When did we get to the point where zombie apocalyptic stories are old news? I suppose that doesn’t matter, whether they are old or not, what matters is how they are written.
Let’s be done with the mindless, brain-craving monstrosities, please. Below I have written a guide on how to build your zombie stories up with meaning and emotions that will keep your readers hooked.
The Big Beginning
Sometimes the beginning of a zombie apocalypse is irrelevant. Other times, it can shape the whole story. Is your beginning relevant?
Make sure that your beginning has meaning to the story and tell your readers why. You don’t have to tell them right away, but eventually.
Spreads Like Wild Fire
How fast do you want the disease to spread? And how?
You get the gist. All the zombies have to do is get one good clean bite in before your characters are infected. But there is more to look into after words.
First, does the zombie actually have to penetrate the skin? Or can it spread if blood or saliva gets on your character’s skin?
How fast does it spread after that? Does it spread within a few seconds? A couple of hours? Or maybe it just sets in your character’s system and they don’t become the undead until they die.
Do your zombies run like crazy people? Or are they literally decaying corpses shuffling their feet like The Walking Dead?
Do your zombies stop to feast on a human? Or do they just want to spread farther, moving from one victim to the next in a matter of seconds?
Do they have an enhanced senses? Can they sense when a living creature is near? Maybe they see heat? Or is it based off hearing?
What about animals? Can it spread to animals? Do the animal zombies have the same senses as a human zombie?
Can your characters get the disease without being bitten? Does it travel in water? Is it air borne? Maybe it’s in the food they eat? Does everyone turn when they die? Or just when they are exposed?
These questions all help you figure out how slow or fast the disease spread, and they also determine how difficult life is to your characters.
No Pulse
Is the zombie actually dead?
This will also help determine how fast the disease spreads as well. If the zombies aren’t really dead, then they can’t exactly be considered zombies. They are just infected.
What are the symptoms? Maybe they can begin to look like a corpse, maybe they lose all their hair and become these Smeagol looking creatures. Maybe they can begin to have big blisters form on their skin when they are about to turn. It’s mind blowing how many options you have.
Cure or No Cure?
Is there some type of cure or immunity to the disease?
This answer can also come outside of the box.
First, know the difference. A cure means healing a person who has the disease, whether they have turned yet or not. An immunity is someone who isn’t infected gets bitten or exposed, but they aren’t affected.
What is your cure? A vaccine? A mutation in DNA? Maybe it can be something completely phenomenal, like a particular blood type or maybe kids immune systems are stronger. Anything goes.
Set limitations
So, how long am I supposed to run before one of us drop dead? But that thing is already dead.
Your MC is battling a zombie; both of them need limitations. Make a loophole for defeating the zombies, whatever it may be.
Survivors? Or Cardboard Killing Machines?
Most importantly, please don’t create a zombie story just for it to be filled with insensitive mauling and killing. We need our characters to be humanized while they fight inhuman creatures. Killing someone who once was human just like you, is something characters can’t brush under the rug. That would give them reoccurring nightmares. Or maybe they would become insane insomniacs afterward.
Yes, though. Eventually your characters can become slightly numb to it. Or they could never get used to it. Kind of like killing an animals. I’ve heard many times that people who butcher animals don’t ever get used to it. Maybe your characters are haunted by every single one they kill and so they try to avoid killing one if possible.
All in all, it can be fun writing and reading a zombie apocalypse story, to an extent. I hope these tips helped you, and if I left anything out feel free to comment below!
Bonus!
Below I’ve given an original names for your undead.
- Leaper
- Trailer
- Revoker
- Flamer
- Glazer
- Witherer
- Creeper
- Crazed
- Enhancer
- Tainter
- Howler
- Polyp
- Shrieker
- Crawler
- Spitter
- Husker
- Rapids
- Foamer
- Stalker
- Reeker
- Tracker
- Scratcher
- Pouncer
- Fanatic
- Twitcher
- Scraper
- Haunter
- Screamer
Idea Overload 