Recent ‘zombie’ attacks have people talking ‘zombie apocalypse’

Zombies may be a thing of horror movies, but recently there has been a lot of evidence of their existence.

First, there was the naked man in Miami who was eating another man's face. Then, a college student in Maryland confessed to police that he killed a man and ate his heart and part of his brain. Finally, a man in New Jersey stabbed himself dozens of times and threw bits of his intestines at police. People said he was walking like a zombie.

Those events all happening close together was enough to get people talking and terms like "zombie apocalypse" were trending most days last week.

While these cases are not humorous, it's hard not to think about the fact the zombies are coming. Maybe that roadside construction sign in Texas that read "Caution! Zombies! Ahead!!!" was on to something?

All that talk has spurred some funny tweets.

While we may be used to war, crazed gunmen and gore on the news, zombies are something reserved just for the movies and TV shows. Even more than the other frightening creatures, zombies may be the most terrifying because they look like us, but must eat us to survive and create more of their kind.

Maybe it was all that talk and people looking for somewhere to hide, that caused zombie-proof condos to sell out in Kansas. The units built out of an old missile silo had a list price of $2 million each, but came with an indoor pool and spa, exercise facility, classroom, library, movie theatre and minor surgery centre.

The place was rated by Mother Nature Network as one of the "best U.S. places to survive the apocalypse."

If you weren't one of the people who were able to purchase a zombie-proof home, the B.C. government has put together some advice on fending off the brain eaters. It recommends having a full gas tank, having an emergency kit in your home, office and car and having an out-of-province contact.

It launched a blog on the Emergency Info BC website in May to tell people what to do in case of a real emergency such as an earthquake, flood or tsunami. They added the zombie part to drive traffic to the site.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. has a similar site that they set up, for a similar reason.

"If you are generally well equipped to deal with a zombie apocalypse you will be prepared for a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake, or terrorist attack," said CDC director Dr. Ali Khan on the site.

However, the CDC said they do not know of anything that would cause dead people to come back to life.

A recent survey found nine per cent of Canadians believe the Mayan prediction that the world will end in 2012. Zombies aren't mentioned in the survey, but we can't rule them out.

And if the zombies do come or the apocalypse happens, Ontario's Bruce Beach will be ready. He has built the world's largest privately-constructed nuclear fallout shelter in Horning's Mills, Ont., about an hour and a half from Toronto.

(CP photo)