1)Why are humans so afraid of zombies faces?

 

Studies have found that humans are generally shocked by zombie appearances. This is a trait the horror film industry has exploited for many years, but why are humans SO afraid of the zombie’s appearance? On first instance, one would assume it would be the distinctive similarities to humans of a head, limbs and often even clothes; this can enhance the enigma or familiarity of the zombie making it inevitable even more petrifying.

A research project by the


A research project by the Open University's Stephanie Lay found a particular fear of "near-human" faces. The psychologist says a study of 3,000 people found widespread "repulsion" at near-human faces. Mrs Lay's research is examining this "uncanny valley" effect from a psychological perspective. She describes it as "the sense of unease that accompanies the sight of something almost, but not quite, human". It is the sudden plunge in reaction at a point just before a face is fully humanised. "A consistent finding of the survey was people's reactions to images where the face was convincingly human but with lifeless eyes or where eerily human eyes appeared in a non-human face," says Mrs Lay. "These were perceived to be the most uncanny and disturbing of all the images and explain why characters such as zombies in horror films unsettle people to such great effect." This is particularly the case with psychological horror films, she says, rather than bloodthirsty shockers. This information is incredibly fascinating for my group, as cumulatively, we prefer ‘psychological’ horrors the most, in comparison to other subgenres, this is because we find them the most disturbing and the most successful in providing visceral pleasure for the audience, this means that as a result, they are usually more shocking and realistic. She says this uneasy reaction could be caused by the sudden disruption in how the human brain processes human faces. When people begin to interpret something as a human face, they are left with a sense of disquiet when they come against something that does not match their expectations.`