Music and Zombie Apocalypses

[ThePowerofTower]

I was watching World War Z (I'm a sucker for anything Zombie, even the crappy stuff) And it just occurred to me: If Zombies are always drawn to sound, why don't they ever get a whole bunch of speakers outside and blast some music? If car alarms draw zombies, a rave will save the world! Any thoughts?

[Taleric]

Draw them into a killing pit or confinement? I think the only holes in this are power depending on the stage of the apocalypse, sounds range for each setup and sheer numbers. Most zombie stuff I see never touches on Asia, ammo becomes an issue with the ridiculous numbers there, very fortunate there are separate continents.

[Miss_Kat]

I've seen a handful of zombie stuff use loud music/speakers to get zombie attention. Most recent I can think of is the latest episode of second season of The Walking Dead (game).

But yeah, like Taleric said, electricity quickly becomes an issue in an apocalypse. A battery powered stereo would only go so far, y'know?

[FlowerChild]

I think trying to point out all the plot holes in World War Z is an exercise in futility. That movie was a huge let down, especially given the quality of the book upon which it was based.

Can't remember off-hand but I'm pretty sure I've seen sound used as a distraction in zombie fiction before. The speakers probably wouldn't be viable in most settings though given the lack of power.

As an aside, there's several missions in State of Decay where you use car horns to draw zombies away from other survivors.

[Magnas]

I was watching World War Z (I'm a sucker for anything Zombie, even the crappy stuff) And it just occurred to me: If Zombies are always drawn to sound, why don't they ever get a whole bunch of speakers outside and blast some music? If car alarms draw zombies, a rave will save the world! Any thoughts?

This is actually a plot-point in the Telltale Walking Dead games.

The general idea is probably that you can draw them in a huge place, but if you can't easily eliminate them, all you've done is gathered them in one place. If you can't easily slaughter them, then eventually they might turn around and then you'd have an entire horde after you. Especially if they get "bored" and wander off once the music offers no compelling target.

[Shinxy]

Yes, it does sound (heh) like it'd work, but the power would be an issue. However, some sort of mechanical noise making device, like an air raid siren with a hand crank, should be able to lure zombies over.

For the whole mass-killing thing, it wouldn't be too huge of an issue if you get creative enough. Station a person on a big tower in the middle of an area with a pit around them, and:
-Let a zombie fall far enough to death.
-Chlorine gas them all.
-Toss heavy objects on them (cinder blocks and logs never go out of fashion).
-Fire. Nothin' wrong with fire.

And those are just a few examples. If you just want to distract them for a while (or if they're bullshit magic zombies), well, just make a run for it while the guy cranking the siren is someone you really don't like, and don't inform them of the plan.

[ThePowerofTower]

Well, say you have a situation, like between airports and military installations, where you could remotely trigger an alarm or siren, and simply get people to stay away from the given area. It would thin out the local zombie population so that people can more easily organize and form a large camp, or something.

[kjbrona]

The Walking Dead had "wind chimes" that would make noise and draw zombies into pits.

[Gears]

The Walking Dead had "wind chimes" that would make noise and draw zombies into pits.

While that would work for shorter ranges, you'd need a huge amount of them to make any real dent in the zombie population.

I think in season 4 they used speakers to draw zombies away from an area, probably with a car battery hooked up to a speaker and cassette player or just a car they found nearby. The main issue is they wouldn't be able to shut it off easily without getting into the fray if things got too out of hand.