1 I understand the difference between reality and fantasy. I know that zombies aren’t real and that it’s probably impossible (hopefully) for something like a zombie to exist, but I’m still terrified of them. Before I go any further I should probably define what a zombie is. I’m talking about the Romero zombies, the Dawn of the Dead remake and the 28 Days Later “zombies” (though not truly zombies because they are not dead, but it makes little difference). I don’t know what it is about zombies that scare me, I suppose it’s a number of things.
- They are basically an unstoppable force. A blow (bulltet) to the head/brain will kill them but otherwise they’ll just keep coming. An unstoppable tsunami of the dead will wash across the land and devour every last soul until there is nothing left. (Poetic, isn’t it.)
- The conformity. I think that this was one of the biggest commentaries that Romero was giving in his original Day of the Dead. All people will conform. They will all be the same and any who try to fight it will eventually be consumed and then they too will become one of the dead.
- If you get bit… it’s over. This is the one that scares me the most. Anybody that is bitten will turn into one of the dead. There is no stopping it.
There are a number of other things that scare me (like the insatiable hunger) but those three are really the ones that do it. The funny thing about my fear of zombies is that as much as they freak me out, I love reading books and watching movies about them. I can’t get enough of the zombie genre.
P.S. Kinemortophobie is fear of the moving dead.
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Amazing. I thought I was alone on this. I too, love watching movies and reading on Zombies, but I’m terrified of them. If I watch a movie (which isn’t TOO often) I stay up half the night for a week not able to stop thinking of the “what if” possibilities.
There are more of us out there than you would think.
i always thought i was silly for being afraid of zombies, i never knew that there were other people who live with this fear everyday. i’ve been dealing with this phobia since i was 4 years old, when i watched my first zombie movie. its so horrible, it’s ruining my life… because of this fear i have also have developed many other phobias such as kenophobia/agoraphobia (fear of open spaces; being alone in a big area), nocturophobia (fear of the dark), and to a certain degree claustraphobia (only if i’m shut inside an unfamiliar room). i used to have an addiction for zombie movies (its such an andrenaline rush to be scared like that) but after i would watch a movie it could take months, even YEARS for me to get over it.. so i finally decided to stop.. but i still take sleeping pills to avoid nightmares. lol ppl reading this must think i’m crazy… but i try not to effect my daily life too much, i’m alright as long as i’m not alone…
I know exactly how you feel. I live very close to a graveyard and get the chills every time i pass it. I dream about zombies at least once a week. I used to watch zombie movies all the time as a child and was afraid but not as scared as I am now. I am 24 years old and am terrified of the thought of the walking dead. I don’t think that this could ever happen but it still plagues me.
yeh since i watched i am legend i got anxiety of being alone in the dark etc…but knowimg im not alone helps =D
I am afraid of zombies too!!! I got the Zombie Survival Guide for Christmas just to be safe. 28 Weeks Later zombies scare the hell out of me because they RUN, but I love that movie.
You are not alone.
Hey guys, I’m terrified to! Glad to know I’m not the only one. Maybe if there is an attack will end up trapped in a basement together some where waiting for them to starve to death …. haha, that’s not funny. Is there any way to treat Kinemortophobie
I’ve been embarassed about my fear of zombies. I always want to watch zombie movies, and I know I shouldn’t because they scare me. Sean of the Dead freaks me out, even though it’s funny too. I want to find a way to not be so afraid. I was looking for answers when I found this site. Has anyone ever taken precautions to a possible zombie attack?
I’m so glad I’m not the only person who feels this way. I’m terrified of the idea of Zombies, I cannot read/watch/hear someone talk about Zombies without becoming uneasy! I remember when my fear kicked in - my sister played the Resident Evil games non-stop when I was quite young (although I don’t remember the age exactly). I watched her play once and the sounds and suspense terrified me. After that, I’ve had this phobia. My friend Rob thought it was hilarious to mimic Zombie sounds/movement until I hit him in the face.
Why do people find a serious phobia like this so hilarious?
I have been afraid of zombies for as long as I could remember (I’m only 23) but it didnt kick in 100% until I saw 28 days later (i could only watch like the first 20 minutes of it, b/c) I had never heard of a movie where the zombies were RUNNING, I was ok thinking that they were slow movers but that’s so freaking scary! I cant even talk about it without shaking and becoming paranoid. I have escape routes in case this should ever happen (for the most part I know it’s not real but you gotta be prepared for the worst) and if I see a picture I get a shooting pain in my chest it’s bad…my b/f took me to see 28 weeks later and I walked out and sat in the lobby of the theater until it was over…he doesn’t get that I am truly terrified of them…I’m glad theres a name for it. I feel better knowing that there are other people like me…
I have seen the films but wouldn’t have if I knew how much they have affected me – I always seem to walk in half way through just as someone is getting eaten! Once I went to the cinema with a friend who loves watching them and I spent the whole time underneath my coat – so scared – I couldn’t move incase one of the people in the audience was a zombie and jumped on me as I was trying to get out. I have an overactive imagination as it is without having zombies thrown in for good measure.
I always image them running after me in the dark! At night I usually have to run to my house with the keys out ready just incase they are there waiting to eat me. Any noises in my house I automatically think that it is them. Everyone that I tell about this – laughs and says don’t be so silly they aren’t real but they could be more real then you think? Why couldn’t a disease infect people and turn them into raving flesh eating zombies? Im sure stranger things have happened.
I don’t watch any horror movies now just incase they have zombies in, I just cant handle thinking that one misty night im going to see someone in the middle of the road, stumbling. They see me and start to make the noises that I dread and then begin to run! I can’t help how I feel but don’t know what to do about this to make me stop worrying about it??
It’s even affecting my fun – I went to Alton Towers and my friend not long ago and she made me go into the haunted house with her, thought it wouldn’t be that bad as even children are allowed in! Well how wrong was I? I was so scared I spent the whole ride stamping my feet with my eyes shut and screaming for my life. I came out white as I sheet and felt so sick. I had to sit down for half an hour before I could carry on, I didn’t end up staying long after that. All because im so scared of what could possibly one day become real.
thank you so much for posting this.
i have this fear, its not even fear its more of a I LOSE SLEEP EVERY NIGHT THINKING ABOUT ZOMBIES. I hope that none of this ever happens. I hate thinking about the WHAT IFS…
but thanks again for posting this, finally someone who understands.
You are not alone.
& Im not crazy.
I did not fear zombies until Dawn of the Dead. I wake up almost every morning wondering if there will be chaos outside of my window. -.-;; I have nightmares about zombies. No joke. *sigh*
Omg! i am so scared about zombies but i do love to watch the films and stuff i just don’t like the consequences! i really want to watch dead set on E4 but i think i am just too scared !!
I used to have complete kinemortophobia but I worked through it. To anyone else who doesn’t see a way out of their fear, you’re not alone and you never will be. Zombies play erratically on the human need to survive and tug at all our childish impulses.
Ok, Here is my guide to moving through you’re sleepless nights.
1. Watch Horror movies during the day. If you watch them at night, say in a dark room, it kick starts the ‘fight or flight’ response, which results in coarsing adreniline through your system - and there is no way you’re going to be able to relax or sleep when you’re that worked up. Or if you’ve got to watch the movie, (i.e. at the cinema or with friends) at night, then always follow with some light viewing afterwards (I find Pretty Woman does an excellant job) becuase not only does it reassure you but it calms you’re mind down, making your feel more secure and in reality.
2. The only way to efficiently banish you’re fear is so DESENSITIZE yourself. Remember the first time you were truly scared? I was scared of Groucho off Sesame Street. But the more I was exposed to him, I realised how silly my initial fear was. So watch Zombie movies, make jokes of them (even if you’re on you’re own) and make them an unspecial occassion. Violence becomes less shocking the more you’re exposed to it, same with sex (remember how gross the idea seemed when you were a kid), so you just have to keep exposing yourself to it untill it is no longer a big deal.
3. If you’re feeling a little paranoid then lighten up the atmosphere, make a cup of tea, watch some chat show (Friday Night Project with Justin and Jimmy is brilliant) or if you’re American I’m not really sure …. erm Connan O’Brian? Lol.
4. Once you’re over a fear from a particular movie or book that sent you on a sleepless night, DON’T WATCH ANOTHER ONE.
5. Good Luck.
i am sooo glad that im not the only one who fears zombies.
i am 16 years old and it all started when i watched shaun of the dead, i was fine about it at first but then i went out side and thought everyone was zombies it terrified me. and now i have to sleep facing my door at night just in case and have a baseball bat under my bed and peopl laugh at me when i tell them. but im glad im not alone!!
I am so glad to have stumbled across this site! I am 23 and have been phobic about zombies my entire life. I don’t go into a building without thinking out ways to fortify it. I even make my son who’s 2 sleep with me sometimes so he will be near if there is an attack! It is irrational I know but that’s what makes a phobia. It finally started interfering with my job so now I avoid zombie movies like the plauge!!!!
I am so glad that there is finally a diagnosis for my phobia! For years I have been crippled by the thought of a zombie uprising. I know that it is unrational and unreal, but I never say it aloud- because the sceptics are always the first to die in a zombie situation. I sleep with a loaded shotgun in case of the worst case scenario and have nightmares about it even if someone brings up the word “zombie.” My heart is pounding in my chest right now!
i have a small collection of zombie movies. i first saw them in the seventh grade when i watched “Return of the Living Dead” for three months my sleep was disrupted or never even happened. to this day i have nightmares at least once a month but i still have some sick desire to watch these movies, i even like zombie games and dressing up like a zombie for Halloween. glad to know there are others, i thought i was weird.
Yo… i can’t even explain my thoughtz on zombiez!! I can’t even ride in a trainstation with people i don’t even know if i think about zombiez, because i think about what if somebody iz goin to come up on me and bite me if i’m sleepin on the train, or if i’m not payin attention… I don’t even lyk thinkin about zombiez when i first meet a person, because i think about that person being infected, and they don’t know it, and then at a sleepover or somethin, they turn on me, and eat me! i don’t lyk watchin zombie moviez, because everytime i look at the screen my legz start shaking… i can’t stand it, whoever came up with zombiez should’ve kept it to themselvez, itz aggravatin not being able to go out late at night walking down the street thinking about some odd looking person under the light pole iz staring at me, and when i look away and look back, their running after me!!! but itz nice to know that i’m not the only one thinking about this kind of stuff, by the way i’m only 13 thinking about all the different possibilitez that could happen… ugh!
Just like everyone else here I really thought I was alone in this or that at least it wasn’t a recognised phobia! I’ve had panic attacks lying in bed before and all sorts! I have a total strategies planned out in the event of “Z-Day” and everything!
I’m thinking of getting some help. I need to start sleeping again!
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