We all knew it was coming

David Emery's Urban Legends Blog

Swine Flu + Zombies = Global Ghoul Pandemic!!!

A news story credited to the BBC reports that a new strain of the H1N1 flu virus has emerged, dubbed "H1Z1" by health authorities, or "zombie swine flu."

"After death," the article asserts, "this virus is able to restart the heart of it’s [sic] victim for up to two hours after the initial demise of the person where the individual behaves in extremely violent ways from what is believe to be a combination of brain damage and a chemical released into blood during 'resurrection.'"

Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch blog labeled the story "hilarious but totally bogus," an assessment with which I was inclined to concur until I learned that an electronic road sign was spotted over the weekend in Colchester, Vermont flashing the words, "EFF SWINE FLU. ZOMBIE INVASION!!!!! TURN BACK."

Local authorities say that warning, too, is a hoax, but how do we know they aren't just co-conspirators in a plot to zombify the entire population of the world?

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"Swine Flu Zombies" Get Own Graduation Rite In Pennsylvania

Melvin Baker - AHN Reporter

Slippery Rock, PA (AHN) - The "swine flu zombies" got their own intimate graduation ceremonies at a university here Saturday, an event designed to ward off the possible spread of the H1N1 virus to thousands of other students and well-wishers.

The group of 22 students at Slippery Rock University got the latex glove treatment after returning from Mexico where they had been student teaching. The school opted to have a separate ceremony that included only the students, their families, and university officials. A videotape of the event was broadcast during graduation ceremonies for the more than 1,300 seniors receiving degrees.

"It makes us a little distinguished from the group," a member of the group, Dan Godshall, told CNN. "We were already the Mexican group, the swine flu zombies. Now it gives us something positive and everyone has to watch our ceremony."

The students, all education majors, had been teaching in Mexico City when swine flu broke out. They left Mexico before finishing their internships out of fear the border would be closed.

Education majors at the university can student teach in Las Vegas, North Carolina, Dublin, or Mexico City.

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Swine flu alert? No - it's only zombies
Tuesday, May 05, 2009, 09:00

SHOPPERS greeted with the sight of people wearing face masks in the middle of Grimsby could be forgiven for thinking swine flu hysteria had taken hold – in fact, it was the start of a zombie apocalypse!

About 30 extras took part in a unique short film-making event on Victoria Street on Sunday afternoon.

Answering a call through social networking sites, people spontaneously appeared on the street and played extras in the months leading up to an apocalypse, wearing masks to prevent themselves being infected by a virus.

The film, being shot by local filmmaker Sean Atkinson, is part of a worldwide project to make a mock documentary about zombies taking over the world.

The project, called Lost Zombies, sees a flu pandemic turn into horror when attempts to find a cure kill patients and turn them into an army of undead.

Filmmakers from around the globe have been submitting their footage to the Lost Zombies website.

Sean Atkinson, a media lecturer at the Grimsby Institute, said scenes of people wearing face masks was prescient of the recent images from Mexico in the media.

"This was planned weeks ago – long before swine flu hit the headlines!" he said.

Among the extras were the Smith family – Rob (37), Louisa (28), Daisy (nine), Erika (five) and Floyd (three).

Rob said: "We know Sean and he contacted us via Facebook with a time and a place, and we just turned up!"

Louisa said: "We brought the whole family along, so that the extras didn't just comprise of 20-somethings, but showed that the situation in the film would affect whole families too."

Daisy said: "It's great – I love being in films. I was in one before which my dad made and I had to show it to my friends three times before they believed I was in it!"

"I love acting and am looking forward to being in this film – it's really exciting!" said Erika.

And Floyd (three) said: "This is lots of fun!"

With the film in the can, Sean said the event proved the internet could revolutionise independent filmmaking. "It's great that people have given up their time at the weekend to do something a bit more interesting than what normally happened on your average Sunday," he said.

"This is definitely a great new way to get extras for a film, and I'd do it again."

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