[haunted_andrew]

Okay, I've recently read the "worst case senerio" style book entitled: "The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead", inwhich is mentioned a supposedly "real" virus calle "Solanum", which attacks the brain of a living human, and trough it's reproducive cycle converts the brain into an organ capable of controlling, though not dependant on the host body. All bodily functions cease, the subject dies and then reanimates... In essance, a true undead zombie. While the text has to be taken with a grain of salt, (I'm not one who believes the undead-apocalyspe is right around th corner and that real zombies are walking the Earth as we speak) but it brings up a few good questions... The most important of which being:
1. Is there really a virus of this nature?
If you Google the word "Solanum" you get around 2 millionn results regarding the genus of food plants that include tomatoes, potatos, and eggplants...
However, add the word "zombie" to the search and you get about 1700 results, most of which rerference this book in some way.

Like I said, I don't think zombies are real (true undead, not voodoo zombies), and tend to believe that this is only a hypotheitcal virus.
What does everyone else think?

This post has been edited by haunted_andrew: 12 December 2005 - 06:10 PM

[BurnSide]

I'm sorry to break this to you Andrew, but umm... The Zombie Survival Guide is a book written by Saturday Night Live regular Max Brooks. Comedian, all round funny guy.

It was written as a joke, for joke purposes. It is 100% a work of fiction, and nothing in it is real. The stories in it are not real. The virus is not real.
Brooks has mentioned a few times how much of a kick he gets when he hears about people taking it seriously. I would too.




To salvage your topic, we can take it out of the book context and into the realm of reality a small way. Viral weaponry and dabbling in such things is on the rise and certainly not a new concept. Now re-animating and making invinsible a dead lifeless corpse is completely absolutely outside the boundaries of reality and law and exists only in fiction. But, could there be a virus which in some way shuts of most brain function in a living host, creating a sort of living death ala zombie voodoo in Haiti? It's plausable at the very least. Think Rage in 28 Days Later.

[gothikchile13]

Man, you had me going up until you mentioned the zombie Survival Guide. Though, I do wonder about the virus, must be a load of crap, though.

--Jon

[Tillghast]

Quote

I'm sorry to break this to you Andrew, but umm... The Zombie Survival Guide is a book written by Saturday Night Live regular Max Brooks. Comedian, all round funny guy.

It was written as a joke, for joke purposes. It is 100% a work of fiction, and nothing in it is real. The stories in it are not real. The virus is not real.
Brooks has mentioned a few times how much of a kick he gets when he hears about people taking it seriously. I would too.
To salvage your topic, we can take it out of the book context and into the realm of reality a small way. Viral weaponry and dabbling in such things is on the rise and certainly not a new concept. Now re-animating and making invinsible a dead lifeless corpse is completely absolutely outside the boundaries of reality and law and exists only in fiction. But, could there be a virus which in some way shuts of most brain function in a living host, creating a sort of living death ala zombie voodoo in Haiti? It's plausable at the very least. Think Rage in 28 Days Later.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I wanted to say that!

[BurnSide]

Well you're 5 hours late.

[Tillghast]

Oh yea....I had school!

[Neo2005]

Definatly a good book but BS is right of course about anything and everything zombie.

[Tillghast]

Yes an awesome book at that.

[BurnSide]

It's just what i do.

[kourui]

i can't imagine living in that scenario(28 days later)

[mixxingmark]

I love that book but seriously, just reading will tell you that it's just for laughs. It's a good reference though for anyone writing any zombie fiction, i think that book gives a good representation of what a "true" zombie is...if such thing existed...which it doesn't.

sorry...i love zombies.

[vertigoflow]

Solanum is a member of the potyvirus group and is known to infect plants. I believe Solanum targets potatos specifically.

So, unless a zombie french-fry shambles up to you and tries to eat your brain I don't think you have to worry about it.

I was looking at that book one day, and added it to my xmas list (I love zombies too, lol). I thought it was pretty obvious it was intended to be humourous; but there was a listing of zombie attacks throughout history. Does anyone know if they were based on anything; or did the author just pull them from his behind?

[BurnSide]

He just pulled them from his behind.

I think it would be pretty well known knowledge if 50 years ago a small American town was seiged but 300 zombies who were killed by hunters.

[Tillghast]

I liked those! They were great for reading. A few were silly but most were very cool.

[BurnSide]

I liked them too. A few really caught me, like the one with the zombies all trapped in the lower decks of a steam liner.