Top 5 Iconic Video Game and Movie Zombies

It’s Halloween season once again… A time filled with death, destruction and unspeakable horrors that will ultimately culminate in the approach of an unholy apocalypse upon all mankind. The end of the world may come in many forms: nuclear holocaust, rampaging kaiju, mutated flesh-eating bacteria… but as you well know, the most obvious and likely scenario is ZOMBIES. They aren’t just a pop-culture phenomenon popularized by movies, television and video games, but an actual inevitability. In preparation for the arrival of the hordes of flesh-eating undead I have developed a survival guide detailing the many forms of these potential brain-eaters.
Clearly the best approach to anticipating a zombie-filled future is studying the zombies we’ve seen in film, culture, and video games. Here is a countdown of the most terrifying zombies and what we’ve learned from them:

5. White Walkers (Game of Thrones)

These highly intelligent and organized zombies live in the frozen north and are driven with a singular purpose: to assimilate and destroy mankind. They have superhuman strength, creepy glowing blue eyes and the ability to magically channel cold and ice. In addition, they can reanimate the corpses of those who have fallen in battle into wights, who act as minions to the White Walkers. Their true purpose has not yet been foretold, but their army of the undead continues to grow. Winter is coming…
How to survive: If George R.R. Martin would finish the next damn book, maybe we could find out. Wait! Dragonglass works, I think. Must find dragonglass…

4. Classic Zombies (Night of the Living Dead, The Walking Dead)

These simplistic, slow-moving undead rely on pure instinct to track human prey. Not to be underestimated, a single walker has been known to infiltrate a barricade and take down a whole survival camp. Most terrifying of all, is that anyone who dies turns into a zombie regardless if they were bitten or passed from natural causes, forcing you to keep a keen eye on the sick and injured to prevent being overrun from within.
How to survive: Easily dispatched while by themselves or in small groups (a blade or bullet to the brain should do the trick), these slow-moving soulless wonders can prove to be quite the challenge in large hordes. One man or woman could be easily overwhelmed, resulting is a horrific death while being pulled limb-from-limb and eaten alive!

3. Supernatural/Possessed Zombies (The Evil Dead, REC, Dead Space)

These zombies are often the result of a curse delivered by an evil religious or demonic cult. They are a rare but tough breed of undead, largely due to their above-average intelligence, horrifying appearance, and occasional ability to impersonate the living.
How to survive: It can be difficult to put a stop to demonic or cult zombies, as the original accursed soul must be destroyed in order to break the curse. Once located, the original zombie is often a horrific monstrosity, far stronger than those that came before it. On the bright side, you previously turned friends and loved ones should revert back to normal once the original has been dispatched (this often depends on the type of curse). Supernatural zombies, such as the Necromorphs, must have their grotesque limbs severed in order to be slowed down or killed, and can only be stopped completely through the destruction of The Marker, an alien obelisk that originally caused the curse.

2. Parasitic Zombies (The Last of Us)

Characteristics: The Cordycep Brain Infection (CBI) is a parasitic fungus whose spores inhabit a living host, scarring their face as it sprouts through their eyes and inhibits brain function, turning the victim into hostile predator over time. Even after the host’s inevitable demise, cordyceps continues to reanimate the victim’s body, producing spore clouds to spread the parasite to more victims.
How to survive: Though they may not be able to see, it doesn’t mean they can’t find you. “Clickers”, as they are often called, conveniently use sound to hunt by emitting a horrifying screeching or clicking noise to echolocate their prey. A quiet, stealthy approach is the best way to sneak up in and dispatch these nasty, nightmarish fiends.

1. Rage Virus/Fast Zombies (28 Days Later, Left 4 Dead, Dawn of the Dead )

The easily-transmitted Rage virus causes the human host to degrade into a permanent state of hostility and aggression. While the victims aren’t technically zombies (the virus doesn’t actually kill its host), these unfortunate souls have uncontrollable zombie-like traits, penchant for ripping human survivors limb-from-limb and spread the infection through bites, scratches or fluid contact. Most terrifying of all is the host’s near-instantaneous transformation into a murderous death-machine upon contact with a single drop of the infected’s blood.
How to survive: You could try to run, but most of these zombies will easily out-sprint you. You could try to hide, but a single peep will alert all the nearby infected who will destroy any barriers and find you. Your best bet is to be IN A DIFFERENT CONTINENT FROM THE SOURCE OF THE OUTBREAK. Chances are, even then they will find you. There is no hope. All is lost.