Let's talk about zombies.
Prior to Romero's Night of the Living Dead, the idea of a zombie was steeped in magic and voodoo. The name even comes from an African and Caribbean term for a magical servitor made from a cadaver. However, this fear of the magic of tribal groups doesn't really play into our modern zombies. While the modern zombie no longer fills this role in the public mind, it's interesting to note that there's already an element of poetic justice in stories of tribal peoples visiting magical horrors upon their technologically advanced conquerors.
Still, the modern zombie veers more toward the idea of a plague. Thematically, we can see the zombie as a condemnation of human foibles. In Night of the Living Dead the risen corpses turn on humanity, to devour it. Meanwhile, the human characters turn on and, metaphorically, devour themselves. Each human character sees the group for what it can do for them, and "feed" on their fellows. In the end, the authorities can't tell the difference between the zombies and the men. The mall setting later in the franchise more directly condemns consumerism.
They can also represent a fear of death, and sometimes this can be pretty on the nose. During the cold war, the zombies were a looming threat that could be staved off, but never gotten rid of. Death was an inevitable march that would come eventually. Meanwhile, with the rise of terrorism in recent years, we see faster zombies that take their prey by surprise. The death we fear now is fast and unexpected. An age of dreading war gave way to an age of being terrified of war, and this difference between dread and terror is reflected in our portrayal of the hordes of undead.
So, how does this relate to poetic justice?
First, let's look at how poetic justice feeds into horror. The influence of Judeo-Christian thought on western literature is felt here. The horror of Christianity is that hell is waiting, and that hell is deserved. Because of the prevalence of this thought in the western world, the idea of punishment evokes hellish themes, whereas the existential horror of impassive suffering has historically held less fear, having, in the minds of religious communities, less basis in reality.
With this understanding underscoring western thought, it makes perfect sense that our slasher films "punish" promiscuity. It's why fairy tales tend to have two themes: don't go into the woods alone, and don't be cruel or inhospitable to a stranger. Retribution will come when the beggar you kicked reveals themselves to be a witch, fae, or djinn. These themes resonate in a western concept of horror.
This is why America, who committed dehumanizing atrocities in the frontier, still sets our horror in the wilderness; and it's why England, who committed dehumanizing atrocities in the factories and alleys, still set their horror in the cities. That is where we've respectively "earned" the horrific consequences shown in these movies.
This leaves the question; do modern zombies feature a form of poetic justice? Is the zombie in any way an ironic and deserved punishment for our actions?
Well, let's ask what humans, as a species, have done to other species. We hunt them with zombie tactics. As a species, we form larger and more unified groups than any of the packs and herds we compete against; and we are unflagging. Surrounded by species faster than us at a sprint, we have historically hunted as a slow horde. A mastodon might be able to run faster, but it can't run for three days straight while we chase it down. Compared to other species, we don't rest, we don't slack, we don't lose the trail. Slow, shambling death has chosen its prey, and humanity will not give up the trail until the panting and exhausted victim lies gasping on the ground: it's strength spent: watching the untiring horde close for the kill.
That is the horror we have visited on the other species of this world, and it's the death we deserve, when a new hunter emerges at the top of the food chain.
Thanks for reading, stay safe in those dark woods.
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