It depends on how the zombies are presented, to be honest. If they're your typical flesh-eaters caused by a cure for AIDS than I agree that it's corny. But there's always the possibility of something more creative and fresh. For instance, perhaps they are caused by alien politics. A group of aliens want to send observers down to our planet, but a rival group sabotages the gene-morphing utility, so that instead of morphing into a human the alien will die horribly. But in the process he will release a harmful parasite into the atmosphere. This parasite is something that all members of this alien species need in order to survive, but when it enters a human things go horribly wrong and they turn into zombies instead. Now we have human civilization decaying, while various alien factions are trying to decide what to do about the situation - whether to try help humanity, suppress the situation, or just nuke the whole planet; all the while also fighting each other, with some battles actuallty happening on earth. The player character and party may or may not have to deal with the following: zombies, remnants of the military, thugs running wild, alien spies/soldiers, animals also infected, and survivors forming myriad different camps/factions. Who knows, maybe the PC will actually be able to recruit an actual alien into the party. Meanwhile, the parasite also carries ancestral memories, which may be the key to everything. Perhaps this parasite also was once strong on earth, causing things that later became myth. Perhaps our species and the alien one once came into contact long ago. Perhaps zombies once existed on earth, but over time gradually transformed into the modern-day image.
Well, it's just a thought.
No vampires or werewolves either. Or even chupacabras.
