I just picked up a copy of the book World War Z the other day, and I was pleasantly surprised at how brilliant and well-written it is. The premise of the book is basically the author travelling throughout the world interviewing survivors of a fictitious zombie war. As hard as it is to believe, the various stories in this book are very closely related to what is happening to society in this day and age. If you are interested in reading about corporate corruption, media/government control, or just plain crazy about the living dead, go get this book. Now.
Oh snap. I'm definatley picking up that book. I'm a little bit of a zombie-maniac myself. P.S. can we be friends?
Fuck no, stay the hell away from me, freak!!! Just messin' with ya, I'd smoke you guys on a fatty any day
I think the idea of a zombie outbreak is possible. There is a parasite that changes your brain so you're more likely to get in to accidents, so there must be something that can take over your nervous system (so you don't feel pain) and make you feed on anything. I'll ebay that book... Thanks for the review
I don't know, I think anything is possible given time, but an actual "zombie" virus seems a bit farfetched. The thing about zombies is that the body and the personality behind it dies, but the brain remains alive for the most part. I don't see how this could be possible through something like a virus that can cause the brain to keep functioning without any nutrients, water, or oxygen. It could just be that only certain parts of the brain need a constant supply of oxygen to keep functioning (specifically, the parts of your brain that holds your consciousness)? However, if a zombie attack of this scale really did happen, we would be so fucked. I think I would sit on top of my roof with a fat sack and just toke that shit till I fall off the roof and turn into a brain-munching ghoul.
Actually, I posted a real article on GC, where scientists have been able to reanimate large amounts of dead tissue for use in stem cell research, bypassing the restriction on use of live embryos. Secondly, I've read the entirely fictional book by Max Brooks entitles "Zombie Survival Guide" and it details a virus/parasite which kills it's host and mutates the brain, turning it into an organ independent of oxygen; the remnants of the brain revert to the most base instincts (ie zombie; no coordination, motivated to extinguish life and giving the appearance of being undead) A friend currently has the book, and I doubt i'll ever see it again, so unfortunately I can't give you an excerpt from it. And as for the thought that is could be produced as a man-made biological weapon is really far-fetched. I mean why would you take a fantastical concept of the zombie and try to model a virus after it? A friend of mine (also a zombie freak) argued that it would be perfect because it requires minimal exposure, is self-perpetuating and is conceptually easy to contain. I think this is more wishful thinking than a concept based in reality. Either way; if a zombie apocalypse DOES happen, I will know what to do. I'll have a little posy of zombie exterminators.
There are some problems with that theory though. Once a body has expired and the blood had become coagulated, there is no way for oxygen to reach the muscles, allowing movement. The 'zombie' would be entirely paralyzed. The nerve endings which would communicate bio-electric information for movement have also fused and become useless. Not to mention that if a zombie apocalypse did happen, you would just have to hold out until winter; zombies freeze, brains are irreproachably damaged and the zombies die. Nope, for now we're going to have to fight our zombie war in the movies and in literature. It's very much a new-age film noir concept.
Oh yeah, you guys are fucked. I'd head to Kingston and claim one of the penitentaries as my anti-zombie fortress. Hehehehe.... oh boy. I need to lay off the Romero flicks.
I don't know, if there ever is a virus that can reanimate some tissue and cause a human brain to remain functional after death, then I'm sure it could mutate to the point where it changes the body's chemistry completely. In this book, there are numerous mentions of a black fluid that oozes from the zombies, and I think they would have mentioned if it were actually just coagulated blood. I think the black sludge may have something to do with it, but I'm not sure. Guess I'll just have to finish the book
I found black ooze on some old cream cheese the other day.... is it going to come back from the trash and eat my flesh for sustinance?