# Zombies and Braaaainnnzzzz
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombies-and-braaaainnnzzzz/465692
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 29, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombies-and-braaaainnnzzzz/465692 "2008-09-29T12:01:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombies-and-braaaainnnzzzz/465692/1 "2008-09-29T12:01:04Z")
As part of my ongoing research into zombie lore, I am baffled by one of the most obvious common misconceptions about zombies: that they primarily desire to feast on human brains. Although offhand I can only think of the _Simpsons_ Halloween episode as an illustration of this idea, I think it’s pretty wide-spread. But whence does it come? It’s not in Romero, as far as I can tell.
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### Author:  [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2008, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombies-and-braaaainnnzzzz/465692/2 "2008-09-29T12:05:17Z")
I first remember seeing it in Dan O’Bannon’s [_Return of the Living Dead_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089907/).
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### Author:  [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2008, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombies-and-braaaainnnzzzz/465692/3 "2008-09-29T12:20:48Z")
> [@Amp](#):
>
> I first remember seeing it in Dan O’Bannon’s [_Return of the Living Dead_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089907/).
I don’t think all zombies eat brains or even living flesh. I could be wrong, but in the latest Dawn of the Dead did the actually eat the living or just bite to infect them?
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombies-and-braaaainnnzzzz/465692/4 "2008-09-29T12:36:39Z")
It’s Dan O’Bannon’s **Return of the Living Dead** , as indicated above. The idea first appeared there.
Prior to Romero, Zombies were just the Walkinf Dead, who simply creeped you out, but moved slowly and didn’t try to take a bite out of you. Romero first fused the idea of the Zombie with the flesh-eating ghoul (with a bit of sf-inspiration and style stolen from the film **Invisible Invaders** ( [Invisible Invaders (1959) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052929/) ) to create more threatening zombies in **Night of the Living Dead** , then retained the idea for his sequels and remakes. O’Bannon tried to make his zombies different, and this is one of the ways.
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### Author:  [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2008, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombies-and-braaaainnnzzzz/465692/5 "2008-10-18T13:04:11Z")
I was out of the country – so belated thank yous to the respondents. Put the film on my list, another thing I’ll have to get from the U.S.
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombies-and-braaaainnnzzzz/465692/6 "2008-10-18T18:42:02Z")
Have you heard about vegan zombies?
“Graaaainnnzzzz…”