zombie std

PREMISE: revealed gradually through duration of feature in tabloid TV news shows and The Mortician's Origin Myths

A sexually transmitted virus is symptomless until after death. About six hours after death, the corpse becomes sexually irresistible. Bodies and faces swell in sexually desirable ways. Even grandma looks sexier than she did at sixteen. Muscle contractions tighten stomachs, thighs, etc. and twist the body into sexually inviting positions. A fever roses cheeks and lips. Most importantly, most insidiously, overpowering pheromones instigate aggressive sexual arousal in anyone within ten yards of the corpse, relieved only by fucking the corpse.

The carriers suffer unbearable guilt and self-hatred in silence, unaware that anyone else has been likewise seduced by a corpse. The virus has an especially high rate of occurrence among health workers and morticians. They are not the only victims, however. Especially devout/devoted family members are also likely to fall prey to the disease--fucking their deceased kin. Suicide rates among the bereaved sky-rocket.

Biopsies are problematic because of the nature of transmission. Symptomatological diagnosis is impossible. The combined effect means the virus runs rampant, undetected for months. The epidemic is gradually identified due to the spike in health worker mortalities. Still, scientific identification of the mode of transmission is retarded by the reticence of the afflicted. Eventually, the nature of the disease comes to light.

Because self-identification as someone who has fucked a corpse is difficult to induce and impossible to rely on, the immediate destruction of all recent cadavers is prescribed to stymie the spread of the disease.

A Northern Californian, coastal mountain town populated by religious fundamentalists and secular libertarian/secessionists (Felton) refuses to comply with Federal law demanding the destruction of all corpses within the first hour of death being declared. As a result, the town in placed under quarantine. The residents may leave the remote mountain town only if they agree to spend two full moons in solitary confinement (the disease takes about a month to run its course and the majority of the casualties fall on or around the full moon.) The vacation homes in the town are abandoned and yuppies who consider it a "bedroom community" desert their property. The military rings the town with security gates, guard towers, and armed personnel in haz-mat suits and off-road vehicles.

AESTHETIC:

redwood trees for claustrophobia, chiaroscuro lighting, sublime & dirty, decrepit turn of the century architecture, cabins in woods (Evil Dead), dull drilling, slow building terror, bloody revenge, super dark comedy.