…But If a Zombie Apocalypse Did Occur

Part pop culture trope, part hypothetical cataclysm, the zombie apocalypse is rooted in modern literature, film and mythology. This collection of new essays considers the implications of this scientifically impossible (but perhaps imminent) event, examining real-world responses to pandemic contagion and civic chaos, as well as those from Hollywood and popular culture. The contributors discuss the zombie apocalypse as a metaphor for actual catastrophes and estimate the probabilities of human survival and behavior during an undead invasion.

Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Amy L. Thompson is an associate professor of biology at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. She has published several research articles on skeletal muscle development and disease, brown recluse spider bite pathology, and pedagogy, including using popular culture in the classroom.
Antonio S. Thompson is a professor of history at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. He is the author of four books on World War II Axis prisoners of war in the United States, has co-edited two books on American military and diplomatic history, and has also published on zombie popular culture.

Edited by Amy L. Thompson and Antonio S. Thompson
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 300
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7550-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2090-9
Imprint: McFarland
Series: Contributions to Zombie Studies

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword (Wade Davis) 1

Introduction (Amy L. Thompson and Antonio S. Thompson) 7

The Rise of the Zombie in Popular Culture (James F. Thompson) 11

Other Apocalypses: Historical Perspectives on Mass Destruction (Nick Proctor) 26

Looking to the CDC and WHO for Answers (Amy L. Thompson) 42

A Matter of Timing: The U.S. Army Response to a Zombie Invasion (Jason W. Warren) 59

Neurobiology of a Zombie (Steven Schlozman) 75

Communications in a Zombie Apocalypse: Usage, Control and Collapse of Mass Media (Diem-My T. Bui) 88

Reaction of Health Care Providers to the Zombie Apocalypse (Linda W. Thompson) 105

Day of the Engineer: Engineering and the Zombie Apocalypse (Jeff Moehlis) 122

Homeland Security, FEMA and Securing the Masses Against the Zombie Horde (Jeremy Youde) 138

A Particularly “nasty, brutish, and short” Life: Individuals, Groups and Government in the Zombie Apocalypse (Antonio S. Thompson) 156

The Law and the Living Dead (Jennifer M. Lankford) 174

A Sociologist Responds to Zombies (David F. Steele) 192

The Psychology of Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse (Scott Mirabile) 209

“Three men, and the place is surrounded”: Reel Women in the Zombie Apocalypse (LuAnne Roth and Kate Shoults) 227

Postmortem Ethics: Personhood at the Margins of Death (Cory Andrew Labrecque) 246

Zombies in the Sunshine State: An Economic and Historical Analysis of the Zombie Apocalypse (Christopher M. Esing) 261

About the Contributors 279

Index 283

• “An intelligent, thought-provoking and highly readable book”—Destructive Music

• “The zombie apocalypse is studied as a vehicle to discuss the probability of life, behavior, and reaction during an undead invasion or other apocalyptic event”—ProtoView