Ah, Nebraska. The 37th state’s name conjures any number of iconic Midwestern images: homesteaders spilling over the Great Plains, Cornhuskers rushing to gridiron glory, undead pole-dancers in thrall to European existentialism. Wait, what?

No, it’s true: Zombie Strippers is a new film about a reanimating virus—developed to resurrect cannon fodder for the Bush administration’s various wars—that escapes from the lab and takes root in a strip club called the Rhino in the mythical Nebraska town of Sartre. The club’s employees read Nietzsche and mirror the conformity-minded characters in Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist play Rhinoceros.

But let’s get back to that Nebraska angle. After all, we at Pop Omnivore are dedicated to “the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge” (our magazine’s original mission statement). So naturally we want to know how Nebraska—the state responsible for Arbor Day (established in 1872 by one J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska City) and Kool-Aid (1927, Edward Perkins, Hastings), among other wholesome things—feels about being the setting for the first-ever zombie-stripper movie.

“Honestly, this is the first I’ve ever heard of it,” says Barry Kennedy, president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce. “It’s called what—Zombie Strippers? Don’t know anything about it.”

Fair enough: The film’s only in limited release, and will probably be out on DVD before it screens in Omaha. Maybe someone more “in the know” would know, someone like Laurie Richards of the Nebraska Film Office.

“Regarding your inquiry,” she tells us via e-mail, “we have not been contacted by anyone with reference to a film you suggest to have been lensed in Nebraska called Zombie Strippers.”

Who said anything about “lensed in Nebraska”? We just said the movie’s set there. Anyway, we get the picture: Nebraskans in Nebraska don’t seem to know anything about this flick. But what about a Nebraskan not in Nebraska, someone like Shelley Sperry, a researcher and writer here at National Geographic? We asked her about the film—and hit the state-pride jackpot.

“This movie is a total fantasy and really insulting,” she says, “what with the majority of zombies in Nebraska being wholesome, girl-next-door types who know how to keep their shirts on. These are elitist, Hollywood, Paris Hilton–wannabee zombies who probably eat their human flesh with truffle oil and arugula. [Film tagline: “They’ll dance for a fee but devour you for free.”] Your average ’Husker zombie is more interested in raising a blue-ribbon calf for the state fair than showing off in a g-string.”

Then again, she did follow up by sending us a link to Nebraska strip clubs. It’s like the state slogan says: “Nebraska, possibilities … endless.”

- Jeremy Berlin

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