The Undead Debate: Vampires vs Zombies http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484 simply_complex No relevance to my plot; just sheer curiosity. Where do you stand on the Undead Debate: Zombies or Vampires? And for a bonus, add why, if you'd like. The original vampires were just evil blood thirsty monsters. However, the modern day vampire symbolizes what humans want to be (glamorous, strong, irresistible, and let's not forget immortal). Meanwhile, zombies haven't evolved much over the years and have always been said to symbolize the human condition (over populated and rapidly spreading, over consuming and then starving, and once again, immortal). But the symbolism doesn't stop there. Google is fun for that! So I ask you, fellow Wrimos, which team are you on? Team Vampire or Team Zombie? Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:46:56 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_788169 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_788169 Mae 13 Team Zombie! There is something profoundly interesting about zombies, something that the sexy and glamorous vampire will never encompass. We are living in the zombie renaissance, a culture that has become obsessed with the idea of zombies. Why are we so obsessed with them? They are what we fear most in ourselves. Loss of autonomy, a slow descent into societal chaos, inability to escape what we have created, inability to escape ourselves... vampires can never compare. Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:25:46 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_788562 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_788562 PollyNim Team Vampire! Never trade intelligence for numbers. A vampire has the time to develop strategy and cunning plans. Sure a lot of those plans end up in failure, but that's because they are usually antagonists. Vampires have enough style to let the protagonist win with grace. No two vampires are alike. Some drink human blood. Some drink animal blood. Some drink life essence. Some are happy. Some are sad. Some are enjoying themselves far too much. Some are attractive. Some are repulsive. Zombies only come in two varieties: Fast and slow. Even when culture seems to grow tired of them, the vampires merely need to wait. What is one lifetime when another one will come when they will be just as popular? Zombies will never win until one is a more than part of a mindless horde. Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:30:41 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_789493 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_789493 Epic in the making I've always been Team Zombie, simply because I think zombies are cool, but strangley enough, my novel is about vampires, and in one bapr they totally destroy some zombies... Plus, I've beun to read Cirque Du Freak, and so I'm starting to lean more towards vampires, just not the glittery romance kind. Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:33:11 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_789882 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_789882 GatsbyGal I've always found vampires profoundingly boring. They're not scary, and I don't understand how blood and pain are supposed to be "sexy". And I just don't like the whole look of them overall. Well, except Nosferatu, I like him. He was actually terrifying. Zombies I'm also pretty "meh" about. Most of the time they're not frightening. Slow, leg-dragging zombies are dull, and I don't like them when they're more "intelligent". I only find them interesting when they're practically crazed wild animals, running at break-neck speed after anything that lives, THAT is scary - the idea that once they find you, you can never outrun them. Then again, being chased is one of my phobias (people can't even pretend to chase me as a joke, I panic), so that's probably why those kinds of zombies are the kinds I enjoy seeing movies about. Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:48:48 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_789941 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_789941 Nikk_E Zombies. Though I've always thought vampires were like an intelligent breed of zombies...something I was actually thinking of writing about. Though vampires have been suave and cool, there's just something beautifully grotesque about the multiples of undead. Plus the psychological strain of having to kill what was once your mom, sister, cat, etc. So for me, zombies will win every time. Mon, 21 Nov 2011 01:46:52 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_790174 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_790174 HJWinters93 Team Vampire, but not the sparkly princess kind...I'm more like Team 30-days-of-night/old-school-Dracula-type-of-Vampire! XD Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:02:56 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_794315 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_794315 Lydia_Ember Team Vampire. Vampires have a history (which a writer that shall remain nameless smeared a sparkly stain on), and people's takes on them can be rather interesting, from "I need to kill you NOW! nom nom nom" to those that have their own agendas. The conflict of wanting to be human but can't can also stir up some good stories. Tue, 22 Nov 2011 06:09:12 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_803528 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_803528 lcplsnd Oh... I've got quite a bit on this topic. RANT WARNING. I used to be obsessed with vampires, which, I'm sure, many teenage girls end up being. However, I grew so tired of the same plots being reused, vapid main characters, and the glamorization of vamps. I mean, they're supposed to be dark, creepy, the primal and psychosexual symbols of mankind. That's what I think, anyway. Not every vampire should be beautiful. And they certainly shouldn't sparkle. While I love the symbolism and the history, I dislike what the vampire has become. Zombies. Who doesn't love a clumsy, shambling, undead, rotting neighbor? I mean, they can be funny, they can be creepy. They can be magical or science-y. There are no limits to zombies! At least not that we've explored fully. And they have their own symbolism-- our fear of death, the monotony of life and fear of becoming a drone, the loss of the individual self. Beautiful! And they don't have to be stupid, either. Frankenstein's monster was a zombie, after all. Lately, for literature and movies that exists, I'm definitely going with zombie here just because I'm irritated with some of the crap out there for vamps. In my heart of hearts, where plot bunnies stalk? I'm torn. Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:00:28 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_804875 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_804875 Papa Poe They're kind of the same. Our modern zombie is largely an adaptation of the vampire myth - heavily informed by Richard Matheson's take on vampires in "I Am Legend" and the film "Night of the Living Dead" which was inspired by Matheson's book. Although I do like the point above that Frankenstein's monster is technically a zombie, so maybe the modern zombie myth has been in development longer. I am more likely to write vampires. But my vampires are more decayed and monstrous than most, and that's how I like undead, so I generally prefer zombie movies. I don't get vampires as sexy. They're like giant mosquitoes, only dead and usually in outdated fashion. But being smarter they have more anguish, and I like that in undead too. That said, I just took a break from writing a zombie plague sequence to answer this, so zombies are winning this year. Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:32:12 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_817363 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_817363 JDoggqx Well said! Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:05:41 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_817635 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_817635 Spuggey I'm going with zombies. My characters (well, Saskia and Xavi) refer to themselves as zombies. They're not, in the traditional sense. They're not lumbering, groaning monsters who eat people. But they are technically the dead re-animated. Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:59:34 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_839517 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_839517 zumbeispiel Vampires. They're sexier (I am referring to Dracula not Twilight FYI), they're more badass and they have better taste in clothes. Also they have brains instead of wanting to eat them, which I find a much more appealing character trait. Maybe that's just me :P Fri, 25 Nov 2011 06:13:32 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_839587 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_839587 fantasyauthor8664 Probably Team Vampires. I'm OK with vampires, but not as much the "modern" ones. I don't care for zombies that much at all. Plus, zombies are scarier. I'd pick zombies, I'd suppose, but when I think about it both of them can dance decently... Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:25:19 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_841498 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_841498 Medd I don't have a particularly huge interest in either, but I have to side with vampires. As earlier posters have stated, arguably they are both the "undead"; but whenever I hear "zombie", the first thoughts to spring to mind are that of shambling, moaning, rotting corpses. Just...eh. Never found them interesting. Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:44:11 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_841676 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_841676 Nikk_E Here, here. Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:09:32 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_846010 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_846010 sarahlucielle Zombies. They feed into my paranoia about great plagues and apocalypse situations, and the zombie apocalypse is the most terrifying of all apocalypses. Because you might contract Spanish Flu but Spanish Flu doesn't shamble after you to make sure the virus is spread to the point where it destroys civilzation. And there are so many ways a zombie can kill you. Obviously they can eat you and turn you into one of them, but they can also cut you off from resources so you die from thirst and hunger, or from diseases that would have been easy to care for if there was still an infrastructure that included hospitals. Fri, 25 Nov 2011 19:16:42 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_846650 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_846650 lil87blue I'm into both, but i like vampires more. Ps. on spike channel? i think it was, they did a simulated battle and vampires won. Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:18:39 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_847317 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_847317 115 I live in an area that has a lot of ilegal drugs particularly meth and it just so happens that all the signs of being a Zombie are also all the signs of being a meth head. So if I have to side I would chose vampire if only becuase I haven't met any yet. Sat, 26 Nov 2011 20:26:55 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_858586 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_858586 Wind Ann Wise Team Vamp all the way! I'm not a huge fan of Zombies. Sun, 27 Nov 2011 07:01:06 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_862077 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_862077 That-Contrarian-Librarian Team Zombie. (Read Zombies Vs. Unicorns!) What they are: pure horror. Also, zombies can haz brains. Smarrrrt. Sun, 27 Nov 2011 13:21:31 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_865521 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_865521 TheHorsemanshipQueen. My answer hinges on how you define zombies and vampires. My definitions: Zombie: The body of a person who no longer exists. Meaning that the body is no longer connected to what the person used to be and carries no part of the former humanity that inhabited it. Vampire: A being that has to drink blood to survive. When I distill it down to that, zombies win every time. Why? Simple: Dollhouse. Anyone who's watched the show knows what I'm talking about. In the show, people were turned into zombies. The person that they were was completely and totally removed in most cases (in others it was just altered, but even then the alterations affected and changed who the person used to be). Their body was completely separated from the person that used to inhabit it. And lets be honest, it's far more likely that we'll learn how to use technology to wipe people's minds and replace them than use technology to create a being that can only survive by consuming blood. And beyond just being more likely, zombies that can have any number of skills (combat, tech, weapons, etc...) and potentially have no concept of right and wrong? Scary! ... As a side note, I have a real problem with the whole vampires-with-fangs thing. Go stand in front of a mirror and open your mouth as wide as you can. Add an imaginary 1/2-1" to both of your canine teeth. It's going to be pretty dang hard to get your mouth around anything big enough to bleed a lot. If you're really lucky, you might be able to (barely) force a wrist into your mouth. On this subject, does anyone have a spare life I can borrrow? I don't seem to have one.. Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:08:31 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_897940 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_897940 littlewonder [quote=lcplsnd] RANT WARNING. I used to be obsessed with vampires, which, I'm sure, many teenage girls end up being. However, I grew so tired of the same plots being reused, vapid main characters, and the glamorization of vamps. I mean, they're supposed to be dark, creepy, the primal and psychosexual symbols of mankind. That's what I think, anyway. Not every vampire should be beautiful. And they certainly shouldn't sparkle. While I love the symbolism and the history, I dislike what the vampire has become. [/quote] EXACTLY! Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:49:03 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_903053 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_903053 simply_complex I agree! Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:17:59 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_935478 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_935478 simply_complex I have that book and I plan to read it after the new year. But in that debate, I am Team Unicorn all the way! Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:20:23 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_935487 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=1#forum_thread_comment_935487 PhantomDream Team Zombie. Always. They're way more versatile, and to be honest, quite creepy. Or amusing, depending on how you play it. But mostly creepy when you consider the thought of becoming one of them. It's...haunting. I completely agree with the point about vampires. The history and mythology is impressive, but the modern type? Not so much. Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:11:24 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_949944 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_949944 water2770 I call for a third team such as Team Undead Killers. I honestly hate vampires for several reasons (even before twilight) and I really hate zombies as well. For those reasons I can't side with either so I'd have to go with a side that was either neutral to them all or wanted to kill them all. Sat, 17 Dec 2011 19:10:49 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_981132 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_981132 RobertLent Team Zombie. Zombies are a terrifying other, empty husks that want to make the whole world like them. They are similar to the Borg on Star Trek. Vampires can be ignored, they feed on the fringes, most people would never have to worry about vampires. But Zombies swarm, making more and more of themselves. They won't stop until they are destroyed or the whole world is just like them. And that's just considering real vampires. A real vampire is like a wolf. The domesticated dog is descended from the wolf. That includes the Yorkshire terrier. Now, the Yorkie might be a fine pet, but despite its ancestry, it is no wolf. That's what I think of what pass for vampires these days. For these touchy-feely vampires of today, killing people and drinking their blood is upstaged by angst. Today's vampires are to real vampires as the Yorkshire terrier is to a wolf. Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:18:26 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_990634 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_990634 bookmonster Team Zombie They know best the definition of team work and determination. While vampires probably have a lot on their mind a zombie will only have one: "eat brains". also since they don't need to sleep or eat or anything they won't ever stop, while some vampires do sleep during the day. Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:00:28 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_990846 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_990846 Earthsick I don't get vampires. Nowadays they sparkle too much. /: Before that, Louis from Interview with a vampire was a pyromanic. lol (Or maybe he thought the best solution to everything was setting his current residence on fire, just to have an excuse to get a new house?) Zombies! They're still freaking creepy and I guess that's the best thing about them. Not only in movies, in video games too. I don't know many 'serious' fantasy themed video games that don't have zombies. Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:55:45 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1094925 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1094925 Writing_Ninja Team Ninjas! And I know it has nothing to do with zombies and vampires. Zombies and vampires are a lot alike. The person is dead and all that is left is an animated monster. That is if you are basing vampires off of Dracula. I recently read that book and didn't really realize how monsterous they are. I think they are slowly degrading because people want to make them seem more like humans than anything. It's almost like vampires and zombies are becoming the new "Super Hero". Kinda like how society went through a pirate phase of where pirates were the thing to be! Although in reality, they were disgusting low criminals. I can't wait to see what the next phase will be. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:59:18 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1122805 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1122805 MrZiggles Vampires. The True Blood kind, not the Twilight kind. Zombies are ugly, stupid, unclean creatures who exist only to be killed. Or rekilled. Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:18:56 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1219588 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1219588 WOTB Vampires. Because I don't like horror. I like history. That's it. I don't like vampires because of Twilight, or because they drink blood, or because they are sexy. I like the plot potential because they have lived for hundreds or thousands of years. And that, to me, beats zombies twelve times over. Because for me, vampire appeal is not about sexiness. It's about my sometimes manic obsession with history. Mon, 19 Mar 2012 02:30:31 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1222996 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/40484?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1222996