True. The urge to merge is strong in humans.
But so is the urge to purge by flocking to theaters and video stores to access films and electronic games featuring the undead feasting on the soon-to-be-dead.
Frankenstein, The Wolfman, Dracula and other humanoid carnivores used to fill our need to imagine the unimaginable.
Zombies, often in the wrappings of mummies, also had starring roles in early horror films.
But the low-budget Night of the Living Dead flick and its sequels set off an international cinematic craze of dead bodies erupting from graves and vaults with unsavory gourmet tastes.
Chainsaws and axes wielded by homicidal maniacs were too real as murder weapons. Teeth wielded by putrid corpses became the new causes of death.
Garlic-dipped bullets and wooden stakes no longer are required tools to dispatch monsters. Head shots from 12-gauge shotguns are necessary to immobilize zombies.
Or perhaps a triple-decker cheeseburger from one of America's fast-food joints. (30 MAY 2010)
