Abstract
The zombie genre has a number of characteristics that allow for a more thorough consideration of the link between the fictive zombie outbreaks and the problems of the Anthropocene. The present study aims to scrutinize why this issue can be considered even when it is not directly addressed, as in The Walking Dead series (2010–2022), which is analyzed after an overview of how the zombie has transitioned from embodying individual and social condition to indicating ecological threats. The discussion intends to demonstrate that the social connotations within the zombie tradition identify the zombieinfested world with modern capitalist society, thus making the genre a possible parable of what Jason Moore calls the Capitalocene and Justin McBrien the Necrocene. The TWD series shows an interest in not only the ensuing catastrophe but also the potentialities of “good life” after climate change, portraying the protagonists as not only escaping the dead but building new communities for the living and developing green technologies necessary to adapt to the climate crisis. TDW therefore transforms the zombie genre from a “splatterpunk” dystopia into a solarpunk dystopia, or “ustopia,” considering that it presents an almost eco-utopian vision of a dystopic world. (AH)