[ferretchucker]

This doesn't so much apply to horror as general supernatural themed things, but it's this need recently to make up new terms for monsters e.g. "lycans" in Underworld. If it's a werewolf, call it a werewolf. Same goes for The Walking Dead, which uses just about every term for zombies but zombies. I feel like it's a lazy attempt to try and carve their own notch in the mythos.

In fact, an extension of this is the lack of real zombies. Now they're always "infected" with something. This is one of the reasons I think Romero's films worked so well - they say who cares why they're zombies, just RUN FROM THE FUCKING ZOMBIES!

Then again...he calls them the living dead. Fuck.