Humor and Horror: A Love Story

In conjunction with our Honors class, I have been taking an independent study course that focuses specifically on zombie literature and film. In the course, we have looked at a slew of popular novels and films that feature zombies, including:

Novels
The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
World War Z by Max Brooks
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Breathers by S. G. Browne
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

Films
Night of the Living Dead
Zombieland
Resident Evil: Extinction
I Am Legend
Fido
Pride and Prejudice (for comparison, of course!)
Shaun of the Dead

Although we have touched on the role of zombies in the horror genre today, we have not really discussed their influence. Some believe that the zombie fad is fading, but society’s obsession with zombies appears to be increasing. Novels, film, and television have all jumped on the flesh-eating bandwagon; nevertheless, the role of the zombie within the horror genre has evolved. Today, zombies are often used by authors and directors to create relevant satires. Each of the works listed above feature aspects of the absurd, however, only a few succeed in mixing elements of humor and horror to create a satisfactory work of satire (see the bolded works).

As Bobby discussed in his presentation last week, humor and horror have many similarities that allow them to work seamlessly together – especially in works of satire. Satire, which depends on the conventions of dark humor, strives to enact change in society by emphasizing social ills. Authors and directors of horror films today often use zombies to achieve this goal. This practice goes back to George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968), which utilizes zombies as a means to comment on themes such as communism, sexism, and racism. In my final project for my independent study course, I decided to examine the use of satire in zombie literature and film and to share this examination with you.

For my project, I designed three posters. The first is a collage that depicts some of the instances of satire featured in the works listed above. These include commentaries on consumerism, communism, racism, sexism, patriotism, medical ethics, the American cowboy mythos, violence, and romance (you can click on the pictures to make them larger):

















The second and third are protest posters designed in the spirit of the various Rights Movements (i.e. the Civil Rights Movement, the Gay and Lesbian Rights Movement, and the Women's Movement):
































My main inspiration for this project was the film Fido. Out of all the novels and films (except Shaun of the Dead) this film best represents the synthesis of horror and humor and best demonstrates an effective use of satire. I highly recommend it!