What is it about zombies that makes them so a-peal-ing?

I've been into the zombie genre for a long time. I remember watching "Night of the Living Dead" and "Dawn of the Dead" as a child and being strangely smitten by the scenario - the living heroes vs. the mindless horde. To me, that is the essence of it.

In the 90s, I remember Resident Evil coming out on the Playstation. It gave us the opportunity to explore the phenomenon first hand. In the 2000s, the style got a turbo boost with the new "Dawn of the Dead" and "28 Days Later". The zombies were no longer slow and plodding but a serious threat.

Four or five years ago, I was exposed by a friend to the comic book series "The Walking Dead" which saw a full-fledged invasion of comics by the hungry dead. It was well written and beautifully illustrated and kept fresh lifes-blood pumping through undead veins. More recently, Left 4 Dead and L4D2 brought us the, so far, ultimate zombie action gaming experience.

Within the last few years, I've read a bunch of novels about the zombie apocalypse and found something lacking. I guess you could call it common humanity. Many of the books treat the undead like a faceless horde - uniform and generic in their appearance. It also generally seemed like the protaganist was either a cop or soldier who had their training to fall back on and rarely just an average, everyday person.

This gave rise in me the urge to write the great American zombie novel, one which would remedy what I found to be lacking in most others. The result is "The Unliving: A Personal Tale of Zombie Apocalypse". I am currently seeking a publisher. Stay tuned!