If you’ve not heard, there was a zombie attack in Miami a few days ago; the “zombie”, a homeless man identified by police as Rudy Eugene, 31, was shot to death after apparently eating a man’s face, Ronald Poppo, 65, in a crazed and cannibalistic attack.

But with media outlets and over-zealous bloggers jokingly heralding Eugene as the harbinger of end-times, are we losing sight of the real issues here?

You should know that I love zombie stories – less the blood and guts and more the metaphors for conscription, mass-acceptance, slavery, etc. (but whatever, man) – but I also love that they’re stories; as in not real/fiction/I don’t want to joke that these stories could ever be real.

So when the interwebs tells me that zombies could be real, naturally I want to know everything about this nasty and potentially-undead monster.

The hype is such that we can forget that there’s a man in hospital with 75 percent of his face missing – with injuries so severe that it took days for authorities to identify him; and his attacker has died after being high – very high – on something incredibly dangerous.

Yes, Eugene’s behaviour was reminiscent of our favourite post-apocalyptic yarns, but the comparisons need to end.

Both men are victims here – one of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and the other of a terrible addiction that’s not only cost him his life, but possibly his victim’s too.

It’s devastating; and now that we’ve laughed and joked and pondered the possibility that the ZOMBIES ARE COMING (RUN!), we need to leave it alone.

I apologise if I seem a little morally-superior, waving my finger about; but sensationalising something as horrible as a drug-crazed man eating another man’s face off makes me sad.

What we should be pondering is “why did/how could this happen?” and more importantly “how do we stop this from happening again?”.