Zombies are actually quite real.
The Haiti style voodoo zombies - actually brain damaged victims of poisoning - have been pretty well authenticated. That's where the term comes from. They've been featured in American books, movies, etc at least since the Marines went into Haiti in the 1920s. (Yes, the Marines really did once fight zombies. Neat huh?)
Victims of various diseases also can essentially be much the same as classic film zombies. There was a recruit that was identified - eventually - as having mad cow disease here on base a while back. He went crazy, started foaming at the mouth and - note this - tried to bite/chew on his DI.
Mad cow disease - a variant of which was the fictional plague in Zombieland - is a prion disorder and much is being learned about it still.
After the 1918 Flu Pandemic there were also some survivors who essentially became zombies. While some lapsed mysteriously into comas, others became lethargic, stumbled around, were bed ridden, or lost the ability to speak. They didn't go around eating people, but if you have a bunch together it would have looked a lot like Night of the Living Dead.
Circa 1700-1750 there was a plague of rabies in Hungary. It is thought that this inspired many stories of vampires/revenants. What is interesting is that during this time frame (when Ben Franklin and many founding fathers were alive and well) vampires were well accepted as medical fact, whereas the germ theory was just science fiction. Some of the best surgeons and military officers in Austria-Hungary wrote/commented on "vampires" and dealing with them, most likely victims of rabies and other diseases.
Going futher back, all sorts of nasty/shambling diseased characters roamed around Europe in the wake of/during the Black Death and other plagues.
Around 10 to 15 percent of those of Western European stock are immune to certain diseases because they carry genes from ancestors who survived the Black Death. Perhaps they also still carry the folk memory.
Drugs can also mimic nicely "zombie" like symptoms, right down to a head shot being the best medicine. I saw some folks wandering around Lansing late at night - either drugged or crazy - who'd have fit nicely as extras in some zombie films.
Beyond that, Nazis have been used up as a catch all villain. They're fading from memories and these days the Germans just make our nice cars, expensive guns, and chocolate.
Before zombies, the gun mags of the late 60/70s ran articles on survivalism. Even Jeff Cooper wrote about how to angle the door to your bunker so as to make a better killing point. Before that - during the 50s and 60s - articles ran variously on dealing with hippies, Communists, beat-niks, and racial minorities.
Before that people had guns in case of Indian attacks - even if they lived in areas from any Indians. Better safe than sorry was the theory, esp since their grandparents likely had to deal with the problem.
Simply put, there is no such thing as a zombie other than in the minds of Hollywood movies.
I believe in Bigfoot because they exist and there is evidence of it. Zombies do not exist. However I am not going to buy a gun to use on Bigfoot creatures either and if I were, I would not get on a internet forum to talk about it..
See above re zombies being real. Far better documented than Bigfoot. You've also discussed bigfoot calibers numerous times - which rifle you lent to a friend who had a bigfoot problem, whether your .45 would suffice, etc.
I don't judge the bigfoot thing since, eh, maybe. And I also don't care why people buy guns, it is there business. (Fear of werewolves, eh, just as valid as fear of roving crackheads I suppose.) But if you're that worried about image, your entertaining bigfoot threads are just as likely to seem silly to some people.
