The Zombie Autopsies: Interesting Facts About Zombies

Zombies are everywhere these days. Despite their slow, lumbering gait, they have managed to take over the minds of many of us. From the horror inspired lyrics of bands like The Misfits and Necromantix, to movies like 28 Days Later and the graphic novel based TV show The Walking Dead, zombies have already already begun to rule the world. Thank goodness this is only in the works of fiction, or else we’d be in serious trouble.

Most works about zombies are written in a way that helps us understand the human perspective of the situation. Zombies are often used as metaphors for whatever an author chooses to use them for and it is through device that the survivors of impending doom learn something about themselves and each other.

In the book The Zombie Autopsies, author Steven C. Schlozman, MD, goes another route. The year is 2012. In this not so distant future, the world has fallen prey to ANSD (Ataxic Neurodegenerative Satiety Deficiency Syndrome), or zombiism, as it is more commonly known.

The book is the handwritten account and notes of Dr. Stanley Blum, who was an administrative paper pusher at the Center for Disease Control prior to this hazy apocalypse. It has been many years since he has performed any field work and we get a real sense of Dr. Blum’s “rustiness” throughout the book. Dr. Blum travels to “The Crypt,” an island in the Indian Ocean to meet with a team of scientists that apply forensic techniques on captured zombies in a last ditch effort to understand this disease and to search for a viable cure.

Dr. Blum’s notebook is chock-full of medical information that explains each of the four steps of the zombification process. While many of the terms can be a little difficult to read, they are explained in very plain terms so that you understand what is happening.

Interesting zombie facts:

  • The zombie bug is a virus that is transmitted via respiratory droplets.
  • The disease attacks in four stages. Once stage 4 is complete, persons are catergorized as “NLH,” or “No Longer Human.”
  • Zombies on the island are kept “alive” to better understand how the disease works in a fully functional zombie.

As you become involved in what’s happening, the writting seems to become more urgent. The team needs to understand what is happening to the world around them, to what is now happening to themselves. While the book is very analytical, there are slight outbursts of emotion from Dr. Blum that deal with the happenings of the team as travel down the slippery slope of this infection.

The Zombie Autopsies with Steven Schlozman, MD

Can they find a cure in time to save the human race? Can they find a cure in time to salvage what’s left of their humanity or do they succumb to the very disease they were enlisted to combat? You’ll have to find out for yourself in The Zombie Autopsies.