Crawling off the Screen: An Ethnography of Live Action Zombie Events in the United States The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Myers, Heather M. 2011. Crawling off the Screen: An Ethnography of Live Action Zombie Events in the United States. Master's thesis, Harvard University, Extension School. Citable link https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37367517 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Crawling off the Screen: An Ethnography of Live Action Zombie Events in the United States Heather M. Myers A Thesis in the Field of Anthropology and Archeology for the Degree of Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies Harvard University November 2011 © 2011 Heather M. Myers Abstract This study examines phenomena of live action zombie events in American culture. Throughout history cultures have used tales of horror to address their fears in safe environments, and we continue this trend today. The zombie however, goes beyond such horror tales moving off the screen into live action events that allow us to confront and disarm our modern fears. It is my belief that zombie themed live action events have arisen due to the zombie’s ability to adapt to, and serve as metaphors, for specific socio- cultural fears. These events allow participants to confront those fears in a more immediate and intimate manner than could previously be done by viewing zombie films. Through the use of participant observation, media analysis, and survey results this project examines the historical and modern trends in zombie media, and the roll of live action zombie events. As American culture moves from decade to decade so too has the zombie, adjusting to the specific fears of each generation, as well as addressing deeper more ingrained socio-cultural fears. The increased fear caused in recent decades by terrorist attacks, new untreatable diseases, nuclear power and biological warfare has created a steep increase in the amount of zombie media created and a desire to confront these fears in a more realistic way. This need has spawned the creation of live action zombie events which range from large scale flash mobs to intense live action roll-playing games, or LARPs. Allowing participants to disarm their anxieties by dressing up as zombies for fun, or confront their fears by trying to survive in a simulated zombie invasion. Dedication This work is dedicated to my mother who has supported me throughout my life, and who has willingly read all manner of zombie related texts, even though she does not like zombies. To my mom who was told she couldn’t study Archeology because she was a woman, and so became a teacher. To the woman who supported all of my dreams no matter how far fetched they seemed. Thank you mom! iv Acknowledgements I would like to thanks my friends and family without whom this work would not be possible. To everyone who has put up with me incessantly talking about zombies, and who have pointed out zombie films, books, events, toys, and other sundry zombie items and media, thank you! Secondly I would like to thank my research adviser Dante Spetter for encouraging me to pursue this topic over more traditional areas of study. Though she knew nothing about zombies, zombie media or zombie events she pushed me to explore this subject in depth. Finally, my sincere gratitude goes out to my thesis adviser Aisha Beliso-De Jesús for her support and her understanding of my topic. I was initially worried that I would not find and adviser who was familiar with the zombie topic, but Aisha has proven her knowledge of the subject. Her advice and guidance have proved invaluable during this endeavor. v Table of Contents Dedication ......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ v List of Tables ..................................................................................................................viii List of Figures ................................................................................................................... ix I. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Historical Background on the Zombie Phenomenon .......................................... 2 Confronting Fears through Scary Stories ............................................................ 8 A Short History of the Zombie in American Film ............................................ 10 A Short History of the Zombie in American Film ............................................ 18 II. Research Method ....................................................................................................... 20 Participants ........................................................................................................ 21 Measures ........................................................................................................... 23 Procedures ......................................................................................................... 24 III. Results ........................................................................................................................ 29 Movie Analysis Results .................................................................................... 29 Survey Results .................................................................................................. 31 Participant Observation Results ........................................................................ 38 IV. Discussion .................................................................................................................. 42 Zombies Invade Video Games ......................................................................... 43 vi Live Action Zombie Events .............................................................................. 53 Zombies Invade Video Games ............................................................. 53 Humans vs. Zombies & LARPS ........................................................... 66 Guards Up! Inc. – Humans vs. Zombies Games ...................... 67 Prophecy Zombie LARP .......................................................... 72 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 80 Appendix A ...................................................................................................................... 85 Appendix B ...................................................................................................................... 92 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 94 Work Cited ........................................................................................................ 94 Filmography ...................................................................................................... 96 Gameography .................................................................................................... 97 vii List of Tables Table 1: Number of zombie types per decade from 1930 to 2009 including 2010 ...... 30 Table 2: Yes/No responses to the creation of fear or distrust when watching and/or participating in zombie media ........................................................................ 38 Table 3: Results of video interview analysis from three zombie walks ....................... 39 Table A1: Zombie Movie List .........................................................................Appendix A viii List of Figures Fig. 1 Number of zombie media by decade from 1930 to 2009 .................................. 30 Fig. 2 Comparison of the number of Viral vs. Non-viral zombies between 1930 and 2009 ................................................................................................................... 31 Fig. 3 Average values given for scariness of zombie attributes .................................. 33 Fig. 4 Response choices for zombie attributes rated by scariness ............................... 34 Fig. 5 Percentages and number of responses given in regards to the level of scariness of specific socio-cultural fears .............................................................................. 35 Fig. 6 Association between zombies and specific zombie themes .............................. 36 Fig. 7 Association between the idea of zombies and specific themes ......................... 37 Fig. 8 Screen grab from Zombie Pets Facebook game app .......................................... 50 Fig. 9 Screen grab of Plants vs. Zombies (PopCap Games) ........................................ 51 Fig. 10 Myrtle Beach Zombie Walk attendees getting zombie makeup applied ........... 55 Fig. 11 Boston Zombie Walk invading Prudential Center, Boston, MA ....................... 56 Fig. 12 Zombie Walk Chicago, Cloud Gate Millennium Park ...................................... 56 Fig. 13 Myrtle Beach Zombie Walk particpants............................................................. 58 Fig. 14 Zombie Walk Chicago zombie bride ................................................................