Night of the Living Dead
Move over vampires, zombies are reclaiming the supernatural throne
These days, it seems vampires are taking a back seat in pop culture. The days of sparkling nightwalkers can thankfully, be put behind us. Zombies are coming back in full force as they begin their march back to reclaim the supernatural throne. The living dead have been all over the news lately, from breaking ratings records to video games to even being at the forefront of advertising campaigns for make-up and audiences are buying in.
The Walking Dead recently had its second season premiere on AMC last Sunday and smashed records for basic-cable dramas. The premiere averaged 7.3 million viewers with its first airing, and 11 million overall if you include the repeat that aired right after. But that’s not where the record was broken – according to an AMC press release, the season two premiere delivered more adults aged 18-49 than any other basic cable drama in television history.
To put it in a little perspective, Vulture compared the premiere’s ratings against programming from the week and in the key 18-34 demo, The Walking Dead was the No. 1 drama and No. 4 entertainment series on all of television, ahead of established series like Grey’s Anatomy, House, The Good Wife and Dancing with the Stars.
And just after news hit of the ratings records, Vulture also announced that FOX is currently developing a television series based on the hit movie, Zombieland, proving that zombies are indeed coming back with a vengeance. Also in development is a feature film based on the trailer of a recently released video game, Dead Island. You read that right; the trailer is the basis of the film – a trailer that became viral as soon as it was released – and for good reason.
But the comeback doesn’t stop there. Even the CDC has joined in on the fun and released a zombie based comic book detailing what one would do in the case of a zombie apocalypse – which also happens to be the same thing one would do in the event of any natural disaster. This isn’t the first time the CDC has had fun with the living dead either – back in May, they released a more straightforward guide to surviving a zombie apocalypse.
Finally, DermaBlend Foundations has unveiled a new campaign featuring Rick Genest aka Zombie Boy, a man most notable for being covered head-to-toe in skeletal tattoos. (OK, so this zombie reference is a bit of a stretch.) In the ad, make-up artists use DermaBlend concealer to cover up all of his tattoos and the results are incredible. You can check out the ad here.
So what’s the cause for the resurgence in zombies? In explaining the recent ratings success of The Walking Dead, Charlie Collier, president of AMC, is quoted as saying, “The Walking Dead' is one of those rare television programs that reaches both a core genre fan as well as broad audiences simply looking for a great, character-based story.” Besides, who doesn’t love a good zombie apocalypse story?
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The Walking Dead airs Sundays 9/8c on AMC.