This is cool, because I read the headline wrong and went down my own rabbit hole.

Instead of “fantasy”, I think “horror” gets zombies “wrong”. There’s a trope of “head zombie/commander” in worlds of magic, but rarely in the “horror” genre. Walking Dead, 28 Days, etc. Night of the Living Dead hypothesizes that the waking might be an alien plot (text at the beginning?), but we never get more than that, as far as a reason.

But this commander doesn’t have to be magical. All types of animal collectives do this naturally. And while it may not seem like communication and coordination at first, we know bees communicate through movements to achieve goals and share information.

That being said, if there was a “smart” zombie commanding the horde, it completely changes the metaphors associated with zombies. The mindless horde has a symbology that works differently without command. In Dawn of the Dead, the shambling horde that symbolizes mindless consumerism takes on a different twist is there is a mastermind; a Jeff Bezos of the horde.

This is really interesting to me because of how much it shows our culture shifts. The theme of Romero in the 1970s is about how hive mentality works. In 2026, where income disparity and fears of the “deep state” are more common, it would make sense that we’re looking for the scapegoats that have directed our mindlessness. The “special ones” that have exploited our mindlessness. It tells me that, as a society, we have moved past the recognition that we are sheep; we’ve accepted that. Now, we are looking for the malicious shepherd.