‘Even in undeath, there appears to be no escape from the social inequalities which plague ethnic minorities and those with disabilities throughout their lives,’ said Polly Toynbee, writing about vampire and zombie movies in her latest Guardian column. ‘Death is always said to be the ultimate equaliser, so why is this not recognised in film? And I’m sure I’m not the only one wondering where all the gay and transgender vampires are hiding.’

The problem is also acknowledged by award-winning director Tim Burton, whose new zombie film ‘Dark Shadows’ is scheduled for release next year. ‘The issue here is that the vast majority of the cinema-going public has grown up only being exposed to white able-bodied zombies. As a result, I just don’t think people are ready to see the hero of a film smashing the living hell out of an Asian learning-disabled zombie in a wheelchair.’

But Burton is keen to try and change audience perceptions. ‘We’re filming two versions of my next movie, and when the DVD is released it will come with the second version featuring disabled zombies. Although if I’m honest, the plot does suffer a bit. When the hero is cornered by a group of zombies on crutches, he just escapes down a flight of stairs before spending the rest of the movie hiding in a public library without wheelchair access.’

Others in the industry, though, are concerned that unless is it is handled sensitively, including themes of ethnicity and disability in zombie movies could lead to prejudices being reinforced. ‘I recently saw a movie set in the American deep south,’ said film critic Mark Kermode, ‘in which a rural community is terrorised by a gang of Afro-Carribean zombies. I just worry that some, seeing the scene where the white farmers chase the black zombies out of town brandishing pitchforks and torches, might get the wrong idea and assume it’s a documentary.’

‘I’m like, what would be the point of that?’ handsome 19-year-old high school quarterback Josh McGiffin told reporters. ‘There’s nothing to see in there, right?’ McGiffin added that he does not believe in ghosts or stuff, not even those of the three young drifters who were brutally gunned down by the deranged householder at the house exactly 50 years ago today and who are said to scream plaintively through the night on every anniversary. More to the point, he said, the house must be extremely dirty and possibly dangerous after so many years of neglect.

Tammy Johnson, 18, the former cheerleader who is the prettiest of the three girls in the group, said that she personally believes the ghost stories and would never go into the house. ‘It’s really creepy. Like, I know I’m blonde but I’m not that stupid,’ she said. ‘And even if I did go in, I definitely wouldn’t do it in diaphanous underwear.’

The daring prospect of pushing open the creaky cobweb covered door, did briefly attract them, but a mad old local told them to keep well away from that old place, and the teenagers agreed that it would be wise to follow the advice of someone more experienced than themselves. They eventually decided to drive aimlessly around town all night instead. Added Dwayne Beasley: ‘I’m the only black guy in the group, so no way man, I’d be toast the moment we got in that place.’