“The Walking Dead” contributes to zombie popularity

By Abbey Bailey

As long as you don’t live under a rock and have some sort of access to modern-day technology, you’ve probably heard of the “The Walking Dead.” The show is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman, who also writes the show. It is on AMC, which have brought you other hits such as “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men.”

The show is based around a Georgian sheriff, Rick Grimes, who falls into a coma due to an injury on the job and wakes up about three months into the zombie apocalypse. He survives by being locked inside his room; when he wakes up, he discovers the hospital graffitied, blood-spattered and utterly wrecked. One of the most iconic images of the show is the hospital doors that say “DON’T OPEN. DEAD INSIDE.” We see a pale, long-fingered zombie hand reach through the gap in the padlocked entryway towards Rick.

Season one is a mad scramble to stay alive, but seasons two and three build up an extensive plotline behind the “illness” that turns people into zombies, and how to keep protected, if it is even possible.

Currently in its fourth season, “The Walking Dead” has developed a large, almost cult-like following of obsessed viewers, myself included. After each episode, comedian Chris Hardwick does an hour-long segment called “Talking Dead” where cast and crew members of the show, celebrities and other superfans discuss the plot line and deeper meanings of that night’s episode.

Zombies have taken the place of vampires over the last couple years. People’s interest in zombies peaked in the summer of 2012 when reports came out of Miami, FL of a man mauling another man while on bath salts, a drug that has similar effects of cocaine and meth. The man was rumored to behave in a zombie-like manner, and this event got the public thinking about zombies and their behavior, or the possibility of a zombie apocalypse. Their increased popularity has resulted in movies like “World War Z” (June 2013) and video games like “Dead Rising 3” (November 2013) for Xbox One.

Penn Manor senior Caitlin Mahoney is a devoted follower of “The Walking Dead.” When asked why she loves the show so much, she said “It’s different from all of the other shows and movies about zombies. I like the way they presented the apocalypse. It gives the image of zombies a new perspective, and I think it helped to bring in a lot of new fans of the creatures.”

What would you do in the zombie apocalypse? Photographer Beth Cardwell of Lampeter-Strasburg is another avid “Walking Dead” fan and has a zombie survival kit her husband put together for her as a Christmas gift.

“I keep it in the front of my closet. This was put together as a zombie survival kit but it can also be useful in case of other emergencies,” says Cardwell. The supplies are pulled together in a handy waterproof backpack. It contains:

  1. hunting knife – it’s better to stab the zombies in the head. Gunshots attract them.

  2. tarp, duct tape, poly rope – for making shelters

  3. baseball bat

  4. waterproof matches and fire starter

  5. sewing kit

  6. MREs – made-ready meals

  7. solar powered radio + flashlight + phone charger – it gives your phone enough charge for one phone call

  8. first aid kit and handbook – because someone has to play doctor

  9. extra blanket, hand towels and bandana

  10. batteries

  11. face guard – because getting zombie guts on you is gross

The first three seasons of “The Walking Dead” are available on Netflix. The show is on every Sunday night at 9 on AMC. On October 29, the program was renewed for a fifth season.