Vodstok
03-17-2014, 03:41 PM
Back in 2010, I wrote this (http://www.cracked.com/article_18683_7-scientific-reasons-zombie-outbreak-would-fail-quickly.html). Full disclosure, at the time I had not read any Max Brooks, I still didn;t consider the Infected from 28 Days/Weeks Later zombies, and considered (as I still do) Romero's '78 Dawn Of The Dead original the quintessential zombie movie. With that in mind, I wrote that article when someone else pitched the idea, Cracked was all set to pay the guy to write it, then he disappeared. The article idea became up for grabs after a few weeks, and I threw my hat in with about 10 other people competing for the chance to write it.
The editors liked mine best (and it didn't hurt that I was one of their more prolific freelancers at the time) so I got to write it. It's been read over 19 million times and to this day, people are leaving 1000+ word counter-points in the comments because my article shit all over their end of the world fantasy (including the dude who runs the Zombie Research Society, the same guy who shows up on the Talking Dead giving survival tips).
Now, keep in mind, I based my idea of a zombie on the walking corpse presented in Romero's movies, which don't touch most of the points I make in it. I didn't know at the time that Max Brooks had basically Deus Ex Machinaed most of them already, and while I love his books, my science is better. SO, I wanted to open the floor for discussion because I figure here I can get some good natured, intelligent back and forth not the angry foaming rants of mouth breathing internet commentors.
The editors liked mine best (and it didn't hurt that I was one of their more prolific freelancers at the time) so I got to write it. It's been read over 19 million times and to this day, people are leaving 1000+ word counter-points in the comments because my article shit all over their end of the world fantasy (including the dude who runs the Zombie Research Society, the same guy who shows up on the Talking Dead giving survival tips).
Now, keep in mind, I based my idea of a zombie on the walking corpse presented in Romero's movies, which don't touch most of the points I make in it. I didn't know at the time that Max Brooks had basically Deus Ex Machinaed most of them already, and while I love his books, my science is better. SO, I wanted to open the floor for discussion because I figure here I can get some good natured, intelligent back and forth not the angry foaming rants of mouth breathing internet commentors.