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Maybe you can create a custom skin for them. You could make them start as (stone) sculpture and when you steal something, their eyes start to glow and they start to patrol/search.

For me Hazard Pay did a good job of making TDM zombies fresh and frightening. The elements that gave it that feeling included:

1. Their unexpected appearance and abilities, like the glowing spitter variant. That raises the fear that they might suddenly do something you did not anticipate.

2. Their numbers versus my dwindling armory. That made them feel like a legitimate threat to my chosen approach to the level. If the map had been built to encourage a ghosting playstyle, the size of the hordes and the challenge of tracking their positions level would not have been so intense. (This is why the undead from Written in Stone failed to get the same reaction from me.)

3. The way the mission gave spaces to observe foes. If you just drop the player in a room with a zombie, it quickly ceases to be frightening. He'll either realize it's not a real threat, or if it is actually a mortal threat it will become frustrating. When you are forced to interact with a monster, the brain adapts to treat it as a mechanical obstacle, as the emotion meant to make you avoid engaging with the threat is no longer productive.

To be honest, zombies are never overdone, it's them being so barebones basic that is overdone.

For example, I don't exactly like The Dark Mod's zombies because they are just skinny bony cartoonish grey corpses that walk, that's it. Their sounds are not the worst, but sometimes it is a bit comedic.

Thief zombies are GREAT! It uses the same old concept of a rotting fetid corpse that walks and moans in extreme pain, but also adds this extra attitude to it, which is...Holy water. Unless you use Holy Water, the zombie will not truly die, it actually makes him a dangerous opponent in that regard.
Knowing that, that's another reason I don't like TDM's Zombies; they die so fast and easy that I just go ahead and attack them, there's no way they won't bother me by getting up because they simply don't.

ChronA is right about Hazard Pay having great zombies, I must admit I did not play it until I got into the minecart area so I've only faced one zombie, but it was great. You might want to ask the author of Hazard Pay if he's willing to give some of those zombie models.

The best zombie I remember is the one from Elder Scrolls Oblivion, he is a fetid decaying corpse and I loved that idea, the noises he makes are also rather creepy, be it a soft moan with the sounds of rotting flesh stomping in the ground or the "belch" he does when in pain and being attacked.

And datiswous' idea of "Stone Zombies" sounds great too, because it reminds me more of Gargoyles than zombies, but I love Gargoyles and the idea of a Stone Golem following you actually sounds scary, because it's very likely a thief won't have any instruments against him. Just don't give it glowing eyes, I think it's a bit cliche, it is scarier if the Stone Golem is almost silent and has no glowing eyes.