Virus Ecohorror Main MenuThe World of Virus EcohorrorIntroductionVirus Eco-horror TimelineThe Walking DeadSince the SARS pandemic and the success of the movies like 28 Days later, the Walking Dead set to explore the interpersonal relationships rather during a pandemic rather than the virus itself. The show dramatically changed the landscape of virus eco-horror as it illustrated the fall of human society in a time when people needed to stick together the most.The Stand by Stephen KingThe Stand by Stephen King revolves around a man-made superflu that was accidentally released by the government into society in the United States. It ends up spreading across the entire world and killing 99% of the humanity.28 Days Later: Introduction28 Days Later is a movie about a rage-inducing virus that spreads across the United Kingdom and causes society to collapse.Bird BoxThe Maze Runner SeriesThe Maze Runner series by James Dashner tells a young adult dystopian tale of human society that has been ravaged by solar flares and by a virus initially released by the government for population control.Works CitedHitanshu Janiab07398a815684f638c75369f476d6611afd3b8dStephen Warrenbeb7d686d947a877dbd44acb2b6071a49ccab243Niknaz Tillavaldyyeva2b146d3b8f20646a711ea0add0ad0d42a4257371Manya Jaind6e6598b4c5c7b79843cb9611b4d5e98853792afVansh Patel9067bb587ae3468f00e7362a04c7236542bc24b3
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1media/640px-Magnificent_CME_Erupts_on_the_Sun_-_August_31_thumb.jpg2022-10-24T18:14:56-07:00Stephen Warrenbeb7d686d947a877dbd44acb2b6071a49ccab243414982NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. (n.d.). Magnificent CME Erupts on the Sun - August 31. Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21422679plain2022-10-25T13:31:27-07:00Stephen Warrenbeb7d686d947a877dbd44acb2b6071a49ccab243
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1media/Screenshot 2022-10-24 at 9.16.28 PM.png2022-10-20T08:53:36-07:00Reflecting on Real Issues13image_header2022-10-25T13:47:51-07:00Echo-horror works commonly take inspiration from real life facts and events that either have happened or have the potential to occur. For example, the title card of 1977's Day of the Animals states that research three years prior "...startled the scientific world with [the] finding that fluorocarbon gases used in aerosol spray are seriously damaging the Earth's protective ozone layer." It then goes on to state that the movie "...dramatizes what could happen in the near future if we continue to do nothing to stop this damage to Nature's protective shield..." (Girdler, 1977, 00:00:10-00:00:30).
Similarly, The Maze Runner series is based on an event that was predicted to happen. Munir Ahmed Al-Aghberi makes note of this in the paper "Pandemic Apocalypse In Between Dystopias: Observations from Post-Apocalyptic Novels," stating that "[the] novel’s idea is derived from a pure scientific fact: that a solar flare was predicted by NASA to hit the Earth in 2022" (2021, p. 10). Morton & Lounsbury reference Dashner as saying that "...[the series] ‘could serve as a warning’ about ‘how bad a society could get’" (2015, p. 66; Ellsworth, 2011). However, while Dashner may have been focusing more on the dystopian aspect of the series's universe, he also used conventions of the eco-horror genre to extend his story into a frightening tale of human society coping with an extreme natural disaster and a destructive plague. By blending real-life inspiration with eco-horror tropes, The Maze Runner series and other similar works bridge the divide between fantasy and reality. Therefore, while the events within the fictional world are often exaggerated, basing the premise of works in reality punctuates the possibility of such events happening.
Plot information retrieved from The Maze Runner Wiki | Fandom, n.d..