October 28th, 2008 by The Toadmaster
1. There are graveyard disturbances
Odd stories in the local newspapers of graves being disturbed and cemeteries vandalized should alert you to the possibility of a zombie virus spreading. Until another explanation for this activity is found try to get out of big cities and densely populated areas. Stay away from schools, hospitals and other places where you might come into contact with someone who is already infected.
Image credit: almostincognito from Flickr
2. Unexplained hospital cases on the rise
Unexplained medical conditions and paranormal phenomena are less likely to appear in local media but keep an eye open for cases of strange viruses, amnesiacs, John Does and rumours of people returning from the dead.
3. People disappearing from your community
If anyone from your community disappears in odd circumstances consider the possibility that they might have become infected with the virus or fallen prey to a stray zombie. If, at this stage, you are already prepared for an outbreak and are well armed it might be prudent to gather some friends and track down the cause of each disappearance. You might be able to prevent an outbreak from getting started.
4. An outbreak of unknown disease
Remember the media reaction to the SARS coronavirus pandemic and the spread of avian influenza? Be aware that an outbreak of zombie virus will prompt a similar reaction from the media – pay attention to information about the cause of the outbreak, the method of transmission, how contagious it is, and, most importantly, where the outbreak is centered. If it’s somewhere close to you, try and get overseas if airline travel is still permitted, or leave the state if you can.
Image credit: cheeseloaf from Flickr
5. The media begins to panic
Once an outbreak of zombie virus is confirmed (the government might try to call it something else, be on guard for this) all you are going to get from the media is panic and talking heads theorizing on the causes of the outbreak. If you’d been paying attention to earlier media activity you should be somewhere safe and defensible. Switch off the TV and start stocking up on food, water, first aid supplies, means of communications (radio, cellphones etc) and WEAPONRY.
6. The government tells you not to worry
Around the time that people are rushing around trying to prepare themselves (legally and by looting shops and warehouses) the state and national governments will be broadcasting messages to all citizens to stay calm, stay home, and rely on local emergency services such as police, fire brigades, hospitals, and civil defense. Ignore the government’s pleadings and concentrate on making sure the people you care about will be safe. By doing this you are freeing up local services to help the less-prepared.
7. Your local government bursts into activity
If you are in an affected area you’ll notice plenty of local government action – putting quarantine zones in place, mobilizing civil defense personnel, setting up of local communications systems, and establishing a local command center.
8. A state of emergency is declared
When local preparations are overwhelmed, the population becomes unmanageable, or the zombies form into hordes a state of emergency will be declared in your area. This suspends the normal functions of your government (whether it is at a local, federal or national level will depend on the severity of the outbreak) and allows emergency plans to be fully implemented, the military to take control, and civil liberties to be withdrawn. At this stage the military will start becoming involved, shifting soldiers into strategic positions, transporting supplies, and aiding local official in enforcing quarantine rules.
Image credit: mr.smashy from Flickr
9. Military control is enforced
To make army operations more effective, you may be transported to a holding zone with other uninfected people from your area. This is to streamline the zombie eradication process – with you out of the way the army doesn’t have to worry about civilian casualties. Whether you go willingly or not, do your best to retain your weapons and ammunition, for all you know the army may not be able to defend you and you’ll be relying on yourself again. Or be prepared to fend for yourself against the zombies and the military.
10. There are zombies in your street
If signs 1 to 9 have whooshed over your head as you sit in front of the computer screen, have a look out the window for zombies shuffling down your street in search of human flesh. If they’re there – it’s a sure sign that an outbreak of zombie virus has begun.
October 27th, 2008 by The Toadmaster
Image credit: TCM Hitchhiker from Flickr
This is Part II of a a two part series on the history of zombies. Part I dealt with the origin in Haitian culture and creation of zombies. Part II is all about zombies in popular culture.
George Romero’s 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead, was the first portrayal of modern zombies in film (prior to this zombies were portrayed in line with their status in Haitian folklore) and was made in black and white with a limited budget, i.e. a classic indie film. He did his job so well that he established in the popular psyche the concept of zombies as mindless monsters with a craving for human flesh. Hordes of zombies.
Night of the Living Dead revolutionized the horror film genre. Its seemingly innocent rural and suburban American settings destabilized the viewer’s expectations of horror as something confined to exotic and unfamiliar locales. Romero eschewed rubber masks and outlandish costumes in favour of blood, guts, and gore, ushering in the splatter and slasher sub-genres. On top of the close-to-home scenery and visceral imagery, Night of the Living Dead realistically depicted the psychological horror of cannibalism, death and murder with enough gruesomeness to get the basic concepts across to the watchers but not so much that it prevented people from identifying with the main characters.
The characters of Night of the Living Dead are what made the film compelling and a classic of the horror genre. Their actions in the face of a slow-moving zombie apocalypse provide an interesting insight into how people deal with inevitability and hopelessness, when the biggest things to fear are your own mistakes, which will be relentlessly capitalized upon by the zombie horde.
Since Romero’s seminal film was made, many have built upon his foundation to produce films such as The Shining, The Omen, The Blair Witch Project, and The Exorcist. Romero’s masterpiece of horror and subsequent films have built the modern concept of zombiism and, over time, displaced the original voodoo practices with apocalypses, mindless hordes, survival (and associated weaponry!), and dread. One could almost correlate the change in our perception of zombies with the change in our perception of society and planet Earth…
October 27th, 2008 by The Toadmaster
Image credit: TCM Hitchhiker from Flickr
Zombies, as horror film watchers will know, are reanimated human corpses. They can walk, eat, hear and even speak but are hampered by total amnesia and lack of higher brain function. Zombies have their origin in Haitian voodoo culture, where the Haitian Creole word zonbi translates to ‘spirit of the dead’.
According to Haitian folklore, zombies are created by voodoo priests called Bokor, who have the ability to resurrect bodies using a powder called coup de poudre. Coup de poudre is made using the same poison found in fugu (read more about fugu here). It is either given orally to a person or introduced via a flesh wound. This is while the victim is alive of course. The toxin slows the heart rate, reduced body temperature, and generally reduces metabolic activity until the afflicted person reaches a death-like state.
People are typically buried as soon as possible after death in Haiti, because the tropical climate of the island makes it difficult to store bodies for long without them decomposing. Once the funeral is over the Bokor dig up the bodies before the drugs wear off and voila! a zombie is created.
Potential zombies are chosen because they are people unwanted or disliked by their community. People who will not be missed. The Bokor use the reanimated bodies for hard labour tasks in Haiti’s sugar cane plantations, keeping them in a zombie state with continuous doses of hallucinogens, such as datura (read more about datura here) or the secretions of the cane toad (read more about cane toad poison here).
In 1835, Haitian law was changed and classified the practice of administering drugs in order to make a person appear dead as attempted murder. When a victim appeared deceased, was subsequently buried and thus, died a real death from asphyxiation, starvation, or lack of medical care, the perpetrator was charged with murder (Article 246 of the Haitian Penal Code). Whether this law change was prompted by real life cases of zombies or merely talk of zombies is unknown.
The best documented case of a possible zombie is that of Clairvius Narcisse, who was supposed to have died from an unknown cause in 1962. Before his death, he had argued with his brother about selling a share of the family land. His brother arranged for Clairvius’ ‘death’ and permitted the Bokor to retrieve his body from the grave and put him to use slaving on a sugar cane plantation. In 1964, the zombie master himself died and Clairvius’ spent the next 16 years wandering around Haiti in a psychotic state as the powerful drugs wore off. Eventually, in 1980, he recognised his sister in a market place and proved his identity (his family had thought him long dead). His story and recovery were documented by ethnobiologist Dr. Wade Davis.
The apocalyptic popular culture notion of zombies as hordes of mindless monsters craving human flesh split from the true concept of zombiism in 1968 with the advent of George Romero’s film Night of the Living Dead.
Read the second part of this post.