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A friend of mine thought one of the rules in Zombieland was "Don't burn a zombie - it only gets you being chased by a flaming zombie" or something like that. But he re-saw the movie, and didn't find anything like that.

We searched the internet, but couldn't find anything like that. Anyway, it seems like a really good quote to just have been made up for him, so here I am, asking...

Is there any story/book/movie/series with a quote like that?

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    Not in Game of Thrones. The ice zombies don't like that!
    – RichS
    Feb 6, 2017 at 5:06
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    Well it definitely sounds familiar, and Zombieland seems like the kind of zombie flick to say it... Perhaps I read something like this in Max Brooks' Zombie Survival Guide...? but I don't think it was used in WWZ...
    – Steve-O
    Feb 6, 2017 at 5:31
  • I know this one too and Zombieland was the first movie that came to my mind. Can't be Zombie Survival Guide because I didn't read that.
    – André Stannek
    Feb 6, 2017 at 12:14
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    Are we sure it wasn't in World War Z the book, because that sounds like it and it sounds familiar to me and I also have not read the Zombie Survival Guide.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Feb 6, 2017 at 13:01
  • I could swear I heard this exact quote too! Unfortunately, no idea where. Anybody knows a game where zombies won't burn to death in seconds?
    – Metallkiller
    Feb 6, 2017 at 13:14

1 Answer 1

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It may have been Max Brooks's Zombie Survival Guide. From the section on Weapons and Combat Techniques:

Finally, at five meters, we used the last bit of fuel in the flamethrower! The sons of bitches lit up like torches but just wouldn’t stop! One of them grabbed [Name Withheld], setting him on fire as it bit through his neck. I saw the rest of those things surround him as we took off for the jungle, a mob of burning bodies squatting down to tear another screaming human torch apart.

Also, from the Fire section:

Flesh — human, undead, or otherwise — takes a long time to burn. In the minutes or hours before a blazing zombie succumbs, it will become a walking — or to be perfectly accurate, a shambling — torch. Several cases have been recorded in which burning ghouls have done more damage, even caused more deaths, than they would have with only their fingernails and teeth.

Lastly (and I don't have access to the book, so I can't verify where it showed up), TV Tropes mentions under Infernal Retaliation as also being in Zombie Survival Guide:

"Established wisdom for modern zombie hunters: The only thing worse than a horde of zombies is a horde of flaming zombies."

They also note that mention of the danger of flaming zombies does come up in World War Z as well.

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    I'm pretty sure the book of World War Z includes that. I'll re-read tonight and let you know. I've no idea about the film, because I didn't watch it on principle.
    – Graham
    Feb 6, 2017 at 12:25
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    @Graham I remember that bit from the book as well. I felt the same way about the movie as did, but ended up seeing it at some point anyway. You are missing nothing but disappointment.
    – Broklynite
    Feb 6, 2017 at 12:52
  • @Broklynite Thanks for confirmation that I made the right call on that one. :)
    – Graham
    Feb 6, 2017 at 16:33

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