Time Out  Notes from a flaming moderate  The End of the World as
We Know It  Are zombies the broken off parts of ourselves?  It’s
risky business trying to understand the psychological meaning of
particular trends in literature, film and culture. Nevertheless,
when a peculiar trend is popular enough to be referenced on the
Center for Disease Control website and inspire costumed “zombie
days” and parades, it bears a moment of reflection. Why are
zombies so popular? What do they speak to in our collective
consciousness?  Zombies are only the latest twist to the post-
apocalyptic theme. The graphic and emotionally intense 28 Days
Later and The Hunger Games, both books and movies, and the
television series Revolution all reached wide audiences, and
there is a wealth of less successful books and films that
explore the same idea: The world as we know it has been
destroyed/destroyed itself, and the survivors have to do what
they can to keep going. Civilization and its institutions are
gone. Authority and technology ca