Master Chieve
A zombie thought
Master Chieve
Traditionally
Master Chieve
Zombies have bad dexterity/coordination
Master Chieve
They stumble and lurch after you while groaning incoherently
Master Chieve
There’s also the occasional running zombie
Master Chieve
Moving at a lurching sprint, half a step from running on all fours
Master Chieve
But I bet that if you made zombies that move like ordinary people, you could make them REALLY unnerving
Master Chieve
Like in a movie
Master Chieve
Picture it
Master Chieve
This guy has horrible bite marks all over his neck and blank eyes
Master Chieve
But he’s just power walking towards you with grim intensity
Master Chieve
He can open doors
Master Chieve
He has basic problem solving ability
Master Chieve
But he doesn’t have any personality left
Master Chieve
That’s all been replaced with an all consuming desire to eat you
Master Chieve
Doesn’t speak
Master Chieve
But CAN make eye contact with you
Master Chieve
Ignores all injuries as he closes in with a purposeful stride
Master Chieve
I think that’d be much more unnerving than your classic shambling horde
Master Chieve
Hoard?
Master Chieve
I always get those mixed up
Master Chieve
Horde
Vehrec
Horde
Vehrec
and yeah, that would be creepy dude
Vehrec
maybe take it back to the foundations of zombies and have them be dark magic slaves to a megacorp
Vehrec
...who just want to eat your brains and get back to their accounting and factory jobs.
Master Chieve
I feel like part of the horror, for me, is that it looks and moves like a human but there is nothing there in its head
Master Chieve
So making it a servant of a greater force actually takes away from it
Master Chieve
Maybe they start out as a corporate project to develop workers you don’t need to pay
Le Comtesse
You should read Seanan McGuire’s Newsflesh trilogy because that’s how the ‘zombies’ in that series are.
Master Chieve
But the control system breaks and all that’s left under it is hunger
Master Chieve
Le Comtesse
: /makes a note of this
Love Snake Kaja
My zombie concept has zombies like this but it's honestly not very horror focused because the zombies are treated more as people in need of help or at worst moving obstacles that can be navigated with the right precautions.
Le Comtesse
oh, and any mammal over 40 pounds can transform into one.
Le Comtesse
Your beloved golden retriever? Could turn into fucking Cujo with little to no warning.
Love Snake Kaja
Like, they're mindless but they can be tricked into doing familiar things from their lives like standing in line, dancing, or following a parade.
Echo
Oh yeah, that's incredibly fucked up.
EsperBot
This is a concept with a lot of overlap with Mr. X
Master Chieve
Imagine if all the zombies in RE acted and moved like Mr x
Master Chieve
They aren’t as comically unstoppable as him
Master Chieve
They’re just filled with urgency of purpose
Echo
In a way, I think it would be kind of similar to your classic Michael Myers or Jason Vorhees slasher movie villain- theoretically a normal guy, but he just does not stop, won't talk, and doesn't want anything but to kill you.
Master Chieve
And if he bites you then a few hours later you also become Jason Vorhees
Princess Emily
It'd be scary and also like, I feel like the slow shamble idiot zombie is a way for humans to survive. Zombies have numbers and are already hard to kill, if they can problem solve and open doors their way past barriers to get to you, humans are just gonna die
Princess Emily
how do you survive a zombie apocalypse when you can't even keep zombies out of your space because they can problem solve like normal people
Master Chieve
Yeah pretty scary huh?
Princess Emily
yep
Master Chieve
I don’t think they can like collaborate and make long term plans
Master Chieve
But some zombies I’ve seen are depicted with like insect intelligence
Master Chieve
>detect living
Master Chieve
> move towards living
Master Chieve
>bite
Princess Emily
even basic problem solving is a lot
Princess Emily
a normal zombie horde, for example, can be stopped by a locked door, even if the door has a window to break
Princess Emily
but a SLIGHTLY smarter zombie can reach in and unlock the door
Echo
Admittedly, humans have historically put a lot of effort into "how do I deal with a large number of opponents who have the same capabilities I do and I want to kill me and all my guys", it's called warfare. But normally you can't just get immediately recruited into the opposing army by getting bitten.
PADORU (Jon)
Echo
So it's like dodgeball, except you swap by getting bitten instead of hit with the ball.
Echo
The way I always played, getting hit just meant you were out? ...I guess that's dying without becoming a zombie, here.
PADORU (Jon)
i think there are some rules that let you switch
PADORU (Jon)
oh right, i think if you catch the ball
PADORU (Jon)
if you catch the ball the person who threw it has to switch. or at least that's sometimes a rule
Princess Emily
I thought if you catch it, the thrower is out
PADORU (Jon)
Maybe? I know there are some versions that have it so you can switch teams
PADORU (Jon)
Anyway I think zombies would be very interesting if they played dodgeball
Echo
I would watch a zombie sports movie.
Quinn Angstrom
can the zombies use guns
Master Chieve
I don’t think so
oh i'm scary
would they want to if they could?
Master Chieve
No weapons they just Get You
oh i'm scary
they only eat living flesh
oh i'm scary
citation: they don't just eat each other
oh i'm scary
also when you get caught there's enough left of you to turn
oh i'm scary
suggesting they stop eating by the time you've taken fatal damage
Master Chieve
I suspect they they gnaw on you until you die and then lose interest
oh i'm scary
exactly
PADORU (Jon)
maybe they're attracted to movement?
oh i'm scary
other zombies move
Master Chieve
The exact mechanics aren’t important, I think
Master Chieve
Unless you’re actually working on something
Master Chieve
I was just describing a potential vibe of extremely purposeful zombies
PADORU (Jon)
that's fair
oh i'm scary
it's a good vibe