The late George Romero did more than most to bring the Zombie into mainstream pop culture. Night of the Living Dead emerged in the late 1960s and transformed the zombie into the iconic film and television monster that viewers know all about today. Is it possible that George Romero was influenced by events in 1962?
The last paragraph says he died in 1964. He actually died in 1994.
I'd be up for testing these zombie-chemicals.