The zombie thing has been with us since Gilgamesh.
" I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld,
I will smash the door posts, and leave the doors flat down,
and will let the dead go up to eat the living!
And the dead will outnumber the living!"
George Romero just applied the whole zombie thing to mass consumerism among other things that was the whole point in placing the first film in a mall, the zombies were returning to the mall or if you want something " smarter"
"Romero's reinvention of zombies is notable in terms of its thematics; he used zombies not just for their own sake, but as a vehicle to criticize real-world social ills—such as government ineptitude, bioengineering, slavery, greed and exploitation—while indulging our post-apocalyptic fantasies"
Personally I see pictures or film of people walking down the side walk in large "packs" in a large city I think of zombies.
More as a metaphor but the feeling remains.
As to the point of whether a crazed individual says zombies are after him and he went on a rampage, is like the argument of inanimate objects are what hurts people rather than the person using said object.
As to the anti's ... nothing high road to say to them.
I do want one of these
http://zombieindustries.com/shop/category/bleeding-zombie-targets/
but they are kind of spendy. On the other hand my wife did spend the cash on my "zombie rifle" soooooo... ( insert evil laugh) mmmmmwwwwwaaahahahahahah