The week prior to final exams is often referred to as "dead week" with various explanations. Which of these do you like the most?
It's called dead week to honor those who gave their lives in the violent higher-ed revolutions of 1908 and 1911.2
In the 1960s, final exams were the last week of November. When JFK was shot 11/22/1963, they delayed the exams a week and the term "dead" for the week prior stuck.2
It's actually a misnomer; the original term was "debt" week because tuition payments were due before final exams.2
There was a western serial in the 1930s called "Deadweek" about a crime family who were all killed in one week, and the series finale aired right before students' final exams.
Zombies come out late at night all semester, but students are only studying late enough the week before finals for it to be a problem.8