Well survivors I have fallen quite behind in my duties but I have a lot of information gathered. I just need to find time to sort through it and then you will have a stream of zombie guidance unlike ever before.
At this moment I am waiting for a flight to Romania. Romania, home of Dracula, not a zombie but I believe a small tribute to him and a look at what a vampire is and some myths of undead might be in order.
It is easy to confuse old stories of vampires with old stories of zombies. After all the word zombie comes from Haitian voodoo and West African mythology. Just as the word Vampire comes from the Russian word Umpyr. In Romania the undead were known as Strigoi, and how much of the Strigoi are real zombies and how much are the basis for many of our modern vampire myths? Romania has had undead myths ever since it had people to tell the stories. They even have two specific dates for the observance of the undead, St. George's Day (April 23) and the Eve of St. Andrew's Day (November 29.) On these two days, especially Nov 29, it is advised not to go out at night or be near any crossroads. November 29th is reputedly a special day for the Strigoi at which they must all return to their living homes before travelling to crossroads at which they will do battle with other vampires.
The Romanian Strigoi are interesting creatures in that they are not all equal. Here are a view things from accounts of Strigoi:
When dorment (in coffin/during the day) blood pooled in the mouth or eyes.
Killed by a silver steak through the chest.
Killed by having heart burnt.
Killed by decapitation.
Dead looking, decaying purple toned flesh.
Bloated with the consumion of blood and flesh.
Feed on living family members.
Torment living family members.
Come to full strength 40 days after death.
Must be killed by family.
Put garlic in the mouth.
Place iron coins on the eyes and tongue.
The Gypsies also believe there are many forms of undead. The Romanian Strigoi could not harm the Gypsies according to their believes but they did fear the Mules. Demons who took the bodies of the living and returned to demand a wife. If the chosen woman was not given the mule would reek havoc on the village. The only ones able to kill mules are the Dhampir, mortal children of mule who had enhanced strength and speed because of their mixed blood and could see the mules true forms even when the mule was invisible to others. These mules sound a bit more like the vampires of legend. But where does that leave the Strigoi? This "other" form of undead that the Gypsies did not fear. Perhaps the average Romanian simply couldn't tell the difference between a Strigoi (zombie?) and a mule (vampire?) and over time and with retelling and extraction the myths blended together completely. This would explain why the Strigoi in the Romanian vampire tales don't always follow the same rules.
These myths still prevail in many areas which with all of our "modern" science and technology one has to wonder how much we are hidden from the truth here in North America. After all there are many accounts of many mystical and supernatural things all over the world and it is not hard for most people to believe in spirits, demons or the undead. Yet we in North America can't even decide for ourselves if we think there is a God or not. In 2004 the family of Toma Petre cut out his vampiric heart and made tea from it's ashes to heal his niece. Or in 1988 a 13 year old girl was found to be a vampire and killed by her family. These are only two examples of reported cases, that the media got a hold of and was aloud to make public. We know from zombie research how much the media is censored and in the case of other supernatural myths I have no doubt it is similar.
If it is so easy for the Strigoi and Mule to be confused as one monster and then converted into the generic "vampire" how hard would it have been for the official vampire plague of the 18th century to have actually been a zombie outbreak? An event the Catholic church publicly declared and supported but now will not let anyone view records of. Many modern scientists have theories about a strange form of rabies or a mental disease brought on my poor living conditions and food. But are those not possible causes of zombies as zombie researchers have proven? The biggest proof to zombies may actually be based in the confusion of undeniable vampire reports which science tries to explain away when the simplest answer is sitting right in front of us.
Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.
Showing posts with label vampires. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vampires. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Leaders or Vampires
Today fellow survivors I will tell you a story. This story is about a strange young man who knew he was somehow different from the masses. He was never accepting what he did was good enough and pushed himself for better. He was never accepting society was good enough and searched tirelessly for alternatives, for anything that wasn't within his realm of experience. This is when he uncovered the undead. At first just something curious, somewhat romantic, new and exciting: he studied everything but of particular interest were zombies and vampires.
Though some would say this was a morbid past time he became obsessed with zombies. Wondering where the myths came from and marvelling at the symbol yet never ending symbology surrounding them. A symbology that crossed over in importance but not meaning with many other undead. While zombies were the symbol of inevitable death, vampires were the symbol of never-ending life. One completely natural, the other completely impossible.
I will discuss what came of the young boys zombie interested near the end but first go in depth about one particular part of his vampire research, the extent of which could not be covered in a single post. Understand this boy was different, he would walk into a room and immediately change the feeling in the room depending on his mood. The number of people in the room didn't matter, 1 or 500 he could control the aura everyone felt. Control might be the wrong word because he didn't yet know how to control his own moods at that age but regardless whatever he felt or deeply wanted everyone else to feel, they would. The boy was often alone and enjoyed his own company more then any other but found he could not stand to be alone. He constantly searched for companionship and to physically be near others. This was because he could feed off their energy, he could feel what they felt, he could energize himself by draining them. Leaving the encounter stronger, more mentally alert and ready to take on the world while the other person or people would be left tired, weak and sad. These examples along with others, a natural dislike of the light for instance, or the amount of times he had been in situations he should have died but somehow his body didn't give up; fueled the boy in his search of the supernatural. The stories of vampire couldn't be true but there had to be truth in them. Suddenly he was approached.
One night the boy opened his e-mail like he did every night and there was a message from a girl he had never met and would never meet to his knowledge. She told him he was a vampire and gave him groups to research. He looked at the groups and saw nothing less then cults who worshiped "vampires" but they defined vampires differently then one would think of them. To these cults a vampire drank the life energy out of other people, just like the stories, had incredible powers (some the stories didn't even mention), but the big difference was these vampires didn't drink blood, they literally drank energy. One group dedicated itself to the research of this and how the original transcriptions in other languages the word blood is actually life. So when vampires drank, they drank life, not necessarily blood. These cults believed a vampire was a normal human who simply had this ability and could perform great feats through mental willpower. The cults said few people knew if they were a vampire but those who knew the signs could pick them out. And the boy had to admit he matched all the signs he could find mention of. He e-mailed the girl back for more information, she told him where to meet her and those who might become his guides. She mentioned that she hoped he might pick her.
The boy went to the meeting and found one of the strangest events he had ever encountered. While he came half full of wonder and half expecting a bunch of goth kids he was not prepared for what he was in store. Dozens of people dressed in the most elegant and at the same time the most sexually arousing clothing he'd ever seen. And they were beautiful. The ages ranged from as young as fifteen (or maybe younger) to early fifties at his best guess. Instantly you could see two classes of people in the room, those who were and those who weren't. The ones who were floated about as smoothly as if every step was taken to music, even though the only sound was of these people talking. They also dominated almost all of the speech, pausing only long enough for those around them to ask a question or make a compliment. And those around them? They were the others, they followed almost part bent over, obviously willing to kiss the ground at the command of one of the ones who were. They hung on every word said and jumped to every sight whim. But the thing that the boy noticed most, the moment he walked in, nothing changed. The room carried on as if he wasn't even there. Not a single person's aura shifted and no energy came to or left him.
He stood for a long time it seemed, days for all he knew, just watching. As he watched it seemed some of the ones who were had favorites among those who weren't. They got no less attention from the others but one would always be closest, one would always be running to get drinks or food or whatever, one would also be the ONLY one to ever touch the one who was. And the ones who didn't have favorites? They could only be described as having the time of their lives, like a beautiful woman with so many suitors trying to gain her hand. In fact that is exactly as the boy describes it. But it was men and women with men and women suitors. Finally (though it may have only been seconds) a woman walked up to him followed by her group and started speaking to him. The boy had never felt like this before, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and easily ten years his senior, he felt like he wanted to be with her always, like she wanted to be with him, but at the same time his entire being told the boy that he was stronger then her. And as if she could read his thoughts the woman told him that he was one of the ones who was. The boy learned many things that night, some of which still haunt him but two things fought in his mind as he walked home with a list of e-mails, phone numbers and (probably fake he thought) names. One thing was that those who were, had everything. Whatever they wanted, they never had to work and they never had to strive, they simply had to make their wishes known. And the other thing was that each of the ones who were choose a partner to feed from, and would feed from that man or woman until he (or she) become nothing, simply broken and useless with no hope, will, energy or life left. This could take weeks or it could take years but it always happened and the one who was simply moved on to play with others and choose a new partner. Voluntary slavery. To use another person like that was wrong, it was evil, these people were the monsters they claimed to be and the worst part of it was, they accepted it.
The boy never e-mailed any of the e-mails, never called any of the numbers and never looked up any of the names. He turned his back on them because the chance to live an easy life and learn to harness this "power" was not worth making a slave out of another human being.
I tell you this story because the boy eventually learned to control his moods, control his energy and thus control the energy of the people around him. He began using this knowledge to try and better people instead of letting his own sorrow destroy those he wanted to be close to. Eventually he began bringing out the best in people and people actually wanted to be with him just so they could feel good and they couldn't explain why. Neither could he until even later. He eventually learned about leadership. What he had was not a supernatural power it was simply leadership. By the way he held himself and the energy he carried he could influence others, he was a natural leader but as he learned leadership can be both positive or negative. Negative leaders can cause much more damage then if there was no leader at all but a good leader can make a group of people into an invincible team. The cults were simply people who had become such powerful leaders that they could use that leadership to sway the weak willed into doing anything and then they used that sway for their own gain. Leadership is not a position, rank or political standing. Leadership is the willpower and understanding to influence other people. Leadership comes naturally to some people and must be learned by others. And it is true most people will never reach the kind of leadership to influence 500 people or to make someone dedicate their entire life energy to you, but that does not mean it doesn't exist. Like with all things the levels of leadership are different for every person and if a person has just enough leadership to lead a group of a dozen people to safety and survival, then I'd say that person has just enough leadership to really be worth something: or to cause the deaths of those people, leadership is also a responsibility and one that can ever be taken lightly. Which is also why it needs to be taught and learnt by those who do use it for self-improvement, for enriching lives and ultimately after the fall, for surviving. Instead of being taught by those who would use it to create slaves.
The other research of the boy, the research that led to such a large interest in zombies. He eventually came across enough evidence that he could no longer doubt their existence so combined with zombies represented in society and ow culture and people reflected them, the study of zombies became one of the boy's passions and eventually led to him starting a blog dedicated to them.
Stay vigilant, may you never join a cult, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.
Though some would say this was a morbid past time he became obsessed with zombies. Wondering where the myths came from and marvelling at the symbol yet never ending symbology surrounding them. A symbology that crossed over in importance but not meaning with many other undead. While zombies were the symbol of inevitable death, vampires were the symbol of never-ending life. One completely natural, the other completely impossible.
I will discuss what came of the young boys zombie interested near the end but first go in depth about one particular part of his vampire research, the extent of which could not be covered in a single post. Understand this boy was different, he would walk into a room and immediately change the feeling in the room depending on his mood. The number of people in the room didn't matter, 1 or 500 he could control the aura everyone felt. Control might be the wrong word because he didn't yet know how to control his own moods at that age but regardless whatever he felt or deeply wanted everyone else to feel, they would. The boy was often alone and enjoyed his own company more then any other but found he could not stand to be alone. He constantly searched for companionship and to physically be near others. This was because he could feed off their energy, he could feel what they felt, he could energize himself by draining them. Leaving the encounter stronger, more mentally alert and ready to take on the world while the other person or people would be left tired, weak and sad. These examples along with others, a natural dislike of the light for instance, or the amount of times he had been in situations he should have died but somehow his body didn't give up; fueled the boy in his search of the supernatural. The stories of vampire couldn't be true but there had to be truth in them. Suddenly he was approached.
One night the boy opened his e-mail like he did every night and there was a message from a girl he had never met and would never meet to his knowledge. She told him he was a vampire and gave him groups to research. He looked at the groups and saw nothing less then cults who worshiped "vampires" but they defined vampires differently then one would think of them. To these cults a vampire drank the life energy out of other people, just like the stories, had incredible powers (some the stories didn't even mention), but the big difference was these vampires didn't drink blood, they literally drank energy. One group dedicated itself to the research of this and how the original transcriptions in other languages the word blood is actually life. So when vampires drank, they drank life, not necessarily blood. These cults believed a vampire was a normal human who simply had this ability and could perform great feats through mental willpower. The cults said few people knew if they were a vampire but those who knew the signs could pick them out. And the boy had to admit he matched all the signs he could find mention of. He e-mailed the girl back for more information, she told him where to meet her and those who might become his guides. She mentioned that she hoped he might pick her.
The boy went to the meeting and found one of the strangest events he had ever encountered. While he came half full of wonder and half expecting a bunch of goth kids he was not prepared for what he was in store. Dozens of people dressed in the most elegant and at the same time the most sexually arousing clothing he'd ever seen. And they were beautiful. The ages ranged from as young as fifteen (or maybe younger) to early fifties at his best guess. Instantly you could see two classes of people in the room, those who were and those who weren't. The ones who were floated about as smoothly as if every step was taken to music, even though the only sound was of these people talking. They also dominated almost all of the speech, pausing only long enough for those around them to ask a question or make a compliment. And those around them? They were the others, they followed almost part bent over, obviously willing to kiss the ground at the command of one of the ones who were. They hung on every word said and jumped to every sight whim. But the thing that the boy noticed most, the moment he walked in, nothing changed. The room carried on as if he wasn't even there. Not a single person's aura shifted and no energy came to or left him.
He stood for a long time it seemed, days for all he knew, just watching. As he watched it seemed some of the ones who were had favorites among those who weren't. They got no less attention from the others but one would always be closest, one would always be running to get drinks or food or whatever, one would also be the ONLY one to ever touch the one who was. And the ones who didn't have favorites? They could only be described as having the time of their lives, like a beautiful woman with so many suitors trying to gain her hand. In fact that is exactly as the boy describes it. But it was men and women with men and women suitors. Finally (though it may have only been seconds) a woman walked up to him followed by her group and started speaking to him. The boy had never felt like this before, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and easily ten years his senior, he felt like he wanted to be with her always, like she wanted to be with him, but at the same time his entire being told the boy that he was stronger then her. And as if she could read his thoughts the woman told him that he was one of the ones who was. The boy learned many things that night, some of which still haunt him but two things fought in his mind as he walked home with a list of e-mails, phone numbers and (probably fake he thought) names. One thing was that those who were, had everything. Whatever they wanted, they never had to work and they never had to strive, they simply had to make their wishes known. And the other thing was that each of the ones who were choose a partner to feed from, and would feed from that man or woman until he (or she) become nothing, simply broken and useless with no hope, will, energy or life left. This could take weeks or it could take years but it always happened and the one who was simply moved on to play with others and choose a new partner. Voluntary slavery. To use another person like that was wrong, it was evil, these people were the monsters they claimed to be and the worst part of it was, they accepted it.
The boy never e-mailed any of the e-mails, never called any of the numbers and never looked up any of the names. He turned his back on them because the chance to live an easy life and learn to harness this "power" was not worth making a slave out of another human being.
I tell you this story because the boy eventually learned to control his moods, control his energy and thus control the energy of the people around him. He began using this knowledge to try and better people instead of letting his own sorrow destroy those he wanted to be close to. Eventually he began bringing out the best in people and people actually wanted to be with him just so they could feel good and they couldn't explain why. Neither could he until even later. He eventually learned about leadership. What he had was not a supernatural power it was simply leadership. By the way he held himself and the energy he carried he could influence others, he was a natural leader but as he learned leadership can be both positive or negative. Negative leaders can cause much more damage then if there was no leader at all but a good leader can make a group of people into an invincible team. The cults were simply people who had become such powerful leaders that they could use that leadership to sway the weak willed into doing anything and then they used that sway for their own gain. Leadership is not a position, rank or political standing. Leadership is the willpower and understanding to influence other people. Leadership comes naturally to some people and must be learned by others. And it is true most people will never reach the kind of leadership to influence 500 people or to make someone dedicate their entire life energy to you, but that does not mean it doesn't exist. Like with all things the levels of leadership are different for every person and if a person has just enough leadership to lead a group of a dozen people to safety and survival, then I'd say that person has just enough leadership to really be worth something: or to cause the deaths of those people, leadership is also a responsibility and one that can ever be taken lightly. Which is also why it needs to be taught and learnt by those who do use it for self-improvement, for enriching lives and ultimately after the fall, for surviving. Instead of being taught by those who would use it to create slaves.
The other research of the boy, the research that led to such a large interest in zombies. He eventually came across enough evidence that he could no longer doubt their existence so combined with zombies represented in society and ow culture and people reflected them, the study of zombies became one of the boy's passions and eventually led to him starting a blog dedicated to them.
Stay vigilant, may you never join a cult, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Uncomfirmed Class 2: York, England
This dig site proves to be a little strange. Eighty dead bodies are found with a "high number" of decapitations. Many of the facts point toward the dead being gladiators: it was during Roman rule of England, one arm was stronger then the other, most of the bodies were male, there were animal sized bite marks, they were buried with honors.
Something just reads off. Possibly that there were no gladiator arenas in England as far as we know. Or that bite marks are simply large, not specifically from an animal. Or that this is the only graveyard of it's kind in York. Or that not all evidence was presented.
If Max Brooks was as accurate about the Romans as he was about the Egyptians, he states zombies were simply a way of life for the Romans. Just another thing to do on a daily check list: "Kill the dead." There are many myths and stories dating back from Rome about vampires, but they are assumed to be vampires, the Roman wording is always "the dead." Could zombies have been put in the arena against normal gladiators? There is one tradition in particular that seems to have been taken quite seriously by the Romans but has since past into myth. The tradition of which way the head was facing when a human sacrifice was made. If the head was facing up when killed the human was to go serve the gods and the body would be consumed by fire with honors. If the head was facing down, the person was being given to the dead and their body would be consumed by the dead. Fancy wording for something more mundane? Or a literal meaning all together?
The details breakdown-
Location: York, England
Time: 4 A.D.
Infected: 80+
Response: Possibly local or military.
Media Coverage: Very little.
My suggestion: It seems like there is little to go off of here but there often is. My main concern is the way the evidence is presented. It is quite clear not everything uncovered in and around the graveyard was given to the public and they really wanted to lead people toward believing it is a gladiator graveyard. I personally believe that's all it is, a gladiator graveyard to which we have not yet discovered the arena. But it does raise questions, including one about how common undead might have been in Rome. A question which demands tribute.
Stay vigilant, may the legions never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.
Something just reads off. Possibly that there were no gladiator arenas in England as far as we know. Or that bite marks are simply large, not specifically from an animal. Or that this is the only graveyard of it's kind in York. Or that not all evidence was presented.
If Max Brooks was as accurate about the Romans as he was about the Egyptians, he states zombies were simply a way of life for the Romans. Just another thing to do on a daily check list: "Kill the dead." There are many myths and stories dating back from Rome about vampires, but they are assumed to be vampires, the Roman wording is always "the dead." Could zombies have been put in the arena against normal gladiators? There is one tradition in particular that seems to have been taken quite seriously by the Romans but has since past into myth. The tradition of which way the head was facing when a human sacrifice was made. If the head was facing up when killed the human was to go serve the gods and the body would be consumed by fire with honors. If the head was facing down, the person was being given to the dead and their body would be consumed by the dead. Fancy wording for something more mundane? Or a literal meaning all together?
The details breakdown-
Location: York, England
Time: 4 A.D.
Infected: 80+
Response: Possibly local or military.
Media Coverage: Very little.
My suggestion: It seems like there is little to go off of here but there often is. My main concern is the way the evidence is presented. It is quite clear not everything uncovered in and around the graveyard was given to the public and they really wanted to lead people toward believing it is a gladiator graveyard. I personally believe that's all it is, a gladiator graveyard to which we have not yet discovered the arena. But it does raise questions, including one about how common undead might have been in Rome. A question which demands tribute.
Stay vigilant, may the legions never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Give them brains
In the last decade there has been an increase in zombie activity. So much so that in the last couple of years zombies have become so much of a craze that everyone wants to sink their teeth in. Right up to having a major TV series based off one of the best books series ever, The Walking Dead.
Where did this sudden increase come from? Why the sudden Class 4 outbreak of undead culture? Well many reasons factor in. For one vampires have been taken about as far as they could go and then ruined for generations to come. The ruining of vampires is an entire article in itself but I will go into it here only to express another reason society has fallen head over heels for zombies. Quite simply vampires were a darkness people are not allowed to tap into. Vampires are former humans who have become monsters, creatures of evil with the power to do and take whatever they want. Vampires offered all the advantages of undead believes and culture combined with an actual desire to become one. This is the vampire's fatal flaw, while the question "werewolf or vampire?" has been one every person has had to answer at one point or another and many have a hard time choosing, the question "zombie or vampire?" is an easy choice. No one wants to BE a zombie. There is no romance in it, no glory, to be one of the mindless horde. The question "zombie or dead?" is one that suits this particular monster much better and why they will not fall into the trap of the vampire. That is the trap of becoming a teenage dream with no flaws. Of course people are playing with the idea of zombies thinking and zombies having memories, things that the zombie community fights against harder then the vampire community fought against vampires sparkling. But zombies have two more very strong advantages in this category, zombies are real, the evidence will always be there to show zombies are not to be love interests and zombies are ugly. While a vampire is a picture of twisted human perfection, a zombie is a picture of the most disgusting thing a human can become. Vampire's flaws are what made them so great, the weaknesses made them tragic and mysterious combined with all the advantages. But once those weaknesses were taken away by the popularity of teen girls, the idea of absolute perfection is a lot less appealing to people than one would first believe. So society can't use the seductive creatures of the night as their undead of choice anymore; another must take it's place.
But why have undead at all? That goes into the fear we all have buried somewhere inside or possibly just resting on our sleeves. The fear of death; more specifically the fear of what comes after death. The undead are something we can really latch onto and stare in the face. It fulfills our natural morbid desires to find some comfort in death, even if that comfort is just knowing what comes next or comparing what comes next to what could happen if we don't pass on! So few choose to become a zombie once bit, the majority would rather die and find some sort of peace then become an abomination. Humans love to think about death in the same way they love to think about God. That is to say some people love thinking about it and other people would rather just be shown something solid and reliable or even just ambiguous and open ended. Thus so many turn to agnostic instead of a religion or atheist. In the same vein people get wrapped into zombies instead of facing finality and some unknown end. Zombies are the physical representation of inevitable death. Slowly but surely it will come for us all. But it can be fought, it can be avoided, it can possibly even be beat!
Zombies also represent something much more rooted in our generation. Zombies represent freedom. Not the freedom previous generations fought for the freedom the current generation does not fight for. Freedom from society. The vast majority of people, even though all logic and knowledge say society is correct and the ways you have been taught are safe and true, something somewhere in the mind wants to be free. Knows that things are not as good as they could be and wants to push back against the corporations and societal norms that demand everyone stays in-line and accepts this is as good as it gets. Zombies represent freedom from society. The freedom to do as you please and only be responsible for the people and things that you choose to be responsible for. Zombies are all the wild west of the future. A Class 4 outbreak would bring about a world where each man's moral compass was his law and his skills and abilities meant more then his cheque book. This sort of anarchy where every family and group has to survive on their own is a world many people secretly desire. To let go of the stress of money and a job is a very common desire and a more politically correct then wishing for the end of the world. Also consider at one point or another everyone has expressed to some extent the desire to just hurt something or the world would be better without certain jerks: the undead are a perfect outlet for this kind of thinking. Not only will most people die off anyway but the lack of law enforcement allows for aggression to be freely taken out on the undead who are, in all fairness, trying to eat you. It also will inevitably lead to bandits and certain unsavory types surviving as well, that instead of putting up with their crimes and physical attacks; survivors will finally be able to fight back and properly protect themselves without fearing consequences from law enforcement or lawyers or the joke that is insurance. Most importantly will be the freedom from money, from having to have a job and a boss, to be able to spend time in whatever manner we choose and to know that every moment of survival is a moment of victory. This is a freedom and a sense of accomplishment everyone wishes to have, and we search for it in escapism, movies, theatre, TV, games, books etc. And few things present this strange desire for freedom by any means necessary -even the end of civilization- as a zombie apocalypse.
Stay in touch, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.
Where did this sudden increase come from? Why the sudden Class 4 outbreak of undead culture? Well many reasons factor in. For one vampires have been taken about as far as they could go and then ruined for generations to come. The ruining of vampires is an entire article in itself but I will go into it here only to express another reason society has fallen head over heels for zombies. Quite simply vampires were a darkness people are not allowed to tap into. Vampires are former humans who have become monsters, creatures of evil with the power to do and take whatever they want. Vampires offered all the advantages of undead believes and culture combined with an actual desire to become one. This is the vampire's fatal flaw, while the question "werewolf or vampire?" has been one every person has had to answer at one point or another and many have a hard time choosing, the question "zombie or vampire?" is an easy choice. No one wants to BE a zombie. There is no romance in it, no glory, to be one of the mindless horde. The question "zombie or dead?" is one that suits this particular monster much better and why they will not fall into the trap of the vampire. That is the trap of becoming a teenage dream with no flaws. Of course people are playing with the idea of zombies thinking and zombies having memories, things that the zombie community fights against harder then the vampire community fought against vampires sparkling. But zombies have two more very strong advantages in this category, zombies are real, the evidence will always be there to show zombies are not to be love interests and zombies are ugly. While a vampire is a picture of twisted human perfection, a zombie is a picture of the most disgusting thing a human can become. Vampire's flaws are what made them so great, the weaknesses made them tragic and mysterious combined with all the advantages. But once those weaknesses were taken away by the popularity of teen girls, the idea of absolute perfection is a lot less appealing to people than one would first believe. So society can't use the seductive creatures of the night as their undead of choice anymore; another must take it's place.
But why have undead at all? That goes into the fear we all have buried somewhere inside or possibly just resting on our sleeves. The fear of death; more specifically the fear of what comes after death. The undead are something we can really latch onto and stare in the face. It fulfills our natural morbid desires to find some comfort in death, even if that comfort is just knowing what comes next or comparing what comes next to what could happen if we don't pass on! So few choose to become a zombie once bit, the majority would rather die and find some sort of peace then become an abomination. Humans love to think about death in the same way they love to think about God. That is to say some people love thinking about it and other people would rather just be shown something solid and reliable or even just ambiguous and open ended. Thus so many turn to agnostic instead of a religion or atheist. In the same vein people get wrapped into zombies instead of facing finality and some unknown end. Zombies are the physical representation of inevitable death. Slowly but surely it will come for us all. But it can be fought, it can be avoided, it can possibly even be beat!
Zombies also represent something much more rooted in our generation. Zombies represent freedom. Not the freedom previous generations fought for the freedom the current generation does not fight for. Freedom from society. The vast majority of people, even though all logic and knowledge say society is correct and the ways you have been taught are safe and true, something somewhere in the mind wants to be free. Knows that things are not as good as they could be and wants to push back against the corporations and societal norms that demand everyone stays in-line and accepts this is as good as it gets. Zombies represent freedom from society. The freedom to do as you please and only be responsible for the people and things that you choose to be responsible for. Zombies are all the wild west of the future. A Class 4 outbreak would bring about a world where each man's moral compass was his law and his skills and abilities meant more then his cheque book. This sort of anarchy where every family and group has to survive on their own is a world many people secretly desire. To let go of the stress of money and a job is a very common desire and a more politically correct then wishing for the end of the world. Also consider at one point or another everyone has expressed to some extent the desire to just hurt something or the world would be better without certain jerks: the undead are a perfect outlet for this kind of thinking. Not only will most people die off anyway but the lack of law enforcement allows for aggression to be freely taken out on the undead who are, in all fairness, trying to eat you. It also will inevitably lead to bandits and certain unsavory types surviving as well, that instead of putting up with their crimes and physical attacks; survivors will finally be able to fight back and properly protect themselves without fearing consequences from law enforcement or lawyers or the joke that is insurance. Most importantly will be the freedom from money, from having to have a job and a boss, to be able to spend time in whatever manner we choose and to know that every moment of survival is a moment of victory. This is a freedom and a sense of accomplishment everyone wishes to have, and we search for it in escapism, movies, theatre, TV, games, books etc. And few things present this strange desire for freedom by any means necessary -even the end of civilization- as a zombie apocalypse.
Stay in touch, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Deadites
Now follow survivors,
Deadites are not zombies. Let's go into more detail, deadites can be a form of zombie. Zombies are a human body being controlled by a highly infectious curse. Some deadites possess human corpses and turn them into zombies but even this is a magical, demonic possession not the result of a virus.
Deadites are demons. They possess human (or other living/once living) entities and control them. Deadites are also capible of a number of strange powers and transfirmations. Deadites can infect the body in any number of demonic, foul ways. The most horrific of which is the first possession in Evil Dead. A deadite is closer to a vampire then to a zombie.
To call a deadite a zombie is like to call an oven a chicken. Just because a deadite can create a zombie does not mean it is a zombie just as an oven is only one of many ways to cook a chicken.
The primary example of deadites is Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series. However deadites can be found in a number of films, -often under the name of zombie.- One such film is the short, "Jesus Saves" by Edmonton film makers Beyond the Darkness and Switchblade Cheeta.
It can be easy for the untrained eye to not see the difference in popular culture between a deadite and a zombie but I will list some of the differences here for you:
Zombies Deadites
-Are only killed by a destroying the brain. -Can be killed by massive
damage from a hero.
-Do not think. -Think of very evil things.
-Spread through infection. -Spread through possesion
(battle of willpower.)
-Can not speak. -Never shut up.
-Have no emotions. -Hate all living things.
-Have no fear. -Are afraid of charismatic people
and chainsaws.
As you can see the differences between zombies and deadites are quite important. Esspecially when asking the all important question for any monster hunter, "How do I kill it?" Zombies are fairly easy to kill one-on-one by destroying the brain. Deadites on the other hand are very hard to give final death to: it requires dealing massive amounts of damage to the deadites' possessed body such as with a chainsaw, shotgun or explosive and having the conviction and willpower to force the creature to stay dead. These however are still not enough to cause final death, the deadite must be mystically destroyed as well, this normally involves reading a passage from the Necronomicon or another Book of the Dead but can be done in other mystical means as well.
I hope that clears much of the confusion betweenthese two types of monsters, one of which is a very real threat and the other simply a tool for entertainment.
Be aware, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.
Deadites are not zombies. Let's go into more detail, deadites can be a form of zombie. Zombies are a human body being controlled by a highly infectious curse. Some deadites possess human corpses and turn them into zombies but even this is a magical, demonic possession not the result of a virus.
Deadites are demons. They possess human (or other living/once living) entities and control them. Deadites are also capible of a number of strange powers and transfirmations. Deadites can infect the body in any number of demonic, foul ways. The most horrific of which is the first possession in Evil Dead. A deadite is closer to a vampire then to a zombie.
To call a deadite a zombie is like to call an oven a chicken. Just because a deadite can create a zombie does not mean it is a zombie just as an oven is only one of many ways to cook a chicken.
The primary example of deadites is Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series. However deadites can be found in a number of films, -often under the name of zombie.- One such film is the short, "Jesus Saves" by Edmonton film makers Beyond the Darkness and Switchblade Cheeta.
It can be easy for the untrained eye to not see the difference in popular culture between a deadite and a zombie but I will list some of the differences here for you:
Zombies Deadites
-Are only killed by a destroying the brain. -Can be killed by massive
damage from a hero.
-Do not think. -Think of very evil things.
-Spread through infection. -Spread through possesion
(battle of willpower.)
-Can not speak. -Never shut up.
-Have no emotions. -Hate all living things.
-Have no fear. -Are afraid of charismatic people
and chainsaws.
As you can see the differences between zombies and deadites are quite important. Esspecially when asking the all important question for any monster hunter, "How do I kill it?" Zombies are fairly easy to kill one-on-one by destroying the brain. Deadites on the other hand are very hard to give final death to: it requires dealing massive amounts of damage to the deadites' possessed body such as with a chainsaw, shotgun or explosive and having the conviction and willpower to force the creature to stay dead. These however are still not enough to cause final death, the deadite must be mystically destroyed as well, this normally involves reading a passage from the Necronomicon or another Book of the Dead but can be done in other mystical means as well.
I hope that clears much of the confusion betweenthese two types of monsters, one of which is a very real threat and the other simply a tool for entertainment.
Be aware, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Zombies in film: Edge of Darkness
"So many zombies to kill. So little time."
Film: Edge of Darkness
Directed by Blaine Cade and Jason Horton
Written by Blaine Cade and Jason Horton
Produced by Zapruter Productions
Story: ... well... you see... it's an anthology... sort of... this movie sucked. There are three stories going on. One about the anti-christ, one about vampires and one about a computer that sucks the life energy out of things. I tried to put some sort of reasoning to this, such as hidden messages about living computers, narrateing each other's lives, things that live off destroying life, it didn't work. Upon reading up on the writer he has admitted the story failed. So if you are looking for any reasoning behind this film just stop it. Nothing ever gets explained or makes sense and there is no set rules to the universe these three stories take place in. The one good thing I can say about this movie is the character attempting to go about their daily lives as if nothing had changed. For many people this will be the only way to coop but it will not help you survive. Priorities must change and daily events must always play second fiddle to safety and zombie removal.
Zombies: The only thing that brings these stories together (besides the narrator having his own completely unrelated story) is there are zombies outside. Now the zombies are... good... they are slow, dumb, killed by destryoing the head. But don't actually play a very important role in the film besides being a deterant to going outside. They don't appear to pose any sort of threat as long as you are inside a building and don't have the anti-christ drawing them to your location.
Survival Lessons:
Warnings: This movie doesn't make sense. You've been warned!
In the end this movie looked good and had potential but turned out to be an experiment and a waste of time. Do yourself a favor and read Walking Dead instead.
Until next time, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate,
Mike D.
Film: Edge of Darkness
Directed by Blaine Cade and Jason Horton
Written by Blaine Cade and Jason Horton
Produced by Zapruter Productions
Story: ... well... you see... it's an anthology... sort of... this movie sucked. There are three stories going on. One about the anti-christ, one about vampires and one about a computer that sucks the life energy out of things. I tried to put some sort of reasoning to this, such as hidden messages about living computers, narrateing each other's lives, things that live off destroying life, it didn't work. Upon reading up on the writer he has admitted the story failed. So if you are looking for any reasoning behind this film just stop it. Nothing ever gets explained or makes sense and there is no set rules to the universe these three stories take place in. The one good thing I can say about this movie is the character attempting to go about their daily lives as if nothing had changed. For many people this will be the only way to coop but it will not help you survive. Priorities must change and daily events must always play second fiddle to safety and zombie removal.
Zombies: The only thing that brings these stories together (besides the narrator having his own completely unrelated story) is there are zombies outside. Now the zombies are... good... they are slow, dumb, killed by destryoing the head. But don't actually play a very important role in the film besides being a deterant to going outside. They don't appear to pose any sort of threat as long as you are inside a building and don't have the anti-christ drawing them to your location.
Survival Lessons:
- Don't do gardening.
- Set traps but always know where your traps are so you and fellow survivors don't get caught.
- If your partner is simply a drain on resources and keepign you an unsafe location: lose him.
Warnings: This movie doesn't make sense. You've been warned!
In the end this movie looked good and had potential but turned out to be an experiment and a waste of time. Do yourself a favor and read Walking Dead instead.
Until next time, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate,
Mike D.
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