PODCAST · tv
Zombie Strains
by John Corey, Andy Rau, Bradley Dumont
Zombies rule the world of horror cinema--fast zombies, slow zombies, voodoo zombies, and so many other strains. How did zombies evolve into the monsters we know and love today? Join John and Andy as they shamble through zombie film history, one movie at a time.
Episodes
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Garden of the Dead (1972)
In our first zombie prison movie, a group of incarcerated, formaldehyde-sniffing bad seeds make a break for it, but their plan gets nipped in the bud when the prison guards mow them down. The situation gets even thornier when undead horror quickly blooms from the shallow soil. Will everyone wind…
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Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972)
We've been wondering when the NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD knockoffs would arrive. Well, they're officially here, starting with CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS! This movie hides its twenty minutes of solid Romero-style zombie action behind an hour of bizarre drama involving a team of actors,...
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Baron Blood (1972)
It's probably a bad idea to try and resurrect somebody named Baron Blood, right? Especially in a medieval castle with a torture dungeon, an iron maiden, and lots of spikes that could conveniently be used for impalings. Nonetheless, that's exactly what our bold (or foolish) heroes do in this...
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Resident Evil (2026)
Scarce ammunition, locked doors, a sewer level, and of course, loads of disgusting bio-mutant zombies: everything that scared you when you first ventured into Spencer Mansion on your 90s-era Playstation is here in Zach Cregger's take on RESIDENT EVIL (2026). So does the much-lauded director of...
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Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972)
Just because they can't see you doesn't mean they can't catch you and tear you apart! John, Andy, and Producer Brad journey across the Atlantic to Spain in the waning days of the Franco regime, where they confront a Euro-horror cult classic that combines lurid exploitation with sharp social...
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Blood of Ghastly Horror (1971)
Director Al Adamson's 1965 heist film, PSYCHO A-GO-GO flopped. So in 1969, he hired John Carradine to play a mad scientist, shot new scenes, and retitled it THE FIEND WITH THE ELECTRONIC BRAIN. That, too, flopped. Adamson hired Tommy Kirk in 1971 and shot more new scenes and released it with...
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Colony (2026)
One giant high-rise in downtown Seoul. Hundreds of people going about their everyday lives inside. Add one mad scientist with a vision for a fungus zombie hivemind apocalypse, and you have the recipe for a wild zombie action film! Director Yeon Sang-ho has already given us two modern zombie...
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I Drink Your Blood / I Eat Your Skin (1971)
Get ready for the grindhouse! In this zombie double feature, the Zombie Strains team faces down two very different sides of zombie cinema. First up is the ultraviolent schlockfest I DRINK YOUR BLOOD, followed by the curiously retro I EAT YOUR SKIN. One of these is our first glimpse of 70s...
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What's So Scary About the 1970s?
Crime waves... Watergate... disco... 70s zombies don't rise from the dead in a vacuum! The 70s was the decade that horror broke into the mainstream. So what lurking fears of the 1970s were exploited and amplified by zombie cinema? John and Andy take a little break from the regular lineup of…
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The Omega Man (1971)
The end of the world was just the beginning of Robert Neville's problems. Sure, he's set up in a swanky post-apocalyptic penthouse suite, but he's cursed to spend his days and nights battling a Luddite cult of zombie hippies! John, Andy, and Producer Brad brave their first big-budget Hollywood...
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Snake People (1971)
What happens when zombie horror gets put on a collision course with... the early 20th century temperance movement? Add a toucan, a snake dancer, acid trips, and Boris Karloff (and did we mention all the snakes?), and you have SNAKE PEOPLE. John, Andy, and Producer Brad return to the voodoo roots…
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The World of the Dead (1970)
Teleporting zombies. A tortured antihero. A sinister satanic cult. Only one man can save the day! The world's greatest luchador Santo returns to Zombie Strains for one last match against the undead. This time, the horror begins in colonial New Spain, travels to 1971 Mexico, and culminates in a…
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Santo and Blue Demon vs The Monsters (1970)
Santo's back, and so are his wrestling zombie enemies! He might be facing a full rogue's gallery of classic Hollywood monsters, but he's not alone in the fight. He's joined by the mysterious luchador Blue Demon... at least until Blue Demon is cloned and turned against Santo. There's just so much…
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The Avengers - "Return of the Cybernauts" (1967)
Don your most posh bowler hat, squeeze into your brightly-colored jumpsuit, and grab your umbrella sword. We're on a mission to Swinging London! John and Andy once again commandeer the Zombie Strains lab to visit the '60s spy-fi hit THE AVENGERS. See what happens when secret agents John Steed and...
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Thriller - "Pigeons from Hell" (1961)
Pigeons aren't the scariest bird... UNLESS they team up with vengeful zombies in the post-Civil War South. Then they become a force to be reckoned with! John and Andy take a swampy detour on the trail of PIGEONS FROM HELL, a 1961 episode of the TV show "Thriller" based on a short story by pulp...
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Bunny Lake is Missing (1965)
Bunny isn't the only thing missing in BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING (1965)! There's also no trace of zombies. Or is there? In the interlude between Zombie Strains seasons, John and Andy take a curious detour into a psychological thriller about a possibly delusional mother's quest to find her possibly...
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Season 2 Wrap-Up
Against all odds, we've survived to the end of the 1960s! What have we learned about zombies along the way? What were the unexpected delights and the unprecedented horrors of the last twenty years of zombie cinema? John, Andy, and Brad wrap up season 2 of Zombie Strains--and brace themselves for...
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Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Seven terrorized survivors. One isolated farmhouse. And one endless horde of the living dead. It's time to confront the patient zero of modern zombie film, Night of the Living Dead (1968)! In addition to guns, torches, and survival supplies, John, Andy, and Brad are bringing all the knowledge of...
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Dr. Satan vs. Black Magic (1968)
How do you take down a vampire mastermind who's out to conquer the world? You send in hell's most dangerous secret agent! Aided by his zombie henchwomen, the enigmatic antihero Dr. Satan must match wits with the bloodsucking Yei Lin in a wild series of heists, assassinations, and intrigues. Who...
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The Astro-Zombies (1968)
Show favorite John Carradine is back as Dr. DeMarco in 1968’s THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES. DeMarco has figured out how to create enhanced humans (don't call them zombies!) for the space program, but now everyone wants his secret. The CIA must find DeMarco before the sinister Satana (Zura Satana) and her…
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Strange Invasion (1965)
Didn't your parents always warn that if you watched too much mind-numbing TV, you'd turn into a mindless zombie? Little did they know how literally that would turn out! In EXTRAÑA INVASIÓN (1965),AKA STRANGE INVASION, a small town is horrified as its children become addicted to a mysterious...
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The Deadly Organ (1967)
The trippy 60s are finally here! This hip party beach in Argentina has a problem: young women are sinking into a zombie-like state, wandering off, and getting themselves murdered by a psychotic killer. THE DEADLY ORGAN is a psychadelic film that has everything you expect from 1960s horror: sex,...
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Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horror (1967)
It's time for another horror anthology film, this one rooted in the melodramatic twist endings of horror comics! DR. TERROR'S GALLERY OF HORROR walks us through five spooky tales that feature vampires, werewolves, and yes, zombies--as well as horror veterans Lon Cheney and John Carradine. Will…
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Zombie Madness Showdown!
Forty-eight zombies enter... but only one will leave! Who is the scariest of them all? It's time for a ZOMBIE MADNESS SHOWDOWN to find out! We put every movie zombie from 1919 to 1966 into a bracket to face off against each other. Follow along as John, Andy, and Producer Brad weigh the relative...
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The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
Who knew there was more than one zombie movie centered on Cornish tin mines? That's the setting of the Hammer Horror classic THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (1966), which features spooky moors, an arrogant British zombie master, and the most intense (and violent) zombie resurrection we've seen so far....
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The Very Important Zombie Affair
Exotic locations! Spy gadgets! Suave secret agents taking down enemy... zombies? With "THE VERY IMPORTANT ZOMBIE AFFAIR", an episode of the hit 1960s TV show THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., the Zombie Strains team ventures into uncharted territory: the satirical superspy genre. Napoleon Solo and his...
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Dr. Orloff's Monster (1965)
Revenge is a dish best served with zombies! At least, that's the plan of mad scientist Dr. Conrad Fisherman, who has brought his own brother back from the dead and sent him on a misogynistic killing spree. Look closely amid all the low-budget terror of DR. ORLOF'S MONSTER and you might just find…
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The Frozen Dead (1966)
The elite of the German army have been on ice since the end of WWII. Doctor Norberg must perfect his technique of reanimating his zombicles before his plans are foiled by his… niece? Join the Zombie Strains crew as they encounter animated body parts! Talking severed heads! Attempted murder by...
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Hercules in the Haunted World (1961)
Can Hercules (Reg Park) thwart the evil machinations of usurper King Lico (Christopher Lee!) in time to save his beloved Deianira (Leonora Ruffo) from spending the rest of eternity as a ... zombie?! Swords and sandals once again meet the living dead in this 1961 Italian fantasy adventure…
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Terror-Creatures from the Grave (1965)
When a lawyer arrives at a gloomy estate to settle a will, he finds that his client is already dead... but his collection of plague-ridden severed limbs is still very much active! Legendary scream queen Barbara Steele dominates this Italian gothic horror film that features a spooky castle,...
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An Evening with Batman and Robin (1965)
Holy propoganda, Batman! Before the iconic Batmobile, before the Shark Repellant, before the showdown against Superman... Batman and Robin were featured in a wartime movie serial where they battled a Japanese spymaster and his zombie minions. Will the Dynamic Duo prevail? Can the Zombie Strains...
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28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)
Following hot on the heels of 28 Years Later, director Nia DaCosta's sequel 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple picks up right where the first film ended. Spike has been saved from the infected by some colorful characters, but are they friends? John and Andy sneak out of the Zombie Strains lab to the...
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The Earth Dies Screaming (1964)
In a quaint English village, the last remnants of humanity have gathered. But what hope does a ragtag band of survivors have against marauding alien robots and their zombie slaves? When John, Andy, and Brad explore The Earth Dies Screaming (1964), they find a low-budget movie that lays a…
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The Horror of Party Beach (1964)
Radioactive waste meets teenage rebellion in THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH! Grab your surfboard and hit the sandy beaches of Connecticut with John, Andy, and Brad as they brave a surf-rock nightmare featuring dozens of bikinis, a slumber party massacre, and lots of hip music by the Del-Aires. SHOW...
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We Bury the Dead (2026)
After an experimental weapon devastates Tasmania, Ava Newman (Daisy Ridley) joins a body retrieval unit to find her missing husband. There's just one little catch--and you've probably guessed what it is, since this is a zombie movie podcast. Where does this melancholy tale of loss and regret…
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The Man from Planet X (1951)
A mysterious planet is hurtling toward Earth. An alien spacecraft with a zombie-creating ray has landed in the Scottish moors. And those might not actually be the villains in this Atomic Age cautionary tale! John, Andy, and Producer Brad head back to 1951 to take stock of THE MAN FROM PLANET X, a...
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The Mad Ghoul (1943)
Dr. Alfred Morris (George Zucco) has a deadly new obsession: an ancient Mayan nerve gas that creates a state of "death in life." When his star pupil Ted Allison (David Bruce) becomes the unwitting guinea pig, he is transformed into a subservient ghoul who requires fresh human hearts to survive.…
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The Last Man on Earth (1964)
Every day, scientist Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) wakes up to the same routine: scrounge for food. Repair his shelter. Head to town... and kill every vampire he finds there. How did he wind up as The Last Man on Earth(1964)? Is there any hope left for him after the apocalypse? And is it possible...
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War of the Zombies (1964)
When evil sorcerer Aderbal (John Drew Barrymore) invokes the power of a sinister three-eyed goddess to raise an invulnerable zombie army, only one man has the courage (and biceps) to stop him: centurion Gaius (Ettore Mani). This sword-and-sandal epic set in ancient Rome has it all: swords!…
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The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1964)
When three hep cats visit a sinister fortune teller at the carnival, their future takes a turn for the worse. The mysterious Madam Estrella wants Jerry to join her collection of hypnotized, murderous zombies. Will Harold and Angela save their friend before it's too late? John, Andy and Producer...
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Monstrosity (1963)
Three naive young women looking for work. One bitter old crone desperate for eternal life. And one mad scientist creating human/animal hybrids in the basement. Mix these ingredients together and you get a MONSTROSITY (1963) in more ways than one! Will Anita, Bea, and Nina (pronounced NINE-uh)...
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What's So Scary About the 1960s?
What was the scariest part of living in the 1960s? We'd like to think it was all the zombies, but other little factors like massive societal transformation and the threat of atomic annihilation might be contenders too! Like all good horror monsters, zombies work best when they're exploiting the...
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The Living Head (1963)
A living decapitated head, a knife-wielding Aztec mummy, and something called the Ring of Death. That's a lot of scary stuff to store in your basement all at once, as a group of gentleman explorers in 1963 Mexico discovers to their peril. How many will die in gruesome Aztec rituals before the…
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Carnival of Souls (1962)
A Criterion Collection film? Fantastic editing, camerawork, and direction? Are we sure Carnival of Souls is in the right podcast? After narrowly surviving a car accident, Mary uproots her life to become a church organist in Utah... but death isn't quite done with her. Her mind begins to unravel,...
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Tales of Terror (1962)
What happens when film's most legendary B-horror director turns his unsubtle eye to the zombie genre? You get Tales of Terror, one of many Roger Corman films loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe stories. This anthology film (written by the iconic horror and scifi writer Richard Matheson) is packed…
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Santo vs The Zombies (1961)
When zombies are after you, only the world's greatest hero can save you. And who is that? It's El Santo, elite luchador and Mexican cultural phenomenon! After a professor vanishes and a sinister masked man unleashes a horde of zombies on a local orphanage, the police know that only the legendary...
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The Curse of the Doll People (1961)
What's scarier than a zombie trying to kill you? A zombie teaming up with possessed dolls to kill you! In the Mexican zombie flick The Curse of the Doll People (Muñecos infernales), foolish adventurers steal a voodoo idol and face a fate is worse than death--unless the courageous Karina (Elvira...
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Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961)
This week, our bold Zombie Strains investigators chart a course for rural England, where the sinister Dr. Blood (Keiron Moore) is harvesting the still-beating hearts of his victims to empower his insane medical "research." Join John, Andy, and Producer Brad as they brave the dangers of the…
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Weapons (2025)
Everybody's talking about Weapons, an unsettling 2025 horror film about a community in shock after a classroom of grade-school children vanishes overnight. Always on the hunt for modern films with connections to their favorite horror genre, John and Andy take a road trip to American suburbia to...
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The Dead One (1961)
Our first color zombie films is also a throwback to the 1930s! Newlyweds John and Linda (John McKay and Linda Ormond) inherit an old plantation outside of New Orleans, only to discover that their bitter cousin Monica (Monica Davis) has angry, zombie-related plans for them. Will Monica's voodoo...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Zombies rule the world of horror cinema--fast zombies, slow zombies, voodoo zombies, and so many other strains. How did zombies evolve into the monsters we know and love today? Join John and Andy as they shamble through zombie film history, one movie at a time.
HOSTED BY
John Corey, Andy Rau, Bradley Dumont
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Zombie Strains have?
Zombie Strains currently has 86 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Zombie Strains about?
Zombies rule the world of horror cinema--fast zombies, slow zombies, voodoo zombies, and so many other strains. How did zombies evolve into the monsters we know and love today? Join John and Andy as they shamble through zombie film history, one movie at a time.
How often does Zombie Strains release new episodes?
Zombie Strains has 86 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Zombie Strains?
You can listen to Zombie Strains on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Zombie Strains?
Zombie Strains is created and hosted by John Corey, Andy Rau, Bradley Dumont.
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