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On-demand recording
The History of Zombies
with Maisha Wester
£15
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What you’ll explore
- The origins of the zombie — including W. B. Seabrook's role in bringing it to America
- Zombies on screen, from White Zombie (1932) and The Last Man on Earth (1964) to Shaun of the Dead
- The cultural history of one of the few monsters born outside Western folklore
About this talk
Which is more terrifying: a horde of slow-moving zombies, or a handful of fast ones — and are fast zombies really zombies at all? And where did the idea of the zombie even begin?
This workshop explores the origins and transformations of one of the world's most popular monsters, through films from I Walked with a Zombie (1943) and Night of the Living Dead (1968) to Shaun of the Dead (2004) and beyond. Join Dr Maisha Wester in tracing the history and cultural meanings of the original zombie figures — one of the only monsters to originate outside Western folklore.
A peek inside
Your speaker: Maisha Wester
Dr Maisha Wester is an Associate Professor and a recent British Academy Global Professor, focusing on social oppression in Gothic literature and horror film. Her books and essays include African American Gothic in the Era of Black Lives Matter, and she recently created the social-justice video game Coded Black. She teaches Black feminist literature, race in the Gothic, and gender in contemporary horror.
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