Urban Legend: The BBC reported an outbreak of “zombism” in a Cambodian town.

May 2, 2005 D. H. McKee

Off

Status: False.
Despite its April 1 date, and its non-appearance on a real news site, a spoof article about an outbreak of “zombism” spread through the bites of infected mosquitoes in Cambodia so successfully imitated the style of the BBC’s web site that it continues to be circulated by readers wondering about its authenticity. (The page’s HTML code reveals that it was creating by modifying a real BBC article about Syrian troops withdrawing from Lebanon, which is why most of the ancillary links in the spoof page’s sidebar refer to Syria and Lebanon even though the ‘Zombies’ article mentions neither of those countries.)
The article is just an April Fools’ joke, and the picture of the “canine sacrificed by locals to ward off evil spirits” is a cropped version of an art exhibit photograph created years before the 1 April 2005 date of the putative “zombie” news story.
Urban Legends Reference Pages: Humor (Let It Zombie)

Comments are closed.

About This Site

As a guy who occasionally curates art shows and wrangles artists together, I often have to edit and post artist bios, profile pictures, and artwork images. This can be a problem, since many artists and writers aren’t used to selling themselves. Artists rarely know how to present their art for display in a brochure, and writers aren’t used to writing about themselves.

Writers often treat the bio like it’s an interview or something. Maybe like they’re having a conversation with you, the reader. While it may work sometimes, the most common way to write a bio is to write in the 3rd person.

I’m like those writers, and I’m talking to you directly, unlike the common way to do a bio. You should see my About page. It makes sense to me, since this is a bit which describes my blog’s website. When I get famous enough that I don’t have time to talk to you, I’ll have an intern write everything in 3rd person. Until then, you get to talk to me.

Like blogs of old, this one is a personal document of the comings and goings of me. Articles I’ve written, links I’ve posted, videos I liked, etc. Here, a first-person perspective is the way to go, at least for now. So, this is my site. I’m D. H. McKee, a sometimes artist, sometimes writer. Mostly just a guy on the internet.