Most of us believe that the idea of zombies should be confined to the horror section of our preferred movie providers. However, such an idea is a lot closer to reality than many of us might think.

Now, it probably won’t happen in the dramatic, explosive way typically portrayed in the movies. However, major potential exists for such an outbreak—particularly if a virus suddenly mutates and causes what we can only term a “zombie infection.” In fact, an outbreak of this kind could lead to a desperate situation.

See Also: Top 10 Zombie Apocalypse Conspiracy Theories

10 The CONOP 8888 Files

In 2014, Gordon Lubold came into possession of intriguing classified US military documents dated April 30, 2011. In them, he discovered details of a genuine US military plan to combat a zombie outbreak. Wording such as “isolating the threat” and “evil magic zombies” was regularly used.

With the spotlight suddenly placed on the documents, the military was forced to respond. They stated that the word “zombies” should not be taken seriously. It was simply used in place of highlighting one specific target or another. They insisted that this would make the program easily adaptable to multiple situations. It would also avoid a “diplomatic incident.”^[1]

This certainly makes sense, especially from a diplomatic foreign relations viewpoint. However, many in conspiracy circles were not convinced. Instead, they insisted that the apparent leak of information was exactly that. Quite often, the truth is found somewhere in the middle of two opposing viewpoints. However, when we view some other entries on this list, it is easy to see why the military might have such a planned response.

9 The Disturbing Claims of Peter Cummings

Peter Cummings, a scientist from Boston University, states that several diseases and conditions already exist that could cause someone to be viewed as a zombie. A “zombie apocalypse” might even seem possible if an outbreak of these conditions spread rapidly and mutated.

According to Cummings, the key to understanding the potential for these conditions to produce zombie traits was to examine the shutdown of the frontal lobe of the brain. He claimed that this resets the mind to its primal survival instincts, which is a zombielike state.

Even more interesting—and disturbing—are some cases from history. For example, several people were already suffering from such a condition during the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak. These individuals experienced encephalitis lethargica in connection with the flu virus.^[2]

They fell into a stupor and eventually became catatonic. However, any “stimulation” from another person during this time made these patients “go berserk.” For what it’s worth, Cummings works in an advisory capacity for the Zombie Research Society, “an organization dedicated to the historical, cultural, and scientific study of the living dead.”

8 A Virus Like Rabies Could Mutate and Create Zombies!

When thinking of zombies, most people conjure up images of the dead rising from their graves. However, in 2010, Samita Andreansky from the University of Miami claimed otherwise.

She stated that the rising dead was an unlikely scenario, but the mutation of a virus similar to rabies wasn’t. Furthermore, she warned that this mutated strain could spread around the world and cause a condition almost identical to the typical view of a zombie.

If such a virus took hold of the world’s population, the outlook for humanity would be dire. This type of virus could spread quickly, and it would probably wipe out the human race.^[3]

Perhaps we should take such a scenario seriously. For example, what if an individual or a group of people take it upon themselves to create a mutation of such a virus for the so-called “greater good” of the planet?

7 Many Tribes Have Ancient Traditions of Zombies

Of course, many of the rituals, traditions, and legends of zombies come from the indigenous peoples of Africa and their voodoo legends. What’s more, these practices date back to antiquity. According to the creation stories and mythologies of the regions, voodoo came “from the Gods.”

With the slave trade, these traditions and practices made the journey to many parts of the Americas. This was particularly true in the southern regions of the United States, especially in the state of Louisiana.^[4]

In recent times, Haiti has become one of the epicenters of modern cases of “zombies.” In fact, the notion of voodoo permeates the mindset of the population. However, it is usually called ”hoodoo” in Haiti.

6 Wade Davis Claimed to Have ‘Unlocked the Secret’ of Creating Zombies

Without a doubt, one of the most controversial claims of real-life zombies came from Wade Davis of Harvard University. Davis traveled to Haiti and spent years there in the early 1980s. He claimed that he had “unlocked the secrets” of what exactly turns people into zombies.

Davis’s claims that criminals were turned into zombies in antiquity to stop their wayward behavior were even more intriguing. This also acted as a brutal deterrent to others as it was akin to being sentenced to death.

Davis claimed to have gained such knowledge by studying hoodoo priests of the region and eventually gaining their trust. Ultimately, he stated that creating zombies was achieved through a mixture of secret natural toxins.^[5]

Many people rejected his findings. Others believed that such discoveries, if true, would be of great interest to secret military projects. However, there is no evidence that the military ever examined Davis’s claims.

5 ‘People Have Been Called Back From the Dead’ in Haiti

Researcher Zora Neale Hurston has performed some of the most exhaustive studies of zombies in Haiti. Almost half a century before Davis, Hurston claimed that “people have been called back from the dead.” Supposedly, she had also witnessed real “zombies in Haiti.”

In one intriguing account, Hurston tells of being invited to study hoodoo rituals up close. Most people were not granted such access. A hoodoo priest permitted the unique opportunity, and Hurston eventually performed several rituals herself.

However, the account in her 1938 book, Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica, really grabbed people’s attention. Hurston claimed to have witnessed the rising of a dead woman, Felicia Felix-Mentor. This zombie had a “blank face with the dead eyes” and was a “dreadful sight.”^[6]

4 Zombies of the Animal World

There are many examples of zombies in the animal world. This is a concern to people who track the rumblings of the conspiracy field. The main worry is that these natural methods will be replicated in a science lab and used against the general population. It is easy to understand such concerns.

For example, many natural zombies are created when a parasite enters an animal’s nervous system through the food chain. The parasite will take over the animal’s movements. This is most often an effort to bring the animal out into the open and in full view of its natural predators. When successful, the parasite then passes along to the predator in the same way as it entered the originally infected host.

Even some fungi “attract” and then “target and infect” certain insects that feed on the fungi. However, the fungi cells then slowly take over the insects’ cells and, eventually, their entire movements. One fungus appears to target carpenter ants. According to Penn State’s David Hughes, this turns the animals into “a fungus in ants’ clothing!”^[7]

3 A Zombie Virus Is Why Aliens Have Not Visited Earth

Stephen Kane, an associate professor at the University of California, Riverside, certainly has a unique theory as to why aliens have not visited Earth. In 2014, he claimed that space travel in the past had left such astronauts stranded as zombies on an unknown planet.

Kane used a formula similar to the Zombie Drake Equation. He looked at how many plagues had hit humanity over the centuries. From this, he figured that the same thing had likely happened from space travel in the past.^[8]

Kane believed that our solar system “should” be full of life. However, germs, bacteria, and viruses likely made the journey with these ancient space travelers and probably created zombies of the unknown planet’s population—as well as the ancient space explorers themselves.

It is certainly a chilling prospect—especially if humans ever venture beyond the Moon or even Mars. If these potential space explorers do return from such a journey, might they bring back something as deadly as a “zombie virus”—one that might kill all life on our planet?

2 If It Happened, It Would Happen Fast!

One thing is certain: If such a zombie virus did spread, it would do so quickly. In addition, it would infect a large portion of the world’s population equally rapidly. Perhaps, we only need to look at how quickly flu viruses traverse the world to appreciate this.

Let’s imagine a “zombie bug” did enter the general population. It would probably take the world’s scientists and medical experts by complete surprise and on the back foot. Especially if such a virus was unleashed intentionally by an extremist of some kind.^[9]

If such an unlikely scenario occurred, it really could result in a desperate situation for humanity—one so dire that we just might not recover. When we view the idea of zombies in those terms, the prospect doesn’t appear so laughable regardless of how unlikely it is to happen.

1 Zombie Drugs and Mind Control

Some researchers insist that the intelligence world is seeking to turn people into zombies through the use of drugs and mind control. Of course, most people scoff at and dismiss such claims. And they might be right to do so. After all, there is little proof of such outlandish actions taking place behind closed doors.

But what if such a conspiracy was unfolding discreetly under the collective noses of mankind?^[10]

Surely, the proof would be hard, if not impossible, to obtain. Obviously, it would be very much within the interests of those overseeing such a conspiracy to keep it secret. They would most likely do this by calling such claims “crazy.” This is much the same way that many UFO witnesses are treated. It is certainly food for thought.

About The Author: Marcus Lowth is a writer at Me Time For The Mind and Me Time For The Mind on Facebook.

Every generation faces a new “zombie drug.” From the 18th-century English gin craze to the crack epidemic of the 1980s, addicts are frequently likened to the walking dead. This highly politically charged comparison results from overzealous law enforcement and sensationalistic media demonizing substance users. Often, there are political motives behind the designation. This rhetoric is confusing, as there truly are terrifying chemicals that can turn humans into puppets devoid of free will, and chemists produce new drugs every day with the potential to turn their users into “zombies.”

10 Coupe Poudre

In the early 1980s, ethnobotanist Wade Davis traveled to Haiti to find the secret behind coupe poudre—zombie powder. He interviewed Voodoo practitioners and collected samples from around the island. Analysis revealed that seven of the eight samples shared ingredients. These were cane toad poison, tree frog irritant secretions, and tetrodotoxin (puffer fish neurotoxin). Davis concluded that tetrodotoxin was the secret to coupe poudre.

Reports abound of people going into suspended comas following consumption of tetrodotoxin, which is produced in liver and ovaries of puffer fish. Voodoo doctors would administer the toxin to a victim, who would be declared dead and buried before being disinterred by the doctor and revived. The tree frog irritant causes skin abrasions, allowing the tetrodotoxin to enter the bloodstream. According to Davis’s research, zombification was reserved as a punishment for those who violated the laws of Bizango societies formed by escaped slaves.

9 Brooklyn Zombie Epidemic

In 2015, Brooklyn police were called to the subway station at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Broadway to respond to a horde of “zombies.” Multiple individuals were moving mechanically in a trance-like state, moaning and groaning, with lifeless eyes. A blood and urine screen of the eight men revealed that they were under the influence of a synthetic cannabinoid 85 times more potent than marijuana.

In 2009, Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer patented AMB-FUBINACA, which is now sold under the name “AK-47 24 Karat Gold.” This designer drug alters the chemical composition of plant-based THC, marijuana’s primary intoxicant. AMB-FUBINACA is 50 times stronger than the first generation of synthetic cannabinoids known as “spice” or “K2.” The substance is produced primarily in labs in China and is available for purchase on the dark web. One kilogram costs between $1,950 and $38,000 and can be administered over 15,625 doses. A dealer can potentially net $500,000.

8 Flakka

Flakka, or “gravel,” is a highly addictive designer drug. Its technical name is alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone, or alpha-PVP. Originally synthesized in the 1960s, these foul-smelling white or pink crystals can be eaten, snorted, smoked, injected, or vaped. These “second-generation bath salts” mimic the effect of cocaine and meth at a fraction of the cost. Flakka is ten times stronger than cocaine, and its stimulating effects can last for days.

Flakka spikes body temperature, leading to kidney failure and even death. Its most terrifying side effect might be what is referred to as “excited delirium.” This condition includes paranoia, hallucinations, and superhuman strength. Flakka has been tied, correctly or incorrectly, to shocking acts of violence, including two cannibal attacks in Florida, leading the press to dub flakka a zombie drug. In 2014, the DEA placed a temporary ban on alpha-PVP. Drug chemists will soon skirt the law by altering its chemical structure.

7 Zombie Jihadists

Captagon is the drug of choice for ISIS militants in Syria’s civil war. Some fear it is creating an army of “zombie jihadists.” This amphetamine-based substance obliterates fear, empathy, pain, and fatigue. According to proponents, it gives you energy, enhances strength, and increases alertness. In small doses, it keeps you up for 48 hours and sharpens senses. Large doses cause paranoia, violence, and a thirst for slaughter. According to some reports, the terrorists who carried out the attack in the Paris nightclub were under the influence of captagon.

Fennethylline is the drug’s scientific name. There are rumors of some individuals taking up to 30 or 40 pills at a single time. Many aren’t sure that the reports about the zombie-inducing nature of this “inferior speed” are accurate. They suggest the placebo effect, religious fanaticism, and media sensationalism may be more reasonable explanations and that an army of zombie jihadists is unlikely. Nevertheless, battlefield users of captagon relish its ability to eliminate concern for their lives or the lives of others.

6 Methcathinone

In June 2015, Chinese police announced the seizure of 1.8 tons of a zombie drug in Xiamen. Methcathinone is a cheap, highly addictive stimulant known to turn users violent. Police described it as a “flesh-eating drug that makes people act like zombies.” Also known as “cat,” the drug remains largely unknown in the West. Synthesis requires only ephedrine from decongestants, paint thinner, and sulfuric acid. As an added bonus, the process smells like pistachio ice cream.

Ease of manufacture and low price are spreading the drug throughout South Africa. It produces powerful stimulation and euphoria at a fraction of the cost of cocaine. Cat was originally derived from khat, a stimulant leaf chewed in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. In 1928, German chemists first synthesized khat. It became a popular antidepressant in the USSR throughout the 1930s and 1940s. However, it was banned due to frequent misuse.

5 Zombie Dust

Zombie dust is a mixture of Halcion and cocaine. Also known as triazolam, Halcion is a powerful sedative. Initially patented in 1970s, it was engineered to treat severe insomnia. The pairing with a potent stimulant like cocaine creates a drug cocktail that, in the words of Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, “keeps the body awake but shuts off the brain.” During the band’s 1987 Girls, Girls, Girls tour, zombie dust became a key component of the Crue’s drug diet.

The tour was a fiasco—and zombie dust played a major part in the debacle. Nikki Sixx suffered a near-fatal overdose. During the tour, Motley Crue’s tour bus was followed by drug supplier in an exotic Excalibur sports car with a license plate that read “DEALER.” Ultimately, the record label pulled the plug before the band hit Europe. They were lucky to emerge from their tango with zombie dust alive.

4 Meow Meow

Mephedrone, or “meow meow,” is ravaging India. According to police, 80 percent of Mumbai’s addicts are dependent on the white powder. If you want to know who is on the substance, look for “zombies.” Some describe users as “pale, thin, sick people” who look “dead on their feet.”

At about $15 per gram, meow meow is roughly one-sixth the price of cocaine. It can be snorted or swallowed, providing hours of energy, euphoria, and increased sex drive. Users lose weight and suffer breakdowns and hallucinations. The crash is awful, and suicidal thoughts are common. Many users describe feeling like zombies and experiencing vivid hallucinations of dead people and demons.

Meow Meow was legal in India until 2015. Israel banned it in 2008, and Europe did likewise in 2010. In 2013, there was an account of a British meow meow user who stabbed his mother and then severed his penis with the same knife.

3 Nyaope

Nyaope, or “whoonga,” is a South Africa scourge. This cocktail of heroin, rat poison, detergent, and HIV antiretroviral medication is leading to an epidemic of drug “zombies.” The cheap concoction emerged in urban centers but has now penetrated every corner of the country. Users are frequently likened to the walking dead. All they can think about is getting more of the drug. Residents of many communities are now living in terror.

Nyaope use is also a major threat to HIV treatment in South Africa. Users are choosing to smoke their medicine for the intoxicating effect, rather than managing their condition. Nyaope use invariably damages a user’s immune system, exacerbating HIV. Furthermore, the drug encourages irresponsible sexual behavior, which could further spread the disease. Bags of nyaope sell for between $3 and $4. The high is potent and short-lived, causing the user to constantly seek more.

2 Krokodil

In the 1990s, doctors in the Russian Far East and Siberia saw a wave of patients with patches of black flesh that resembled crocodile skin. This was the result of “krokodil,” a chemical concoction meant to mimic the effects of heroin. The intoxicant, which eats you from the inside out, soon earned the nickname “zombie drug.” By 2011, Russia and Ukraine had over 120,000 krokodil addicts.

Everything required to produce krokodil (aka desomorphine) is available at a local pharmacy. The active ingredient is codeine, an opiate found in many cough suppressants. The codeine is mixed with hydrochloric acid, paint thinner, and red phosphorus from match tops. The foul-smelling yellow liquid sells for a fraction of heroin’s cost. Injection sites rapidly necrotize, occasionally tumbling off the bone in chunks. In 2013, a Missouri man’s finger fell off after being used as a krokodil injection site.

1 Devil’s Breath

Scopolamine may be the scariest drug in the world. Derived from the Colombian borrachero tree, “Devil’s breath” turns people into “zombies” and renders them incapable of forming memories. This odorless powder can be blown into targets’ faces, obliterating their free will. Tasteless, it is often slipped into alcoholic drinks. Criminals are quick to exploit its potential to turn victims into puppets who can easily be convinced to hand over their keys or empty their bank accounts.

Devil’s breath blocks certain neurotransmitters, turning off the ability to recall and making people open to suggestion. The drug was traditionally used to lure the wives of deceased leaders to graves, where they would be buried alive. Joseph Mengele, the Nazi “Angel of Death,” frequently used scopolamine on his experimental subjects. The CIA employed it as a truth serum during Cold War interrogations. Scopolamine is still used to treat Parkinson’s tremors and relieve motion sickness.

Abraham Rinquist is the executive director of the Winooski, Vermont, branch of the Helen Hartness Flanders Folklore Society. He is the coauthor of Codex Exotica and Song-Catcher: The Adventures of Blackwater Jukebox.

How to survive a zombie apocalypse? “The Zombies are invading the world!” Well, Zombies are really invading the world of television nowadays. Zombies are still far from invading the world that we live in at the moment but have managed to find a sanctuary and a world to conquer in television series and movies instead.

If ever that dreaded day of the dead rising again to eat the living does arrive, can we manage to survive? With human’s basic instinct for survival and many other skills at tow, keeping one’s self alive and probably dying naturally instead of being consumed alive by a zombie is possible. Harness your basic survival skills and follow the top 10 ways to survive a zombie apocalypse.

Top 10 Ways to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse

10. Exercise Regularly

Keep yourself in top shape. You should be able to run fast and know how to defend yourself from the Zombies as well as humans that may potential pose a threat to your existence. You only have one body in this life; you might as well take care of it to live further in a Zombie infested world.

9. Make Knives and Weapons Your Favorite Collection

Having a close to unlimited supply of knives and pointed objects and home allows you to have a permanent weapon against the Zombies. Guns are appealing though but if you do not have an unlimited source of ammunition, arrows, bolos, and other pointed weapons are better off to be your weapons. Keeping weapons handy is one of the several ways to survive a zombie apocalypse.

8. Make Target Shooting Your Hobby

Make your spare time productive. Practice throwing knives and make it a hobby. You’ll have your everyday exercise and you’ll feel more confident in your next “run” for supplies outside your walls. Practice on moving objects as well so that you’ll never miss a target in case you ran on a Zombie while outdoors.

7. Raise Animals Inside Your Property

Believe it or not, it is one of the easiest ways to survive a zombie apocalypse. Meat and protein is important to keep you strong and healthy to live longer in a Zombie infested world. Thus having dairy and meat available for consumption is necessary for your existence. Raise animals like chicken and goats in your “safe zone.” They are easy to feed and do not smell a lot compared to raising pigs.

6. Know How to Use Medicinal Plants

You will definitely run out of medicines, and even if you don’t, most medicines will reach their expiry date eventually. For basic medicinal needs, medicinal plants and herbs will do the trick. Have several medicinal plants available in your safe zone area. Several plants and herbs can provide treatment for cough, infections and fever. Tea leaves are also basic organic medicinal plants you can have in your Zombie free zone.

5. Learn To Use Renewable Energy

Renewable energy can be converted to electricity and can come handy surviving in a zombie world. Gas produced from human and animal waste can be harnessed into energy. You can use this energy to generate electricity and charge several appliances in your “safe zone.” Learn to conserve the energy that you generate though, to be able to use it during critical emergencies.

4. Have Deep Water Well in the Property

Having an endless source of water is one of the top 10 ways to survive a zombie apocalypse. Rain is a safe source of drinking water in case the world crumbles with crawling and walking undead. However, you can also have an alternative source by having a deep well inside your “safe zone.” These water sources are usually from aquifers that are naturally occurring underground.

It is better to have different sources so that your water supply will never be compromised. Have big drums and water storage stocked specifically for summer time when water is scarce. Always boil the water that you will drink whether it’s from the rain or from underground.

3. Know How to Build a Fire

Fire is used for cooking, boiling water and keeping yourselves warm. It is also your source of light at night. You can practically start a fire with some dry leaves and a microscope during the day. At night, you can use the extra coal that you managed to create during the day and make fire from sticks and stones.

Constant practice will allow you to easily build a fire even without gasoline, a lighter or a match. If you are still having a hard time creating fire, you can use a small amount of candle wax to help you work out in getting a fire lighted. Fire building skill will not just save you in a zombie infested world but in a non-zombie world too.

2. Stay In a Well-Vegetated Area with Plenty of Fruit Bearing Trees

Now that you are securely protected inside the premises of your Zombie free sanctuary, the next thing to worry about is food. Designate an area where you can plant vegetables, corn, potatoes and other crops. It would also be a bonus if you have fruit bearing trees inside your “safe zone.” A basic knowledge in agriculture and farming will allow you to regenerate your food source.

Your chances of getting bit by a Zombie while running errands to search for food will be minimized if you will generate a source of food within your walls. Choosing to live in certain well-vegetated areas are ways to survive a zombie apocalypse.

1. Build Tall and Sturdy Walls

Tall and sturdy walls are your first line of defense against these flesh eating creatures. And we can’t press enough how important wall building is among the 10 ways to survive a zombie apocalypse. Find a big area that is surrounded by tall, thick and concrete walls. It would be better if these walls have extra features like barbwires on top of it or pointed angular bars that will keep off trespassers from entering your premises.

A strong gate is also recommended, one made of steel with that is solid. It would be better to have two gates so that you can always use the other one, to enter or go out of the area in case the other gate is compromised. A regular guard should also be placed to make their rounds around your wall and your gate.

Learn about some more steps to surviving an apocalypse (according to National Geographic).

Top 10 Ways to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse

1. Build Tall and Sturdy Walls
2. Stay In a Well-Vegetated Area with Plenty of Fruit Bearing Trees
3. Know How to Build a Fire
4. Have Deep Water Well in the Property
5. Learn To Use Renewable Energy
6. Know How to Use Medicinal Plants
7. Raise Animals Inside Your Property
8. Make Target Shooting Your Hobby
9. Make Knives and Weapons Your Favorite Collection
10. Exercise Regularly

Written by: Joie Gahum