybe that's OK for now but someday you'll be out of food and guns,
Then you'll have to make the call.
I'm not surprised to see you haven't thought it through enough.
You never had the head for all that bigger picture stuff.
But Tom, that's what I do, and I plan on eating you slowly!
Bar the windows, lock the doors
scan the airwaves, look for more.
Maddening static on the radio!
You can hear them in the street,
howling, moans, and shuffling feet.
How do you kill what's already dead?
Aim for the head!
(Interlude)
They break down the door!
They smell you on the second floor
They never sleep,
and are they ever hungry.
They break in and find you there,
A manic smile to meet their stare.
they tear away all that they can
and what is left will walk again.
scan the airwaves, look for more.
Maddening static on the radio!
You can hear them in the street,
howling, moans, and shuffling feet.
How do you kill what's already dead?
Aim for the head!
(Interlude)
They break down the door!
They smell you on the second floor
They never sleep,
and are they ever hungry.
They break in and find you there,
A manic smile to meet their stare.
they tear away all that they can
and what is left will walk again.
— Inevitable Zombie Apocalypse, Aim for the Head
I smell you around the corner
Ripe and ready for eating
In the gutter you'll soon be bleeding
For I am your only mourner
You are what I eat!
So much flesh, so much meat!
With my hands your skull I will beat
And leave your carcass in the street.
Ripe and ready for eating
In the gutter you'll soon be bleeding
For I am your only mourner
You are what I eat!
So much flesh, so much meat!
With my hands your skull I will beat
And leave your carcass in the street.
— They Hunger, end credits
Myth and Legend
If thou openest not the gate to let me enter, I will break the door, I will wrench the lock, I will smash the door-posts, I will force the doors. I will bring up the dead to eat the living. And the dead will outnumber the living.
— Ishtar, Literature The Epic Of Gilgamesh
Tabletop Games
"There will come a day so dark you will pray for death. On that day your prayers will be answered."
Zombies are the perfect manifestation of the end of the world. Inexorable, unstoppable, contagious, and beyond understanding — whatever scares you, whatever you think could destroy the world, it's represented through zombies. For everything from drug-resistant superdiseases and environmental disasters to murderous ideologies, there's a metaphor to be found in tales of the living dead. Zombies represent all the worst aspects of humanity pushed to eleven: unreasoning, self-destructive, merciless. It's not hard to relate to the survivors in a zombie story. They are among the only rational people left in the world, surrounded by mobs of brain-dead consumers. And if you're not careful, you'll lose your individuality, too. It might even be tempting to just give in and join them.
— The End of the World: Zombie Apocalypse
Video Games
"This all started a few days ago. People just... started killing each other. The ones they killed didn't stay dead."
— Jackson Hall, The Last Stand: Union City
"Corpses... lumbering, rotting cadavers. What contrivance could have wrought this... this... abomination? Diseased science? Blasphemous occult rituals? How could something so, so dead... yet be so... alive?! And hungry! They lust for flesh! Human flesh! And feast on all the sweetbreads a man has to offer..."
— Dr. Maximillian Roivas, Eternal Darkness
Infected are normal, law-abiding citizens who, through no fault of their own, have been infected with a horrible virus. This makes it okay to kill them.
— Infected game manual
"You know, as bad as those things are, at least they're predictable. It's the normal people that scare me."
"...and don't make my mistake. If you see one of those things - uniform or not - you do not hesitate! You take it out...or you run."
— Marvin Branagh to Leon S. Kennedy, Resident Evil 2 (Remake)
Lily: People who die... they don't stay dead. They come back as one of those... things.
Ed: I told you that guy was dead.
Lily: Seems like the only way to stop them for good is with a shot to the head. Anything else, they just keep coming.
Ed: So, those things are... zombies!?
Lily: I dunno. Maybe it's some sort of super-virus. Maybe it's radiation from outer space, or black magic, or... or the wrath of almighty frickin' God. Your guess is as good as mine.
Ed: I told you that guy was dead.
Lily: Seems like the only way to stop them for good is with a shot to the head. Anything else, they just keep coming.
Ed: So, those things are... zombies!?
Lily: I dunno. Maybe it's some sort of super-virus. Maybe it's radiation from outer space, or black magic, or... or the wrath of almighty frickin' God. Your guess is as good as mine.
Romero: Whatever you do, don't let them bite you.
You: Why? Will I turn into a zombie then?
Romero: Nope. It just hurts like a bitch.
You: Why? Will I turn into a zombie then?
Romero: Nope. It just hurts like a bitch.
"We Are On The Brink of a Great Upheaval in The Balance between Good and Evil. when the Dead rise up From their Graves, it is A sign of A Greater Calamity to Come."
Kang: The lasers were only the beginning!
Kodos: Even now, our all purpose evil cola is spreading underground through your water supply. It will wake the dead! Zombies will rise from the grave and devour the living!
Kang: And our ratings will rise! Rise! To levels unseen since the heyday of Evening Shade.
Kodos: Even now, our all purpose evil cola is spreading underground through your water supply. It will wake the dead! Zombies will rise from the grave and devour the living!
Kang: And our ratings will rise! Rise! To levels unseen since the heyday of Evening Shade.
— Kang and Kodos, The Simpsons Hit & Run
"The greatest of civilizations rises again. The living shall quail, for the age of flesh is over. The Tomb Kings shall rule over all!"
Web Animation
"Honestly, at this point you people just won't be able to cope if civilization ends any other way, will you? If the fucking Daleks invade or the entire world gets covered in carnivorous jam, you'll have to make papier-mâché zombie facsimiles just to get through the day."
— Zero Punctuation review of Dead Island
"It's my observation that zombies are second only to ninjas, pirates, and monkeys in the list of things nerds like and need to shut the fuck up about. They watch movies about them, they dress up like them and wander around irritating commuters in major cities, and it seems every time a hot new engine comes out some craven optimist will try to make a zombie mod for it."
— Zero Punctuation review of Left 4 Dead
"As long as zombies and an apocalypse is going on, then it's officially a zombie apocalypse." [Cut to a picture of the Four Horsemen, zombified]
Mario: If Zombie tries to bite you, smash his brains!
Zombie: Ok, I REALLY don't feel comfortable with this.
Zombie: Ok, I REALLY don't feel comfortable with this.
Webcomics
"You want to know what it'd be like on your own? Take it all in, Nick. The gore, the blood...If you want it, this fate can be all yours! So by all means, if your idea of fun is having your entrails chewed while you scream your last breath, go on."
"I had all kinds of plans in case of a zombie attack. I just figured I'd be on the other side."
Western Animation
"The past shall consume the future, the dead shall consume the living, and chaos shall reign supreme!"
— Unicron, Transformers: Prime
Other
"Zombies of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your brains."
— Zombie Karl Marx
