I enjoy the Resident Evil method of doing it, where they’re still technically alive because of a virus taking over their system, thus you can still kill them with enough body shots, no head shots required (though of course it’s quicker)
I throw axes recreationally and so I own a few. Every once in a while a friend would say something along the lines of “I bet you would be great during the zombie apocalypse.” I always respond that I would rather have a rifle than an axe.
Not according to Mythbusters!
I know, their empirical experiments are often imperfect. But bottom line, guns run out of ammo eventually-- axes don’t.
That’s why in The Walking Dead they all carry blades. At least in the later seasons.
I remember in World War Z (the book) they mentioned a weapon they specifically designed for dispatching zombies. If memory serves it was some sort of polearm/axe (that I always imagined to look like the weapons from the Kirk/Spock fight in old Star Trek.)
I would imagine that so long as I’m fighting classic slow/shambling zombies I’d probably prefer some sort of polearm or spear.
Yeah, and the longer, the better. Not just to avoid getting bit, but one thing that I always found really silly and nonsensical about zombie fighting is, a person can kill zombies and get splattered in literally gallons of zombie blood and gore, and never get infected. But one little bite that slightly breaks the skin and, inevitably…they’re a goner.
This is true in most zombie shows/movies, but The Walking Dead is / was particularly egregious with that. The only zombie show I remember seeing a person getting infected with zombie blood was in 28 Days (or Weeks?) Later, in which a character got a drop of zombie blood in their eye and got infected.
Which makes it seem like zombies have a pumping heart, which in turn makes one wonder why a chest shot won’t kill them.
If my memory serves they also changed the firearms. Very small caliber bullets which meant you could carry a lot of ammo and had little to no recoil. No need for stopping power or long range.
One thing that annoyed me about The Walking Dead was the bad choice of melee weapons most had. Most seemed to have pocket knives. No way I would want to be a couple inches from death even if they moved slow. Michone was the only one thinking right. It made sense that in the early days when they used what they could. If you survived for months and years you should have had time to scrounge or make something with standoff range.
It’s been forever but I actually remember the opposite. In World War Z they go back to basically M14s with giant bayonets on them for better headshots. I maybe mixing up the novel World War Z with another Zombie book though.
Okay I did look it up, they essentially adopted Mini-14s which is what confused me, single shot only 5.56mm rifles with wood stocks and an 8 inch bayonet.
The nonchalance in The Walking Dead might be due to the fact that everyone is already infected with the zombie pathogen, so there’s no additional harm in getting soaked in zombie effluvia. It doesn’t seem definitive, though. According to Wikipedia:
Early in the series, it is suggested that, because any human who dies will reanimate as a walker regardless of cause of death, all living humans carry a pathogen responsible for the mutation that turns humans into walkers. No pathogen is ever confirmed, however. The mutation is activated after the death of the host.
Yeah, I think they went to stacked rows of riflemen with reliefs on standby, ammo runners and all that? (Almost like old timey infantry.)
Didn’t they use incendiary rounds as well? I remember they told stories about shooting zombies in the head and their eyes glowing or something like that.
Yes they basically operated like line infantry, in large battles they’d form a line and open fire on command at head level at massed formations, then when they’d run out of ammo retreat and a new line took formation.
And yes they used pyro explosive rounds to ensure complete destruction of the brain upon a headshot.
Yeah, I never quite understood how that was supposed to work. If they were already infected, why would a zombie bite accelerate their death and zombification?
Mostly in monster movies/creature features, there’s this big monster somewhere in the woods, local sheriff decides to deal with it with only pistols and shotguns. Even stuff like really big bears, yep let’s go after them with pistols and shotguns.
Nobody has a high caliber rifle? I imagine if you’re in the woods you would have something like that in reserve to deal with rampaging animals just on a day to day basis. Nope, gotta watch these cops try to shoot bigfoot with their Glocks.
Old-school creature features, that would have been with their police issue .38 Specials.
The classic example:
Sure it will, a Zombie only has 22 HP and Armor class 8. Easy to kill, hit them anywhere. 
But note here dudes, this post is about things that almost never happen is real life. Zombies are one of those- there arent really any zombies.
Police almost always have shotguns- at least in the squad car. If not some gun with more firepower.
Hah, I dunno why but that makes an old MST3K memory pop into my head–don’t remember the film, but I vividly remember the policeman tipping up the brow of his hat with the muzzle of his revolver.
I believe that’s Plan 9 From Outerspace by Ed Wood.