The Undead

I wish to put this out there and find out about the forums feelings about the existence of reanimated dead. If there is some truth to it how would it come about. I have read World War Z, seen numerous shows and compiled a huge collection of actual facts from the Zombies created in voodoo ritual. Everyone has seen Serpent and the Rainbow (I hope) and I cant get past that this is a valid fear. A mass plague that infects the world by creating walking dead is such a fascinating idea. The Zombie Survival guide, created by the same author of World War Z, has a collection of instances in the back of the book. The stories are recent and carry some validity. Let me know what you all think.

I'm a Penguins season ticket holder. My friends and I are huge zombie fans. We always say that sometime when we're at a game, UPMC will release a virus on the fans, that will spread over the city and we'll have to escape haha. Yeah we have too much time on our hands.

In the Book World War Z the virus that causes it is dormant inside us until it releases.

Way too much time on your hands guys... You remember a few years back when vampire movies and books were all the rage? People were worried about the undead walking among us then.
Zombie stories are what's hot now. Heck- I just read the "Zombie Anthology", and actually enjoyed it.
The fact is: scary stories are cyclical... in a few months or a year zombies will be "so last year", and some other terror will be the "in" thing.
I'd worry more about a virus being unleashed as population control that kills you dead, (as in: DEAD) not some virus that turns you into a zombie.

Originally posted by cbianchi513
Way too much time on your hands guys... You remember a few years back when vampire movies and books were all the rage? People were worried about the undead walking among us then.
Zombie stories are what's hot now. Heck- I just read the "Zombie Anthology", and actually enjoyed it.
The fact is: scary stories are cyclical... in a few months or a year zombies will be "so last year", and some other terror will be the "in" thing.
I'd worry more about a virus being unleashed as population control that kills you dead, (as in: DEAD) not some virus that turns you into a zombie.

Not nice, sorry to waste your precious time.

There's really no way a zombie could function physically, since its tissues would be in a decomposing state.

Of course, then there's magic, but I can't say I believe in that!

reply to post by Thain Esh Kelch

In my studies of Near Death Experiences, i uncovered the case of a man named Emmanuel Tuwangirairmana of Rwanda. He came back to life after being fully dead for seven days in scortching, flesh-rancidizing weather. His one arm was falling off, and he had to use a hand to pull maggots out of the back of his throat. If the man could wake up like that, having been fully dead for seven whole days, (once the brain stops keeping the body functioning, necrosis begins~) and then get up and be alive, (the arm had to be sewn back on)- then zombies? I'd have to say they're not outside the realm of extreme possiblity.

that man was not dead and did not experience death. in death the blood coagulates and his never did. once it does your a worm feast end of story. cant trust some backwoods wives tale where medical technology involves hitting people in the face with rocks instead of real surgery. Also I would like to note that back in the day people were rising from the grave all he time before they knew what a pulse was. that is why they would stake them in the heart because people would appear dead but their heart was beating so they would think their undead. Rwanda they dont even know what toilet paper is let alone cutting edge medical technology like mri's and catscans.

Did you ever actually go to Rwanda?
And explain the maggots. Does this happen when people are catatonic? I would think not. He wouldn't have been being eaten alive. That doesn't happen when people are alive. Even if a person did have maggots, not to that degree.

If in a state of circulatory collapse coagulation begins depending on the PT, PTT, INR of the individual. Current guidelines for CPR say to compress continuously instead of stopping to breath in. Necrosis depending on the person can selectively attack someone. EX: Patient in local hospital here in Pittsburgh has been living with Necrotizing Pancreatitus for 8 months. She is fine, even though her body is decaying from the inside out. The brain is the motor cortex, if you were to continue to fire info to the neurons for the rest of the body it could decay and live without blood. Yes I know circulation carries oxygen to the living tissue, but it might be possible to live in a death state. Brain damage would be impossible to fix, but it might be possible. Diabetics get necrosis so easily, yet they continue to live long past retinopathy, neuropathy, and even loss of limbs.

I would be more worried about something like 28 days later happening, which is an advanced strain of rabies i believe. It just turns the people into hyper aggressive death machines, not the undead. I dont believe that undead people will come banging on my doors and windows some night while im watching TV, but a huge outbreak of a rabies virus could potentially be possible, but extreme. Either way, my mossberg 12 ga. is always ready for a fight...

the most probable way of a 28 days later event happening would be if a rare strain of either tetnis coupled with led poisoning would inflict a person who is on pcp. you get doubled insanity, realistic contageous quality, and a ravenous hunger for flesh. as long as oxygen is still able to get to the brain.
as for an epidemic; it seems we would get a situation like dawn of the dead more than 28days later. well i guess that it would be like 28days later in England and northern Scotland. but the idea of a zombie epidemic happening is a very fascinating. but if one does happen i like the idea of 12 guage. that and a 12 guage and a katana

reply to post by maggotwings
But, are any of the people you mention, decaying alive, maggot - fests?
Does that fit? Diabetics are not eaten alive. They aren't maggotfests until completely dead, isn't that right?

reply to post by Levita


Some people DO begin to decay while still alive. Maggots are used in plenty of living patients all over the place. I dont see why the guy you mentioned wouldn't be infested with maggots. If he had some sort of necrosis and it was bad enough to maybe put him into a coma, he wouldn't be able to shoo away the flies. I'm no doctor but, maybe the maggots actually helped clean his wounds as they are used for medically. Maybe the maggot infestation is what saved his life in the first place. All he needed was a little Maggot Therapy

[edit on 17-7-2008 by adamneldon]

I think I actually seen the maggots keepin someone alive on CSI

Oddly enough me and a buddy were just talkin about this the other day, and I agree the 28 Days scenario is more likely to me....But people coming back to life...does that mean the survivors somewhere down the line would form a religion based on these "zombies" lol.....personally I find it highly unlikely this would ever happen, fun to talk about and all but thats about it......What if there was a place like in Pet Semetary

Zombies created from voodoo ritual, as you put it, are actually only illusionary. There's some chemical or plant used that can make someone appear to be dead. When the effects wear off it seems as if the person has risen from the dead.

I have a HUGE fear of zombies. So much so that I warned my friends never to think it might be a good joke to break into my house at night and act like zombies coming to get me. I would shoot first and ask questions later. I can just see myself on trial trying to explain THAT to the prosecuting attorney.

"Well you see, I THOUGHT they were zombies, so of course I unloaded my .357 into their heads. Wouldnt anyone? No one feels worse about this than I do, but I TOLD them not to do the zombie thing."

Anyway, another friend that is a pretty smart guy said that he thinks that monsters kind of stand in for something else. I am not sure how to phrase this, but that the "monster of the minute" (zombies in this case) sort of acts as a stand in for the personality element that we most fear or dread in the collective unconscious. He felt my fear of zombies really reflected a fear of those people or elements of society that move unguided by reason. (Like the people often referred to as sheeple here on ATS)

Edit to add;

So, my point was that maybe zombies do exist, and they are actually those mindless shuffling masses that only are driven by the baser needs of the body and do not use reason or empathy to guide their behaviors.

[edit on 19-7-2008 by Illusionsaregrander]

i just love gearge romero and all zombie movies, heresy though that statement may be in subgenre minds, so im just glad to see anything that brings zombies back up!

the only zombie types i know are:
magic zombies- summoned by magic
toxic zombies- made by radiation or toxic from nukes because a liquid sinks in to the ground and makes any thing that is dead come to life
ET (extra terrestrial) zombies- like from the halo video game called "The Flood".
virused zombies:zombies infected by a virus that spreads like free Xbox 360s give aways in a school.
and some more i forgot a lot of them.

Originally posted by Illusionsaregrander
I have a HUGE fear of zombies. So much so that I warned my friends never to think it might be a good joke to break into my house at night and act like zombies coming to get me. I would shoot first and ask questions later. I can just see myself on trial trying to explain THAT to the prosecuting attorney.

"Well you see, I THOUGHT they were zombies, so of course I unloaded my .357 into their heads. Wouldnt anyone? No one feels worse about this than I do, but I TOLD them not to do the zombie thing."

Anyway, another friend that is a pretty smart guy said that he thinks that monsters kind of stand in for something else. I am not sure how to phrase this, but that the "monster of the minute" (zombies in this case) sort of acts as a stand in for the personality element that we most fear or dread in the collective unconscious. He felt my fear of zombies really reflected a fear of those people or elements of society that move unguided by reason. (Like the people often referred to as sheeple here on ATS)

Edit to add;

So, my point was that maybe zombies do exist, and they are actually those mindless shuffling masses that only are driven by the baser needs of the body and do not use reason or empathy to guide their behaviors.

[edit on 19-7-2008 by Illusionsaregrander]

and they let you have a gun permit?