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American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture (Contributions to Zombie Studies) Paperback – February 9, 2010

by Kyle William Bishop (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 20 ratings
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Zombie stories are peculiarly American, as the creature was born in the New World and functions as a reminder of the atrocities of colonialism and slavery. The voodoo-based zombie films of the 1930s and '40s reveal deep-seated racist attitudes and imperialist paranoia, but the contagious, cannibalistic zombie horde invasion narrative established by George A. Romero has even greater singularity. This book provides a cultural and critical analysis of the cinematic zombie tradition, starting with its origins in Haitian folklore and tracking the development of the subgenre into the twenty-first century. Closely examining such influential works as Victor Halperin's White Zombie, Jacques Tourneur's I Walked with a Zombie, Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2, Dan O'Bannon's The Return of the Living Dead, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, and, of course, Romero's entire "Dead" series, it establishes the place of zombies in the Gothic tradition.
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  1. Part of series
    Contributions to Zombie Studies
  2. Print length
    247 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    McFarland & Company
  5. Publication date
    February 9, 2010
  6. Reading age
    18 years and up
  7. Dimensions
    6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
  8. ISBN-10
    0786448067
  9. ISBN-13
    978-0786448067
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“in this seminal study, Bishop navigates well the oil and water-like mix of serious analysis and zombie cinema. It isn’t often that one comes across Marxian dialectics and graphic descriptions of cannibalism in the same paragraph, but Bishop’s understated style makes it work”―Library Journal; “fascinating”―Raising the Undead; “a very complete analysis of the evolution of the zombie in American cinema”―Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts.

From the Inside Flap

Zombie stories are peculiarly American, as the creature was born in the New World and functions as a reminder of the atrocities of colonialism and slavery. The voodoo-based zombie films of the 1930s and '40s reveal deep-seated racist attitudes and imperialist paranoia, but the contagious, cannibalistic zombie horde invasion narrative established by George A. Romero has even greater singularity. This book provides a cultural and critical analysis of the cinematic zombie tradition, starting with its origins in Haitian folklore and tracking the development of the subgenre into the twenty-first century. Closely examining such influential works as Victor Halperin's White Zombie, Jacques Tourneur's I Walked with a Zombie, Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2, Dan O'Bannon's The Return of the Living Dead, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, and, of course, Romero's entire "Dead" series, it establishes the place of zombies in the Gothic tradition.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ McFarland & Company; Illustrated edition (February 9, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 247 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0786448067
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0786448067
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 20 ratings

About the author

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Kyle William Bishop

Kyle William Bishop

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Kyle William Bishop studied art history, music, German, English, and film in college and graduate school. He received a PhD in American literature and film from the University of Arizona and is now a third-generation associate professor at Southern Utah University. Dr. Bishop currently teaches courses in American literature and culture, film studies, and horror/fantasy literature. He currently serves as the SUU Honors Program Director.

Dr. Bishop has presented and published a variety of critical essays and articles on popular culture and cinematic adaptation, including such topics as Metropolis, Night of the Living Dead, Fight Club, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawn of the Dead, Frankenstein, The Birds, Zombieland, and The Walking Dead. He has written two books for McFarland: American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture (2010) and How Zombies Conquered Popular Culture: The Multifarious Walking Dead in the 21st Century (2015).

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4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
20 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

The Redhead Is Always Right
5.0 out of 5 stars Actually made me want to watch zombie movies . . .
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2010
Verified Purchase
Can we, indeed, speak of a current zombie renaissance?

Yes. Yes we can!

A must for film buffs and zombie/horror movie fans everywhere, Bishop's book is a fascinating look at the history of zombie films and their effect on pop culture and cinema.

I don't particularly care for zombie films (notable exceptions: loved Shaun of the Dead and Fido, and 28 Days Later is one of my favorite movies ever), but Kyle "Dr. Walking Dead" Bishop is a friend of mine, so I thought I'd give his book a go. Wow. Couldn't stop reading! He covers everything from the history of voodoo and zombies in the real world up to the release of the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It was deeply interesting to see how zombie films have evolved from the incredibly racist 1930's films to the evil zombie heyday of the 1970's, and then the sympathetic zom-rom-coms of the 21st century.

The book is totally engrossing . . . and also kind of gross . . . (there are pictures) . . . but five stars and two thumbs way up!
6 people found this helpful
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Matthew D. Barton
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for Understanding the Rhetoric of Pop Culture
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2016
I've been using this book as a text in a course on the Rhetoric of Popular Culture, which I've themed around The Walking Dead series. What I like about Bishop's book is that it provides a critical history of the zombie in pop culture in a provocative, yet approachable style for students. The takeaways from this book are enormous--students come to see pop culture in a whole new light, and Bishop's writing exemplifies how these topics can be analyzed and written about cogently and clearly. Thus, the book serves not just as a useful text for understanding the subject, but also as a model for students struggling to learn good academic writing. I highly recommend it.
2 people found this helpful
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Greg
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2014
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interesting, if needlessly wordy book. It will spoil films for you.
One person found this helpful
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Shannon Pease
4.0 out of 5 stars Brains...
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2011
American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture... by Kyle William Bishop
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
As a fan of the horror sub-genre of zombies I found this book both interesting and enlightening. First of all, Mr. Bishop's sources are well documented and from what I found, reliable. As a zombie fan they were also helpful. I was able to add other books and movies that I haven't read or watched or some I would like to revisit.
Not many people that I know will watch a zombie movie and wonder why the fictional creature was invented or the deeper meaning behind zombies. Mr. Bishop takes the reader on a historical voyage of the zombies chronological existence beginning in the folklore of Haiti to modern day apocolyptic fears.
This book goes deeper into zombies and their meaning to us than I expected. I found myself saying "oh okay' a lot and agreeing with his points. I recommend this book to anyone who likes zombie stories or even to someone with a zombie fear (looking at it from Mr. Bishop's point of view might just make you a fan.) review by shayrp
8 people found this helpful
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Noah D. Pappano
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional book; mandatory for the zombie enthusiast or scholar
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2010
Zombie movie lovers can rejoice now that Kyle Bishop's book is out. I have for some years now been a long time admirer of the horror movie subgenre, yet it wasn't until doing research for a paper in a Junior contemporary literature class that I encountered Mr. Bishop's work. It had never occurred to me that there was serious scholarly work done on zombie movies, but after reading some of his articles I was not only stunned by his educated and thorough treatment, but also by how much his attention to the topic enriched my own appreciation. He begins with the genesis of zombies and their folkloric roots in Haiti, gradually fleshing out the walking dead up to the present time. Zombies are significant as evolving outside of any established literary tradition as well as being indigenous to the New World (a claim other major horror monsters can't make) A reflexive Haitian voodoo creation while under pressure by the colonial French, eventually zombies "emigrated" to America where their treatment in cinema did little more than reflect postcolonial fears of repressed subjects rising against the ruling class. It wasn't until George Romero with his Night of the Living Dead in 1968 that zombies became an important cultural archetype as the legendary filmmaker used them to expose racism, consumerism, Cold War paranoia, and other societal anxieties. The zombie as significant cultural archetype has a dynamic film history, and Bishop takes you through their evolution in a prose style that is academic but never laborious; indeed, for a dissertation, it's quite a page-turner. I highly recommend this book and without reservation say that it is indispensable for any zombie movie lover.
12 people found this helpful
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Nicholas A. Rose
5.0 out of 5 stars The Zombie: Throughly Defined and Explored
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2013
Bishop's American Zombie Gothic is an absolutely essential read for those interested in the zombie phenomenon of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It begins with an in-depth review of the zombie figure's origins in Haitian voodoo before moving to an engaging account of the modern zombie's (the walking dead) importance as a symbol of repressed cultural fears and anxieties. Special attention is given to the seminal films of George A. Romero. For fans of postcolonial theory, Bishop also provides some insight into that. In my opinion, the most distinguishing feature of Bishop's work is his commentary on how the zombie has created a resurgence in the Gothic themes first established by Horace Walpole and Anne Radcliffe. American Zombie Gothic is a foundation of great importance in the growing field of "zombie studies." Check it out for yourself!
4 people found this helpful
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Brendan M. Howard
2.0 out of 5 stars Unreadable
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2011
That zombies are now grist for the academic mill is a source of sadness for me as a zombie fan.

Zombie fans, avoid this one like the plague. Postmodern and Colonial Literary Studies PhD candidates, enjoy!
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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kriskris
5.0 out of 5 stars Muito Bom
Reviewed in Brazil on October 21, 2014
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Uma ótima obra que estuda o universo zumbi e sua trajetória ao longo dos anos, com foco no cinema americano. Imperdível para os fãs do subgênero do terror.
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cisnenegro
5.0 out of 5 stars Great essay
Reviewed in Spain on July 24, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is one of the best scholar studies about zombies I've ever read. Very interesting and well-written, the book covers to the first z film manifestations (White Zombie) to the original Romero's trilogy of the dead.
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