Zombie knowledge

[hoffmeister]

This is one of the greatest thing on itunes U. No wait, its one of the best things on Internet. http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/zombies-the-living-dead-in/id394644389

[kallefs]

Zoombies

[fredrikw]

Is this some kind of sneak advertisement for your course or what? You know we're running a zero tolerance against spammers here.

[beforewisdom]

I never cared for the zombie genre.

Then I started watching the new series "The Walking Dead". Better than excellent. To be fair, I think the series is excellent because the acting, writing and stories are excellent. It is also excellent because while the special effects are good, the zombies are not the star of the show. The focus of the show is a (good) soap opera about how the characters handle the stress of being survivors in a dangerous post-apocalyptic world and how the different characters interact with each other.

Most American post-post-apocalyptic movies usually involve white middle class Americans, typically being set in New York or LA. Interestingly, "The Walking Dead" is set in Atlanta. The characters are southern, some very modern, some very red neck. The characters are from a mixture of races and backgrounds making the survival drama more interesting.

[Johnboy74]

I watched "The Walking Dead" and if I turned my brain off I enjoyed it, but If I turned on my brain all I could think was why don't they hold up somewhere for a few months and they would be safe. Zombies are reanimated dead bodies with minimal brain functions, their still flesh and bone. Flesh decomposes when dead, eventually zombies would become merely bones, rendering them unable to perform any kind of movement, nevermind the brain also decomposing. Walking skeletons just can't happen... Sorry that's my rant....

[beforewisdom]

With what gas and what food? Where would be safe given that a large chunk of the population turned into corpses? That is one thing I like about this show is that they don't assume unlimited resources with other people being gone as with similar post apocalyptic stories. If there was a panic during a deadly plague people would snatch up the guns, gas and food.

I do see your point.

The series by its nature is going to run into problems with suspension of disbelief given that it isn't taking the occult angle and seems to have a very secular feel to it. In the day to day secular world, where the zombies are just people who died for a few hours and who are still subject to natural laws, they aren't that frightening. They need water and food and all the other things people need which they would die of in a few weeks of not getting.

But it is a zombie show, debating the credibility is a bit silly to being with. You just accept that the zombies are there.

[hoffmeister]

According to Max Brooks Zombie Survival Guide something in the virus slows down the decomposition time tp 3-5 years (depending on the climate).

[beforewisdom]

Is that book associated with the comic book "The Walking Dead"?

Meh, even a virus that slows down decomposition is not that believable and even if it was, reanimated corpses would still need water and food they do not have.

The best bet for suspension of disbelief for "The Walking Dead" would have been to stick with a virus that restarts vital signs after a person has been dead for a few hours and have the the dead subject to the same natural laws. Not being able to survive past a certain amount of decomposition, without water, without food and without shelter.

The series could easily take place in the time span of the weeks and months for the a dearth of supplies and other things to kill the zombies off.