The zombie genre has become so popular that organizations and companies crafted tongue-in-cheek weapons, protective gear, and literature aimed toward dealing with an apocalyptic setting. Zombie fans discussed what would happen if the dead came back to life. Hardcore preppers argued about economic downturn or a Malthusian population crash. Side by side, zombie fiction grew with modern times, riding speculation of real-life disasters and fueled by terrorist attacks and talks of irreversible global climate change. Both the survival and the rebuilding have caught public attention as fans imagine how they would survive in an apocalypse. Most zombie-related plotlines follow small groups of survivors that deal with shock and denial as they try to make their way through the ravaged world. The idea of the zombie apocalypse allowed people to imagine how fragile society is, and to deal with their own anxieties about the end of the world, while distancing themselves and reveling in the padding of fantasy. It also focused away from the grim realities of economic depression and encroaching communism.

The first zombie movie to focus on the dangers of conformity and being unable to rely on people to do the greater good was Night of the Living Dead in the 1960s. Zombies did not enter the scene until a couple decades later. Survivalists cited the Great Depression as an outstanding example of why households should stay prepared and continue homesteading today. Civil defense programs advocated bomb shelters and religious organizations advised families to keep a year’s worth of food storage for emergencies. Spurred on by the literature, the survivalist movement increased during the Cold War.

Mainstream society gained interest in apocalyptic fiction after World War II, with the possibility of nuclear disaster. It’s amazing how people grow when they question, “What if?”

We can thank apocalyptic fiction and zombie mania for a giant surge in self-reliance and homesteading today.

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