A hypothetical I wonder?

ron finkbeiner jr

ron finkbeiner jr

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I wonder what a zombie would hypothetically smell like? I mean especially if you got up close and personal enough to jam a blade in its brain housing group? Ever wonder?
 
Depends.

Are we talking about "real" zombies? Meaning dead corpses brought back to life through some sort of magic, demonic possession, or technology who may or may not need to eat people or their brains. I would imagine they would smell like corpses in varying states of decomposition.

Or are we talking about modern zombies? Meaning plague victims of some disease that takes over the body and drives it to eat exclusively humans, for whatever reason, and that may or may not make the victim stronger and faster while somehow leaving at least some amount of problem solving ability intact. I would imagine they would smell like body odor, feces, blood, and rot associated with fungal and bacterial infections.
 
I think some major perfume and housewares companies have been trying to cash in on the zombie craze. For example: the new dish soap "Dawn~of the Dead", Glade's new household fragrance "Rancid Relatives" (complete with faux family photo turning-into-undead packaging), and of course "ZOMBII" by Ralph Lauren. Somehow even the Scotch Whisky market got in the swing of the movement with "Johnnie 'Walker-Dead'" with bright day-glow green labeling and a special edition complete with a Busse knife and crossbow embossed into the tooth marked foil cap.
 
Considering everyone in zombie apocalypse scenarios I see on TV still has perfect hair, skin and no pit stains, I figure they have enough perfume/cologne to cover up the odor.
 
Judging by the zombies in downtown Windsor, they smell heavily of alcohol.
And bad breath combined with severe lack of bathing.
 
I just finished listening to "World War Z" the movie tie in edition and that is what prompted me to ask the question.
 
Buttermilk biscuits, fresh out the oven, with some Popeyes chicken. Aww man!


No, they probably smell like GW stated, decomposition. A couple friends from college ended up working as forensic investigators for the DPS and they say the smell is wicked strong, very sharp and it stays with you long after you are gone from the scene.
 
I lived in the back of a funeral home for 3 years. Alone. In a small room directly above the embalming room, and next to the room where the caskets were on display. Some nights, it was just me and 8 dead bodies in that building. I know zombies.

Dead bodies that are not quickly embalmed develop a very unique, thick, and grotesque odor. Somewhat akin to the dead animal smell we all may be familiar with, but much worse. I describe it as thick (almost tactile), heavy and penetrative. So thick that if you leaned against it, it would hold you upright. It goes up your nose and into your soul. Its been 25 years since I moved out of the funeral home, and I can still smell the bodies.

I hold to the view that the undead must smell even worse than the recently dead. But if I ever see the undead, it won't be them that I smell. It will be the billowing clouds of smoke from my Remington 870 Police shotgun, and the trail of my own effluent as I run into the night.
 
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The 'Glade plug-ins' scent 'Mortal Remains' wasn't a very good seller, except at large music festivals to cover up the Patchouli.
 
GWashington1732 said:
Depends.

Are we talking about "real" zombies? Meaning dead corpses brought back to life through some sort of magic, demonic possession, or technology who may or may not need to eat people or their brains. I would imagine they would smell like corpses in varying states of decomposition.

Or are we talking about modern zombies? Meaning plague victims of some disease that takes over the body and drives it to eat exclusively humans, for whatever reason, and that may or may not make the victim stronger and faster while somehow leaving at least some amount of problem solving ability intact. I would imagine they would smell like body odor, feces, blood, and rot associated with fungal and bacterial infections.
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Cant explain it better than that. IMO only a disease/virus is logical, they'd be still alive, not dead.
 
Having just today sat in a talk on the Volatile Chemical Compounds associated with Decomposition (as measured by Solid phase Micro Extraction), the smell of a truly rotting body (they used pig carcasses as a stand in) usually pass beyond the horrific smell stage by the end of 2 weeks or so (depending on weather), this includes the total decomposition associated with insect and bacterial decomposition, which leave a pile of bones and dried skin, at the end of that said time frame.

For the zombies we see in movies and TV, there must be some other factor in play, as they do not demonstrate the fly larvae buffet that would really occur. There is some other means of preservation that prohibits actual realistic decay. Now, a mummified corpse, would probably have a slight cinnamon-like dead leaves sort of smell with a bit of musty moldy after taste.

FYI, I am at a Chemistry Conference in Chicago, and yes, there are folks who do this sort of research. It was the most crowded session I had attended this week.:D
 
Daniel Dorn said:
Having just today sat in a talk on the Volatile Chemical Compounds associated with Decomposition (as measured by Solid phase Micro Extraction), the smell of a truly rotting body (they used pig carcasses as a stand in) usually pass beyond the horrific smell stage by the end of 2 weeks or so (depending on weather), this includes the total decomposition associated with insect and bacterial decomposition, which leave a pile of bones and dried skin, at the end of that said time frame.

For the zombies we see in movies and TV, there must be some other factor in play, as they do not demonstrate the fly larvae buffet that would really occur. There is some other means of preservation that prohibits actual realistic decay. Now, a mummified corpse, would probably have a slight cinnamon-like dead leaves sort of smell with a bit of musty moldy after taste.

FYI, I am at a Chemistry Conference in Chicago, and yes, there are folks who do this sort of research. It was the most crowded session I had attended this week.:D
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two weeks? Really?last year I killed a 4 horned ram and wanted to save his skull. I left it on the ground under the hide. It was cleaned in a few days.
 
In Max Brook's famous book, he explains how the solanum virus removes most of the bacteria in the body, slowing down decomposition to the point it takes five years for the body to break down. But this piece of information leaves us with two questions: if solanum is a universal poison and all forms of life run from it, what bacteria do we carry in our body that can give solanum the middle finger and carry on like it's business as usual? And secondly, what prevents that remaining bacteria from experiencing a population explosion now that there's no competition, and completely ravaging the body?

Those realistic questions aside, would a dead body even smell if it can't decay and break down? Or would the smell be coming from the pieces of victim they carry around with them?
 
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