Monstrum

Hey, Monstrum fans.

I hope everyone is doing OK.

Thanks to COVID-19, I'm stuck at home, as you likely are too.

So I thought I'd give you a peek into how my monster-loving brain prepares for the inevitable zombie outbreak, or robot apocalypse, bioterrorism attack, nuclear war, alien invasion, major solar flare, finding out the Matrix is real, the Great Flood, supervolcano, Sharknado, bees rising up and taking revenge, giant mutant insects-- I mean, pandemic.

Whatever.

I'm ready.

So I'm going to show you what's in my go bag, my bug-out bag, bug-in bag, get-out-of-dodge bag-- basically, the bag I keep in my car stocked full of survival necessities in case [BLEEP] hits the fan.

Or should I say, when it does.

[MUSIC PLAYING] I'm Dr. Emily Zarka, and this is Monstrum.

When resources become scarce, it's quickly apparent who is prepared and who is not.

Sure, you could go full survivalist mode and stock an underground bunker or secret cabin in the woods with months worth of food, water, and toilet paper.

But that kind of preparation isn't realistic for many people and likely isn't necessary.

So where can you look to figure out what will keep you safe, and even more importantly, help you get in the right mindset to survive in a life-threatening situation?

Horror stories.

Horror books and film shape my life, obviously.

Yeah, I study monsters for a living, but there are other day-to-day things, like always making sure where the exits are, and what object in the room could be used as a weapon.

Some legitimate organizations, like the CDC and FEMA, have some great survivalist tips, and those are definitely worth looking at.

But there's also a few things missing from their checklists that I think can be the difference between staying alive and becoming zombie food.

Although I was a Girl Scout and taught to always be prepared, I really didn't start stacking the deck in my favor until I began watching horror movies as an adult.

Let's be clear: a lot of it is nuts.

Some of it is outright ridiculous.

Oh, my god!

But there are some very useful tidbits in horror stories that you can use in real life.

Yes, I keep a go bag in my car.

Yes, I pretty much always have a stocked pantry with two weeks' worth of non-perishable food.

And, yes, I have a zombie apocalypse survival team of people I've vetted who possess the skills and mindset necessary to survive an outbreak of the undead.

Call me crazy, but my survivor mindset means I'm ready for the worst if it happens, whether that's my car breaking down at night in the snow or a sudden hoard of the living dead.

Before we get into my go bag, let's talk about horror movies and how they inspired me to become more prepared.

I, for one, have learned plenty of things while delightfully watching horror movies.

Here are just a few examples.

Night of the Living Dead.

Finding food should be a priority.

BEN: Maybe we better take some food.

EMILY ZARKA: Then securing and barricading your location.

And honestly, Ben is just one of the most competent horror-movie characters out there.

You're Next.

No bug-out bag here, but an excellent example of how resourcefulness and survival training can save your life, even when you're in an unfamiliar territory.

FIGHTER: You should at least carry a weapon.

EMILY ZARKA: 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later let me know that you can't always trust authority or anyone who broadcasts shelter.

SURVIVALIST: I'm a survivalist.

We are soldiers [INAUDIBLE] EMILY ZARKA: And if a huge group of animals starts running in one direction, you run in that same direction.

[SCREAMING] Plus, a plastic bag full of soda and money is useless, minus temporarily disarming a zombie.

There are also some helpful examples of what a good go bag looks like.

Bushwick has a pretty decent one.

There's a first-aid kit with scissors, gauze, and rubbing alcohol, a flare, pain meds, water, a flashlight, a knife, duct tape, and a sewing kit, all of which come in handy in one way or another throughout the movie.

So now it's time for what is actually in my bag.

So this is my bag.

I know some people say that I should probably have a pack bag or something with an internal frame.

But this one was free.

It was my brother's old backpack, and it has lots of pockets, which helps keep me organized.

So this is what I have right now.

So let's see what's in the bag.

I keep this on the right side for easy access, sort of my defense pocket.

A knife.

Kind of self-explanatory, but knife is always good to have.

Hand sanitizer.

Flint.

This is a fire starter that I highly recommend that you practice with this.

It can be hard to get the hang of right away.

And the last thing you want when you actually need it is having to spend an hour trying to get a spark.

Tiny alcohol bottle.

Alcohol is always a valuable resource to have for bartering and to actually sterilize wounds in a last-ditch effort if you need to.

Pepper spray gun.

I like this one because it has a really far shot and I actually have two shots.

Again, protection from other people.

Workman's gloves.

Please get these.

If you've read The Road or seen the movie, The Road, having these is really important.

Flashlight.

This one is awesome because it's actually a hand crank, so I don't need batteries or any electricity to use it, and it always works.

My multipurpose tool.

Definitely important to have some basic multipurpose tool.

This one also comes with an additional flashlight.

One other really important thing to have in your survival kit is some kind of can opener.

So this is a Japanese-style one.

It's really simple, relatively lightweight, not super bulky, doesn't take up a lot of space.

Waterproof matches.

Allergy pills.

I'm allergic to shellfish and have some other allergies, so this is something super important to me.

The moral of this story is keep around medication that you need personally.

So if you have anything you take on a day-to-day basis, I would recommend trying to get an extra 30-day supply of that and keeping it in your go bag, just in case.

A quarter.

Now moving to the interior pocket.

More workman's gloves.

You can never have too many, and if you're traveling with someone else and they don't have them, you're good to go.

A blanket for staying warm or helping build a shelter.

Yes, I did take this from an airplane.

Don't judge me.

Deck of cards for entertainment, but also for bartering purposes.

People are going to be board for the apocalypse.

Maybe they want something to do and they have a lot of canned food.

You get food.

They get a source of entertainment.

Everyone wins.

Face masks for protection.

This one's important.

Hand crank and solar-powered radio.

Let's say the electricity is cut off or the news stations are down.

You can't get on the internet.

I can have a little form of staying on top of everything.

Ooh.

An emergency blanket.

This emergency blanket can keep you warm, which might be important if someone goes into shock or if it's nighttime and you're freezing.

But also, they're reflective.

Emergency rations.

They have almost 4,000 calories in each bar.

There's enough for one person for three days in here.

Tastes like shortbread.

It's actually not terrible.

Duct tape.

If you buy anything, buy duct tape.

It has infinite uses.

You can't go wrong with duct tape.

Buy duct tape.

A life straw.

This allows me to drink from natural water sources that might not be safe otherwise, so I know I can get water by having one of these handy.

Ooh, first-aid kit.

Absolutely crucial to have a first-aid kit.

I also keep some expired medications, some pain meds, and antibiotics in here.

You never know when you might need them during the apocalypse.

Ooh, this one's fun.

So I know I said that horror movies were what really got me on my survivalist journey, but one thing that really started it is this book, The Zombie Survival Guide.

And yes, it does talk a lot about how to kill zombies, the best weapons to do so.

But I think it's really important.

It talks about things like protection, how to remain invisible, look and listen, will banks be safe?

The answer is no.

Not only is it entertaining, but it reminds me of where my survivalist journey started.

Ooh, emergency poncho.

More hand sanitizer.

So I have a pair of socks because I keep a pair of old sneakers in my bag, as well.

After watching some of the disaster movies where you see these women running around in high heels all the time, that's impractical and you could hurt yourself.

So I always keep an extra pair of shoes and socks so I have more secure and stable footwear if I need it.

Then I also keep this guy, The Art of Eating Through the Zombie Apocalypse.

What I really like about this is that it teaches you how to do things like pickle vegetables, make a makeshift fishing line, how to clean and gut animals, has some great recipes for canned food and air-dried food.

Also I like that it encourages a mindset where it's not just about survival, but about being comfortable.

So even things like using spices to help make your canned food not so terrible or monotonous.

Keep this one handy.

And finally, I have a notebook and a pen.

Not only to keep notes for myself, or if I needed to make a sign or something, but I actually took an urban survival class a few years ago and I have all my notes in here.

So things about how to purify different kinds of water, basic food starter kit, that kind of stuff.

So yeah, that's my go bag.

We've been doing this for a long time.

Apocalypse scenarios feature heavily in many religions, from the Norse Ragnarok to the events described in the Bible's Book of Revelations.

But these end-of-days stories go back even further to around 2000 BC and the Epic of Gilgamesh, which features a huge flood.

But what keeps us drawn to all these apocalyptic tales?

Watching a scary movie or reading a terrifying book offers more than entertainment.

We get to experience danger without actually being in harm's way.

In other words, it's like an emotional and intellectual practice for our brains to learn how to react.

In the mid-18th century, philosopher Edmund Burke proposed that humans could experience something like delight when encountering the sublime, something that evokes the idea of danger and pain without actually posing an immediate threat.

This is why we enjoy roller coasters, haunted houses, and of course, horror movies.

As Burke says, at certain distances and with certain modifications, like a movie screen for instance, we can experience delight, the relief of not being the person who is suffering.

There are lessons we can learn from horror.

Even if there is no specific monster to point a finger at, how characters in fiction respond to dangerous situations can help form our own habits.

The overall takeaway?

Be prepared.

But please, for the love of God, there's no reason to hoard toilet paper.

And hey, if Ron Swanson can have an emergency Tammy bag in case his ex-wife shows up, you can keep a few things in your car or desk at work.

RON SWANSON: Godspeed.