The Walking Dead Psychology: Psych of the Living Dead

274 Pages·2015·3.51 MB·English

by  Travis Langley

THE WALKING DEAD
P S Y C H O L O G Y
Psych of the Living Dead
Edited by
TRAVIS LANGLEY
#TWDpsych
STERLING and the distinctive Sterling logo are registered trademarks of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
Text © 2015 by Travis Langley
Marylene Coitre: Treating Survivors of Child Abuse book cover; Ryan Condron: Senoia, GA; Grantville,
GA (second image); Sherri Craig: Andrew West
Tanner Gibson: Grantville, GA, archway; Hershel’s; House in Senoia, GA; Train tracks, Coweta County,
GA; Water tower, Senoia, GA; Lupe Hurtado: House with roof, Senoia, GA; Nick Langley: gun with
bullets, man with shovel, sheriff hat; Travis Langley: Hospital, Arkadelphia, AR; Albert Muhlenbruch:
Katrina Hill and Norman Reedus; John Russo: John Russo in Night of the Living Dead; E. Paul Zehr: CT
scan
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Joe: bunny slippers; ©rosapompelmo: flower; ©xpixel: barbed wire fence
This book is an independent publication and is not associated with or authorized, licensed, sponsored or
endorsed by any person or entity affiliated with the well-known The Walking Dead TV show. All
trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Such trademarks are used for editorial purposes
only, and the publisher makes no claim of ownership and shall acquire no right, title, or interest in such
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ISBN 978-1-45491738-0
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DEDICATION
to Comics Arts Conference chair Kathleen
McClancy and founders Peter Coogan and
Randy Duncan, without whom I would never
have met many of this book’s outstanding
contributors.
SPECIAL THANKS
to Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, 1954
novel), George A. Romero, and John Russo
(Night of the Living Dead, 1968 film), and
Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie
Adlard (The Walking Dead, comic book since
2003) for feeding our hunger for tales of
undead that hunger for us.
· CONTENTS ·
Acknowledgments: Brains!
Foreword: Why Don’t They Die? | JOHN RUSSO, co-creator of Night of the
Living Dead
Introduction: The Uncanny Valley of the Shadow of Death | TRAVIS
LANGLEY
I. WAKING
1. How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Zombie Apocalypse |
FRANK GASKILL
2. The Seductive Nostalgia of The Walking Dead | STEVEN C. SCHLOZMAN
3. Inside the Head of the Walking Dead: The Neurobiology of Walker
Dysfunction Disorder | E. PAUL ZEHR AND STEPHANIE NORMAN
4. Masculinity Narratives in the Post-Apocalypse | ALAN KISTLER AND BILLY
SAN JUAN
Case File I: Shane Walsh | TRAVIS LANGLEY
II. RESPONDING
5. Shock and Dread: What Fear Does to Humans | DAVE VERHAAGEN
6. The Psychological Process and Cost of Killing in an Undead Wasteland |
COLT J. BLUNT
7. Diversity and Strength in Zombie Apocalypse Atlanta | JOSUÉ CARDONA
AND LARA TAYLOR
8. Who Needs an Untrustworthy Doctor? Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs |
JENNIFER GOLBECK
Case File II: Thomas Richards | TRAVIS LANGLEY
III. DYING
9. Walker or Biter? Group Identity in a Grave New World | KATHERINE
RAMSLAND
10. Apocalyptic Stress: Causes and Consequences of Stress at the End of the
World | WILLIAM BLAKE ERICKSON AND JOHN BLANCHAR
11. It’s the Humans You Have to Worry About: Becoming a Sociopath |
MARTIN LLOYD
12. Carl Grimes and Neglected Youth | PATRICK O’CONNOR
Case File III: The Governor | JONATHAN HETTERLY AND TRAVIS
LANGLEY
Case File IV: Gareth | TRAVIS LANGLEY
IV. WALKING
13. “It Should Have Been Me”: Survivors’ Guilt in The Walking Dead | MARA
WOOD
14. The Walking Traumatized | JANINA SCARLET
15. Eros, Thanatos, and an Armory of Defense Mechanisms: Sigmund Freud
in the Land of the Dead | TRAVIS LANGLEY
16. “Everybody Knows Their Jobs”: Roles, Systems, and the Survivor Group
in Your Head | ADAM DAVIS
Case File V: The Claimers | JONATHAN HETTERLY
V. LIVING
17. What Would You Do? Finding Meaning in Tragic Circumstances: A Bite-
Sized Intro to Existential Psychology | DANA KLISANIN
18. Hillbilly to Hero: The Transformation of Daryl Dixon | STEPHEN KUNIAK
AND MEGAN BLINK
19. Finding Your Purpose in the Zombie Apocalypse | Clay Routledge
Case File VI: Negan | TRAVIS LANGLEY
Case File VII: The Whisperers | TRAVIS LANGLEY
Final Word: Thriving
About the Editor
About the Contributors
For one man, the end of the world begins in mysteriously empty hospital halls (Arkadelphia, Arkansas).