Victoria Justice Wrote 'Love Zombie' at 17. TikTok Did the Rest.
The Nickelodeon star shelved the song for fifteen years. When it leaked online and the algorithm found it, she said 'not on my bingo card' ... then threw a Halloween resurrection party and dropped the remix.
Make It So ↓
Victoria Justice hosted a Halloween party on October 13 in Los Angeles called "Love Zombie: The Resurrection." The dress was shredded spiderweb mesh. The fake blood was on purpose. The song she was celebrating had been sitting in a drawer for roughly fifteen years ... and she had almost not let it out at all.
Justice wrote "Love Zombie" at 17, back when she was filming Victorious on the Nickelodeon lot. She later worked with producers Greg Wells and Evan Bogard to finish it. Then it sat. In an interview with BuzzFeed, she described what happened when the demo eventually leaked online without her clearance: the reaction was positive, and she "spontaneously decided" to revamp it. "I think my 17-year-old self would be proud to know that 'Love Zombie' actually got to have its moment," she told the outlet.
She released the official version in early October 2025. The timing was difficult by any measure: it landed the same week as the Taylor Swift release cycle that absorbed all available pop-culture oxygen. She came out of it with a dedicated audience, a song that actually charted, and a remix ready to go.
The Resurrection Remix and the Party
Comic Basics covered the October 2026 Halloween event, describing Justice in a shredded black mini with fake blood prosthetics and a white contact lens in one eye. The party coincided with the "Love Zombie: The Resurrection Remix," which she described to BuzzFeed as "a super clubby dance mix that gives it a new life." She is not sure whether the remix will become an annual release, but she clearly enjoyed the moment enough to build a whole aesthetic around it.
For comparison: last year she did a zombie bride look at a Sunset Strip party to mark the original single. A year later she upgraded to a full production shoot and an official remix. She is iterating.
The Bigger Picture: She Did It Without a Label
Justice released her first independent single, "Treat Myself," in 2020. Since then, she has said that operating without label overhead means she is "involved in every single decision and every aspect of the creative process." Her quote from the BuzzFeed piece is the most honest summary of what this era has cost and returned: "I've learned to trust myself and to work harder than I knew I could."
Meanwhile, "Hollywood Arts," a Netflix revival of the Victorious universe, is set to premiere soon with Justice's castmate Daniella Monet carrying the lead. She told BuzzFeed she is "happy for Tori," which is the Victorious character she played, and that she is excited to see the show's legacy continue. Asked if she would want a challenging role and more comedy going forward, she said yes, specifically physical comedy.
There is a version of this story where a Nickelodeon alumna quietly releases an old song and nobody notices. That is not what happened. She wrote something real at 17, the algorithm eventually found it, and she was organized enough to have a plan ready when it did. That is the playbook for a new kind of pop-career: catalog first, label never, party as press release.
Ad Watch News is an independent commentary site with no affiliation with Victoria Justice, BuzzFeed, Nickelodeon, Netflix, or any brand or talent mentioned here.
