How did it all start?
The zombie obsession goes back to 1930s. It was in 1932, when the first movie called White Zombie came out and the fixation with the zombie has continued ever since. Back then, the concept of the zombies was based on voodoo and magic. In the movie White Zombie, the first movie of its kind, there was a zombie master who had control over an army of zombies through voodoo. In the movie, he orders his zombie army to kidnap a woman he had fallen in love with. Subsequently, the woman is rescued by her fiancee, who also manages to throw the zombie master off a cliff. Joining the master are the “faithful” creatures, who jump along.
The next groundbreaking twist with this zombie fixation came in 1968, when The night of the living dead was released. This brought about a new concept of zombies and showed the "phenomenon" as a plague, spreading beyond redemption. It is worth pointing out that 40 years hence and still the same concept has been followed.
Having bewitched the human fascination, Zombies have made numerous "appearances" in literature, video games, and most famously in television and movies. One of the most popular music videos ever, showcased Zombies dancing along Michael Jackson in the 1983 Thriller.
The Zombie Apocalypse scenario, first created by the aforementioned The night of the living dead, has even inspired numerous Zombie Walks, which are organised public gatherings of vast crowds of people dressed up as zombies. These Zombie Walks are at times used for political protests but mostly for the mere fun element involved. These walks are however mostly prevalent in the United States as of now.
Is it possible?
So the question is- myth or reality? Can it really happen? Perhaps certain brain parasites can cause, if not the same, a similar condition. Also the condition known as Catatonic Schizophrenia is often associated with Zombie-like characteristics.
Furthermore, an epidemic of mad cow disease could trigger the Z-day or the Zombie Apocalypse. Mad cow disease is so called because it causes a cow to lose control over the nervous system disabling it from doing normal things, like walk. If a person eats the beef of an infected cow, the person is at a high risk of getting a human form of the disease, called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD. It is a very rare, yet serious disease that affects the brain. It was estimated that only 1 in a million get it.
In its entirety, the Zombie legend is one of the most popular forms of the undead. Other famous forms include Vampires and Mummies. The Zombie legend has its own place in the human pysche having featured in numerous forms of entertainment comparable only to the Vampire. Sure they are not as glamorous as the Vampires, but with over 50 movies set to released from 2010 to the end of 2011, the gory and rotting skinned legend is here to stay as one of the darlings!
