One of the most wasted potential complex storylines in all of comics was Marvel Zombies.  Written primarily by The Walking Dead comics creator Robert Kirkman, the storyline follows the zombie apocalypse occurring on the alternate Marvel dimension of Earth-2149.  Almost every single hero in existence has become zombies due to a foreign virus from another dimension, causing them to feed non-stop on the population of their world and eventually the universe.  Although they have their memories in tact and have the ability to communicate with each other, all of the heroes operate primarily through a hive mind complex.  The short comic series follows their exploits in this version of the Marvel comics timeline, mainly depicting the zombies suffering with their constant hunger and almost nothing else. 

Overall, the plot remains the most simplistic of zombie apocalypse tales throughout its entire run, being created more as a new toy for the artists and writers to play around with mindlessly like action figures.  Despite the potential it had with a writer such as Robert Kirkman at the helm, the whole story is just an excuse to pretty much see your favorite Marvel characters kill people as zombies issue after issue.

  This problematic formula structure in The Marvel Zombies storyline turns what could have been an interesting concept on paper into only an excuse for people to attend another fictional killing spree festival.  Characters, besides a few like Black Panther and Spider-Man, lack the motivational drive to pull the story along well with strong characterization.  Instead, we purely only watch the former Marvel heroes get hungrier and hungrier throughout the story line, eating more powerful creatures in the universe.  Panel by panel is just a gore feast of organs and blood, with a lot less evidence of the humanism Robert Kirkman puts into most of his post apocalyptic works such as The Walking Dead comic series. 

In the end, the story was nothing but snuff for those who love seeing gore parades, and pales in comparison to their competition's zombie apocalypse story DeCeased.  Marvel Zombies merely is just a bunch of random zombies walking around the universe wearing the costumes of your favorite Marvel characters. They are only mere shells of the characters they are normally depicted as in other comics. It is a tragic example of choosing to cater towards the violence in the story versus a well-balanced narrative that has the ability to compel vaster audiences outside of the Marvel fandom.

  The killing festival depicted in the comic series Marvel Zombies is a much more prevalent problem than you think in other forms of horror media, becoming a story tainting cliché of its own right. Many other horror writers out there have made the false assumption that the genre exists primarily to create a narrative composed of bloody killing sprees. As a result, many writers choose to follow a cliché slasher killer or apocalyptic narrative structure, leaving no messed up stone unturned.

This is due to the connection the feeling of adrenaline and excitement have with these horrifying visuals, which authors connect with audience enjoyment. The more someone is scared, the more the author comes to believe they are engaged in the written material presented to them. Authors believe wrongly from this ideology that the more blood soaked a horror narrative is, the more audience members will pick up and read the material in question to get a quick rush of adrenaline. Thus, carnage parades are created.

However, horror stories are far from the thrill someone might find on an action oriented roller coaster. They are supposed to be thought provoking pieces about the ills of society, supported by strong characterization, plot structure, and tone. Just turning your story into a terrifying dive to a world full of chaos may give some people a temporary rush, but unlike the structure inside a better horror story, the thrill will run out once the reader starts seeing the repetitiveness of the storyline.

It is like eating your favorite flavor of ice cream every single night. Sure, the first few days are great, but slowly you will get sick of the flavor and wish to eat something else. Don't stop eating the ice cream and eventually you will feel nauseous even at the mention of the ice cream flavor. This is the same with adding needless carnivals of bloodshed left and right for the audience to constantly witness. Eventually, the audience will get bored of it and desire to read something else.

So when writing that next horror novel, try straying as far away as possible from any type of repetition in the scares department. Experiment with new, inventive ways to get a much better response from the audience, who will appreciate the effort in return. It is much better than another dumb killing festival.