Episode 369: Anyone Home?

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Dave

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Zombie Cliche Lookout: Hello? Is Someone There?

I think you all know where I’m going with this one, but I’m going ahead with it anyway. In horror flicks – and this applies more to slasher movies than zombie films – you should never start yelling to see if there’s someone there. And this applies if you have someone specific in mind, or if you’re just checking on a weird noise (speaking of which, don’t check on weird noises).

Generally speaking, one of three things will happen. One: after building up some tension, it turns out that Lou was there all along and everything’s cool. Two: After building up a bunch of tension, a cat jumps out and makes a loud cat noise, scaring the crap out of you. Three: That noise you heard? Yeah, that was the killer/zombie/cthulu/etc. Of course, it might end up being any combination of these three, such as a fake out with a cat that gets you to let your guard down, followed almost immediately by a zombie eating your face.

About this Episode:

I’m slow rolling the build of my little store here, since I’ve been pretty busy lately, but I really had a lot of fun with this little entry way. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough of the “brick” bricks in the right color, so the foundation here is dark bley rather than the dark nougat (or whatever that color is) of the other set, which is most unfortunate.

Can I Ask a Couple of Favors?

First off, let me say there’s no pressure here. If you’re not cool with this, I don’t mind. With that out of the way, I’m hoping I can ask a couple favors of you guys. Don’t worry, there’s nothing too painful here.

As some of you probably know, I do a bit of freelancing on the side. I’m trying to build up this business a bit, and to help with promotion, I was hoping to get a few more likes on my Facebook page. What do you get out of the deal? Well, not much here beyond a warm fuzzy feeling and more web design stuff on your Facebook feed.

Second, I’m a big user of Dropbox, which is a cloud sharing and and syncing program. It’s totally free, and totally awesome. One of the perks to the program is that you get free space for everyone you refer to the program. So, if you’re not already using it, please consider signing up for Dropbox through this link. It’s a really great resource that I’m sure you’ll get a lot of use out of. Of, and for me to get the extra space, not only do you have to sign up, but you also have to install it. No problems there though, right?

Thank you in advance. You guys are the best.

Discussion Question: Oceanic Zombies

One zombie trope that I simultaneously like and question is the idea that zombies could stay alive underwater and potentially cross oceans. I could see a zombie crossing a shallower body of water, but the bottom of the oceans means tons and tons of pressure, which would surely kill even a zombie, right? What do you guys think?

53 thoughts on “Episode 369: Anyone Home?”

  1. “Kill” is debatable. Being smeared and unable to move? Most likely.

    • Yeah, using the word “kill” with the undead is always a bit squishy.

    • Kill just isn’t always the word for the undead.

      • True, but “Re-kill” just sounds weird.

  2. hmm… well my friends ask me this question, and yes the deeper down in the world you go, the more atmosphere is on top of you, so i usually just float around in lakes and pools, but the ocean? I think that its too big, you might end up in Antartica, it sucks being a zombie don’t it, its like a game with too many rules ain’t it?

    • Between current and crushing pressure, it would indeed suck.

  3. since a zombies respriatory system is non functioning i dont think a zombie will die in the ocean

    • To be clear, I don’t think they would die due to lack of oxygen, since they don’t need it to begin with. I’m thinking that the incredibly high pressure of the deep oceans would crush their brain, killing them.

  4. The human body could not survive the deepest depth but, and mind you I’m talking slow zed, Zed would make horrible swimmers. How do you shamble underwater? In my opinion the zeds would sink due to the lack of oxygen in their bodies. So no underwater moaning. And why would they cross that large of a body of water? Accidentally? or just fishing?

    • They know Normandy is nice this time of the year.

      • Hah!

    • All good points. As far as why they might cross that large a body of water, I don’t believe they would do so for any good reason. My thinking is that they somehow ended up in the ocean (possibly falling off a boat?), and then just sort of wander about.

  5. I don’t think there is anyway a zombie could survive that. The pressure is just too high.

    I remember a while back I saw an episode of Mythbusters, and the myth was that if you were in a pressurized diving suit (one of those really old ones with the giant metal helmet and stuff) 300 ft. underwater and suddenly the cable that connected you to the boat and kept your suit pressurized got disconnected, the pressure would almost instantly crush your whole body and it would go into the helmet (why, I do not know).

    Anyways, I think the myth ended up plausible or something, but the fake body they put in (basically it was a sack of pig skin filled with blood and a fake skeleton) got totally turned to mush. Although it would probably be more slow and painful, I don’t think a zombie could survive 300 ft. , let alone the bottom of an ocean. If it is a Walking Dead zombie, then it would die because the brain would be crushed. But maybe the zombie would survive as a severely disfigured blob of, well, zombie, if it was not.

    But I do not really like the idea of zombies just walking across ocean floors.

    And another thing that came to mind when I was thinking of a zombies and oceans. Oceans can be pretty dangerous. Especially some really deep places where we don’t even know what’s down there. I’m not sure it would happen (assuming we ignore the pressure and the zombie is alive), but what if a shark or some other sea creature decided it was hungry and ate the zombie? And no, not zombie sharks, although that is a cool idea… But what I’m saying is that if the zombie decided to cross an ocean or whatever it would take very long and he might even get eaten or stuck somewhere. It just doesn’t seem like a very realistic way for zombies to travel.

    • Excellent, excellent thoughts here ZQFMBG. I’m going to have to find that Mythbusters episode now!

      • It a really cool episode. BTW, the reason that the so much of the body wound up in the helmet is that the helmet is the only rigid part of the suit. It kind of like being run over by a steamroller from the neck down. Pretty much anything thats inside your body is going to come gushing out your mouth and nose. Very nasty

        • Very nasty indeed!

        • I haven’t seen that episode, but I have to say from your description it reeks of bullshit. If you’re at diving depth, then you’re already at the same pressure as the surrounding water – cutting the hose wouldn’t do shit beyond drowning you. The suit is soft, so you’re already being exposed to the pressure regardless of the airhose. Sure, rapid changes in pressure one way or the other can seriously screw you up, but there is no change in pressure in the scenario described.

          I know the Mythbusters are entertainers first, scientists not-at-all, but I thought they tended to stay away from such obvious ones.

        • He does say “if you were in a pressurized diving suit (one of those really old ones with the giant metal helmet and stuff) 300 ft. underwater and suddenly the cable that connected you to the boat and kept your suit pressurized got disconnected […]”

          Doesn’t sound like a modern soft suit here. That said, I haven’t seen the episode, so I can’t really offer much.

        • The suit itself is still soft on old ones, it’s just the helmet that’s rigid. And it really doesn’t matter anyway; the salient point is that the suit is pressurised, and therefore there’s no sudden increase of pressure if the hose is cut. As far as your body is concerned, there’s no difference between a dozen atmospheres of air pressure and a dozen atmospheres of water pressure. If one doesn’t crush you, the other won’t either.

  6. If Oceanic Zombies exist, there is also a big possibility that big fishes like sharks will eat them. Just like in real life dead bodies found in the sea, eaten by a fish or any marine creature.

    • Good point here, Franky. The question is, what happens to the animal that eats the zed? Is the zombie poisonous? Do they become zombies?

      • If I’ll base my theory on Max Brook’s Book about zombies, probably the animal gets infected and died in the process. But if I’ll base my theory on Resident Evil Genre, it might mutate into a much worst oceanic monster, zombie shark.

        • Every zombie world is unique and they all have their own rules, so it’s totally up to whomever created that world.

  7. With why a zombie would even go into the ocean in the first place I turn to the book ‘World War Z’. In this zombies would chase small animal even when the animal burrowed itself in the ground. The zombie would then still continue to go after it and start digging until it lost the animal’s scent (or however they track food). I would think going into the ocean might be like the same thing. The zombie sees some delishous food flopping around and goes in after it. Whether they catch their seafood or not is up to the zombie but with all the sea life there is any zombie going underwater will probably be down there awhile chasing eveything that moves.

    • Building upon this, they might also be pursuing swimmers or people escaping on boats.

      • Oh yeah definitly. Especially in the earlier times of the apocalype when that would be most common

  8. Hey Dave I kinda have a random question. I was curious how the ‘cast’ spend their time when they are not needed for the shoot. Now I know you had some funny stuff when you did the bonus features, but I guess what I really mean to ask is how do you keep them from getting lost or damaged? Do they have a special case you keep them in,maybe on a shelf, in a bag, or maybe you have a nice little break rom built offset for them to relax in and enjoy each others companycompany?

    • Very good question. I’ll take a photo to explain it and add it to the next comic.

      • Ok. That will be awesome.

  9. Assuming zombies still decay, just at a much slower rate, I’d think they’d sort of float depending on how long they’ve been undead. Note: I’m far from an expert on this, so I could very well be wrong. But as we start to decompose, the bacteria involved release gasses which build up inside us. If we’re in water, we float since the gasses are less dense than the surrounding water.

    • This is an interesting topic as well. Since they’re decaying at a significantly slower rate, would there even be a gas build-up?

      • I think there would be a lot of variables at play. If future zombie died in the water, a human body can start to float in as little as a few hours, or so google says. Since reanmiation can vary from person to person, the zombie could very well reanimate already floating.

        Here’s the other thing, water corrodes everything, especially organic tissue. So would the water spead up and eventually desintigrate the zombie, floating or not?

        • I like where you’re taking this, Steve. I tend to think that the zeds would fall apart faster in water than on dry land too.

  10. I’d think so too. But then zombie biology isn’t quite the same as ours so who knows. The thought of a hoard of zombies emerging from the ocean is horrifying to have happen (unless you’re watching it from the safety of the movie theater, then it’s awesome! )

    Seriously though, even if it doesn’t rot them faster, there’d have to be some effect. Take the well zombie from the Walking Dead in Season 2. That was only well water and it was pretty bloated and mushy. I can’t imagine what salt water would do.

    • God that well-water zombie was gross.

  11. I’m surprised no one mentioned the zombies just being floating in the ocean and then getting thrown onto some sharp rocks or something. I saw a documentary about two swimmers that got lost in the ocean and were stranded for a few days and because they were in the water so long, they were getting cuts from just small things like when they were attacked by a barracuda. They found land, but it was just rocks and there was no chance of getting to the shore without crashing into them and being hurt badly.

    Also, I’m back! I have finished the script for my first episode of my Brickfilm series. I will upload it at the end of next week. My YouTube channel is TheBeefThief, you can find it and maybe subscribe if you like

    • Hey what is it about?

      • It is a ‘funny’ sitcom-style story that features two people just getting along with life and going on adventures. I uploaded a teaser episode, but it wasn’t very good. Now I have a HD camera and animating software, but I still think it’s going to be one of those ‘it’s so bad, it’s good’ sort of things.

        • I watched ur stuff. I wish you much success in the future

        • Hat’s off to you for finishing some stop motion. That takes a ton of time and patience.

  12. Re the discussion question……. I aslo remember the Mythbusters episode where they demostrated the catastrophic failure of a diving suit, then I would have to say that the pressure would just crush the unlife out of them.
    I have to admit I find it a very cool trope……the shuffling masses slowly rising from a body of water…..just a tad creepifying!
    As always Dave, a cracking wee question to get the old brainbox going.

    • Thank you, sir. And thank you also for the Dropbox join (even if it was a month or two ago).

      • No problem Dave, it turned out to be the best solution for getting the review to you. speaking of which I will do my best to get another one written up for you……the Lifelites one I said I’d do ages ago!

        • Looking forward to it!

  13. Dave, i had, an idea for a new game for the site, just make another game thats almost like the exact same game, only with different options, like “You find a gun just laying in the street. take it leave it

    • I’ve wanted to do another game for a long time now. The first one was a lot of fun. If/when I do another, I think I’ll probably do it differently. I like to do stuff like that in order to learn stuff. I used the first game to help learn/reinforce Flash.

  14. See what will happen is… When I become an Evil Overlord Lich.. I will construct boats for my zombies to sail across on. It’s the perfect plan, I may have to man the sails & deal with them constantly walking off board.. BUT I’ll get it done.

    • if you wanted calicade, you could maybe try and secure a block with bridges between buildings, and then maybe know a few outsiders over by the docks, and pay them supplies to do the job

      • Mercenaries to help me handle my zombies in order to both recieve pay & freedom from being bitten? Genius! Turdinator, I think I’ll zombify you next to half way to last.

        • Oh this is going to end well.

  15. Well to me, calling out and possibly attracting a zombie or two seems a better option that just barging in and having Lou shoot you.

    Question:
    Unless you’re talking ocean trench or something, I doubt the pressure would be too much for a zombie to handle. SCUBA divers have dived to over a thousand feet before, and the restrictions on depth are based on problems with breathing, so if your zombies don’t need to breathe that’s not a problem for them. What would be a problem though is the extremely harsh nature of seawater. While I’m not familiar with the long-term effects of seawater on a body, from my training I know that seawater contact structures require much more environmental protection than any structure on land.

    • Good info here, WJS. I admit, I don’t know a thing about SCUBA diving. It seems cool, but I’ve never really had the opportunity to try it out.

  16. Hmmm, I’m just thinking about real life incidents… such as trying to get to the wreck of the Titanic, the Russian sub that bottomed out, or the major oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico not so long ago. SCUBA divers couldn’t/can’t get to those depths, because it is too deep and the pressure would do some nasty stuff to you.

    Barotrauma is pretty serious business with divers, they need to descend and ascend slowly and do certain things to equalise things on the way up and down… if they have to do an emergency ascension then all sorts of funny things can happen with the gasses in your body. You can burst lungs, get the “bends” and other painful and potentially fatal stuff. My father did SCUBA diving in his younger days, and there was one time he had to spend hours in a hyperbaric chamber after an emergency ascension… and that wasn’t a huge depth by any stretch.

    My point is… zombies are essentially human bodies. Yes they don’t need oxygen to breath and survive, but that is only one aspect of surviving at sea, and they would still have gasses in them. So there would be a pretty major impact on a zombie trying to cross an ocean, not only pressure, also buoyancy, currents and other elements that have been mentioned in above comments. The ocean is not our natural habitat, its dangerous even for us thinking unturned humans, I can only imagine what it would do to a shambling automaton zombie.

    What we need to do, is capture a zombie, attach some cameras, sensors etc to it, and drop it into the Tonga Trench (or some other deep sea crevasse) and then we can put this discussion to rest once and for all.

    *scurries off to find a zombie to chuck off a boat*