I've been thinking about zombies lately. The way I see it there are three types of zombies: virus, radioactive, and magic. Am I missing any? I feel like I am.
Posted by Natej11 (Member # 8547) on :
Well this would probably be a subset of virus, but my friend and I were tossing around the idea of a story where a virus particularly targets the part of the brain responsible for inhibitions and suppressing aggression. Still alive, the resulting "zombies" would essentially have no moral compass. Mothers would abandon children to die, any sort of offense would result in triggering maximum violence, the strong would remorselessly prey upon the weak, etc. As an addition they'd be incapable of recognizing the past or planning for the future, acting on immediate impulses such as hunger.
I figured there would be some sort of recognizable trait for people affected by this virus. They'd be a danger to themselves, but especially if they saw anyone unaffected by the virus they'd go after them relentlessly.
Posted by DavidS (Member # 9303) on :
I'd add chemical - drugs or poison.
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
Parasitic. There is a fungus in the rain forest that will infect an ants brain. The ant will quit doing its job and wander until it falls to the forest floor. There it will latch its jaws to a decaying leaf so the fungi can travel out the ants mouth and spawn on the leaf.
There is a BBC documentary on it. The ant becomes a zombie for its fungi master.
Posted by Natej11 (Member # 8547) on :
I would so watch a movie based on that.
Posted by JohnColgrove (Member # 9236) on :
That would be an interesting human zombie movie Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :
Anyone watched The Happening by M. Night Shyamalan? Not his best movie but there people are turned into zombies that lose all self-preservation instincts. Pretty scary.
Personally, I'm not very fond of zombies. The only movies I watched with them are from Resident Evil series. There are just too many overly used motiffs, such as quick turns by a newly formed zombie, lunging at the camera, best friend turns to zombie at the nick of time, etc.
Posted by rstegman (Member # 3233) on :
I guess that possession would be classified as magic, even if it were alien energy entities.
hypnosis might be one way. People playing computer games oculd be hypnotized through the graphics flashing and colors. Television programs could do that too.
There are always stories of kids committing suiside because of music. A slight stretch of science could have people being hypnotized (wrong word) through the music.
Of course, most zombie stories has a zombie injuring someone and they becoming a zombie too, so that eliminates some of what I havv listed.
I saw years ago where there is a parasite that are linked to sheep, where they infect an ant that gets into the sheep droppings and become infected, and then moves away from that area climbs a blade of grass and waits at the top for the sheep to graze and become infected again. They showed that the ant will go low when it got too hot, that part of survival instincts still existed.
Now one could use a combination of effects. An infection hits the population, a vaccine is used, and then a third thing, like a recreational drug is used and the people bcome zombies. When one gets the zombie fluids in them, some of the drug is still there and causes the infection.
Have them feel no pain. people with no pain are very difficult to stop. shut down the higher levels of the mind so they are working on automatic. plant based food tastes horrible so they will only eat meat. Use up other sources of meat such as the freezer, then stores (run out of money) then pets and finally people.
sorry, mind wandering a bit.
Posted by Dark Warrior (Member # 8822) on :
Dont forget breeding...baby zombies have to come from somewhere
Posted by Osiris (Member # 9196) on :
My WIP story uses pathogenic bacteria as the cause of zombies. It also strays from the traditional zombie archetype. First 13 is in the feedback forum if interested Posted by jcavonpark (Member # 9508) on :
This reminds me of that new Walking Dead tv show on AMC. Oh my God, that show is amazing. It's all about zombies, but it's actually really well done. There's only 12 episodes so far (season 2 starts later this year), but it tells a very fascinating story and puts the entire thing in a very human perspective. You see what it would really be like for a person to wake up and find their world essentially destroyed by something they don't understand. Unlike other films, however, it doesn't seem fake or half-done at all.
Oh, and the acting is brilliant. The only other show I would say out does this show is Breaking Bad (another AMC show), but man it comes close.
If you like zombies and excellent television, do yourself a favor and check it out.
Posted by skadder (Member # 6757) on :
What about the ones you get in vacuum packets at the supermarket? Three zombies for a $5-99?
Can't say no to that.
Posted by Osiris (Member # 9196) on :
jcavonpark, my WIP zombie story is slightly influenced by that show. Do you remember the scene in one of the first episodes where the zombie woman torso and the protagonist meet in the park? The zombie woman was disgusting to look at it, but somehow, they made you feel sympathy for her. That is the moment I'll never forget in that show.
Posted by Natej11 (Member # 8547) on :
"Zombie eat brain, but we cannot swallow this injustice!"
Posted by Matt.Simpson01 (Member # 8937) on :
jcavonpark hit it on the head when it comes to zombies. The Walking Dead on AMC is the best zombie movie or tv show ever made. It is based on the comic book by the same name.
The only problem I have with zombie stuff is the stupidity of the survivors in these things. For the most part, in all zombie stuff, a bullet to the head that destroys the brain kills them. How hard is it to figure that out for the characters. Especially when it comes to the military. Come on, each soldier probably carries a couple hundred rounds on them. basic shooting is taught to each of them, and yet they still fall victim to 'insurmountable' numbers of zombies.
It can be a great story to write, but the same sad story about the survivors tends to sour my liking of zombie stories.
Like a robot that becomes deactivated, and then loses it's personality and becomes a threat.
Basically I think a good zombie story is about something that is dead that comes back to life, and there are a ton of good examples out there of that. For example, religious figures.
I think the idea of Zombies being a gross thing that attacks slowly with parts of their body falling off, is a limited way of looking at it. I think the story pool on Zombies is deeper than just brain eaters.
Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
Thanks guys, you've expanded my world. My little fun story abut zombies is going to be viral. It would be fun to have a bunch of different kinds of zombies against each other.
