In the 2008 Canadian zombie film Pontypool, a plague is spread through language. Based on Tony Burgess’ novel Pontypool Changes Everything and directed by acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Bruce McDonald, the film takes place in a small-town radio station in Pontypool, Ontario, where disgraced radio host Grant Mazzy has been relegated. During Mazzy’s radio show, people in the town begin to riot and attack one another and themselves. It is discovered that certain English words are causing the virus to spread. The essay analyzes the film in relation to zombies as displacements of fear and trauma, how language can be used as a weapon, Canadian history and identities, Quebec separatism, and the absence of Indigenous people.