# Would a serial killer in a zombie apocalypse be depressed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 21, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557 "2015-05-21T23:55:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/1 "2015-05-21T23:55:12Z")
There’s no victims if he’s all alone, just dead people hunting him everywhere. No “thrill” I’d imagine, unless he’s got some necrophiliac fantasies. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/2 "2015-05-21T23:58:47Z")
My least favorite part of zombie movies is the constant theme that “humans are worse than the zombies!” and that any group of humans is one misunderstanding or betrayal away from everyone dying. F that, humans managed to get out of the Dark Ages just fine; society is crumbling due to people finding brains tasty. So in those worlds, there are always survivors to befriend and then screw over. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/3 "2015-05-22T00:01:16Z")
double post ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/4 "2015-05-22T00:06:25Z")
I imagine he’d be thrilled, at least in the early stages of the outbreak since he’d have much more opportunity to kill without getting caught. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/5 "2015-05-22T00:44:19Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I imagine he’d be thrilled, at least in the early stages of the outbreak since he’d have much more opportunity to kill without getting caught. He’d get a nasty surprise depending how quickly they came back. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/6 "2015-05-22T05:10:07Z")
Yeah, but how satisfying would it be if your ‘victims’ show no fear or pain, never beg or plead or scream? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/7 "2015-05-22T15:52:05Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > He’d get a nasty surprise depending how quickly they came back. Kill the living with head shots (so they don’t return) and the dead with amputation of their legs (so they can’t chase you). Methinks I’ve thought about this in too much depth. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/8 "2015-05-22T16:50:17Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > My least favorite part of zombie movies is the constant theme that “humans are worse than the zombies!” and that any group of humans is one misunderstanding or betrayal away from everyone dying. F that, humans managed to get out of the Dark Ages just fine; society is crumbling due to people finding brains tasty. But those people grew up and lived in such a society. Even though things were primitive, there were distinct rules and laws and people to enforce it. In a zombie apocalypse, people are going to go wild because the restraints put upon them by modern society and the things they’re used to are going to be gone. There’s no existing king or noble with knights to enforce local laws, there’s an doctor that wasn’t satisfied with his life now being treated like a leader because he can heal people with cuts where there are no hospitals around. I can totally see people going crazy ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/9 "2015-05-22T18:06:33Z")
I don’t see them being more depressed than every other survivor. Serial killers may have urges to kill other people, but even normal folks have urges regarding other people, even if it’s more mundane urges like conversation and sex. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/10 "2015-05-22T18:16:19Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Kill the living with head shots (so they don’t return) and the dead with amputation of their legs (so they can’t chase you). > > Methinks I’ve thought about this in too much depth. Obviously not. There’s nothing creepier than a zombie _dragging himself_ after you. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/11 "2015-05-22T19:14:07Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > … There’s nothing creepier than a zombie _dragging himself_ after you. Also, if you’re anything like a lot of the idiots in other ZA stories we’ve seen, you’d probably stand around in the middle of the road having a deep conversation while the zombie drags itself up to you and bites your ankles. I agree that pretty much everyone left alive in a ZA is going to be suffering some depression. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/12 "2015-05-23T00:30:13Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Obviously not. There’s nothing creepier than a zombie _dragging himself_ after you. To sort of paraphrase The Great Gumball Rally (and really screw with the context) What-sa behind me isn’t-a important. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/13 "2015-05-23T00:56:39Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > He’d get a nasty surprise depending how quickly they came back. Isn’t it something like: in NotLD any dead person can become a zombie. But if you’re in more modern interpretations, not every dead person becomes a zombie but only those who get bacteria from an infectious bite (which can take seconds or days to infect)? > [@YogSosoth](#): > > But those people grew up and lived in such a society. Even though things were primitive, there were distinct rules and laws and people to enforce it. In a zombie apocalypse, people are going to go wild because the restraints put upon them by modern society and the things they’re used to are going to be gone. There’s no existing king or noble with knights to enforce local laws, there’s an doctor that wasn’t satisfied with his life now being treated like a leader because he can heal people with cuts where there are no hospitals around. I can totally see people going crazy Yeah, like I’d really trust someone who is one letter away from “the Lurker at the Threshold” and whose “name is part of an incantation that could revive the dead” to make proclamations about sanity and zombies! I am not referring to one specific time period. I mean, I don’t doubt that some people will descend into savagery, but I don’t think that zombies = end of all human society forever and ever. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/14 "2015-05-23T01:52:31Z")
Depending on how widespread the infestation/outbreak was, I agree. Civilization survived the Black Death, two world wars and all kinds of other problems. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/15 "2015-05-23T04:44:38Z")
I can easily picture a serial killer being completely thrilled by the fact that, not only does he have free rein to indulge his baser impulses thanks to the hordes of zombies at every turn, his taste for killing might very well earn him a certain amount of respect and gratitude from whatever group of other survivors he might join up with. Of course, I can also easily picture him falling off the wagon at some point, going after some humans because he’s bored of unthinking, unfeeling targets and being disposed of by those humans’ friends. But life could be pretty good during that period of time that he is able to channel his darkness into more useful ways. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/16 "2015-05-23T05:02:28Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > There’s nothing creepier than a zombie _dragging himself_ after you. Challenge accepted!!! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/17 "2015-05-23T20:56:53Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I agree that pretty much everyone left alive in a ZA is going to be suffering some depression. While I’m sure that would be quite common, I think there’d also be some that just go totally batshit bonkers as well. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-serial-killer-in-a-zombie-apocalypse-be-depressed/720557/18 "2015-05-25T20:06:00Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Yeah, like I’d really trust someone who is one letter away from “the Lurker at the Threshold” and whose “name is part of an incantation that could revive the dead” to make proclamations about sanity and zombies! > > I am not referring to one specific time period. I mean, I don’t doubt that some people will descend into savagery, but I don’t think that zombies = end of all human society forever and ever. Of course you can trust me, I don’t use zombies, I use cultists. Totally different thing! I think how man behaves depends on how much of society is gone. If there are regions of continuous government, people will behave better compared to a complete breakdown on civilization. Then you’ll see more of the crazed survivalist groups