Zombies! discussion
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Causes of zombification in fiction
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Ed
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Dec 22, 2015 11:58PM
I like the traditional type of zombie. Slow, dead and rotting. Quick zombies don't have the same creepiness.
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The cordyceps zombies of The Last of Us and The Girl with All the Gifts. Living infected with a mind altering fungus. The science breaks down when you consider that the fungus evolved to zombify ants, but still a fun way to think about it. Not to mention pretty terrifying when you consider how specifically the fungus controls the ant.There is a whole host of alkaloid wielding organisms able to control victims as simple as ants and caterpillars all the way up to mammal brains like rats. It's an awesome few days on wikipedia.
@ Ed: while I've come to appreciate the metaphor of the slow zombie, it wasn't until the rage zombies of 28 days later that I paid any attention to zombies. Quick zombies may not have the same creeping dread as the slow horde, but they more than make up for that with their "Holy Fucking Shit!" factor. To date, my favorite zombie movie is the remake of Dawn of the dead in which the zombies started out fast and scary, then got slower and creepier as things started to look more and more hopeless.
I like the survival aspects of a slow zombie apocalypse, in a fast zombie apocalypse were all just screwed!
From a Metaphysical aspect reanimated corpses are simply impossible. In order for the body to move the soul must be causing it, albeit hindered by disease. As such it must be alive. That said, it is very plausible for diseases to mimic the traditional slow moving zombie. There are viruses such as rabies and d prions such as CJD (human form of chronic wasting disease) that can pass through the blood-brain barrier and affect the brain in various ways; including the stammering, intense appetite, etc that we see in the traditional zombie. I address all of this in my next book.
I have a book that I am getting ready to release that deals with nano technology being the culprit in causing the zombie apocalypse. Specifically nanos that have to do with a person's appearance.
