Eminence Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 Nah, the proofreading thing isn't aimed at anyone at all. It's just a general statement... don't expect to be able to write something scary if you haven't yet really mastered the fundamentals, it's biting off more than you can chew and you'd probably end up frustrated and disappointed when the final work isn't meeting your standards. You have it, yeah? Excellent stuff! I think it's absolutely superb, and it really gives you a massive array of knowledge on the topic if you want to delve into it yourself. Brilliant book. As for what zombies are, in a modern sense they simply have to be the reanimated dead, I'd say. This is, of course, where the likes of the remakes of Dawn of the Dead become totally farcical - as Romero himself pointed out, when tissue becomes necrotic it is stiff and wouldn't move well, which is the reason for the slow, stuttering movements of zombies. That's where the 28.. Later films are actually cleverly disguising the whole zombie thing with the infection, because it gives them license to create these swift, fast moving things... but in true terms a zombie could never move quickly. Of course, the 'occult' definition is correct if you trace zombies back to voodoo and that whole idea. There were a lot of films about zombies like this in early Hollywood I think; it was Night of the Living Dead that changed the perception of zombies being linked in with voodoo to what they are today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Zilcho Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 (edited) Yeah, great advice there Em. ZSG is a great resource for something that, let's say, the leader character would speak of. Like the various tactics could be noted (of course, don't mention they're from a book!) as things he is instructing his team to do. I'm still brainstorming and researching, so haven't written much yet. But I'm going to start off my work with as much realistic information on the virus itself, with how it spread and originated being explained later on. I plan on the virus itself to be focused on the nervous system and take control quickly via it and reach the brain within minutes. Edited June 20, 2009 by El Zilcho U R B A N I T A S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VCRules86 Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 WOW, looks like we have a lot of zombie stories coming up. I'm working on one myself, it's got a Pulp Fiction feel to it because it will jump around with different characters in each chapter and they'll meet and their stories will interwine with one another's. As for the other topic at hand, I don't really mind when people call infected zombies. There isn't that big of a difference except for the whole fast/slow and the disease/undead. They are different but they aren't complete and utter opposites as far as movies and games go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typhus Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 A lone man in a grey-hooded top. Dirty old trainers and a placid, calming face. A face like an undisturbed lake, you could look into it for ever and ever. The kind of face that doesn’t move, it just watches the world go by. Through wars and plagues and disasters the face keeps looking on. The small, thin eyes never seeming to blink. The hooked nose reminiscent of a predatory bird circling over a dying beast. The nervous smile nothing but an imitation of human warmth and kindness. Yes, Tim, yes. If you ever saw Mr. Basset you would recognise him right away. Just something I'm thinking about. The Nine Lives of Mr. Basset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam33 Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Wow alot of Infected and Zombie infected ideas. Admittedly after L4D came out (and a few solid hours on that) along with the release of Dead Set and just re watching some old George Romero films I got fascinated with the whole Genre. I had been planning a graphic novelly type thing but I decided not to post it after formatting errors and just generally finding it hard to to get different perspectives drawn up, also this is Writers Discussion not Graphics discussion. Anyway some of the characters I had planned out was "Animal Luvin" Tug who decides to ride out the apocalypse in a shed in the woods with as much food, water and People he could find. He was meant to show how warped people become in disaster situations and I was gonna have him "own" an Infected girl who was chained up and muzzeled and who he'd f*ck at different intervals just to see what it was like (Like Dukox and the ghouls in Fallout 3). I scrapped that in the end though just cos it was to gratuitous. Basically the story just followed a few basic characters as they try to make there way to a Primary School held down by the Army which is giving support and supplies to survivors. I barely wrote any of it but Ive still got the character concepts somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy455 Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 (edited) Zombies, are my forte. Seriously, VCRules86, the Pulp Fiction style is my plan for Grand Theft Auto: Undead Chronicles,I mentioned it a while back in the Writer's Ideas Thread. Now I know you have a similar theme i'd like to read yours now It's good to see Zombie-esque stories that aren't written by me, because, many more writers out there can surpass me in a minutes Infected Typically an infected host has ben contaminted with something which makes them, fast, agile, dangerous and undead. They run and do not seem to be content on feasting on the flesh of humans, they prefer to infect them or destroy them e.g 28 Days later or Left 4 dead. Voodoo Zombie Mostly found around Haiti, Voodoo practicioners would create these type of zombies to use as slaves, they do not require the human flesh, they do respond to physical contact and any other contact. They are dead but alive in some aspects. E.g Land of the Dead, however as these do eat they are not considered real Voodoo. I just couldn't find a valid point, except for Voodoo Zombies were real in Haiti. Typical Zombie Due to the implications od death, normal zombies are slow, due to rigor mortis. These zombies are usually virally created and cannot run, they have a basic impulse which is to feed, but it is not needed. This zombie can survive decades without food and there strength is in numbers. E.g Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead. Fake zombie <-- Thanks Em These zombies are the baddest bastards of the group, not only do they run but they also are content and suicidal enough to feast on the flesh of the living, these require a bullet to the head for an instant death. E.g Dawn Of the Dead (2004), Dead Set (2008) Just a quick insight on different types of the Undead. Edited June 21, 2009 by Ziggy455 "I might have laughed if I'd have remembered how." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ObsydianRaven Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Anyone here enjoy scifi stories? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eminence Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share Posted June 21, 2009 Fake ZombieThese zombies are the baddest bastards of the group, not only do they run but they also are content and suicidal enough to feast on the flesh of the living, these require a bullet to the head for an instant death. E.g Dawn Of the Dead (2004), Dead Set (2008) I fixed it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy455 Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Fake ZombieThese zombies are the baddest bastards of the group, not only do they run but they also are content and suicidal enough to feast on the flesh of the living, these require a bullet to the head for an instant death. E.g Dawn Of the Dead (2004), Dead Set (2008) I fixed it for you. Lol, I was just on my way back to fix that Lol, Thanks man. Even I get angry sometimes when I see teasers for anything zombie related, then it f*ckin' stoops because they run. Nowadays nobody cares about the context of a zombie story or the Antagonists of the films themselves, they just want to see cowboy sh*t and gore. With lots of running inbetween What happened to Films nowadays? "I might have laughed if I'd have remembered how." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxidizer Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Zombies, are my forte. Word to that. You're definitely the #1 resident zombie fanboy; zombies to you are like snuff movies to me. Though I got into a bit of a tiff with Eminence and Chuck over the different types of zombies earlier. I still refuse to believe any of the others are as scary as the Infected 'zombies'; the rest are 'easily' beatable and escapable in comparison; you'd be f*cked outnumbered by a horde of running ones than your typical walking ones, at least you can outrun the latter. Btw, I'll get around to checking out your remastered version of GTA VC: Undead eventually. Anyone here enjoy scifi stories? Definitely! Though I can only get into and write sci-fi stuff that has a governmental or military twist to it . Come to think of it I was re-reading a plot for something called Pseudo I had planned for in 2007; it was pretty chill. It was a brainwashing and mindwiping type of deal; using convicted felons and training them as assassins. The research/training facility was believed to be by the 'inmates' to be a prison, but it was a shady government compound with military scientists testing the convicts. But I'm sidetracking. Why, you got a sci-fi story up your sleeve? I'd be interested in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy455 Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 (edited) Zombies, are my forte. Word to that. You're definitely the #1 resident zombie fanboy; zombies to you are like snuff movies to me. Though I got into a bit of a tiff with Eminence and Chuck over the different types of zombies earlier. I still refuse to believe any of the others are as scary as the Infected 'zombies'; the rest are 'easily' beatable and escapable in comparison; you'd be f*cked outnumbered by a horde of running ones than your typical walking ones, at least you can outrun the latter. Btw, I'll get around to checking out your remastered version of GTA VC: Undead eventually. Lol, I wouldn't be Number One, but im pretty boned up on zombie methodology. Yeah I understand how it's more scary if an athletic infected chases after you then old rigor mortisy type zombies, that's pretty much everybody's main fear of a zombie outbreak. Go ahead and ask me any question you like about zombies and i'm sure i can get it right?. Thanks man Feedback is Very Very CRAVED. I'm revamping every chapter everyday, but alas I haven't been given much feedback. Thanks Oxy. I'll be checkin' out your stories soon aswell, when I get a break from writing. I'm still not great at writing, any tips? Or anything to help my style progres is deeply appreciated Edited June 21, 2009 by Ziggy455 "I might have laughed if I'd have remembered how." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ObsydianRaven Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Why, you got a sci-fi story up your sleeve? I'd be interested in it. Why yes I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy455 Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Why, you got a sci-fi story up your sleeve? I'd be interested in it. Why yes I do. Why good fellow, why not give us an insight of this, Scientific Fiction story young man? Or y'know just tell us some sh*t about the plan, homie "I might have laughed if I'd have remembered how." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ObsydianRaven Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Well, the story is based on the game Spore, however, there are humans. The story involves a captain of a small merchant vessel discovering a plan by the Grox (for those who haven't played Spore, the Grox are a race of cybernetic creatures who have a massive empire that surrounds the center of the galaxy) to commit a galaxy wide invasion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy455 Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Well, the story is based on the game Spore, however, there are humans. The story involves a captain of a small merchant vessel discovering a plan by the Grox (for those who haven't played Spore, the Grox are a race of cybernetic creatures who have a massive empire that surrounds the center of the galaxy) to commit a galaxy wide invasion. Mmm, Not bad, I haven't never played Spore but your Explanation seems valid enough. I'll actually start reading it when the first Chapter is up. The Captain is the Protagonist right? Is the story going to be based ON the invasion, around it or the emotional and more adult like story Before the Invasion? "I might have laughed if I'd have remembered how." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ObsydianRaven Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Is the story going to be based ON the invasion, around it or the emotional and more adult like story Before the Invasion? Yes the captain is the protagonist. Also the story starts out during the events leading to the invasion and then spans all the way till it ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy455 Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Is the story going to be based ON the invasion, around it or the emotional and more adult like story Before the Invasion? Yes the captain is the protagonist. Also the story starts out during the events leading to the invasion and then spans all the way till it ends. Good, Well Mate. I think you've got yourself a solid idea, now try and plan it out a little for yourself, think of chapters and characters and a basic plot. I'll be here to read it when it hits the Discussion Threads. You thought of a name for it? PM me when it's up "I might have laughed if I'd have remembered how." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1ManArmy Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Time slows down as I run across the streets. I hear only my the sound of my footsteps and my heart pumping. I try to avoid debri as I almost slipped on the wet ground. Running past the abandoned cars and buildings, it's hard to forget what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chunk Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I might give my zombie idea the backseat in my Ford Focus of ideas. I have A Life of Crime, which I really want to write and then I have the IRA to write for in BUYA. So, I'll start work on those 2, ALoC being my main priority. And Andy, you dick. You called me Chuck a few posts back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Zilcho Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 (edited) I'm going to have a read of Vice City: Undead Remastered, see if it can help inspire me. Ziggy, expect some feedback mate. It's broad day light. I should be calm, the sun helps me see all of my hunters, all the predatory infected creeping closer to tear me apart. But I am not content, for the sunlight helps them spot me too. I am constantly on my toes, separated from human contact. I haven't slept in three days, I don't need to tell you why. I open the van's backdoor slowly, my mind working wonders about what possible supplies could be inside; a radio, food, water, ammunition? It's also a possibility that it may be ready to drive, to take me away from here! A working vehicle would be a god send in this desolate city. Breathing heavily with excitement, I peer inside the darkened compartment. What hits me sends sweat slowly trickling down my back. I see nothing of use at all; just dried, caked blood coating the inside walls, smudged and smeared over every inch of its surface. I want to throw up, look away and leave. But I don't. Instead, my bloodshot eyes remain transfixed on the lacerated corpses that rest at the back, crimson decorates their form. The smell is horrific, even worse than the site, which is mostly hidden from me by the shadows that hand low. The decaying, rotting stench creeps it's way right up your nostrils, it's something you can't fight. I turn around, looking away from the van and it's deathly interior, breathing a gulp of fresh air happily. I want to see the relatively quiet road that was before me moments ago. I don't. Suddenly, they're upon me. A crowd of 10 of those things, all stumbling and gurgling as they encroach around me. I am surrounded. Just a few things I've wrote just before. Edited June 21, 2009 by El Zilcho U R B A N I T A S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Goose Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Well...I've got one of the storylines for a TF2 fanfic. It involves the BLU Sniper and Spy captured in the RED base. One thing I can't decide: should respawning (like in the game) be in the story, or should there be permanent death? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omnia sunt Communia Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I do laugh when people go on about "infected" not being actual zombies. They usually back up their claims by being "big zombie fans" and knowing about the "classics." Those classics, of course, are nothing more than Night of the Living Dead and whatever preceeded it. Romero may of set the tone for future zombie films, but he in no way created them. Those of you who do your research, and know what you're talking about, will know that zombies have been around a lot longer than 1969. "Original" zombies are not those created by George Romero, they are infact "modern" zombies (or Romero Zombies, as they should probably be called). Before Romero came around zombies weren't always slow-moving cadavers. Some of them weren't even dead. The term zombie referred to anyone under a spell-like trance. Classic zombie films usually didn't feature reanimated corpses, and they never ate flesh (this was an idea Romero coined). People need to stop throwing the term "Classic" around like they know what they're talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typhus Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Why all the zombie talk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxidizer Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I do laugh when people go on about "infected" not being actual zombies. They usually back up their claims by being "big zombie fans" and knowing about the "classics." Those classics, of course, are nothing more than Night of the Living Dead and whatever preceeded it. Romero may of set the tone for future zombie films, but he in no way created them. Those of you who do your research, and know what you're talking about, will know that zombies have been around a lot longer than 1969. "Original" zombies are not those created by George Romero Kekeke! That's more or less what I said. That those films (though I've never seen a Living Dead movie or even heard of this Romero person till now) didn't create zombies and that it's ridiculous that no-one's allowed to do their own thing with the genre. Fair enough so-and-so thought of the reanimated corpse idea but I don't see any problem with doing your own thing with it, especially if it's part of a fanfic or a pisstakey homage to "modern zombies" (Dead Set springs to mind ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typhus Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 What about killer scarecrows instead of zombies? Empty, lofty farms always seem such a creepy environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxidizer Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 That could work. Though I'm not really into zombies all that much, I only jumped into this little debate because I think running ones are a hell of a lot scarier than walking ones, and not because I'm into "action" or "gory" movies (surprisingly, I'm genuinely not), but because it's a lot more harrowing if you're up against something that's an actual threat and is more unstoppable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Zilcho Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 (edited) Also, expect a ship full of the undead that is moored off the coast of the US, in the Gulf of Mexico. Inside the ship is a very important mobile research lab that was believed to have created an antidote to the virus, however the scientists and military personnel were overpowered before the rumored antidote was transported back. Soon after, a military team is sent in to retrieve the antidote, but not all goes to plan... As usual. Edited June 21, 2009 by El Zilcho U R B A N I T A S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eminence Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share Posted June 21, 2009 I do laugh when people go on about "infected" not being actual zombies. They usually back up their claims by being "big zombie fans" and knowing about the "classics." Those classics, of course, are nothing more than Night of the Living Dead and whatever preceeded it. Romero may of set the tone for future zombie films, but he in no way created them. Those of you who do your research, and know what you're talking about, will know that zombies have been around a lot longer than 1969. "Original" zombies are not those created by George Romero, they are infact "modern" zombies (or Romero Zombies, as they should probably be called). Before Romero came around zombies weren't always slow-moving cadavers. Some of them weren't even dead. The term zombie referred to anyone under a spell-like trance. Classic zombie films usually didn't feature reanimated corpses, and they never ate flesh (this was an idea Romero coined). People need to stop throwing the term "Classic" around like they know what they're talking about. Pray tell, Mr. Expert, have you seen the 1932 flick White Zombie? I'm just throwing that out there. I quite specifically touched upon the 'voodoo' zombie principle in a previous post. But with that assertion, I still stand by the fact that the 'infected' aren't true zombies, and that's not because I hold a lesser distinction in 'Zombie Merits' than you, oh knowledgeable non-conformist. The 'Modern Zombie' as you call it (and this shout also goes to Oxidizer's comment of "those films didn't create zombies") was coined by NotLD and all of Romero and Russo (GASP! he knows about more than just Romero!) and say what you want, but films like the Dawn remake and 28... Later aren't using the conventions of voodoo zombies, they're using the conventions of Romero/Russo's zombies and simply making them swift, for all cinematic intents and purposes. But, and this is the big but, they aren't zombies when you're talking about what the 'modern' zombie has evolved into, which is, quite literally, the 'undead'. Yes, much of voodoo had to do not only with reviving the dead (of which many early zombie films did still portray) but simply using the techniques of the spirit craft to control people, but as I've said, that's not what we're comparing swift zombies with here. We're comparing it with the conventions created by the films that brought the entire idea to life. In a broad sense, I have no qualms calling things like '28... Later' a part of the genre of zombie fiction. But I wouldn't refer to the 'infected' being actual zombies. Because, by modern standards, they aren't. And we don't practice voodoo. Now now, what! Do go ahead and spill your brandy as you read this post. I hope it does make you laugh again, Jeeves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typhus Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 That could work. I mentioned the Scarecrow idea because I recently heard an old ghost story called "Harold". Ever heard this one? Two farmers are bored and make a scarecrow, they name it after a fellow farmer they hate and even make it look slightly like old Harold. They mock it, beat it and throw it around. Mostly because they're bored and have been playing "Drink the floor-polish" again. But one day they hear Harold grunt. They're freaked out and put him in the house. He doesn't make another sound so they pass it off as a fluke and put the poor bastard back outside. Well, it gets stranger and stranger. And one morning they find that Harold is on the roof. Somehow the inanimate scarecrow got on the roof of their farm. Again, they're creeped out but pass it off - saying that the wind blew him up there. And once more they truss him up in the fields and leave him to bake in the sun. Well, a few days pass and one of the farmers goes to milk the cows. He comes back but can't find his buddy. The other farmer is nowhere to be found. And then he looks at the porch. And old Harold the scarecrow is stretching out a long, bloody strip of skin. Leaving it to bake in the sun. God, I love that story. I wish I thought of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxidizer Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 That's thoroughly disturbing. Thanks for that mental imagery. On a brighter note: Products is two years old today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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