tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34430956591445574592024-03-13T03:44:39.760-07:00Real Zombie HuntersDedicated to preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse, and other natural or supernatural disasters coming our way.Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.comBlogger306125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-16876384469354219252014-12-31T16:02:00.000-08:002014-12-31T16:02:07.608-08:00How to Hotwire a CarA couple articles on how to hotwire a car, because, you know, after the Zombie Apocalypse, you might need a car. (<a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Hotwire-a-Car" target="_blank">Article 1</a>, <a href="http://jalopnik.com/5871510/how-to-hotwire-a-car/" target="_blank">Article 2</a>). Unfortunately, these instructions are only for cars up to the mid-1990's or so. Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-18613419786536104532014-12-31T15:55:00.002-08:002014-12-31T15:55:32.520-08:00Hey Babe--You Wanna Go Eat Some Brains?<br />
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<a href="http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/view/83622626/" target="_blank">A gallery of sexy zombies.</a>Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-14976929894187391692014-12-31T15:48:00.000-08:002014-12-31T15:50:04.993-08:00The Science of Zombies<div class="tr_bq">
<img alt="" class="blkBorder img-share" height="704" id="i-c07f67edc2e82f06" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/12/30/2454D04D00000578-0-image-a-58_1419949060780.jpg" width="634" /> <br />
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From <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2865792/The-science-ZOMBIES-Neuroscientists-reveal-anatomy-undead-s-brain-avoid-dinner.html" target="_blank">the Daily Mail</a>:</div>
<blockquote>
<i><br />Zombie fanatics Timothy Verstynen, an assistant professor in the department of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University in in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Bradley Voytek, assistant professor of cognitive science and neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego, summarised characteristic zombie behaviour seen in films, which can be explained by looking at the structure of the brain.</i><br /><i>They have dubbed the condition 'Conscious Deficit Hypoactivity Disorder', or CDHD, which they describe as an acquired syndrome in which infected people lack control over their actions.</i> <i>In films, the undead display symptoms such as lethargic movement, loss of pleasure, language dysfunction, amnesia and the inability to suppress hunger and aggression.<br /><br />‘Zombies often have difficulty recognising familiar people and suffer chronic insomnia that results in a delirious state,’ they write.<br /><br />Undead individuals would also exhibit antisocial behaviour, such as biting and eating people, but they would be friendly to each other and swarm with other infected individuals, according to the scientists’ book, ‘Do zombies dream of undead sheep?’.<br /><br />The neuroscientists have come up with two subtypes of the syndrome – CDHD-1, which affects ‘slow’ zombies with uncoordinated movements and CDHD-2, which is typical of ‘fast’ zombies that have no problem chasing humans in films. <br /><br />This may be because at the moment of death, our circulatory systems stop, starving the brain of oxygen and glucose. <br /><br />In zombie films, they resume at the point of infection - in a limited form - and the brain gets its nutrients by zombies feasting on human flesh.<br /><br />The longer the brain is starved of oxygen, the more extensive the damage to zombies, the neuroscientists say.<br /><br />CDHD-1 zombies can be seen in the TV series, The Walking Dead, while the zombies in Waord War Z are faster and typical of CDHD-2. <br /><br />The brains of both types of zombies would change in different regions, from a combination of decreased activity and altered activity in multiple brain networks.<br /><br />Lesions to the temporal lobe would partly cause zombies to act like they do in films.</i></blockquote>
The scientists go on to warn that because they can't feel pain, it does not good to fight a zombie unless you can quickly kill it. Because zombies have poor concentration, you can avoid them by being quiet or distracting them. Don't try to reason with them--it is useless. It may be possible to mimic them, but don't try to outrun the CDHD-2 types.Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-54440968932765891862014-12-04T20:49:00.002-08:002014-12-04T20:49:47.455-08:00A Review of Rick Grime's Colt Python <img alt="python-final-filtered-4" class="aligncenter wp-image-1785" src="http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/python-final-filtered-4-e1360074294261.jpg" style="max-width: 613px; width: 100%;" /><br />
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<a href="http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/colt-python/" target="_blank">This is from a couple years back, but Lucky Gunner has a nice write-up on the Colt Python, and whether it makes a good zombie killer</a>.Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-42273087545952700342014-12-02T13:24:00.000-08:002014-12-02T13:24:02.251-08:00The Abandoned Forest Park Hospital in St. Louis<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://media.riverfronttimes.com/8175607.87.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2012/09/forest_park_hospital_abandoned_photos.php" target="_blank">Source</a>)</td></tr>
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<i>McGregor peered into the ward, panning his light about the room. Something scuttled away in the false ceiling, and several panels fell with a crash. McGregor aimed his rifle at the dark hole, but there was nothing. He willed his panicked breathing to a normal pattern, then listened intently. No sounds. </i><br />
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<i>Stepping cautiously into the room, McGregor quickly took stock. The beds were disheveled. They smelled moldy, but there was no whiff of animal scent ... or anything else. The cupboards were bare. Everything of use had been taken, or scavenged later. </i><br />
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<i>Grunting his disappointment, McGregor slipped back to the doorway, glanced quickly both ways, before heading toward a sunlit window. "Surely," he thought to himself, "in a place this large, something had been overlooked." </i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://media.riverfronttimes.com/8175594.87.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<a href="http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2012/09/forest_park_hospital_abandoned_photos.php" target="_blank">Source</a>)</td></tr>
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<br />Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-85121531994820736982014-10-26T16:00:00.002-07:002014-10-26T16:01:42.933-07:00A Trio of Zombie Apocalypse Shorts ...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="This Trio Of Short Films Actually Makes The Zombie Apocalypse Look Fun" class="transform-ku-xlarge lazy-loaded js_annotatable-image cursor-crosshair" data-asset-url="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--uHO5KhWB--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/akkcqedjwtm7vvyzh2ea.gif" data-chomp-id="akkcqedjwtm7vvyzh2ea" data-format="gif" src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--uHO5KhWB--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/akkcqedjwtm7vvyzh2ea.gif" height="268" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-height: 268px;" width="636" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: IO9 Magazine</td></tr>
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... at <a href="http://io9.com/this-trio-of-short-films-actually-makes-the-zombie-apoc-1642232227" target="_blank">IO9 Magazine</a>. (Videos at the link). The three shorts are: (1) <i>Shopping in a Zombie Apocalypse</i>; (2) <i>Getting Gas in a Zombie Apocalypse</i>; and (3) <i>A Day at the Office in a Zombie Apocalypse</i>. Until I saw the latter film, I didn't even think of taking the cutting blade off a paper cutter to use as a sword.Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-297568362648710462014-10-26T15:27:00.000-07:002014-10-26T15:27:20.976-07:00"Your complete guide to surviving the zombie apocalypse"An article at <a href="http://theweek.com/article/index/269329/your-complete-guide-to-surviving-the-zombie-apocalypse" target="_blank">The Week</a>.Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-38448075331181083732014-10-26T15:03:00.000-07:002014-10-26T15:11:58.345-07:00A Cabin for the Zombie Apocalypse <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="An Englishman's home is his Zombie Fortification Cabin: For the man who has everything, why not buy a zombie-proof shed for more than £90,000 including installation, weapons storage, an escape hatch, a ten-year anti-zombie guarantee and eco-friendly solar panels?" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/10/26/1414337019355_wps_115_CATERS_Zombie_Shed_02_jpg.jpg" height="479" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Article and more photos at <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2808485/Yours-70-000-ZOMBIE-proof-log-cabin-includes-escape-hatch-360-degree-vantage-point-storage-unit-weapons-happened-holing-shopping-mall.html" target="_blank">the Daily Mail</a>--Designed by <a href="http://www.tigerlogcabins.com/product/zombie-fortification-cabin-zfc-1/" target="_blank">Tiger Log Cabins</a></td></tr>
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Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-21157315278120937612014-10-17T11:20:00.000-07:002014-10-17T11:20:01.802-07:00Bulgaria's Vampire Graveyards<div class="tr_bq">
From <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/15/bulgaria-s-vampire-graveyards.html" target="_blank">the Daily Beast</a>:</div>
<blockquote>
<i>In a 7,000-year-old town in Bulgaria, over 100 graves have been uncovered, revealing skeletons with stakes through their hearts and mutilated bones. Meet the vampires that almost were.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>Vampires may be greeted with swoons today, but in medieval Eastern Europe they were dealt a metal spike through the chest.</i> </blockquote>
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<i>Last week, Bulgarian archaeologists unearthed an unusual 13th-century grave in an ancient city named Thracian.</i> </blockquote>
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<i>The bones are encrusted in dirt, revealing a bowed, partially crushed skull and a round stake emerging from the left side of the skeleton’s chest. The interred is believed to be a middle-aged man, who was incapacitated post-death—cause unknown—by a two-pound iron rod thrust through his heart and the removal of the lower half of his left leg. Both mutilations were meant to stop the man, who villagers believed was a vampire, from returning to haunt the town and prey upon its inhabitants, researchers say.</i></blockquote>
Iron was believed to have special properties against the supernatural. Anyway, read the whole thing.Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-24861871283464936452014-09-18T12:24:00.002-07:002014-09-18T12:24:39.662-07:00Final Score: Zombies 7, Humans 0<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Auction: In March, the owners of the stadium announced they were auctioning off pieces of the stadium - before essentially abandoning it" height="424" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/05/19/article-0-1DF073FA00000578-129_964x640.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detroit Silverdome (Source:<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2632358/What-symbolized-citys-success-monument-failure-Eerie-photos-Michigans-abandoned-Superdome-reveal-dire-straits-failed-economy.html" target="_blank"> the Daily Mail</a>)</td></tr>
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Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-49434799312492593212014-09-18T12:21:00.003-07:002014-09-18T12:21:49.399-07:00Graveyard of Boats and Ships<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Haunting: Photographs have revealed the eerie scenes at Arthur Kill Ship Graveyard in Rossville, Staten Island - just an hour south of Manhattan" height="428" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/09/18/1411035002516_wps_22_MANDATORY_BYLINE_PIC_BY_G.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Source: <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2760564/Eerie-photographs-New-York-s-secret-graveyard-warships-ferries-languish-just-miles-Manhattan.html" target="_blank">Daily Mail</a>)</td></tr>
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A graveyard of ships and boats near Manhattan. After the zombie apocalypse, what else could you find?Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-7296743065289740602014-02-10T17:10:00.000-08:002014-02-10T17:10:11.181-08:00How to Survive Falling Through the IceIt is winter. You are panting with fatigue because for the past 30 minutes you have been running and walking to get away from a band of zombies. The zombies have been moving slowly in the cold, but so have you because the snow comes nearly to your knees. You come to the edge of a clearing. Normally you would skirt around the edges, but that would take time. You decide to risk a straight path across. A hundred feet from the edge of the woods, and you hear a large "crack". As you plunge through the ice, you realize it was not a clearing, but a frozen lake. What do you do?<br />
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<a href="http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/02/07/how-to-survive-falling-through-the-ice-an-illustrated-guide/" target="_blank">The Art of Manliness</a> has an infographic on surviving a fall through the ice, and some additional advice. Check it out at the link.<br />
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<img alt="Fall Through Ice 2" height="240" src="http://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads//2014/02/Fall-Through-Ice-2.jpg" width="320" />Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-2376718409193979582014-01-08T20:52:00.002-08:002014-01-08T20:52:41.922-08:00Zombie Ants<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>According to Live Science, experts are still baffled as to how a fungus called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis can take command of an ant's brain, turning it into one of the walking dead and guiding it to the perfect spot to spread more spores... which it does by exploding out of the ant's body.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i> A 2009 study published in American Naturalist revealed that the ants, once infected by the fungus, will journey precisely toward certain plants near the forest floor – a location where the conditions are best for the fungus to reproduce – and even latch onto the leaves just before dying, in order to provide a secure spot for the fungus to spread. This is all happening while the fungus is busy digesting the ant from the inside out.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.fearnet.com/news/news-article/mind-controlling-spores-turn-ants-zombies" target="_blank">(Source)</a>Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-91065774724658626022014-01-08T20:49:00.003-08:002014-01-08T20:49:49.616-08:00"Play Dead"T<a href="http://www.horror-movies.ca/play-dead-dogs-vs-zombies-horror-short/" target="_blank">his sounds like it would be a great little horror short movie ... dogs vs. zombies and all of that</a> ... if only I could get it to run on my system. Well, better luck to you.Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-64252950693409808452014-01-08T20:42:00.001-08:002014-01-08T20:42:28.112-08:00"The most comprehensive zombie classification chart we've ever seen"<a href="http://io9.com/the-most-comprehensive-zombie-classification-chart-wev-1497189190" target="_blank">io9 has a chart by Jason Thompson showing the taxonomy of more than 350 types of zombies</a>.<br />
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<img alt="The most comprehensive zombie classification chart we've ever seen" height="225" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/19bxc6gq34w1vjpg/ku-xlarge.jpg" width="400" />Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-75926549143334737602013-12-26T11:46:00.001-08:002013-12-26T11:46:26.414-08:00Why Fast Zombies and Slow Zombies?<div class="tr_bq">
Much of zombie behavior is going to be determined by how "fresh" their victim is, and the damage to the victim. A newly zombified human will still have major organs and neurons intact, allowing the zombie parasite to move and react as a normal human. However, as the bodily systems begin to break down, quick movement can become more difficult.</div>
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One of the first systems to begin to break down are those highly dependent on an intact neurological system, such as sight and balance. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equilibrioception" target="_blank">This Wikipedia</a> article explains the fundamentals as well as any article:<br />
<blockquote>
<i><br />Balance is the result of a number of body systems working together: the eyes (visual system), ears (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibular_system">vestibular system</a>) and the body's sense of where it is in space (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception">proprioception</a>) ideally need to be intact. The vestibular system, the region of the inner ear where three semicircular canals converge, works with the visual system to keep objects in focus when the head is moving. This is called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibulo-ocular_reflex">vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR)</a>. The balance system works with the visual and skeletal systems (the muscles and joints and their sensors) to maintain orientation or balance. Visual signals sent to the brain about the body's position in relation to its surroundings are processed by the brain and compared to information from the vestibular, visual and skeletal systems.</i></blockquote>
From my research, the vestibulo-ocular reflex actually begins to break down quickly. Although the exact progression varies, eyes seem to degenerate fairly quickly in a new zombie. One of the results of this is the well-known tendency of zombies to begin relying heavily on sound and smell over eye-sight. However, as it impacts their ability to balance the body, a zombie's movements also slow and become more herky-jerky as it corrects and over-corrects in an attempt to keep the body upright. A zombie that has started to decay will often fall over if it attempts to run for any distance, although some compensate by scooting along on all fours. There are even accounts of zombies scuttling around in a "crab-race" position. As its condition deteriorates further, the zombie may be forced to crawling or pulling itself along the ground.<br />
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As greater and greater decay creeps in, balanced movement becomes more difficult for the zombie. At this stage, the zombie will often become inactive waiting to suddenly lunge at prey. This not only conserves energy, but keeps the zombie from damaging itself or warning off prey due to its more poorly coordinated movements. Zombies in late stages are easily outrun, provided you can avoid the initial and sudden attack.<br />
<br />Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-34917819688374997302013-12-26T11:29:00.000-08:002013-12-26T11:29:11.279-08:00Carnivorous Fish Attack Swimmers in Argentina<div class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25522354" target="_blank">BBC News</a> reports:</div>
<blockquote>
<i>A school of carnivorous fish related to the piranha has attacked bathers in an Argentine river, injuring about 70. <br /><br />Thousands of bathers were cooling off in the Parana River in Rosario, 300km (186 miles) north of Buenos Aires, on Christmas Day when the attack happened. <br /><br />Officials blamed the attack on the palometa fish, describing the event as "exceptional". <br /><br />Paramedics said dozens of people had their extremities attacked and some had lost digits.</i></blockquote>
Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-75449609486509669562013-07-19T21:41:00.001-07:002013-07-19T21:41:09.450-07:00Voodoo Zombies<div class="tr_bq">
From <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles/travel/regional/20130715-10-things-we-learned-about-zombies-from-a-new-orleans-voodoo-expert.ece" target="_blank">the Dallas Morning News</a>:</div>
<blockquote>
<i><br />1. The word zombie comes from the Congo, where in local folklore Nzambi is the great spirit. Known as Li Grand Zombi in New Orleans, Gandolfo said, the great spirit is symbolized by the snake.</i></blockquote>
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<blockquote>
<i>2. In voodoo lore, your body houses a petit angel and a grand angel. When you die, the grand angel goes to heaven. The petit angel hangs out in your body for three days or until you’ve finished rotting. If anything happens to the petit angel before your time’s up, you might turn into a zombie. This is why, in Haiti, people might sit on a loved one’s grave for three days.</i></blockquote>
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<blockquote>
<i>3. Getting from the petit angel stage to the zombie stage requires the work of a magician or witch doctor to intercede with spirits. Gandolfo said spirits are all inherently benign, “but they’re easily manipulated.” Ghede, the spirit that deals with zombies, “is an alcoholic. He can be had for a fifth of rum.”</i></blockquote>
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<blockquote>
<i>You can bribe Ghede to steal the spirit from a not-fully-decayed corpse and thus reanimate the corpse. Alternatively, the spirit can be kept in a jar for future use.<br />Ghede is a sort of gatekeeper of the cemetery and is often portrayed, on voodoo altars, as wearing the top hat of an undertaker and sunglasses with one lens missing, symbolizing that he has dominion over both things seen and unseen.</i></blockquote>
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<blockquote>
<i>4. In Haitian folklore, becoming a zombie is a fate far worse than death, because zombies are considered eternal slaves, raised from the dead to work in the fields.</i></blockquote>
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<blockquote>
<i>5. A real zombie’s feet never touch the ground. He or she is not earthbound. That’s why they always wear long dresses and pants that drag the ground.</i></blockquote>
And the way to get rid of a zombie is to feed them salt, or throw salt on them. Zombies are also reportedly afraid of frogs.Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-72400580127618475612013-07-19T21:37:00.002-07:002013-07-19T21:37:31.097-07:00Teach Them When They Are Young....<a href="http://www.fearnet.com/news/news-article/nerf-launches-line-zombie-hunting-toys" target="_blank">Nerf is releasing a line of Nerf "zombie killing" toys</a>.Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-18182481632596510512013-07-19T21:35:00.003-07:002013-07-19T21:35:27.199-07:00Corpus Christi Zombie "Beauty" Pageant July 20, 2013<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><br />The inaugural Corpus Christi Zombie Pageant promises an eyeful of gore and gorgeousness on Saturday night.<br /></i><i>Beginning at 8 p.m. at Sparrow’s Landing, grab a drink and some grub and root for your favorite Zombie Pageant Queen candidate as a lineup of more than 20 ladies present themselves in zombie attire and attitude.</i><i><br /></i><i>The event is free to watch and all ages are welcome.</i><i><br /><br /></i><i>“There are two different categories for the judges to choose from plus an interview at the end,” said Corpus Christi Zombie Walk and Zombie Pageant organizer Dean Fritsch. “The first category will be based on the zombie outfit and the second category will be a swimsuit challenge. The judges will base their decisions on creativity, realism, bite appeal, and costume and the winner will be featured on the cover of the CC Zombie Walk calendar.”</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://entertainment.caller.com/?p=13219" target="_blank">Full story</a>.Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-11957933131626095872013-07-19T21:25:00.001-07:002013-07-19T21:25:06.874-07:00Archeologists in Poland Discover Vampire Graves<div class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/poland/10174137/Polish-archaeologists-unearth-vampire-grave.html" target="_blank">The Telegraph</a> reports:</div>
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<i><br />Skeletons were found with their heads removed and placed on their legs indicating they had been subjected to an execution ritual designed to ensure the dead stayed dead.</i></blockquote>
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<i>Anybody accused of being a vampire in the distant past faced a grim fate.</i></blockquote>
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<i>Sometimes they would be decapitated, while another punishment involved hanging from a gibbet until decomposition resulted in the head separating from the body. In both cases the head was then laid on the legs of the victim in the hope that an inability to locate their head would hinder the progress of those intent on rising from the grave.</i></blockquote>
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<i>Historians say that the practice was common in the Slavic lands during the decades following the adoption of Christianity by pagan tribes.</i></blockquote>
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Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-75116572563146729442012-12-29T23:51:00.001-08:002012-12-29T23:51:02.200-08:00Best I-Phone Zombie GamesList of the top 5 <a href="http://www.appolicious.com/curated-apps/7896-best-iphone-zombie-games-2012" target="_blank">here</a>, as selected by "CubeSilence."Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-9072866036149574942012-12-29T23:48:00.001-08:002012-12-29T23:48:57.624-08:00Britain Reveals Its Zombie Apocalypse PlansFrom<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/9721072/Britain-is-well-prepared-to-fight-apocalyptic-zombie-invasion.html" target="_blank"> the Telegraph</a>:<br />
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<i>In the event of an apocalypse brought about by an army of the undead, civil servants would co-ordinate the military's efforts to "return England to its pre-attack glory", according to a Freedom of Information request that has revealed the country's contingency plans.</i></blockquote>
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<i>The MoD would not lead efforts to plan for such a zombie attack or deal with the aftermath because that role rests with the Cabinet Office, which co-ordinates emergency planning for the Government.</i></blockquote>
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<i>Details about the authorities' surprising level of readiness for a zombie onslaught emerged in a response to an inquiry from a member of the public.</i></blockquote>
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<i>The MoD replied: "In the event of an apocalyptic incident (eg zombies), any plans to rebuild and return England to its pre-attack glory would be led by the Cabinet Office, and thus any pre-planning activity would also taken place there.</i></blockquote>
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<i>"The Ministry of Defence's role in any such event would be to provide military support to the civil authorities, not take the lead. Consequently, the Ministry of Defence holds no information on this matter."</i></blockquote>
<br />Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-21687982271354807702012-12-29T23:42:00.000-08:002012-12-29T23:42:10.621-08:00Mountains of MadnessFrom <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/12/antarctic-gothic-horror/all/" target="_blank">Wired Magazine</a>:<br />
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<i>What might lurk beneath Antarctica’s 5 million square miles of ice was the subject of speculation by sci-fi writers in the 1930s. One of the icy products this subgenre of Antarctic Gothic horror spawned is HP Lovecraft’s novella, At the Mountains of Madness, in which scientists drill beneath Antarctica’s ice — only to discover horrid things preserved there. Now, scientists are finally enacting Lovecraft’s scenario: Over the next several weeks they are drilling into three subglacial lakes hidden beneath thousands of feet of ice in Antarctica.</i></blockquote>
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<i>What they will find as they sample the lakes and send cameras into their bellies remains to be seen. But one thing is already clear: Lovecraft was actually right about far more than his readers could have realized.</i></blockquote>
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<i>In Lovecraft’s story, a team of researchers from Miskatonic University flies into an unexplored region of Antarctica and bores through the ice. They discover fossil dinosaur bones with disturbing puncture and hacking wounds that cannot be attributed to any predators known to science. Soon after, they uncover the source of some of those wounds: fossils of a leathery-skinned beast with a “five-ridged barrel torso … around the equator, one at [the] central apex of each of the five vertical, stave-like ridges are five … flexible arms or tentacles.” The beast’s body is topped by a “five-pointed starfish-shaped” head.</i></blockquote>
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<i>The fossils aren’t quite dead.</i></blockquote>
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<i>As they thaw in the sun, the beasts reawaken. They slaughter 12 members of the expedition, carefully dissecting one of them and carting away another as a brown-bag lunch.</i></blockquote>
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<i>Two surviving members of the expedition find an ancient city entombed in the Antarctic ice sheet which once belonged to the beasts. There, they discover a disturbing truth: This race of five-armed Elder Ones had arrived from space over 600 million years ago. They spawned all life on Earth, including that destined to evolve into humans … in order to provide a source of food.</i></blockquote>
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<i>... Not all of the deep-time holdovers are dead, though. Antarctica’s cold coastal waters preserve an ecosystem like no other Earth. Scientists call it Paleozoic, reminiscent of between 250 and 540 million years ago. It is dominated by echinoderms, the ancient phylum of animals including starfish, sea urchins, sand dollars, and lily-armed crinoids, whose bodies have five-fold symmetry — which brings us back to Lovecraft’s race of five-tentacled Elder Ones mummified beneath the ice.</i></blockquote>
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<i>“They sound like echinoderms to me,” said Richard Aronson, a veteran Antarctic marine biologist at Florida Institute of Technology. “Hilarious.”</i></blockquote>
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<i>Lovecraft points out that his Elder Ones inhabited the deep sea before emerging onto land. He goes to great lengths to describe the holes at the top of their heads, analogous to the water circulation pores in starfish. The author may have been more correct than he ever knew.</i></blockquote>
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<i>... A combination of ice-penetrating radar, seismic sensing, and laser altimetry has revealed well over 100 subglacial lakes hidden beneath Antarctic’s ice. Between now and the end of January, teams from the United States, Russia, and Britain are drilling into three of them.</i></blockquote>
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<i>The British team is preparing to drill into Lake Ellsworth, which sits beneath 10,000 feet of ice and has not seen the light of day for millions of years. (Update: The British team has ceased drilling this season due to technical issues.)</i></blockquote>
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<i>This week, a convoy of tractors will depart from the American-run base McMurdo Station. Those 13 tractors, towing 24 massive sleds of equipment and fuel exceeding half a million pounds, will cross 600 miles of ice before stopping at a nondescript spot 370 miles from the South Pole. There, almost in sight of Lovecraft’s “mountains of madness,” beneath 2,500 feet of ice, sits Lake Whillans, which has not seen daylight for 500,000 to a million years. Two kerosene-fueled generators, totaling nearly half a megawatt, will power a hot-water drill. Once activated in mid-January, that drill could bore an 18-inch-diameter hole into the lake within as little as one day.</i></blockquote>
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<i>At the same time, the Russians are drilling just above Lake Vostok, which sits under 12,350 feet of ice and has remained isolated from the outside world for up to 30 million years. The drillers at Vostok will extract fresh bits of ice, frozen lake water that gushed into the bottom of the borehole when the lake was first punctured last February.</i></blockquote>
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<i>The light that these explorations shed on Antarctica’s sunless waters will drive the monsters further underground.</i></blockquote>
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<i>The subglacial lakes will probably be found to harbor microbes, but not much more. Finding those organisms will reveal plenty about life’s limits, particularly, about the ability of ecosystems to survive in places with minimal nutrients and without sunlight as an energy source. This will provide clues to what life, if any, could survive in liquid oceans that lurk beneath many miles of ice in other parts of the solar system, on Jupiter’s moon Europa or Saturn’s moon Enceladus.</i></blockquote>
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<i>The teams are sterilizing drill equipment to avoid contaminating the pristine subglacial ecosystems, using a combination of ultraviolet light, hydrogen peroxide, and water filtration. But their work is still bound to have impacts on the ecosystem of fictitious monsters.</i></blockquote>
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<i>Aspiring sci-fi horror writers needn’t necessarily forsake Antarctica altogether, says Reed Scherer, a paleontologist from Northern Illinois University, who is part of the team drilling into Lake Whillans. But monsters capable of ripping heads off or chasing down frightened geologists as they flee on snowmobiles will require more carefully though-out habitats. That kind of stuff requires a speedy metabolism. “In order for something to have a high enough metabolic rate that it would be scary to us, it would have to have heat,” says Scherer. Volcanoes sealed under the ice sheet could provide one possible niche, he says. “There’s lots of water and a heat source for things to have a high metabolic rate.” Aerial surveys of irregularities in the Earth’s gravitational and magnetic fields have revealed a handful of possible volcanoes beneath the ice of West Antarctica.</i></blockquote>
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<i>Monsters of the Lovecraft variety — the kind that will butcher a tenured university professor and take him along as camping provisions — might also find credible habitats on Europa or Enceladus, at least until space probes can disprove their existence.</i></blockquote>
Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3443095659144557459.post-27219820770549243592012-12-23T15:59:00.001-08:002012-12-23T15:59:14.925-08:00Could A Zombie Apocalypse Happen?Decoded Science looks at whether there is a scientific basis on which a zombie apocalypse could occur. One possibility they look at is the toxoplasmosis parasite, which is known to cause rats to lose their aversion to cats' odor. <a href="http://www.decodedscience.com/world-war-z-real-zombies/21601/2" target="_blank">The story indicates</a>:<br />
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<i>Doctors Torrey and Yolken found that an acute infection of toxoplasmosis results in personality changes similar to those seen in people with schizophrenia. Toxoplasmosis likes brain tissue and has the capacity for long-term infection, which can start early in life. How one person reacts to an infection of toxoplasmosis depends on a variety of factors, including genetic predisposition, the person’s immune system, virulence (the capacity to cause disease) of the strain, and the part of the brain that it infects. We humans can become infected with toxoplasmosis by eating under-cooked meat or coming in contact with cat feces – studies have shown that people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were more likely to have had a cat in childhood.</i></blockquote>
Real Zombie Huntershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05828588026091186711noreply@blogger.com0