It’s Valentine’s Day, so what’s the first thing you think of? Zombies, right? I hope not. I mean, what’s wrong with you, you sicko? If the first thing you think of is undead, flesh-eating corpses then, really, something’s probably wrong with you.
Let’s be honest here:
The idea of zombies and love being related is kinda gross. “Necrophilia” isn’t a pretty word but it’s the one I conjure up when I think of zombies and romance together at the same time. And yet, somehow, with enough ingenuity and talent at telling stories in their respective media, some people still manage to do an okay job of making zombie love stories seem like a much less terrible idea than they really are. In fact, some people actually do a pretty good job at it. And since it is the day for lovers, I figured we shouldn’t ignore the surprising lack of zombie romances out there. You’ve probably heard of Warm Bodies already, but here are a few other examples of good romance storytelling with zombies for your enjoyment. I still don’t feel that any of these things convince me that zombie romance is a good idea, but I do admit that I always find it interesting to explore these themes of love reaching beyond the grasp of undeath.
First off, we have a fun little flash game. It’s a simple platformer that goes by the title of “i saw her standing there“. (Lack of capitalization in original, which bugs me to no end.) It tells the story of a young man who has to keep trapping his zombie girlfriend in a cage while escaping more zombies. There’s not much to it, but it’s a fun waste of five minutes and apparently there’s a sequel coming.
Next up we have an interesting short film called Rest. It’s the story of an American soldier from WWI rising from his grave to return home. It’s got beautiful visuals and it really works as a silent film. I did question a few things about the movie as I was watching it, such as: “is the sight of an undead WWI vet so common that nobody cares?” But maybe my heart is just a block of solid ice and I should lighten up.
Finally, we have the vocal stylings of one Stephanie Maybe, who in addition to being quite pretty — Though not quite as pretty as my wife. Hi, honey, I love you! — is a talented singer. Her zombie love song should be enough to melt even the coldest and deadest of hearts. (I’ll never say if it worked on mine.) While it’s possibly more an argument for why Twilight is a terrible idea than one for why Warm Bodies is a good idea, it’s still funny and quite enjoyable. You can watch the music video (with lyrics) here or download the track for free here.
