Zombie Question

[archangel1]

From what I can see, with only a quick glance through the myriad figures available, most zombie models appear to be of the Dawn of the Dead type.  That is, they are almost always newly-risen modern plague- or 'chemically'-created critters - you die, you wake up again, you're a zombie.  As much as I like some of these, particularly the Studio Miniatures mobs, what I'm really looking for is more like the Michael Jackson Thriller type.  'Graveyard' or 'old-school' zombies I guess you'd call them.  Bodies that have been properly buried and then, for whatever reason, come back to 'life'.  Bodies dressed in suits or uniforms or dresses or, going back a bit, burial shrouds.

Like this...



Don't need many because they'll be diorama/vignette characters (eventually, I hope!) rather than gaming pieces.  Any suggestions?

[6milPhil]

I think it's more how you paint them tha the model... but regardless the Blue Moon box set has a good mix many in that style IMHO... have a butchers;
http://6milphil.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/zombie-mob-news/

[archangel1]

That's more like what I'm thinking.  Most of the figures these days imply that everybody just dropped dead and then immediately woke up again as zombies, so they're carrying their tools or such.  They were never buried in the first place which is the appearance I'm looking for.

I'll keep Blue Moon in mind, thanks.  Gives me one more good reason to finally renew my Old Glory Army membership.  Their 40% discount includes Blue Moon figures!

Gotta plan my graveyard first, though, before I worry about populating it!

[6milPhil]

Have you seen fungy's graveyard?

[archangel1]

Yes, that's partly what retriggered my intent to build one of my own.  Of course, we know what they say about good intentions...

In my mind's eye, I see something like this...



What I actually end up with will be an entirely different story!

[Eldorf.Dragonsbane]

Not to sound rude, but I actually find it funny that you refer to the Micheal Jackson "Thriller" Zombies as old school, when both Night of the Dead, Zombi (Lou Fulci), and Dawn of the Dead (1978, not the 2004 remake) were out well before Thriller (1983 iirc).

In most industrialized nations, if there was a Zombie outbreak you wouldn't see it in grave yards, especially iirc here in the US since most bodies when buried are buried and sealed in an underground vault, typically made of concrete. The main purpose of the vault is to help reduce maintenance since the casket typically wont be able to support the dirt above. Even if a vault isn't used, a human body typically decays fairly quickly when buried, so within about 6 months or so there wont be enough of the original body left. Another factor you have to take in account is the fact that the buried body will have to dig its way up through possibly a couple tons of dirt with little to no room to move. Then you also have another problem for the dead rising in cemeteries, cremation seems to becoming a more popular choice, especially in areas where space in the cemetery for new plots is gradually dwindling, or by those who don't want to spend a small fortune on their funeral.

I would say most the initial attacks during an outbreak will be located in Hospitals, where those who were attacked go for medical treatment, before they themselves expire and then rise, or on location where first response units like Police, Fire and paramedics are involved.

I actually like most current selections of modern zombies, I see them as what you would actually see in the first couple years of a zombie outbreak. Though whose to say that the virus, toxin, radiation, etc... wont preserve the body from decay, so the say zombies from Day 1 could still be around 10, 20, or even 50 years later and still in good condition. You also have climate that factors in a Zombie in the hot, dry American Southwest will last longer then one in the rain forest, or even a temperate climate like Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Scotland, etc... where you get the climate change that run the gammet from wet and cold (Snow) to Hot and Dry (Summer between storms) or Hot and Humid (if you are by a body of water such as the Great Lakes surrounding Michigan).

[archangel1]

What can I say? Too many Hammer films! While I appreciate some of the 'modern' takes on zombiedom (I loved Shaun of the Dead and Return of the Living Dead and the Resident Evil films), my interest really does lie in the 'old school' variant, when they usually came back for a specific reason, like revenge or unfinished business, or were raised by a necromancer or voodoo, rather than an all-encompassing one like, as you say, a virus or toxin. In that case, large underground vaults are a rarity rather than the norm.  I'm thinking 18th Century to early 20th Century, before the days of routine embalming or cremation.  Days when bodies were buried in cheap wooden coffins, often just deep enough to be easily accessible to the Resurrection-men, like Burke and Hare or Willie and Arthur from I Sell the Dead.  The large aboveground vaults and mausoleums found in some of the old cemeteries are tailor-made for both Gothic horror and zombie outbreaks.  I look at some of the cemetery photos I've collected over the years for inspiration and wonder whether that lock is there to keep someone out or something in! I've even got one or two shots where the door is just open a crack and there is no lock and my imagination runs wild!

[manatic]

There's this pack of badly decomposed zombies from Mirliton (ex-Grenadier stuff). They look like they've been underground for quite a while: