NationStates Jolt Archive

I have been researching Vampires and Zombies quite a fair bit recently (I'm thinking of writing a screenplay) and there seems to be very few universal concepts of either. Vampires can differentiate from being scientifically born, to being unrestful souls. From being unable to walk outside during the day, to daywalkers. From being immortal (in a sense of cannot die unless killed), to only living for forty days. I have also heard interesting scientific takes on the vampire. Zombies seem to be universal in the fact that they are mindless killing machines. However it differentiates a reasonable amount there as well. Some take the Voodoo aspect of a master having control, or the scientific aspect of motor-neurones funcitioning after death. Some believe that zombies don't really die, but rather go into a coma and arise as zombies. Some believe a virus is transmitted through saliva, others believe blood is the cause, and some believe the virus is airborne.

My question is this: What is your take on zombies and vampires? Give descriptions on how they become what they are, how to defeat them, how viruses may be transmitted, how certain religious aspects come into play. I'm interested in the responses I get to this.

I have been researching Vampires and Zombies quite a fair bit recently (I'm thinking of writing a screenplay) and there seems to be very few universal concepts of either. Vampires can differentiate from being scientifically born, to being unrestful souls. From being unable to walk outside during the day, to daywalkers. From being immortal (in a sense of cannot die unless killed), to only living for forty days. I have also heard interesting scientific takes on the vampire. Zombies seem to be universal in the fact that they are mindless killing machines. However it differentiates a reasonable amount there as well. Some take the Voodoo aspect of a master having control, or the scientific aspect of motor-neurones funcitioning after death. Some believe that zombies don't really die, but rather go into a coma and arise as zombies. Some believe a virus is transmitted through saliva, others believe blood is the cause, and some believe the virus is airborne.

My question is this: What is your take on zombies and vampires? Give descriptions on how they become what they are, how to defeat them, how viruses may be transmitted, how certain religious aspects come into play. I'm interested in the responses I get to this.
Wanna hear about zombie biology?
There's an awesome thread on Barbelith about it.
http://www.barbelith.com/topic/19945 should take you to it.

(Fuck do I wish I had an account there...)

Wanna hear about zombie biology?
There's an awesome thread on Barbelith about it.
http://www.barbelith.com/topic/19945 should take you to it.

(Fuck do I wish I had an account there...)

Thanks for that, it looks pretty interesting. I'm looking at it now.

If a fox jumps over your open grave you become a vampire (or so I've been told)

So somehow, though neither of us are monster fans, me and a co-worker wound up in a discussion over wich monster I was most likely to become and why.

I said werewolf. Heres why:

I am in no way hot enough to be a vampire, so the invitation is not likely to be extended. Even if I was, what doesn't kill a vampire? Thier weakness are numurous-daylight, wooden stakes, garlic, can't cross water, christian symbols. And the constant having to feed....what a hassle. Sure, the hot vampire sex might be cool, but not worth it.

I'm no track star, but I can outrun a zombie. And I'm not likely to find myself in those situations. Brains don't sound tasty.

Werewolf, now theres a monster. Silver bullets? All I gotz to do is avoid the Lone Ranger and I'm in the clear. And there's plausable seperation from me the pacifist and the monsterous acts. It's not me, it's the wolf that ate your family-and I'm all broken up about it. Play that well enough they will pity you. I'm tellin' you. It's the way to go.

I wonder if anyones written a werewolf story where one gets sent to the moon. What would happen to the guy/werewolf?

Have you watched hellsing(the anime not that bs movie) or vampire hunter d?

dont know if those would be helpful

im teh anime adict0rz

So somehow, though neither of us are monster fans, me and a co-worker wound up in a discussion over wich monster I was most likely to become and why.

I said werewolf. Heres why:

I am in no way hot enough to be a vampire, so the invitation is not likely to be extended. Even if I was, what doesn't kill a vampire? Thier weakness are numurous-daylight, wooden stakes, garlic, can't cross water, christian symbols. And the constant having to feed....what a hassle. Sure, the hot vampire sex might be cool, but not worth it.

I'm no track star, but I can outrun a zombie. And I'm not likely to find myself in those situations. Brains don't sound tasty.

Werewolf, now theres a monster. Silver bullets? All I gotz to do is avoid the Lone Ranger and I'm in the clear. And there's plausable seperation from me the pacifist and the monsterous acts. It's not me, it's the wolf that ate your family-and I'm all broken up about it. Play that well enough they will pity you. I'm tellin' you. It's the way to go.

I wonder if anyones written a werewolf story where one gets sent to the moon. What would happen to the guy/werewolf?

A note on that, read the Spiderman comics, J. Jonah Jameonson's son picks up a weird crystal on the moon and it turns him into a werewolf.

I came up with an interesting vampire/zombie idea a while ago, although its a pretty large departure from other takes on the subject:

Basically whenever a vampire feeds on a person (or maybe even an animal?) and kills them in the process (i.e drinks all of their blood, not just some of it) that person will 'rise' again as a zombie, with a supernatural urge to consume the flesh of living beings in an effort to 'restore' their lost vitality and blood; although these zombies do not pass on their curse to anyone they bite. These 'zombies', or perhaps more accurately ghouls, would also be completely loyal to their creator, the Vampire, and would form an army of supernatural slaves, guards and servants for him/her. As for vampire reproduction, it's the standard modern interpretation - if the vampire drains a mortal completely, but makes it drink some of the vampire's own blood before it dies, then it becomes a vampire. Otherwise its just another ghoul. I'm wondering what the effect would be if a ghoul drinks a vampire's blood, it might give it super strength, regenerate damage done to it, or maybe turn it into a fully fledged vampire (or maybe some intermediate stage?)

Alternatively, the ghouls themselves could be more like a hideously deformed vampire (like Nosferatu; looking less like a mortal and more like an actual 'monster'). Then when THEY bite mortals, the mortals become more like traditional zombies. So the heirachy might go:

vampire
ghoul
zombie

With various intermediate stages that arise when they drink vampire blood.

EDIT: and I just remembered another thing: killing a vampire will destroy any ghouls/zombies it created (directly or indirectly) but won't have an effect on it's childer (pure vampire 'offspring').

This is basically my current thinking on a way to unite the disparate vampire and zombie undead lines ;)

so yeh, that's my brain. sorry about that :D

A note on that, read the Spiderman comics, J. Jonah Jameonson's son picks up a weird crystal on the moon and it turns him into a werewolf.
Huh, missed that. And I'm a Spiderman fan.

There was website (though for the life of me I can't remember it) that explained how zombies are "created". Apparently it's possible to do it.

wanna know about Vampires? check this site

www.fvza.org

There was website (though for the life of me I can't remember it) that explained how zombies are "created". Apparently it's possible to do it.
There was something about mental damage from lack of oxygen after being buried and dug up that would leave you with somebody easily trained to do whatever you wanted in some book I read. That was supposed to be what some of the Voodoo people did. Some sort of poison that would knock you out for long enough they'd bury you, and being dug up before too much damage.

I dunno, sounds tricky.

There was website (though for the life of me I can't remember it) that explained how zombies are "created". Apparently it's possible to do it.

your a special little man if you believe that.

Yes I know all about the Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency. It's been the base of most of my thinking about both.

I am in no way hot enough to be a vampire, so the invitation is not likely to be extended. Even if I was, what doesn't kill a vampire? Thier weakness are numurous-daylight, wooden stakes, garlic, can't cross water, christian symbols. And the constant having to feed....what a hassle. Sure, the hot vampire sex might be cool, but not worth it.


And what would happen if you were the Anne Rice version of a vampire...sex just is not happening in that world (no blood pressure) So, I think stick with the werewolf idea.

your a special little man if you believe that.
Well, duh, they're not real zombies. It's not like there are animated corpses walking around (at least as far as I know). But the website details how people "die" and then are "resurrected" to act as slave labor for their new masters. Thus, zombies.

Well, duh, they're not real zombies. It's not like there are animated corpses walking around (at least as far as I know). But the website details how people "die" and then are "resurrected" to act as slave labor for their new masters. Thus, zombies.

want to make out?

And what would happen if you were the Anne Rice version of a vampire...sex just is not happening in that world (no blood pressure) So, I think stick with the werewolf idea.
I'm tellin' ya. And if Howlin' 2 is to be believed then there is the possibility of hot werewolf sex. Not really my thing, dog sex, but if I was a werewolf I suppose part of me might be in it...

want to make out?
Damn you, Stamos. I was all ready to reply to your original post with "No, more like you're a stupid manz!"

I do not want to make out. I want my own personal zombie to do my bidding. Like, go to the grocery store for me. Cause I don't have a car and the ground is covered in snow.

Damn you, Stamos. I was all ready to reply to your original post with "No, more like you're a stupid manz!"

I do not want to make out. I want my own personal zombie to do my bidding. Like, go to the grocery store for me. Cause I don't have a car and the ground is covered in snow.

im so tricky
can i make out with your zombie?

im so tricky
can i make out with your zombie?
Sure, after it gets back from the store. Just, uh, don't break it or... you know... do gross things to it...

Sure, after it gets back from the store. Just, uh, don't break it or... you know... do gross things to it...

its already gross. whats it getting from teh store? any pacos?

I have been researching Vampires and Zombies quite a fair bit recently (I'm thinking of writing a screenplay) and there seems to be very few universal concepts of either.

I think you'll find that any time you dive into the fantasy world that creativity is more rampant there than "fact." The reason I say this is because it's kind of like passing down a story... each person it reaches my change a word or two here and there until the story that reaches the last person is radically different from the story told to the first person.

There's this book out that tells you how to survive a zombie infestation. It's a great read. The author does a wonderful job of making it seem real. He even includes historical incidents with zombies at the end. It's called something like The Surviver's Guide to a Zombie Attack. I consider it the Holy Grail of zombie info.
Zombies are dead human beings infected with a virus that makes the brain a self-contained organ. The rest of the body dies off. The only remaining funcion is a primal urge to eat meat. Their digestive tracks don't work, so they end up just stuffing their bodies until stomach and intestines burst. Zombies will eat any meat, but organisms seem to have an instinctual dislike, and run at the first sign of a zombie. Even bacteria can't stand to be near the virus-infected body, so it can't decompose. Zombies are clumsy and slow, but tireless. You can outrun one easy, but you get tired while it doesn't.
The book is full of tips on how to survive.

I remember hearing that if you kill a werewolf, but without using silver, it then turns into a vampire.

Its the Zombie Survival quide read it it could save your life

Well i happen to be a vampire and a zombie hybrid and i get very offensive when anyone talks about my kind like that...so please stop this topic at once!

haha im a loser :p

I think both fictional conditions make slightly more sense as a virus passed on by the bite. This can be in saliva or blood, but, as in most real viruses passed through bodily fluids, the virus should be more likely to take hold if actual blood is exchanged.

Vampires - I tend to like the idea that they would have a special sensitivity, even to the point of death, to large amounts of UV light. They would not be able to procreate naturally, as their bodies are technically dead and simply being kept animated by the virus in their blood. As such, they are immortal unless killed by the destruction of their bodies (by burning).

Zombies - Mostly the same. No real sensitivity to light, but can be destroyed by burning. The virus in this case would most likely lodge itself in the primitive regions of the brain - explaining the fact that most of the consciousness is removed (that part is breaking down along with the rest of the body).

If you have not encountered it already, check out a book called Haiti, History, and the Gods by Joan Dayan.

It is a complex work, and challenging on a number of levels... but it provides one of the most insightful readings of the religious aspects of the Zombi in Haiti. (While she only briefly mentions film, I think her sense of "why" zombies entered U.S. culture when and how they did is right on the money.)

EDIT: I would be very interested in a well-done film that treats Zombies with a sensitivity to their religious meaning, as well as a gothic sense of horror. Dayan should be helpful with this, as she is very interested in the notion of an "American gothic" defined around the history of New World slavery.

Well, I'd be willing to bet nuclear weapons can handle the problem quite nicely.

Going along the lines of my previous post, why don't you tie in the vampire as a representation/incarnation of European colonialism. (Not at all an uncommon interpretation of the vampire; there is also a very good reading on Dracula out there that associates him with the rise of monopoly capitalism.)

By Dayan's account then, the vampire creates, loves, hates, and fears the Zombi... you'll just have to read her book to see what all of this means. It's way too deep to explain here.

Obviously the theme should not be so obvious -- the best ones never are... but you're the artist, not me.

:D

Going along the lines of my previous post, why don't you tie in the vampire as a representation/incarnation of European colonialism. (Not at all an uncommon interpretation of the vampire; there is also a very good reading on Dracula out there that associates him with the rise of monopoly capitalism.)

By Dayan's account then, the vampire creates, loves, hates, and fears the Zombi... you'll just have to read her book to see what all of this means. It's way too deep to explain here.

Obviously the theme should not be so obvious -- the best ones never are... but you're the artist, not me.

:D

Well I was generally thinking about making a general subtle theme about the war on terror and the war in Iraq (Oil War I as I like to call it) and similar to 28 Days Later in where there is very little hope for the human race, but more on being the dominant species on the planet, but will rather survive. That's my idea anyway

My favorite method of disposing of zombies is the simplest, throw salt at their mouths. It reminds them that they are dead, and they return to their grave forever. Vampires on the other hand require a little work. You must drive a stake through the heart, cut off the head, and stuff the mouth with garlic. of course, this really can be done in any order, but it's best no to try and put garlic in the mouth of something that is actively trying to eat you.

and here's John Jameson as a werewolf:
Man-Wolf (http://www.spiderfan.org/characters/manwolf.html)