Girls fancy the former because they’re sexy and cool – think Robert Pattinson. “However, zombies,” he said, “are not sexy or cool and sophisticated. They are dirty and messy, with terrible skin and awful dress sense. They communicate in grunts. Basically, they are teenage boys, which is why they like them.”
Cue a lot of knowing laughter from parents and kids.
This talk on horror by the author of zombie thrillers The Dead and The Enemy was funny and illuminating.
Higson traced his obsession back to seeing movie Night Of The Living Dead by George Romero as a teenager.
He said, “The zombie is the most frightening monster. They are dead people who have come back. There’s something disturbing about the way they just keep coming at you.”
Higson, author of the Young Bond books, likes to test ideas on his three sons. He once ramped up the gore until his youngest, who had refused to be scared, finally burst into his bedroom at 4am after a nightmare. “I thought, ‘Yes! I’ve finally got the little b******!’”
And he has a tip for anyone faced with a zombie – use a Flymo. “You could really splatter them with a Flymo.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here