The 37 greatest zombie triumphs

32. Doom 3 (game)

While not a zombie game per se, the Doom series contains plenty of possessed humans with zombie-like attributes.

Despite what its detractors say (yes, it’s dark), Doom 3 is a damn scary game, and its zombies are some of the best (especially the one that jumps out from inside a bathroom stall).

31. Night of the Creeps (film)

This ’80s B-movie has everything: an alien invasion, an axe-wielding mental patient, zombies, young college students caught in the middle of it all... everything. It’s a bit spoof, a bit sincere, but mostly a great cult film and a tribute to the horror trendsetters that came before it. Unfortunately, it has yet to be released on DVD. Sadface.

30. COD: World at War’s Zombie Nazi Mode (game)

I’ve said it before: take any two similar things and put them together and you always get something better. Always. In this case it’s zombies and Nazis — arguably the two most common “you-don’t-feel-bad-about-shooting-them” enemies in videogames and film. id Software knew the combo was gold back when it made Wolfenstein, and Treyarch didn’t forget it when it included an endless barrage of the undead mega-enemies in a World at War unlockable co-op mode. And we were all worried that Treyarch would screw up the good thing Infinity Ward did with Call of Duty 4. We were so wrong.

29. Tarman from Return of the Living Dead (zombie)

The movie that redefined zombies as intelligent, brain-eating moaners also introduced one of my favorite undead characters, Tarman, a tar covered abomination whose loosely set eyeballs, dizzying gait, and surprisingly strong flesh-tearing teeth will forever remain in our hearts. He truly is a zombie’s zombie.

28. The Rising (novel)

Brian Keene’s zombies aren’t your standard “Romero zombies”—they’re intelligent, physically capable and a bit demonic.

Part sci-fi and part spiritualistic, The Rising is not a traditional zombie story. For that reason, among others, it has received mixed reactions from readers and reviewers. Still, it’s a solid apocalyptic scenario.

27. Typing of the Dead (game)

A spin-off of House of the Dead, Typing of the Dead is so ridiculous it’s brilliant. Players dispatch zombies by quickly and accurately typing words that appear onscreen, making it part typing tutor and part survival horror game. If you refuse to believe that typing can be fun, you’ve clearly never killed a zombie with the power of agile transcription. Originally released in arcades, Typing of the Dead has since been ported to the PC, Dreamcast, and PS2.

26. Bub from Day of the Dead (zombie)

Bub is possibly the first ever zombie who you’d want to give a big hug to. He’s certainly the most loveable zombie ever —a tame, kind, emotional undead friend to the wildly insane Dr. Logan. Bub has done a huge service to the zombie rights cause, proving that even a soulless, undead monster can love. Granted, some Romero fans were put off by the whole Bub thing, but he still deserves a place here for his uniqueness.

25. Re-Animator (film)

Re-Animator is one of the best examples of campy '80s horror. The 1985 film is based on Lovecraft's story about the experiments of Herbert West, a brilliant but unhinged Swiss student with an obsession for raising the dead. When his roommate sneaks him into the morgue, well, you've probably already guessed it — things don't quite go as planned. The film contains some of the most satisfyingly gory scenes in horror, and a few that are wonderfully disturbing.