History YMMV / TheZombieSurvivalGuide

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: The book encourages you, when on the move, to keep moving. Carry as little as possible, abandon all luxuries, and don't stop for anything. Except for [[BigDamnHeroes rescuing survivors]]. This line in particular almost feels like a rebuttal to the common attitude in survival fiction that dependent or [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass insufficiently-badass]] characters should be abandoned or dispatched because the narrative treats them as [[TheLoad "dead weight"]] that will just drag the other characters down:

* HilariousInHindsight: The guide's author notes that it is unknown if Solanum is sexually transmitted, as nobody has ever been dumb enough to try to have sex with a zombie. In 2008, the movie Deadgirl is released, about a bunch of teenagers who do just that.

* WhatAnIdiot: The Chinese government's military zombie operation has slight ramifications of this, at least compared to those of Japan and Russia. For example, naming the operation "Eternal Waking Nightmare," the old Chinese name for Solanum. Were they even trying to be secretive about it? At least Japan and Russia used names that only ''alluded'' to death ("Cherry Blossom") and long life ("Sturgeon"), respectively.
** And, of course, there are several entries where this happens in universe, such as where the Cossacks [[ExtremeOmnivore try to eat zombie flesh]], and where [[FakeUltimateHero Harland Lee]] tried to go OneManArmy on a zombie horde, only to die from his ATeamFiring.
** Anyone who tries training zombies. The attempts listed are darkly hilarious.
** The Foreign Legion spending '''three years''' besieged by the zombies and no one figured out that headshots are the only way to kill them. While civilians can give a pass due to their blind panic but these are trained soldiers! The comic based on the recorded attacks {{Handwave}}s this with [[HonorBeforeReason strict rules to aim for center of mass.]]

* CriticalResearchFailure: [[Creator/MaxBrooks Brooks]]' attempts to dismiss the AR-15 as inferior to AK-47 pattern rifles show deep shades of this.
** His claims that the 7.62mm round is superior simply because its larger seem to go on the flawed theory that "bigger is better." While the 7.62 ''does'' have a bit more stopping power behind it, the author ''himself'' states that the only thing that can stop a zombie is destroying the brain, and .223 and 5.56mm ammunition is still ''more'' than enough to turn a human brain into pink paste.
** The AR-15 is anything ''but'' an inaccurate gun. Brooks' data on that comes from the sixties when the M-16 pattern was still in its teething phases. These days, a good AR-15 in the hands of someone who knows which way to point a gun is a deadly accurate weapon.
** Modern AR patterns, even ''military'' ones, are no longer made for full auto for ''exactly the reasons Brooks dismissed them for in the book.'' The best you can do is 3-4 round bursts, almost all have a semi-auto option you can stick to for the more precise headshots needed to fell a zombie anyways.
** Brooks completely ''ignores'' the greatest advantage of .223 and 5.56mm ammo: It's much more portable than 7.62, and you can carry a ''lot'' more of it. Combine this with the fact that a good zombie hunter needs only a single headshot to kill off a ghoul, and you have someone who can likely go for days or even ''weeks'' without having to re-stock. Overall, while most of the book is well thought out, it just feels like Brooks's info on the AR is dated at best.

* HilariousInHindsight: The guide's author notes that it is unknown if Solanum is sexually transmitted, as nobody has ever been dumb enough to try to have sex with a zombie. In 2008, the movie [[Film/Deadgirl]] is released, about a bunch of teenagers who do just that.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Brooks' attempts to dismiss the AR-15 as inferior to AK-47 pattern rifles show deep shades of this.

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: The book encourages you, when on the move, to keep moving. Carry as little as possible, abandon all luxuries, and don't stop for anything. Except for [[BigDamnHeroes rescuing survivors]]. This line in particular almost feels like a rebuttal to the common attitude in survival fiction that dependent or [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass insufficiently-badass]] characters should be abandoned or dispatched because the narrative treats them as "dead weight" that will just drag the other characters down:

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: The book encourages you, when on the move, to keep moving. Carry as little as possible, abandon all luxuries, and don't stop for anything. Except for [[BigDamnHeroes rescuing survivors]]. This line in particular almost feels like a rebuttal to the common attitude in survival fiction that dependent or insufficiently-badass characters should be abandoned or dispatched because the narrative treats them as "dead weight":

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: The book encourages you, when on the move, to keep moving. Carry as little as possible, abandon all luxuries, and don't stop for anything. Except for [[BigDamnHeroes rescuing survivors]].

** The ''concept'' of "Devil Dance", a game played underground in parts of the French empire in the 17th century. One man enters a pit, armed with a very small knife. In the other side of the pit is one of the undead. Up above, the rich place bets on whether the man lives or, more likely, how long he'll last before being eaten. Most of the zombies used in the game are taken from former players.

** The Foreign Legion spending '''three years''' besieged by the zombies and no one figured out that headshots are the only way to kill them. While civilians can give a pass due to their blind panic but these are trained soldiers! The comic based on the recorded attacks {{Handwave}}s this as [[HonorBeforeReason strict rules to aim for center at mass.]]

** [[UsefulNotes/TheGloryThatWasRome The Roman Legions]] being able to crush zombie outbreaks for the majority of their reigning period, before there was Genre to be Savvy by! And the other best thing about them? They aren't virtually scared by zombies in the slightest-in one tale, an old legion veteran simply pushed a frightened mother and her baby aside and sliced off the zombie's head with his gladius, like it was simply a minor annoyance. ''They have balls. Of Tempered Titanium.''

** The Japanese attempt to paradrop zombies on China ends before the zombies hit the ground- Communist Chinese snipers, trained to aim for the head, took them all out. The Chinese never realized that they were under zombie attack.

** The Class 4 scenario is especially frightening, as it shows how screwed we really could be if that really happened. The description of the "Total Extinction" scenario is especially chilling. Not to mention the recorded attacks. Worst is the one on the Portuguese Slave Ship.
** The ''Recorded Attacks'' companion comic manages to illustrate some of the recorded attacks, including the Portuguese slave ship. The incident with the Portugese Slave Ship had a slave ship, with all of the slaves chained in the hold as tightly as possible. A sailor got infected and somehow only bit a few of them. Those ones died and reanimated, but were too constrained to do more than nibble on the guys next to them. 24 hours later, the guy getting nibbled on reanimates. Rinse and repeat. Imagine, for a second, being the guy on the end...
** Speaking of ''Recorded Attacks'' special mention has to be given to the "1583 A.D., Siberia" entry, where [[CrazySurvivalist a group of Cossacks]] [[ExtremeOmnivore completely devour a small village's food supplies]], [[IAmAHumanitarian before killing and eating several of the villagers as well]]. The part the "zombie outbreak" starts - [[TooDumbToLive where they try to eat a zombified corpse]] - can easily be considered LaserGuidedKarma at it's finest.

** The book was written out of Max Brook's fear of Zombies, as he notes they're not some sort of animal or creature, but a force of nature that simply cannot be reasoned with. He makes this very clear in the first few chapters, comparing zombies to a computer that is only programmed to perform one function and can never be hacked.

** The Foreign Legion spending '''three years''' besieged by the zombies and no one figured out that headshots are the only way to kill them. While civilians can give a pass due to their blind panic but these are trained soldiers! The comic based on the recorded attacks {{Handwave}}s this as [[HonorBeforeREason strict rules to aim center at mass.]]

* CriticalResearchFailure: Brooks' attempts to dismiss the AR-15 as inferior to AK-47 pattern rifles are laughable, at ''best.''

** Modern AR patterns, even ''military'' ones, are no longer made for full auto for ''exactly the reasons Brooks dismissed them for in the book.'' The best you can do is -4 round bursts, almost all have a semi-auto option you can stick to for the more precise headshots needed to fell a zombie.

** Modern AR patterns, even ''military'' ones, are no longer made for full auto for ''exactly the reasons Brooks dismissed them for in his book.'' The best you can do is 3 - 4 round bursts, almost all have a semi-auto option you can stick to for the more precise headshots needed to fell a zombie.
** Brooks completely ''ignores'' the greatest advantage of .223 and 5.56mm ammo: It's much more portable than 7.62, and you can carry a ''lot'' more of it. Combine this with the fact that a good zombie hunter needs only a single headshot to kill off a ghoul, and you have someone who can likely go for days or even ''weeks'' without having to re-stock. Overall, while most of the book is well thought out, it just feels like Brooks just did not do the research when it came to military rifles.

** Brooks completely ''ignores'' the greatest advantage of .223 and 5.56mm ammo: It's much more portable than 7.62, and you can carry a ''lot'' more of it. Combine this with the fact that a good zombie hunter needs only a single headshot to kill off a ghoul, and you have someone who can likely go for days or even ''weeks'' without having to re-stock. Overall, while most of the book is well thought out, it just feels like Brooks just DidNotDoTheResearch on actual guns.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: For every DownerEnding and ForegoneConclusion, there are several entries where the humans kick SERIOUS undead ass.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: The book encourages you, when on the move, to keep moving. Carry as little as possible, abandon all luxuries, and don't stop for anything. Except for [[BigDamnHeroes rescuing survivors]].
--> Sometimes, logic must give way to humanity.
** This also makes sense. Humans are social creatures, and often, stand a much better chance of survival banded together than alone.

** [[UsefulNotes/TheGloryThatWasRome The Roman Legions]] being able to crush zombie outbreaks for the majority of their reigning period, being GenreSavvy before there was Genre to be Savvy by! And the other best thing about them? They aren't virtually scared by zombies in the slightest-in one tale, an old legion veteran simply pushed a frightened mother and her baby aside and sliced off the zombie's head with his gladius, like it was simply a minor annoyance. ''They have balls. Of Tempered Titanium.''

** The Japanese attempt to drop zombies on China ends before the zombies hit the ground- Communist Chinese snipers, trained to aim for the head, took them all out. The Chinese never realized that they were under zombie attack.

** The Japanese attempt to drop Zombies on China, ends before the zombies hit the ground- Chinese snipers, trained to aim for the head, took them all out. The Chinese never realized they were under zombie attack.