Sometimes a single article ties into so many things we work on here at the ZRC at once it’s hard to parse, and so it was with this piece from The Inkwell about a new Anti-Zombie first novel and the process of independent publication in the age of Kindle:

Run for your life! The zombie apocalypse is closer than you think. Or at least that’s what Gary Mountjoy would like you to believe. According to the Armstrong student’s independently published debut novel “3 Years After…” the world is on the brink of chaos, destruction and best of all, time travel.

“3 Years After…” is the tale of a special forces team, known as the Seeker Element, selected to test the latest United States military technology — time travel.

Yes, a time-travel post apocalypse novel. Granted, it’s a subgenre with some serious history, H.G. Wells and all that.. alas here used to tell the story of how, once again, Zombies are supposedly a threat to the continued existence of the human race, instead of upstanding members of society.

A recurring thought when reading the Inkwell piece is how the types of misinformation and shoddy journalism we combat here at the ZRC so often contribute so much, tragically, to the conversation:

Another reason Finocchiaro thinks these stories are so popular is the potential for an actual outbreak to occur.

“There are several examples in nature of different fungi and viruses that can alter the mind of an animal or insect and in some cases take complete control over it,” she said. “The idea that something we can’t even see can so alter who or what we are I think is kind of terrifying, but also fascinating.”

Mountjoy also seems to think there could be a tiny bit of truth to this idea as well.

“The Center for Disease Control actually did release a statement discussing some type of outbreak. I mean it’s out there,” he said. “Do I think it’s actually going to happen? No, probably not.”

Ah yes, the ‘Zombie’ ants, ‘Zombie’ fungus and the like. We’ve discussed, almost to the point of tedium or madness, the tendency of lazy mainstream journalists to label anything they find disturbing or unpleasant as ‘Zombie’. Here you can see the result when the public, less familiar with the Undead Community, consumes said lazy media: hatred and prejudice. Also we see once again the continuing fallout from the CDC’s little Zombie-bashing publicity stunt earlier this year.

Equally disturbing is the continued use of post-apocalyptic fare as violent escapism, which the ZRC has also previously discussed and lamented:

Finocchiaro thinks part of the appeal of these apocalyptic zombie stories is the freedom they allow.

“After the world ends everything we know is gone. There is no government, no true law. It makes you question what you would perhaps do in that situation,” she said. “Would you follow the laws that you had been taught or would you embrace freedom and just do as you please? These are things I think people like to wonder about and apocalyptic stories give them a way to live out these scenarios.”

Very disquieting stuff, even more so when used as entertainment.

We’re diving into Zombie fiction in a big way here at the ZRC, so expect lots of reviews and material on this subject in the months ahead.

Stay strong, Zombie Allies.

Tags: Books, Don't Use the Zed Word, Social Justice

This entry was posted by John Sears on Friday, September 2nd, 2011 at 4:37 pm and is filed under Zombie Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.