This week, HBO dropped the first episode of the highly anticipated video game adaptation, The Last of Us, and introduced millions of viewers to a world overtaken by a jarringly realistic “zombie” ...

The zombie apocalypse depicted in the popular video game series and newly adapted HBO series “The Last of Us” derives from a mutation to a type of fungus called cordyceps. Surprise! Cordyceps is real.

What if a virus could turn you into something unrecognizable - a zombie? Why some real-world pathogens, like rabies or brain parasites, display terrifyingly similar traits. Who is studying this?

Across the globe, other reanimated corpses crop up in local folklore, often reflecting fears of improper burial, violent ...