Seeking Approval: Yes
Page Type: RPC Article
Genre: Horror, History
Elevator Pitch: A German Division that was experimented on during the Second World War and given immortality, but with a side effect, their bodies would decay as if they had died, but their consciousness remains. The soldiers are, although, forever loyal to a collective consciousness that the troops answer to on their own will. Their vehicles somehow do not need fuel as well.
Central Narrative: It was late 1943, the allies were pushing in on Germany from all sides. In France, resistance fighters were fighting against the Germans. Down south, the Americans and British had pushed into Italy and it had surrendered. In the East, the Soviets were pushing the Germans out of Ukraine, and the Soviets reached Kyiv. Sensing danger, Hitler ordered his newest "Wunderwaffe" prematurely, a serum that grants immortality. Research had gone into this new weapon since 1941 by using Jewish Concentration Camps as testing grounds for the serum, particularly Auschwitz. The first tests in 1941 on Polish and Soviet POWs were absolute disasters, only creating undead, brainless monsters. These were effectively gassed and killed. By 1943, the serum was more refined but still needed progress in order to work more effectively. Hitler ordered this weapon to be used on one division, affectionately named the Ghost Division after the famous tank group. The Division was mostly made up of inexperienced conscripts, from ages 16-18. All 1,000 troops were given the serum and sent off to fight the Russians in the east. The Military group was incredibly effective, never sustaining a single casualty, and was a great fear for the Russians with their distinct, glowing eyes, a side effect of the serum. After the US invasion of Normandy, the division was sent to France to fight the Americans, but the Major General in charge of the division started to notice something strange, the troops started to act the same. In attitude, postures, eating style, everything. But the generals chalked it up to the troop's comradery and nothing more. By late 1944, Hitler's regime was on the brink of collapse, and the division was acting stranger than before. The Major General, an avid Nazi, noticed the troops cold stare at them whenever he was in the camp, at night, he heard their nocturnal ramblings and how it was like they were talking to someone. Early 1945, the division was stationed near Berlin, needing to meet with Hitler to discuss the fate of the division upon the war's end, went to Berlin for a day. During that day, the division vanished without a trace.
Hook/Attention-Grabber: It's a German military division in the modern-day and it takes the really common idea of zombification and zombies and takes it to a level where they aren’t braindead corpses reanimated. It's unique in that way.
Additional Notes: I will take all your advice well, and this is in pretty early development, central narrative and hook should be made within an hour
“Ghost Division
Forum
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» “Ghost Division
Summary:
A Wehrmacht division somehow in the modern day
“Ghost Division
I like the base idea here a lot, but I think almost all of the backstory you provide is a bunch of baloney that gets piled on top of that good core. It should be focusing more on the ghostly part of the division, a much easier and more airtight backstory was that they’re cursed due to the crimes they committed on the ostfront and are being punished still because they’re blaming everyone but themselves. Something like that has a little more pathos than a winding path through all the most unpleasant parts of the SS and Einsatzgruppen.
Such is life in the Soviet Union
/forum/t-14226054/ghost-division#post-