Spanish American zombie fiction: An outline (2000–22)

Zombie fiction arrived in Latin American countries at the end of the first and in the second decade of the twenty-first century as a part of a global phenomenon, although typically with local peculiarities. This article presents a brief outline of the development of the genre in several Hispanic countries – notably in Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Peru, pointing out some characteristic features of national literatures – and also proposes some general observations about this literary trend in the Hispanic context. These visions of zombie invasion are used as a tool to describe local political and social problems, as well as to serve as a metaphor to express issues surrounding national identity.