Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with zombie

How do I stop feeling crappy after studying?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:38:47 -0800

What tactics can I employ to stop feeling zombie/crappy/zapped out after studying/reading? After I have been studying, or even just reading, I feel so exhausted afterwards. It's not the kind of exhausted feeling "this sucks" to study, but the kind where I my eyes are bugged out, I feel like a zombie, I have some type of slower reaction time to my surroundings, I feel like I get up and have to focus on things slowly, it's like I'm in a daze. And this sensation applies not just to when I'm studying but just reading the newspaper or things online for short periods of time (20 minutes). The thing is that I will want to take a nap after studying/reading and that gets me out of this funk. But this nap turns into sometimes HOURS. I don't feel as though as I am sleep deprived because even when I've had enough sleep, I'll study/read and then have to take something like a THREE HOUR NAP afterwards. Even recently reading this book at the book store for an hour or so (light reading) made me stare blankly at the wall for a while before I had the energy to get up out of my chair and put the book away.I hate this feeling and am wondering if there is something wrong with me.

Do other people get like this? And what tactics have other employed to stop this craptastic feeling? I mean, it's not even for long reading periods either, sometimes just reading google news just gets me in this bugged out/zapped out feeling. I just want to overcome this and keep going while I have to concentrate because sleeping HOURS screws myself up inside.

Zombie cowboy wants naaaaaaames.

hilaritas — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:53:32 -0800

What are some good names for a zombie cowboy? I'm planning to dress up as a zombie cowboy for Halloween. However, every zombie cowboy needs a name, right? What are some good, preferably punning names for an undead ranch hand? Bonus points for puns that reference Western swing or old country musicians.

How do I make a costume out of a wedding dress?

libertypie — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:41:55 -0800

How can I turn a wedding dress into a Halloween costume without destroying the thing? Okay, so it's not quite a wedding dress (it's a debutante dress, actually), but it's pretty, and conceivably could be used by someone for actual marriage so I don't necessarily want to smother it in fake blood. It has a pretty typical circle hem and straps.

That said, if someone has an amazing costume idea I'll drag the thing behind a freaking truck. I just feel like the "zombie bride" thing is a little bit done and am curious what else the hivemind has lurking in its recesses. The crazier the better.

This is my (zombie killing) jam!

heavenstobetsy — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:49:36 -0800

So you're fighting zombies. What are you listening to? We just saw Zombieland and got to thinking, what would be the best zombie-ass-kicking playlist? We've thought of RATM, NIN, Rob Zombie (natch), but we're wondering...What songs might make you want to kick (zombie) ass, or otherwise energize you in such a situation?

Zombie theme is not mandatory, songs/artists which may inspire feelings of just general ass kickery and bad assedness also appreciated.

It's already dead.

Palerale — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:46:52 -0800

If you tell a zombie to "Go Forth and Die", is this irony? its the title of a dethklok song.

i am working on a novel.
in tribute i would like to have "Go forth and die." be the only thing
a demon says to his zombies.

an argument arose between my wonderful staff of muses, and it is undecided as to whether or not this is irony.

yeah its a stupid question, but some of the smartest people i know do not agree, so have at it.

How many calories are in a human brain

KirTakat — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:31:59 -0800

How many calories are in the average human brain? As in, if you were to eat a brain zombie style, how many calories would that represent?

They're coming to get you [a thoughtful gift], Barbara.

Help, I can't stop talking! — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 21:06:17 -0800

Help me throw an awesome Zombie Apocalypse theme party! My boyfriend is obsessed with the idea of a Zombie Apocalypse, so for his birthday, I want to surprise him with a theme party. Not a people-dressed-as-zombies thing, but a last-outpost-of-humanity vibe. Boarded-up windows, canned food hors d'oeuvres, candlelight... the whole nine yards. What can I do to really sell this? You're a creative bunch: help me convince him that he is celebrating his birthday among the last survivors.

Failed Zombie Defense Techniques?

scottreynen — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:44:49 -0800

Which zombie defense techniques have been established in movies to not work? I'm giving what I hope will be a fun presentation on zombie defense techniques. I don't have time to watch a lot of zombie movies, but I'd like to talk about what clearly doesn't work, based on movies, before I go into more theoretical solutions, e.g. pirates, ninjas, robots.

For example, in Shawn of the Dead, as I recall, they hide in a bar together, and then it turns out one of them is a zombie, and the rest of the zombies eventually find them, so that would suggest hiding with your friends is a bad strategy.

ZomBay Critical Mass

Ambrosia Voyeur — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:51:17 -0800

AquaticNecromancyFilter: Combined, the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley employ about 3500 uniformed police officers. Do they outnumber the army that could be raised by dark magic from the floor of the San Francisco Bay? Approximately how many entire sets of human skeletal remains are there in that body of water, considering disasters, shipwrecks, bridge jumpers, tidal movement of sediment, etc.? Yes, I'm sure a reanimated skeleton warrior with a missing digit or patella could probably still serve well in the zombie army, but I'm going for an approximate head count, here, so that the skeletons can mix and match parts to create as many complete horrors from the deep as possible.

No! Really! This is for work.

Skwirl — Mon, 12 May 2008 04:50:01 -0800

Could you crib me some notes for my work-related robots vs. zombie debate later today? Why would robots defeat zombies in a knock-out, drag-out apocalypse? What are some humorous things to say about robots beating up zombies? Also: What are some questions for the moderator to ask that would lead to funny results? I should point out that this is not (!) chatfilter. I submitted some robot art to an art symposium sponsored by my employer and another coworker submitted some zombie art and now we've been called upon to duke it out for the amusement of others. I've been working on my other presentations and tasks for the symposium, so I'm a bit behind on my zombie vs. robot homework. Help!

And the nominees for "Best Zombie" are...

BE ADEQUITE — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:35:44 -0800

Another movie-night question: best zombie performance? Looking for the coolest or most memorable individual zombies. Here's what I have so far:

Bill Heinzman, Night of the Living Dead (the memorable first zombie in the cemetery)
Eugene Clark, Land of the Dead (the zombie that led the uprising)
Robert Carlysle, 28 Weeks Later
Billy Connolly, Fido
Miko Hughes, Pet Sematary (the murdering child)

The criteria is pretty broad. If you can't think of a specific awesome zombie, I'll happily take rec's for the coolest zombie movie in general.

Because everyone should be useful somehow.

Skorgu — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:04:20 -0800

What are some humorous descriptions/job titles/uses for otherwise "useless" people during the zombie apocalypse, end of the world, WWIII, etc.?

I only eat the brains of MBAs...why am I always hungry?

shothotbot — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:16:45 -0800

I need some help with zombie makeup. I dont usually do costumes, but this Halloween I was thinking about being an Investment Zombie, (though my actual fate upon being bitten by a member of the undead would be "Hedge Zombie") So I was thinking trash an old shirt & tie, lightly dust a suit with baby powder and do some zombie makeup. The make-up advice I have found from google has been really advanced and I am a novice at make-up.

So, finally we get to the question: what is some quick and easy zombie make-up?

Braaaaiiiins!

arcticwoman — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:10:04 -0800

For this year's Religious Studies Dept. Halloween party (theme: dress as a religious character), my partner and I want to go as Zombie Jesus and Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter. Is this offensive? If not, can you help me plan the costumes? I have never seen JCVH (and won't be able to before the party), what would an appropriate costume be? We have had this party for four years now, and so far the only untouchable characters have been Jesus and Mohammad. People have dressed as various Hindu gods, Greek/Roman gods, cult leaders, Elvis, a pirate (Pastafarian), Kwan Yin, and all sorts of others, both serious and non-serious. Most of the party attendees are either non-religious, or belong to liberal sects. I think that everyone has a good sense of humour. I don't want to offend anyone, but I am a bit tired of every other religion being fair game to parody except for Islam and Christianity, and I think these costumes would be fun and easy.

Oh, that's a zombie.

ikkyu2 — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:52:22 -0800

Please list visual traits that identify zombies. If I were looking at a humanoid, or a picture of a humanoid, what visual traits would quickly alert me that I was looking at a zombie?

I don't mean behaviors (such as eating brains); I mean features of a static image that I could glance at quickly and immediately think to myself, "Oh, that's a zombie." Or, if I were drawing a zombie, things I could include so that the viewer of my art would immediately identify the image: "Oh, that's a zombie."

Where on the internet can I purchase unique screenprinted tshirts and sweatshirts?

chrisbucks — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:37:27 -0800

Where on the internet can I purchase well designed and unique tshirts and zippered hoodies? I'm a big fan of printed tshirts, I make my own and have always prefered my own prints due to their uniqueness, but I like other peoples prints too! Can you recommend me some good, yet not hugely expensive sites which sell well printed tshirts and hoodies?

I'm mainly into punk and rock type stuff, but pop cultural references are great. Currently I'm looking at asofterworlds t-shirts, especially the zombie one. I'm a big fan of Illicit Streetwear but it's almost a uniform on the streets around Auckland and they're stupidly expensive ($120 retail when I was ordering the same for $15 manufacturing cost), so I'm looking far and wide for unique and creative printed sweatshirts, bonus points if they're zippered. I'm a regular reader of The Journal of T-Shirt Culture, but looking for online sources.

International shipping would be a requirement too...!

Am I turning into a zombie? What's going on upstairs?!

fogster — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:37:40 -0800

What is this weird sensation I experience? (Have I finally gone off the deep end?) Every now and then (maybe once every few months, although it happened 2 or 3 days in a row last week), I'll suddenly get this strange sensation where I feel as if I'm partially removed from my actions; as if I'm watching myself. Sort of like I'm in a dream, or as if I were a zombie. Physically I function just fine, and I do have control over myself. It's just a really bizarre sensation.

Before you go there, I don't do drugs and never have. I don't even drink. It's happened every now and then since I was a kid. There doesn't seem to be any stimulus that causes it, although I have a hunch it's related to either a lack of sleep or a lack of sugar / general food intake. (However, I ordinarily sleep fine and eat heartily; it's not as if I'm malnourished. When it happened last week, I was pretty tired and hadn't been eating well, but it wasn't anything major.)

I'm a 21-year-old male, in decent shape. Although I've had problems with anxiety, this phenomenon isn't brought on in anxiety-provoking situations, so I don't think it's relevant. Besides sometimes in jest, I don't consider myself crazy. What the heck is going on with me? (Since it's so hard to describe, I don't have anything to search for; I'm hoping someone will be somewhat familiar with what I'm referring to and help me figure out what's going on.)

SF Short Story with Zombie Scientist?

adamwolf — Thu, 10 May 2007 19:41:23 -0800

StoryIdentificationFilter: A few years ago, I read a scifi short story in an anthology. It had zombie-ish elements, and a scientist-type who was afflicted who was able to work and study the zombie phenomenon by burning out the nerves on spots on his hand that impelled him to touch non-zombies. They kept growing back, so he continually had to burn them out. That's all I've got!

Just how long does rigor mortis take anyway?

FritoKAL — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 08:31:31 -0800

How long does rodent rigor mortis -take- anyway? The roommate woke me up before my alarm this morning to confirm that she was not, indeed, hallucinating the demise of her beloved hamster, Boo. And for good reason - extended explanation inside. She asked this because while preparing his rodent-y corpse for burial, he twitched. Repeatedly. Despite us not seeing any respiration or feeling a pulse, and his body being quite limp. We called a local vet, who assured us that it was gases building up and escaping the hamster's body.

However. (Ah, but there is always a however. After all, if there wasn't, I wouldn't be coming here to ask!) An hour later, after she has gone to work briefly to check in before coming home - the hamster is still twitching.

It looks for al the world like desperate attempts to breathe. There is the very occasional ear twitch, and sometimes the spasms are accompanied by noises of breathing or odd squeaks. If I move the hamster, the limbs return to the curled up position. But. The whiskers do not twitch, the body is limp and I still can't feel a pulse.

So, uh? What do I have here? Hamster in death throws? Dead hamster with extended rigor mortis? Zombie hamster?

I become dull and emotionless for stretches of 3-5 hours at a time. What's up?

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 22:22:09 -0800

I become dull and emotionless for stretches of 3-5 hours at a time. I don't feel depressed, I just feel absolutely nothing. I can play my favorite, rock-out song and it feels the same as listening to CSPAN. I can kiss my girlfriend and I might as well be kissing my hand. It happens regularly, usually in the afternoon, but not every day. Sometimes coffee or food can snap me out of it, sometimes not. The difference between being in or out this "mode" is very distinct. When I'm not in the "mode", I experience a pretty full, normal range of emotions and I'm not what you'd call depressed at all. Have other people experienced this? Any ideas of what causes it or how I can beat it? I hate missing out on experiences while stuck in this zombie-land.

Downtown lunchtime nap in Toronto

pcameron — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 08:38:53 -0800

I work a desk job in downtown Toronto, and I'm a zombie today. Where can I go at lunchtime to take a quick nap? I work near College and Bay street. It can be a hotel with a nap special, or just a secluded spot where one can lie down. Thanks!

Braaaaaaaaaaains.

Glitter Ninja — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 13:24:53 -0800

Help the glitter ninja be a convincing zombierista~! Z-day Columbia (Z-Day.net) is tomorrow night, and my best friend and I are both going- her, as a punk zombie with pink hair, and me as an apron-clad zombie starbucks barista. The general game plan is to wander from the park through Five Points as a zombie mob, being generally zombieish along the way. Please post your best tips (makeup, behaviour, dress) for being a convincing punk and zombierista!

(bonus points for specific costume-related behaviour!)

Where can we buy zombie supplies in DC?

tonylord — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 10:53:49 -0800

Gay Zombies in DC? So my (gay male) partner and I are off to our first Halloween party this weekend. (I say first, as in we've never been to one before. We are both Brits newly living in the US and Halloween is nowhere near as big in the UK) and we want to go as the ultimate Republican Halloween nightmare: a gay zombie wedding. A nice touch is that we are actually getting hitched when we get back to the UK.

We're desperate to do this well, so we need to get some good supplies. We'll need fake blood, white, brown and green cream makeup and latex for wounds etc.

Anyone know where can we get this kind of stuff in the DC area? There are quite a few places in eg the yellow pages, but I'm short on time so looking for recomendations of good, reliable places, that aren't likely to be sold out this close to Halloween.

Thanks for all your help.

Zombie movies, please.

kingjoeshmoe — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 15:24:14 -0800

Which zombie movie must I see? Please check the list before answering. For my birthday, I'm planning on watching some kind of zombie movie (since I've never seen one I didn't like). But I'd like a new one. So, which zombie movie is absolutely must see but not on this list?

*Night of the Living Dead (Original and Remake)
*Dawn of the Dead (Original and Remake)
*28 Days Later
*Resident Evil 1 & 2 (Yes, I even liked these. Sigh.)
*Shaun of the Dead
*Army of Darkness (does that count?)

Yes, I've searched the web and gotten some recommendations, but I'm really looking for a big sample of answers, to see if there's one that stands out as OMG YOU MUST SEE THIS.

I'm looking more on the scary end of the spectrum, not funny like Shaun of the Dead.

So, mefi, give me some of your brains.

Zombie: The Musical

luftmensch — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 06:33:07 -0800

NotReallyPlaylistFilter: Help me find songs for "Zombie: the Musical". I'm not just looking for songs that have the word zombie in them, but songs that would go along to tell the tale of a zombie outbreak and the humans' fight to survive. The songs don't have to even be about zombies at all, but just fit with the theme of fear, survival, infection, etc. We'll want a mix of serious/dramatic songs and fairly campy ones, as it's obviously a rather silly concept to begin with. Some songs will likely be sung, others just played over the action. We've come up with a few (Including "Re: Your Brains" and "I Will Survive") and a few that wouldn't really work (like The Cranberries' "Zombie").

Bonus points for a sentimental zombie's ballad, or anything from They Might Be Giants. Have at ye!