Weird News: CDC Warns of Zombie Apocalypse
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
In a creative twist, the Centers for Disease Control recently referenced the possibility of a zombie apocalypse as a means to interest people in preparing for disasters. No, it isn't the makings of a scenario from World War Z. However, this odd attempt at using horror to raise public awareness is the first of its kind.
Perhaps we will one day see stranger horrors used to illustrate very real dangers. Lovecraft, for instance, contains plenty of warnings about cultists and nefarious old books. Algernon Blackwood's works might encourage travelers to stay away from isolated areas along the Danube, or the arctic wastes of Canada. In more recent times, the resounding lesson from authors like Thomas Ligotti and Robert Aickman is that nothing is as it seems.
Of course, if we ever see these warnings from any government, the body politic will have changed dramatically. Rather than worrying about bleak, dreamy realities or airborne monsters, folks in the immediate future will be far more bothered by visceral destruction. And who can blame them? At least horror is being put toward a good cause.
-Grim Blogger
