The Zombie Apocalypse. The living dead, the horror of shooting your loved-one's face off as they try and eat your flesh. The most gruesome (in my opinion) of any monster created by George Romero.
The latest Zombie craze which has included movies, sayings on merchandise, books, games and has infected (no pun intended) my generation. I am a college student and have found myself talking out zombie plans, useful weapons and other such ideas.It is a pop culture idea that has turned many people into full on Zombie believers.
There are things that make it seem plausible that a Zombie Apocalypse could come about.
1. Brain infection/parasites.
2. Nero-toxins.
3. Viruses (biological mutations or crafted war-fare viruses)
To me seen the most plausible reasons for a zombie apocalypse. These three things can turn one into a mindless flesh eating monster. People have apparently milked this until it was dry. But I was surprised to find two things that caught my eye lately.
The first was a book. Pictured above. by Max Brooks. It is the Oral history of the Zombie War. This book hit me hard enough that it took me a good couple of weeks to actually finish it because in my mind it was so visceral. as an artist I have a painfully realistic imagination. The descriptions of battles, personal and organized by armies made my stomach clench. Brooks captured the horror of personal stories in his volume with few large plot holes that bothered me as a reader. It was surprising that it happened like that. Usually when it comes to Zombie stories, be it movies or video games, there are plot holes so large that I have to plug my ears and look away. It happens more than I wished it would but oh well.
The origin story of Brooks though not clear of the complete origins (unlike some who point at virus or others at Mad-Cow disease) he allowed it to be called "African Rabies" But it is never clear if the zombies were a natural virus that mutated or a brain infection. Another thing Brooks captured, is that Zombies or Zack are so much biological different from us just as they are the same. They Walk, Moan and are generally human looking, but the difference that is pointed out was that they are brains that don't need bodies to really survive. This is seen in Zack's ability to stay on the ocean floor and not be disabled. Unlike a human who would be killed by the pressure.
Brooks' book showed me the true horror of a Zombie War that Hollywood couldn't and wouldn't show me.
Now a video game team comes along and releases a teaser trailer that gives me a taste of that horror that Brooks' book gave me. Dead island is an upcoming video game. Take a look....
Dead Island (Teaser Trailer)
