I liked World War Z. As far as zombie apocalypse movies go, it was well done, and the scenes set in Jerusalem gave it a different twist. But as a horror genre, I’ve always preferred vampire stories (I was probably the only person in America disappointed that NBC’s Dracula was cancelled earlier this year). You can develop a more complex storyline with a conniving vampire as your villain, but you’re really pretty limited with zombies. They’re brain-dead corpses.
At any rate, I appear to be in the minority. Zombie merchandise is massively outselling vampire merchandise this year and has done so since 2012:
From Panjiva:
In pop culture, the undead world has had many leading creatures that have captured audiences’ attention, from vampire heartthrob Edward Cullen to horror classic like Frankenstein and Dracula. However, according to shipment data from the authoritative information source on global trade, Panjiva, a different undead creature has separated from the pack this Halloween season to capture audiences across the countries: Zombies.
With the Season 5 premiere of the most popular zombie television show, The Walking Dead, returning to screens this Sunday, zombies are giving vampires the boot this Halloween, with shipments of zombie merchandise up 125 percent according to analysis of shipments from June-September.
Apparently, the popularity of undead creatures is a cyclical phenomenon. Vampires were wildly popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s (remember The Lost Boys and Interview with the Vampire) and more recently with HBO’s True Blood and the Twilight books and movies. But zombies started the modern horror genre with 1968’s Night of the Living Dead and zombies are killin’ it today in merchandising. Yes, pun intended.
Charles Lewis Sizemore, CFA, is the chief investment officer of the investment firm Sizemore Capital Management. Click here to receive his FREE weekly e-letter covering top market insights, trends, and the best stocks and ETFs to profit from today’s best global value plays.