How to Survive a Real ‘walking Dead’ Zombie Apocalypse

January 17, 2017

Zombie Politics Reading Notes

Article: Bradley, “How to Survive a Real ‘Walking Dead’ Zombie Apocalypse”

• Interview was with Matt Mogk – Renowned Zombie Expert

o Founder of Zombie Research Society, cast member of The Talking Dead

o Believes a zombie apocalypse can “absolutely happen”

How to Survive:

• Experts say that a living zombie is more possible. Rather than people dying and coming back to life – it’s more likely that Zombies arise from a biological intervention.

o Theoretically, scientists can create a disease that makes living zombies…

• News would be on social media – so stay alert…

o There would be a grey area of several months before complete disaster.

• Follow the Rule of Threes: Think about resources first – air (3 mins), food (3 weeks), shelter (3 hours), water (3 days), etc.

• Stay close to home: In reality, there probably wouldn’t be cars everywhere…

• Stay away from big box stores: In general, don’t try to do what you think everybody else will do.

Other thoughts… Why don’t you just go live on an island? Hawaii??

January 19, 2017

Zombie Politics Reading Notes

Article: Dendle, The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Introduction (page 1-12)

History and Evolution:

• Up until 1928, the zombie was pretty much unknown outside of Haiti

o William Seabrook brought zombies to fame with his book, “The Magic Island”

o Kenneth Webb’s 1932 stage production brought the creature into the entertainment spotlight.

• New spins on Zombies include Nazi zombies, underwater zombies, and zombie monks.

• One of the few creatures in Hollywood that are not from European origin (they’re from African-Caribbean folklore)

The Early Film Zombie:

• Early zombies in the ‘30s and ‘40s were not necessarily dangerous or violent. Usually, there was a main protagonist which was human.

o Fear in Haiti is not being attacked by a zombie, but rather of becoming one.

• Early film zombies are robotic – fully synchronized.

o Furthermore, no passions or drives (unlike animalistic zombies of recent)

• A lot of focus on women in early films.

o The White Zombie (1932) concerned a white woman that was a zombie

• Ouanga (1935) is pretty racist (black is evil and white is pure)

• I Walked with a Zombie has both black and white people in it with lots of racial tension.

• More recently, Sugar Hill (1974) and Demoni 3 (1991) shows a rekindled interest in slave zombies.

The ‘50s and ‘60s – Tension and Transition:

• Lots of different things going on in terms of the general direction of the zombie”

o Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952): SPACE ZOMBIES. Martian invaders that are zombies that look human-like.

o Zombies of Mora-Tau (1957): Zombies underwater…

o Teenage Zombies (1957): Middle-class, fun loving protagonists who have done drugs to become a zombie.

o The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1964): Zombies = ferocious ex-lovers

o Astro-Zombies (1968): Android zombies

o The Horror of Party Beach (1963): Humanoid mutated fish = zombies

• ‘50s were focused around depersonalization… evolution and exploration of zombies.

o Plan Nine from Outer Space (1958) & Invisible Invaders (1959): said that the revived dead were not sentient and furthermore are kept pretty distinct.

o The Last Man on Earth (1964): Residual feelings for dead reach the surface, disposal of bodies.

• Something was pretty taboo as showing humans as dead and decomposing… The turnaround point for this was with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The Stabilizing of the Contemporary Zombie Mythos (1966-present):

• Zombies kind of broke apart here with two movies:

o The Plague of the Zombies (1966): From England: Zombies were pretty bad tempered here. they ran.

o Night of the Living Dead (1968): From USA: Established motives and limitations of zombies. The drive was pretty much eating flesh.

 Important zombie innovation was that this movie said that they only died when they are shot in the head or by otherwise deactivating the brain core.

o Day of the Dead (1985): Brain is slowly rotting & when decomposition reaches the brain the zombie will cease functioning… aka, the head is the only weak part of the zombie.

The Golden Age (1968-1983):

• After Night of the Living Dead, more than 30 zombie movies appeared in Spain, Mexico, Italy, England, and the States.

• Wide variety of Zombie types:

o A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1971): Dream zombies

o Tombs of the Blind Dead (1971-75): Skeletal monks

o Sugar Hill (1974): African-American slave zombies

o Shanks (1974): remote control family member zombies

o Shock Waves (1977): slick techno-zombies (ha!)

• Was a zombie recession in the mid 1970s

o This