For most people, Halloween is the time for vampires, zombies, costumes and monster movie marathons.
But those who start celebrating these and other eerie Halloween staples at the end of October are late to the party, as members of the Zombie Research Society sink their teeth into science fiction year-round.
The society is a national, online organization open to zombie lovers of the public who can participate in forums discussing aspects of zombie science, survival and pop culture.
Matt Mogk, who studied art and film in college, founded the society in 2007 because of his growing interest in science and lifelong interest in monster movies.
“When I was a little kid, before I (went) to sleep I actually would think about monsters,” Mogk said, adding that when he had zombie nightmares, it was like a “free movie. I didn’t have to get my mom or sister to drive (me) to movies.”
Mogk has also expressed his interest in zombies by writing books, including a children’s book he wrote called That’s Not Your Mommy Anymore.
He has also appeared on Talking Dead, a live talk show that comes on after AMC’s hit TV show The Walking Dead, several times and expects to return on the show this season.
The society’s 10 to 12 member advisory board consists of people in career fields ranging from international politics to medical examining.
Mogk said he was in luck when he contacted neuroscientists to apply their research to zombies; everyone was always willing to help.
Advisory board member Tara Smith, associate professor of biostatistics, environmental health sciences and epidemiology at Kent State University, added that considering zombie science is a “way to make science a little more real and accessible” for people.
“A lot of what I look at is transmission of germs in population,” Smith said of her area of teaching, which she uses to consider what a zombie apocalypse would really be like.
Another board member, Steven Schlozman, associate director of medical student education in psychiatry at Harvard University, has teamed up with actress Mayim Bialik to use zombies to make STEM, science, technology, engineering and math, fun for kids.
Smith has also used zombies to get through to kids and preteens by speaking at presentations at libraries during which she lectures about infectious diseases, which has been a good way to break down complicated information.
Mogk said that the Zombie Research Society welcomes people of all ages as members, including children, because “zombies don’t discriminate when deciding who to eat. (The society can) teach kids to survive a zombie outbreak.”
kf398711@ohiou.edu
@KellyPFisher
