Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Zombie Ants

Someone asked me if the animals in my books can be infected and turned into zombies.  I think this is an issue that all zombie writers must face and I distinctly remember sitting down and pondering this issue.  A few things sealed the decision for me: zombie cows, zombie mosquitos and the whole pesky idea that the world's ecosystem would likely fall apart if all animals became zombified.  So in my world, animals are safe from becoming infected.

But that doesn't mean that I'm still not fascinated with the idea of "what if" animals could become infected. One of my fave board games, Zombies, has an expansion pack called "Zombie Dogs" (and yes, this means that I actually have a bowl full of plastic glowing zombie dogs in my house (Rarely do I think about the fact that my family reads this blog, but when I write a line like that I wonder if they just shake their head and wonder about me...)).  And no, this expansion pack should not be confused with the Zombie Clowns expansion (you see why I love this game!?).

Zombie turtles I think I could deal with.  Zombie cats would likely just be as lazy as real cats (and we all know the way you trap a zombie cat is just to print out a fresh 300 page manuscript -- they can't resist!).  Zombie wasps would really suck.  Zombie cockroaches.... wait.... there'd prob be no difference.  Zombie elephants?  And of course we already know about the zombie unicorn.....

See how fun this thought experiment is?  Seriously, I really do love trying to come up with the craziest zombie animal I  can think of (and please feel free to leave your own thoughts on best/worst zombie animal in the comments!).

So of course I loved it when more than one person sent me a link to this article on zombie ants.  I'm just saying... one day....

7 comments:

Leesa said...

Your book reads like a Stephen King novel. Not that the words and phrases are similar, but it is a book you want to read quickly. I normally don't like scary, but your book and King's books are like the crack of the book world. You just need to read from start to end.

Unknown said...

I remember being more concerned for the dog than even Mary ;)

Samantha Elliott said...

I really liked the way you handled animals in FHT, and I agree with you that it was probably for the best. Plus, I have two words for you: zombie birds.

I mean, come on, you've see The Birds right? Scar-y!

Carrie Ryan said...

Thanks Leesa -- what a great compliment!!

I know Beth -- everyone cares about the dog! My crit partner threatened me with bodily harm if I ever let anything happen to that dog!

Ahahaha, Samantha -- zombie birds! Love it! Those suckers would divebomb. Imagine zombie hummingbirds!

Angela said...

Zombie pufferfish!

Chris {frecklemama} said...

Clearly you're meant to be writing right now...

But after we talked about DTW this morning I was left pondering whether or not animals could be Zombified. We must have been on the same brain wavelength!

Carrie Ryan said...

I have to say, zombie pufferfish FTW!!