Rabies in popular culture
Encyclopedia
Rabies
has been the main plot device
or a significant theme in many fictional works. Due to the long history of the virus as well as the neurotropic nature, rabies has been a potent symbol of madness, irrationalism, or simply an unstoppable plague.
Rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...
has been the main plot device
Plot device
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
or a significant theme in many fictional works. Due to the long history of the virus as well as the neurotropic nature, rabies has been a potent symbol of madness, irrationalism, or simply an unstoppable plague.
Novels and films
- In 28 days later28 Days Later28 Days Later is an acclaimed 2002 British horror film directed by Danny Boyle. The screenplay was written by Alex Garland, and the film stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, and Christopher Eccleston...
, a horror film set in post-apocalyptic Britain, an artificial virus called "Rage" causes humans to become frenzied and uncontrollably aggressive. The virus exhibits similar features to rabies, with discoloration of the eye, unpredictable behavior, the urge to bite, and the spread of the virus through saliva. While the behavior of the infected characters in the film was modeled after the effects of advanced rabies in humans the comic book 28 Days Later: The Aftermath28 Days Later: The Aftermath28 Days Later: The Aftermath is a graphic novel, as a continuation of the hit film 28 Days Later, written by Steve Niles and distributed by Fox Atomic Comics. It was released on April 3, 2007....
states that the virus is, in fact, a carrier of ebolaEbolaEbola virus disease is the name for the human disease which may be caused by any of the four known ebolaviruses. These four viruses are: Bundibugyo virus , Ebola virus , Sudan virus , and Taï Forest virus...
mixed with a calming agent that went rogue.
- CujoCujoCujo is a psychological horror novel by Stephen King. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982, and was made into a film in 1983....
, a Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
novel (1981) and filmCujo (film)Cujo is a 1983 American horror/thriller film based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. Cujo was directed by Lewis Teague from a screenplay by Lauren Currier. The film was #58 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.-Plot:...
(1983) about a mother and son being terrorized by a rabid dog.
- I Drink Your BloodI Drink Your BloodI Drink Your Blood is a cult horror film originally released in 1970. The film was written and directed by David E. Durston, produced by Jerry Gross, and starred Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury and Lynn Lowry ....
, a 1970s cultCult filmA cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
horror film about a gang of Satanic hippies who get infected with rabies.
- Old YellerOld YellerOld Yeller is a 1956 children's novel by Fred Gipson, which received a Newbery Honor in 1957. It was illustrated by Carl Burger. The title is taken from the name of the big yellow dog who is the center of the book's story...
, a children's novel (1956) and filmOld Yeller (1957 film)Old Yeller is a 1957 Walt Disney Productions film starring Tommy Kirk, Dorothy McGuire and Beverly Washburn, and directed by Robert Stevenson. It is about a boy and a stray dog in post-Civil War Texas. The story is based upon the 1956 Newbery Honor-winning book Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. Gipson...
(1957) that involves a frontier dog becoming infected by a rabid wild wolf.
- [●RECREC (film)REC is a 2007 Spanish horror film co-written and co-directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza.The film was released in Spain in November 2007. Balaguero and Plaza previously directed the 2002 documentary OT, The Movie. REC was filmed using shaky camerawork...
], an apartment building is quarantined after the breakout of an unknown virus (a strain of rabies).
- QuarantineQuarantine (film)Quarantine is a 2008 American horror film, directed by John Erick Dowdle and starring Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, Columbus Short, Steve Harris, Rade Šerbedžija, Greg Germann, Bernard White, and Johnathon Schaech. The film is a remake of the Spanish horror film REC with a few exceptions such...
, an apartment building is quarantined after an outbreak of an unknown virus. One resident of the building, a veterinarian, suspects it is a case of rabies.
- In The JourneyThe Journey (Animorphs)The Journey is the forty-second book in the Animorphs series, written by K. A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Emily Costello. It is co-narrated by Rachel and Marco.-Plot summary:...
, book 42 of the AnimorphsAnimorphsAnimorphs is an English language science fiction series of young adult books written by K. A. Applegate and published by Scholastic. Five humans, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias, and one alien, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill , obtain the ability to morph into any animal they touch. They name...
children's book series, one of the main characters, MarcoMarco (Animorphs)Marco is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series, Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. His last name is never mentioned.-Biography:...
becomes infected with the rabies virus after being bitten by a rabid dog while attempting to retrieve a camera from an apartment. Marco begins to experience early symptoms of the virus, but when he morphs into a cockroach, the virus is destroyed.
- Paris TroutParis TroutParis Trout is a 1991 drama film directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal, starring Dennis Hopper, Barbara Hershey, and Ed Harris. It is based on the National Book Award-winning novel Paris Trout by the author Peter Dexter.-Plot:...
, a 1991 drama film directed by Stephen GyllenhaalStephen Gyllenhaal-Personal life:Gyllenhaal was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Virginia Lowrie and Hugh Anders Gyllenhaal. The Gyllenhaal family is a descendant of the cavalry officer Nils Gunnesson Haal, who was ennobled in 1652 when Queen Christina of Sweden conferred upon him the crest and family name,...
. Set in 1940's rural Georgia, the film begins with a young girl being bitten by a rabid foxFoxFox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
.
In literature
- Q & A, a novel by Vikas SwarupVikas SwarupVikas Swarup is an Indian novelist and diplomat who has served in Turkey, the United States, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Japan, best known for his novels Q & A and Six Suspects.-Early life:...
, devotes one chapter to a rabies epidemic in Agra, during which the main character's new friend contracts rabies from a dog bite, and dies. The main character tries to save him, but is unable to obtain the money needed for a vaccine.
- Rabies, a novel by Borislav PekićBorislav PekicBorislav Pekić was a Serbian writer. He was born in 1930, to a prominent family in Montenegro, at that time part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. From 1945 until his immigration to London in 1971, he lived in Belgrade...
about a genetically engineered rabies virus with a double protein envelope, thus becoming extremely easy to transmit (biting is not necessary any more), which spreads from one victim to another extremely fast. The virus gets turned loose at the London's Heathrow Airport.
- RantRant (novel)Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey is a novel by Chuck Palahniuk released on May 1, 2007.Rant is told in the form of an oral biography. When the story begins, the reader discovers that the main character, Buster Landru "Rant" Casey, is already deceased...
, a novel by Chuck Palahniuk in which the main character infects those around him with rabies.
- In Their Eyes Were Watching GodTheir Eyes Were Watching GodTheir Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel and the best-known work by African American writer Zora Neale Hurston. Set in central and southern Florida in the early 20th century, the novel garnered attention and controversy at the time of its publication, and has come to be regarded as a seminal...
, a novel by Zora Neale HurstonZora Neale HurstonZora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance...
, the character Tea Cake becomes infected with rabies from a dog bite.
- To Kill a MockingbirdTo Kill a MockingbirdTo Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature...
uses the imagery of a rabid dog to represent the prejudices of the town of Maycomb, Alabama.
- The Totem (1979), a novel by David MorrellDavid MorrellDavid Morrell is a Canadian-American novelist, best known for his debut 1972 novel First Blood, which would later become the successful Rambo film franchise starring Sylvester Stallone. He has written 28 novels, and his work has been translated into 26 languages...
, centers on a northwestern town that is terrorized by humans and animals infected with a (fictitious) variant of the rabies virus, which doesn't kill the infected, but does affect their minds and physiology (leading characters in the book to speculate that victims of this virus were the origin of the werewolf myth).
- In the novel When the Lion Feeds by Wilbur Smith, in which one of the main characters dies following a bite from a rabid jackalJackalAlthough the word jackal has been historically used to refer to many small- to medium-sized species of the wolf genus of mammals, Canis, today it most properly and commonly refers to three species: the black-backed jackal and the side-striped jackal of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal of...
, the events are described in harrowing detail.
- In World War ZWorld War ZWorld War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is a 2006 post-apocalyptic horror novel by Max Brooks. It is a follow-up to his 2003 book The Zombie Survival Guide. Rather than a grand overview or narrative, World War Z is a collection of individual accounts in the form of first-person anecdote...
: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max BrooksMax BrooksMaximillian Michael "Max" Brooks is an American author and screenwriter, with a particular interest in zombies. Brooks is also a television and voice-over actor.- Early life and education :...
' post-apocalyptic horror novel, the virus that turns people into zombieZombieZombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s is at first thought to be a mutated strain of rabies, and is called "African rabies" throughout the earlier chapters.
In music
- Rabies is the title of albums by Skinny Puppy and RuoskaRabies (Ruoska album)Rabies is Finnish industrial metal band Ruoska's fifth album, and it was released on April 9 2008.-Track listing:#Saarnaaja - 4:56#Lihaa vasten lihaa - 3:29#Helvettiin jäätynyt - 3:59...
.
Onscreen
- In Blue Mountain StateBlue Mountain StateBlue Mountain State is an American comedy series that premiered on Spike on January 11, 2010. The series producers include Chris Romano and Eric Falconer and is produced by Lionsgate Television...
Season 1, linebacker Thad Castle admits to using rabies as a performance enhancer because it gives him the same competitive edge as steroids but is undetectable to the NCAA's tests. Runningback Craig Shilo later shoots up with Thad's rabies before a competition with a prospective freshman runningback.
- In the movie The Crazies, a small town in Iowa is infected with a biochemically modified form of the Rhabdoviridae family released accidentally by the United States Army. However, in the movie, the RNA virus begins as a water-borne pathogen and mutates into an air-borne pathogen.
- In the CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationCSI: Crime Scene InvestigationCSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
season 9 episode, "The Gone Dead Train", the CSIs are brought in to investigate a series of deaths tied in with rabies.
- The Fantastic Mr. FoxFantastic Mr. Fox (film)Fantastic Mr. Fox is a 2009 American stop-motion animated film based on the Roald Dahl children's novel of the same name. This story is about a fox who steals food each night from three mean and wealthy farmers. The farmers are fed up with Mr Fox's theft and try to kill him, so they dig their way...
, a movie based on Roald Dahl's famous book Fantastic Mr. Fox. Within the movie the issue of rabies is shown.
- In a Season 1 episode of House M.D. titled "HistoriesHistories (House)"Histories" is the tenth episode of the first season of House, which premiered on the Fox network on February 8, 2005. When a homeless woman has a seizure, some of the employees at Princeton-Plainsboro think that she is faking her seizures in hopes of getting a free meal...
", Dr. Gregory House works to diagnose a homeless woman's illness, and it turns out that the woman is infected with rabies, from an untreated bat bite.
- King of the HillKing of the HillKing of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
, in the episode 9 of season 4 ("To Kill a Ladybird"), a paranoid Dale GribbleDale GribbleDale Alvin Gribble is a fictional character in the animated series King of the Hill. and is voiced by Johnny Hardwick . He is an exterminator, bounty hunter, smoker, gun fanatic, and paranoid believer of almost all conspiracy theories and urban legends...
runs away in the woods, afraid that he may have been infected with rabies by a raccoon.
- BonanzaBonanzaBonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, in episode 25 of season 12, "A Time to Die", Ben's friend, April Christopher, gets bitten by a rabid wolf.
- Left 4 DeadLeft 4 DeadLeft 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It was developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which was purchased by Valve Corporation during development. The game uses Valve's proprietary Source engine, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and Mac OS X...
and Left 4 Dead 2Left 4 Dead 2Left 4 Dead 2 is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It is the sequel to Valve Corporation's award-winning Left 4 Dead. The game launched on November 17, 2009, for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in the United States and November 20 in Europe; in 2010, Left 4 Dead 2 was made available to...
by Valve CorporationValve CorporationValve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
are both set during an apocalyptic pandemicZombie apocalypseA zombie apocalypse is a particular scenario of apocalyptic literature that customarily has a science fiction/horror rationale. In a zombie apocalypse, a widespread rise of zombies hostile to human life engages in a general assault on civilization....
caused by a rabies-like virus that infects humans and causes them to attack any non-infected on sight.
- The Mad DeathThe Mad DeathThe Mad Death is a television serial made by BBC Scotland. It was filmed in 1981 and transmitted 2 years later in 1983. The programme has only ever been repeated twice; once on BBC in 1985 and again in 1993 on UK Gold...
, a 1983 BBC TV series in which Britain is gripped by an outbreak of rabies after an afflicted pet cat is illegally smuggled into the country.
- In MarmadukeMarmaduke (film)Marmaduke is an American live action film adaptation of Brad Anderson's comic strip Marmaduke. The film centers on a rural Kansas family and their pets – a Great Dane named Marmaduke and a Balinese cat named Carlos – as the family relocates to California.-Plot:Marmaduke is a Great Dane living in...
, the character Chupadogra (Buster) (voiced by Sam ElliottSam ElliottSamuel Pack "Sam" Elliott is an American actor. His rangy physique, thick horseshoe moustache, and deep, resonant voice match the iconic image of a cowboy or rancher, and he has often been cast in such roles.-Early life:Sam Elliott was born in Sacramento, California, to a physical training...
) was believed to have Rabies and ate owner, however later in the film this turns out to be untrue.
- The Office season 4, Michael Scott, after running Meredith Palmer over with his car, finds out she was infected with rabies. To detract from his own negligence, he subsequently organizes a "5k race for the cure" in her honor.
- QuarantineQuarantine (film)Quarantine is a 2008 American horror film, directed by John Erick Dowdle and starring Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, Columbus Short, Steve Harris, Rade Šerbedžija, Greg Germann, Bernard White, and Johnathon Schaech. The film is a remake of the Spanish horror film REC with a few exceptions such...
, a Hollywood remake of Spanish horror movie, RECREC (film)REC is a 2007 Spanish horror film co-written and co-directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza.The film was released in Spain in November 2007. Balaguero and Plaza previously directed the 2002 documentary OT, The Movie. REC was filmed using shaky camerawork...
about a mutated variation of rabies.
- In the horror filmHorror filmHorror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
RabidRabidRabid is a 1977 horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg. It features Marilyn Chambers in the lead role, supported by Frank Moore, Howard Ryshpan, Joe Silver and Robert A...
(1977) starring Marilyn ChambersMarilyn ChambersMarilyn Chambers was an American pornographic actress, exotic dancer, model, actress and vice-presidential candidate...
, a critically injured woman receives plastic surgery that treats some of her intact tissue is treated to become morphogenetically neutral, in hopes that tissue grafts to fire-damaged areas of her body will differentiate and replace the damaged skin and organs. Instead, the woman becomes a parasitic monster whose victims transform into rabid zombies whose bites spread the disease.
- In the classic film Rage (1966) starring Glenn FordGlenn FordGlenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
and Stella StevensStella StevensStella Stevens Stella Stevens Stella Stevens (born October 1, 1938 is an American film, television and stage actress, who began her acting career in 1959 and starred in such popular films as The Nutty Professor, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, The Silencers, The Ballad of Cable Hogue and The...
, a doctor in rural Mexico is infected with rabies and desperately struggles to return to civilization and seek treatment. A major scene in the film shows a rabid man exhibiting symptoms being restrained by locals.
- ScrubsScrubs (TV series)Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
season 5 deals with the death of three patients resulting from organ transplants from an infected patient.
- In Season 13 of "ERERER or Er may refer to:* Еmergency room, a department of a medical facility that specializes in the acute care of patients without any prior appointments* ER, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code of the country of Eritrea* ER, the IATA code of Astar Air Cargo...
", a young boy contracts rabies
- The Beavis and Butt-HeadBeavis and Butt-HeadBeavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
episode "Rabies Scare" has Beavis get bitten by a rabid dog. He bites antacid tablets to simulate foaming at the mouth.
- 1000 Ways to Die1000 Ways to Die1000 Ways to Die is a docufiction anthology television series that premiered on May 14, 2008 on Spike. The program recreates unusual supposed deaths and debunked urban legends and includes interviews with experts who describe the science behind each death...
, a story about a taxidermist who contracts the disease from an infected squirrel.
- In season four of ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Heartbeat an episode entitled Mid Day Sun a family smuggle their rabies infected dog into the UK and a garage worker dies, resulting in a search across the North Yorkshire Moors for the rabid animal and its eventual shooting.