With zombie-centric horror back in the news (is it ever not in the news??) we’re all back to debating the pros and cons of certain types of undead monsters and the various infections, incantations, or pathogenic spores that can resurrect them. Whether you’re a fast zombie fan or a slow zombie defender, we can all agree that some of them have that je ne sais quoi that makes them truly terrifying.

But what is it, exactly, that makes one zombie scarier than another? Part of it is presentation: obviously, if you’re watching a comedy-horror like Shaun of the Dead, you’re not going to feel the same bone-chilling terror as you would while watching The Wailing. It’s also in how the zombies move: no one’s going to argue that an undead human sprinting pell-mell straight at you isn’t terrifying, but there’s something even scarier, sometimes, about the kind that limps inexorably towards you, sniffing the air. And then there’s how they spread their scourge: viruses, spores, and infected saliva turning human beings into more members of the mindless horde.

All of these movies have at least one of these attributes, or a combination of a bunch of them, and all use them to their full advantage, striking terror into the heart with fast zombies with a deadly bite, or trudging ghouls infected by fungal spores. All zombies hunger for flesh, but the ones in these movies are a cut above the rest.

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