Zombie Cliche Lookout: Home Sweet Home
We all hold a special place in our heart for home. It’s a place we look forward to getting to at the end of a long day. It’s a place of safety and comfort. I would assume these feelings would become even more prevalent in the zombie apocalypse. I imagine this would present itself in two ways. First, people would be very, very hesitant about leaving their homes and the perceived security therein, even when supplies are running low and it’s becoming very dangerous to stay put. Secondly, people would very quickly associate “home” with a place of relative safety.
We see both of these things happen often in zombie stories, and we just as often see those things used to add additional stress and challenge to the survivors. Imagine returning “home” after a tiring and dangerous supply run, only to find it completely surrounded by zombies. Not a great way to end a day, is it?
About this Episode:
I don’t know why, but I always like to be sure to show characters learning things as part of the plot. I guess it’s because it bothers me so much when I read a story where a character knows something, even though we’ve never seen them learning it at any point. No, I’m not talking about things like learning how to weld or speak Spanish, I just mean generally information about things going on. In this case, Murphy and Inez need to learn about the zombies outside the cabin.
I’m probably taking the concept too far.
Other News:
We’ve been getting some mighty impressive entries in the Double-Down Challenge. You’ve only got to the end of the month – 15 days of this posting – to get your entries in, so get crackin’!
Discussion Question: Scariest Dream?
This question popped into my head over the weekend as I was driving out to my in-laws. What’s the scariest dream you’ve ever had?
For me, the scariest dreams are always those that are the most plausible. If they hew very, very close to reality, they tend to get a much bigger reaction out of me. Without a doubt the creepiest dream I’d ever had was when my son was a baby. I dreamed that I woke up because of the baby monitor, but instead of hearing him crying, I could hear the voice of a strange man trying to keep him quiet. Needless to say, I sprang out of bed in a complete panic and rushed into his room, finding him alone and sleeping.
In a similar experience, I once dreamed that I woke up, rolled over to look out the window, and saw a man staring back in at him. That one scared the hell out of me too.
It’s a dream from a long time ago, and I have no idea where it came from.
I can’ remember the details, but I do remember it was very realistic. I dreamed about some nuclear treat from the eastern countries. I remember I was very scared in this dream because my parents were very scared about something in they were reading newspapers and watching on the news. Then one day an extra news broadcast and it was announced that nuclear missiles had been launched towards our little country (the Netherlands).
AS I said I don’t remember details but I do remember that in the end of my dream I was standing outside with my parents and my two little brothers… watching the skies in fear and suddenly those missiles appeared and came closer and closer towards us… I woke up in fear, my heart was racing and I couldn’t shake this feeling for quite some time.
Very cool. I love the detail that you were scared because your parents were. That just feels so true to life.
Another +1 for Dave! No typos today, at least not that I can pick out! 😀
Not even a plausible one! 😉
Yay me!
Regarding today’s comic, well, I suppose they were going to have to tell Inez and Murphy the news sooner or later, anyway. 😀 My point from Friday still stands, however, and now Inez and Murphy need to be doubly careful to watch their backs, since they’re now bringing up the rear. 😀
More eyes on the lookout for zombies are only good if they know they’re supposed to be on the lookout. I think it’s plausible to say Wednesday’s comic should reinforce this concept! 😉
Yes indeed. Whenever you see zombies, you should be looking around for more.
re; today’s discussion topic. I’ve only had 1 nightmare, at least that I can remember. This happend when I was in 3rd grade (about 26 years ago now), but I remember the dream clear as day.
I was getting off the bus at my normal stop, except no one got off with me. When the bus pulled away, this big, black dog with glowing red eyes was apparently hiding behind the bus across the street. I see it and start running for home and, of course, it starts chasing me. Just as it’s about to catch me, I get home and slame the door shut. I can hear it barking and scratching the door behind me.
I start walking around the house looking for my mom, dad, and brother when I hear the door burst open. I run to the nearest closet, open the door and the dog is in the closet and jumps out at me. Which is when I wake up.
Wow, that’s a terrifying one, Steve.
Here’s the extra creepy part.
12 years later, I would be bitten by a black dog while looking for my brother. The dog came up behind me and attacked me. Luckily it only got my hand. It wasn’t until later that I realized how similar to the dream the incident was.
Hah, wow. That really does up the ante a bit.
*shudder*
That’s a scary one!
Ace Ventura anyone?
That was tough to get through, Greg. Mostly because of my disdain for Jim Carey in all but a couple of roles.
I’ll share my zombie-related one. My daughters and I were running through town trying to get to safety. Every way we tried to escape, we were cut off until I finally realized we were boxed in and could only go to one, last building. We hurried up the ladder, thinking that we could kick it away and be safe on the roof. Except, we weren’t fast enough. They still got up on the other side via another ladder. We were stuck there – trapped and those things coming at us. I woke up *knowing* that we were seconds away from being eaten alive.
It’s always worse when the kids are involved, isn’t it? That sounds like an awful one, Kim.
I try to give myself a good nightmare at least once a month. They use to involve getting hit by a car, mostly pinned from the knees down. Or crawling into a pipe to get away from something and stuck with my arms to the side. As I got older they didn’t work for me as much so now it’s mostly the quick painful things like a syringe to the eye or Centipedes & Millipedes crawling into my mouth while I sleep.
Jesus BT, that made my skin crawl.
I like to keep an active imagination even when I sleep.