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The Zombie Invasion
Apr. 1st, 2009 12:21 pmSo I was thinking about Sean of the Dead1. Now, I have mocked the Zombie-pocalypse in the past as implausible. I admit it. But the more I think about it, the more plausible it seems as a parasitic infection. We already have parasites that can take over the brains of insects and make them do weird things2. They may not technically be undead, but they are in effect dead insects walking, if only for a relatively short time. Granted, insect brains are simpler than human brains and are, therefore, presumably easier to manipulate. But parasites evolve, and it's really only a matter of time before there one of them is sophisticated enough to control the human brain, isn't it?
Favorite typo of the day: Trampa, FL.
1. This began, as these things always do, with a work-related email in which the other person accused himself of beating a dead horse. As I made myself some tea, I wondered when beating a dead horse might actually be productive, which led me to zombie horses, which would probably not be much affected by beating, except that inconvenient bits of them might fall off. Sean of the Dead3 was the next logical step.
2. I have seen other mind-controlling parasites in documentaries. One reduces the ability of a fish to evade predators. But that is not as impressive as the one that affects a particular jungle slug. The parasite lives in the digestive tract of birds and is excreted in its larval stage (I think) in the bird's droppings. These droppings are inadvertently ingested by the slug. As the parasite invades its brain, it begins to climb (slither? what do slugs do?) up a tree. As it moves higher and higher, its antennae swell and pulse in vivid colors, to attract the attention of birds, which eat the slug, completing the parasitic cycle.
3. Sean of the Dead is the only zombie movie I've seen. I do not intend to change that anytime soon.
Favorite typo of the day: Trampa, FL.
1. This began, as these things always do, with a work-related email in which the other person accused himself of beating a dead horse. As I made myself some tea, I wondered when beating a dead horse might actually be productive, which led me to zombie horses, which would probably not be much affected by beating, except that inconvenient bits of them might fall off. Sean of the Dead3 was the next logical step.
2. I have seen other mind-controlling parasites in documentaries. One reduces the ability of a fish to evade predators. But that is not as impressive as the one that affects a particular jungle slug. The parasite lives in the digestive tract of birds and is excreted in its larval stage (I think) in the bird's droppings. These droppings are inadvertently ingested by the slug. As the parasite invades its brain, it begins to climb (slither? what do slugs do?) up a tree. As it moves higher and higher, its antennae swell and pulse in vivid colors, to attract the attention of birds, which eat the slug, completing the parasitic cycle.
3. Sean of the Dead is the only zombie movie I've seen. I do not intend to change that anytime soon.
