zombie awareness

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Sanger on March 10, 2011 at 8:33pm

my idea would be for them to know of zombies but have misguided information. Who believes hollywood anyway?

Permalink Reply by amanda on March 10, 2011 at 8:45pm

I completely agree...have u ever seen the billy zane movie "the mad"? There's a scene where they briefly discuss the topic..it's pretty funny

Permalink Reply by AJ on March 11, 2011 at 12:42pm

First off, glad to see someone new here. ^^ Wish I had more friends like you. haha Anyway, I think that in the modern society, everyone and their mom has seen some zombie film, be it the original Dawn of the Dead from 1976 (or was it in the 80's?) or the remake in 2004. Of course, while your characters may have seen something and believe Hollywood on the subject of zombies, you don't have to follow the rules. The greatest thing about writing is that there's always a new venue to explore. Keep in mind that your zombies don't have to be walking, moaning undead that eat brains and they don't have to be the new sprinting, yelling ones that just seem to tear people to pieces. Merely an idea from a fellow writer. I'm practically new here, too, in case that helps. haha Good luck with your novel! :)

Permalink Reply by amanda on March 12, 2011 at 12:36pm

Yeah i never really thought of that before. I think it's definitely a great way to make a zombie story original. It's a little hard to come up with a whole new idea of zombie when I'm so used to what I've seen over the years. I personally love the walking dawn of the dead zombies best...and it was '78 btw haha...it's fun to brainstorm and read other people's opinions on the topic tho. Another thing i like to think about is how the zombie outbreak started. It's always some contamination or other gov't mishap

Permalink Reply by AJ on March 13, 2011 at 2:54pm

I totally agree with you. These days every movie has those sprinting guys and I'm sitting there like, "Why are they running?" I wish there was at least a good explanation if they are going to have them being so fast. Instead, the back story just seems to take a back seat to gratuitous violence. haha Thanks for the correction. ^^ I also agree with you there. I mean, one of the worst movies I ever saw in the zombie genre actually had one of the most original ideas: A meteor hit the Earth and the debris in atmo contaminated everybody with this infectious worm thing and alcohol actually proved to be the method of saving the human race. So, feel free to be as out of the box as you want. And by the way, you have no idea how nice it is to be talking to a fellow writer. :)

Permalink Reply by Claire on March 29, 2011 at 2:40pm

Hi guys..  Refreshing group glad i came across it.

 

I'm not that new here, but i've been away for a almost a year.. glad to be back.  I've been writing a zombie novel of my own but i've paused due to other commitments at the moment.  I'll get back to it soon, it's good to have a break from it and let the mind relax. 

 

Your question about whether folks in the story should be aware or not is an excellent one and one i've thought about a lot in attempting to write my own stories.  The advice already given is also very good, be creative and out of the box and as long as the idea is consistent through out the story it won't matter.  

 

1 idea in this regard perhaps is to split the awareness to a realistic or nearly realistic level..  for example you could have certain characters at the beginning of a story mentioning their theory on zombies at the first signs of trouble with other characters thinking their insane.  You could also have a split between generations perhaps the older generations being in denial about such possibilities. 

your question on reasons for the Apocalypse lol also worthy of contemplation.  As you quite rightly say, most zombie flicks use the virus concept or ignore the initial outbreak cause altogether choosing to go straight into the chaos...  I saw something recently online, a video about a zombie catapillar. and another with zombie ants...  http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/mar/02/fungi-zombie-ants-amazon  check it out... it's not a virus in this case but a fungus.. a parasitic fungus which causes the ant to become a "zombie slave" to the virus.  The idea of a parasite is pretty much the worm thing but in this case it kindda mixes up virus and parasite i think.

 

I can't wait for Walking Dead season 2 to start already!!  It's full of new ideas and revamped old ideas.. kindda like a Pimp my zombie idea lol...

 

Enjoy your writting guys...

 

take care 

Permalink Reply by amanda on November 23, 2011 at 11:51pm

Hey, I haven't been on here in forever and I really enjoyed re-reading everyone's comments. Unfortunately, I got stuck on my zombie story and stopped writing it, which is a little depressing. But, lately, I've been having all these other short story ideas for a sort of 'zombie anthology' book.
Claire--that article on the zombie ants was really interesting and cool. How are things with your zombie book?
I will eventually try to go back to my initial zombie story but in the meantime, I've started a horror blog to keep my writing going. It's mandysmorgueofhorror.blogspot.com. check it out if you're interested&let me know what you think. Thanks :)

Permalink Reply by amanda on November 23, 2011 at 11:53pm

Ps--im obsessed witg twd too! Darryl is quickly becoming my fav!

Permalink Reply by AJ on November 24, 2011 at 12:25am

I've been there with the stuck-ness. haha If brainstorming would help, I'd be glad to. :) Wouldn't have to be on here, since I know how I'd feel about discussing my novel in a public forum. It's my baby.

 

I read your blog so far and very much enjoyed it. Well-written, with your own personal edge on it. Good luck with your dream. ^^

 

Norman Reedus definitely is one great character, though I still love Rick. haha

 

@Claire: Hope your writing is going well.

Permalink Reply by amanda on November 25, 2011 at 9:04am

Thank you! There's still a lot of work that needs to he done on it so it isn't perfect. I want to do all this stuff with the layout but I don't know how yet!
i love rick too! And where the hell is sophia?! I mean c'mon, her disappearance is getting to be ridiculous!

Permalink Reply by AJ on November 27, 2011 at 12:40pm

Well, it looks really good so far. :) And for sure, they need to wrap that subplot up.