The Doctor of the Dead, Arnold T. Blumberg, assesses the health of the zombie genre amidst the coronavirus as Cinema Junkie celebrates Episode 200.
For anyone who thought people in horror movies behaved in ways that defied reason and logic, well, welcome to the coronavirus pandemic where all people have to do is wear a mask and stay six feet apart to avoid infection. And instead of following those simple instructions, they’re outraged that their freedoms are being infringed. They’re fine with the rule that says shirts and shoes required to enter a restaurant, but don’t tell them to they have to wear a mask to keep themselves and others safe.
Since this is Cinema Junkie’s 200th episode, I decided I should schedule my annual check up with the Doctor of the Dead, Arnold T. Blumberg, as a way of celebrating since there’s nothing more reanimating that a discussion of zombies in the time of coronavirus.
His diagnosis for the health of horror in the age of the coronavirus pandemic — COVID is ruining the zombie apocalypse by making willful ignorance of real people far more terrifying than any threat from the undead. In fact, there are brains out there today that no self-respecting zombie would dare eat.
Blumberg has written a number of books on zombies, film and pop culture plus he’s curated a pop culture museum, taught college courses in zombies, comic books and superheroes and appeared in documentaries such as "Doc of the Dead" and "The 50 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen." So as a follow up to my previous podcast with Max Brooks, author of "World War Z," I will continue to explore what we can learn from zombies as we try to survive our current COVID-19 pandemic.