H'okay. As some as you may know, I have Kinemortophobia aka fear of zombies. It's literally something I think about every day and it effects almost everything I do. Since The age of 11 when I used to watch my sister's boyfriend at the time play Resident Evil, I've been fearing, learning and preparing for a zombie outbreak. For 11 years I've been wrapped up in the modern day, pop-culture icon of the Zombie. I've played as many zombie games that I have been able to get my hands on and I've seen almost every zombie movie in existance (yes even those garbage low-budget zombie flicks in the video store bargain bins. In my first year of university, I was required to right a paper for an anthropology class that was to be about any urban legend or myth.

Predictably, I chose zombies.

What started as a 6 paper essay quickly became a 75 page, single spaced, font 12, amalgamation of research and conjecture that I handed into my professor, causing him to give me 100% on the project. Since then, I've been expanding my knowledge of the Zombie, both in pop-culture and in real life beliefs. I'm now considering doing my graduate thesis on the Voodoo concept of zombies and the modern day conception of the zombie, a huge undertaking to bring more scope and detail to this creature of lore, in hopes of getting my writing some educational merit.

Here's where you come in. I'm going to be writing a multi-section segment on my research about zombies. I will be including as much information as I can, which as much data as i can muster, in hopes that this community can review it and add your own conceptions on this piece of North American culture as well as maybe even help me work out a few points I may not have thought of. I figure that my views on zombies in pop-culture would be best reviewed by like-minded individuals who salivate at the idea of gunning down zombies in pixellated form.

Areas of research will include:

-The Haitian religion of Voodoo and the understanding of the original zombie concept
-A look into the biochemical properties of the "zombie powder" used in voodoo
-A in depth look at the (possible) physical capabilities of zombies and their characteristics
-Pop-culture and the invention of the modern day zombie
-Zombie portrayal in film
-Zombie portrayal in video games
-Zombie Theory
-Hypothesis of zombie creation
-Combat and protection
-Societal consequences of a zombie outbreak
-A detailed example of a zombie outbreak escape plan

As a warning, I will not be regurgitating passages from every "zombie survival" webpage on the interwebs. Although many points covered by these works will be explained and expanded upon, I will be providing a fresh look into the zombie canon. I will be posting parts every couple days and will be continuing my research while I undertake this. I hope you enjoy what I'm about to unleash on your mind!