5 Tips For Writing Zombie Stories (2024)

Zombies stories don’t have to be as shallow as the graves the undead rise from

1. Think about what zombies truly represent

The biggest mistake I see new writers make with zombies is that they think the horror comes solely from gore. They focus purely on the flesh-ripping, brain-guzzling, intestine-pulling, and blood-spewing aspects of zombies. Gore does not equal horror, and it certainly doesn’t equal terror or dread. Sure, it helps set the tone, but it’s not the most important thing.

When I watch movies that focus on gore and disgusting imagery, I am bored. Try watching a zombie movie from The Asylum or Uwe Boll and you’ll see what I mean. Zombies are mindless flesh-ripping monsters to be sure, but that’s not all they are. You have to dig deeper and think about why they are so scary, and what they truly represent.

Zombies usually represent loss of self and individuality (particularly scary to American audiences who were raised to fear communism). They also tap into our fear of disease, disfigurement, violation, and death. They can also be an allegory for sexually transmitted diseases if done well. Use that. A good zombie story revels in the gory stuff, but in service of our deepest, darkest, base fears. Think about what zombies really mean to you.

2. Make your characters behave believably

‘Believably’ doesn't necessarily mean ‘intelligently’ or ‘rationally’. In a horribly traumatic situation, people aren’t going to behave rationally.

What I mean is that the interactions and dialogue between survivors should be plausible. I’ve seen stories with dialogue that reads like an edgy 13-year-old writing a Tarantino movie, overusing curse words and punching for no apparent reason. I’ve seen otherwise intelligent characters decide to drop weapons and go down to the basem*nt alone, simply because the plot needed them to and the writer wasn’t clever enough to come up with a plausible way to split the group. Your characters don’t need to be…