I don’t know much about Zombies and have had little to do with them. (Probably a good thing!) I’ve read about them in the Laurel K Hamilton’s Anita Blake series and know they’re popular in teen fiction. Today I decided to learn about Zombies. This is what I discovered.
1. A zombie is a reanimated human corpse. They are among the lower forms of the undead, and often appear in large numbers.
2. According to the tenets of Voodoo, a dead person can be revived by a bokor or Voodoo sorcerer. Zombies remain under the control of the bokor since they have no will of their own.
3. Zombies became a popular device in modern horror fiction after the success of George A. Romero’s 1968 film Night of the Living Dead.
4. Zombies are common in Haitian folklore. Researchers studying Haitian culture have related tales of bodies brought back to life by bokor, or sorcerers. These zombies are mindless slaves. They are not self-aware and are not particularly dangerous unless fed salt, which restores their senses.
5. There are several possible origins for the word “zombie.” These include jumbie, the West Indian term for “ghost,” and nzambi, the Kongo word meaning “spirit of a dead person.”
6. To survive a zombie attack (according to popular fiction, movies and games)
a) Don’t panic.
b) Get away from the zombies. Most of the time, you can move faster than they can.
c) Gather food, water, an emergency radio, flashlights and weapons, and retreat to a secure location.
d) If possible, retreat to a shopping mall, general retail store or other location where you’ll have easy access to food and supplies.
e) Stay away from densely populated areas, where the infestation is likely to be heaviest.
f) Barricade all entrances and stay put at all costs.
g) Don’t get surrounded or backed into a corner or other enclosed space.
h)Remember that anyone bitten or killed by a zombie will become a threat to you and your party.
i) Wait patiently for rescue and make long-term preparations for your survival.
7. Salt and Zombies – according to Haitian folklore, feeding salt to a zombie will return it to its senses. Often the zombie will then attacks the bokor who created it or returns to its place of burial and dies.
8. A Zombie survival quiz – here’s the link.
9. The idea of zombies is so ingrained in the psyche of the Haiti locals, that even the poorest of peasants are willing to pay quite large amounts of money to have heavy slabs placed on the coffins of their loved ones.
10. An American biologist Wade Davis suspected that some mysterious substances were used in zombification and he set about to find them. He discovered two noteworthy constituents:
- tetrodotoxin – obtained from puffer fish – an effective nerve poison, inducing deep paralysis.
- a fluid – secreted by the skin glands of the highly poisonous cane toad Bufo marinus – an effective hallucinogen and strong anaesthetic.
Other drugs such as ‘zombie cucumber’ Datura stramonium were thought to aid in the resuscitation and mind control of the victim.
11. Zombies created by voodoo tend to be harmless, and are often used as slaves by the witch doctors that have created them. In spite of its rather feeble intelligence, the hollywood zombie is a both intellectually and physically driven only by his all-consuming hunger for fresh human flesh. No one is sure why they hunger for flesh.
12. Zombies are able to rapidly spread their undead scourge, increasing their numbers to vast measures. The bite of a zombie will cause its victim to grow sick and die (usually within 3 days), only to rise again as a zombie. There is no known cure for this virus. Excision and cauterization of the “bite-infected” area (e.g. – removing a hand or arm, etc.) has proven to be completely ineffective in halting a victim’s metamorphosis into the Living Dead.
13. The zombie’s strength is the same as normal human-levels, but they are slower that an average humans, possessing poor agility and coordination. Most zombies have difficulty with simple mechanical objects and obstacles such as doorknobs, stairs and fences. When confronted individually, zombies appear weak, but the creature’s true threat is revealed when they are encountered in huge numbers.
New Zealander Amanda Ashby has a young adult book out in Spring 2009 about zombies. Zombie Queen of Newbury High is about a teenage girl who accidentally turns her school into zombies and is forced to work with a stuck-up zombie hunter and a best friend who keeps trying to chew off her arm in order to find a cure before prom night. Sounds interesting, huh?
Do you have any zombie facts to add? Any film or book recommendations? What do you think about zombies?
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July 10th, 2008 at 5:12 am · Link
In Samantha Winston’s Zombie Jack, his arm keeps falling off – very disconcerting and not at all sexy in a hero!
July 10th, 2008 at 5:40 am · Link
Great list, Shelley! I especially got a kick out of #6.
Happy Thursday!
July 10th, 2008 at 5:56 am · Link
Happy T13! Love the list because I’ve always loved watching zombie movies and this list is great. Hope to see you at my 9th edition about Julia Quinn at Talk About My Favorite Authors blog.
July 10th, 2008 at 6:19 am · Link
Zombies are not really my thing. Interesting list, but I don’t think I’ve been converted lol Happy T13!
July 10th, 2008 at 7:52 am · Link
OMG! This is a great TT!
July 10th, 2008 at 8:01 am · Link
LOL! My hubby loves books and movies with zombies! He even wants me to write a zombie erotic romance!
*hugs*
Paige
My TT is at http://tinyurl.com/4zejcp
July 10th, 2008 at 8:32 am · Link
great t13, dont know much aboutzombies…thanx
July 10th, 2008 at 8:54 am · Link
I took the quiz and have an 80% chance of dying heroically. LOL.
Love this Shelley!
July 10th, 2008 at 10:32 am · Link
Was it Night of the Living Dead or Day of the Dead that was filmed in a mall (you know: one of those safe places to retreat to!)?
Whichever. But you can see my grandfather stroll past in a scene.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:40 am · Link
Fun list, Shelley – especially loved #6!
July 10th, 2008 at 11:43 am · Link
My ds thinks zombies are scarier than any other movie monster.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:03 pm · Link
Wow! What a list. I think I’ve learned my something (er, 13 somethings) new today! Have often wondered too, as I’ve also read the Anita Blake series (well, early on, not the recent ones).
Thanks so much for sharing what you learned.
Nichole
http://nicholeellis.blogspot.com
July 10th, 2008 at 12:06 pm · Link
I love this list, Shelley! I took the zombie survival quiz and have a 70% chance of surviving the group. Woohoo!! Thanks for stopping by Texty Ladies today. :)
July 10th, 2008 at 12:51 pm · Link
I read one about someone trying to rehabilitate zombies by turning them vegan.
July 10th, 2008 at 1:07 pm · Link
I had no idea there was so much history or folk lore surrounding the zombie. How neat!
July 10th, 2008 at 1:30 pm · Link
I have the Cranberries song Zombie in my brain after doing research on zombies yesterday. Zombie! Zombie! Zombie!
Adelle – I’m not sure I’m converted to the idea of zombies either.
Leah – I meant to grab Samantha’s book. I might do it today since there’s another at Loose Id that I want to read.
Susan – your grandfather is a star!
Alice – can you tell I’ve never watched monster movies??
Amy – Vegan zombies?? Interesting!
July 10th, 2008 at 3:41 pm · Link
OMG! Amy! I just spit out cherry pits! LOL. Vegan… oh dang that is funny! :P
Hey Shelley – For a different take on zombies, try author Brian Keene. His book City of the Dead is one of my favorites. Scary as hell and makes you think.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:34 pm · Link
Great… now that’s two of her books you’ve told me about that I want to read! :D Happy TT.
July 10th, 2008 at 7:18 pm · Link
Amanda writes great books. The zombie one sounds like fun.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:10 pm · Link
The word zombie makes me think of Boris Karloff.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:59 pm · Link
Goodd facts :)
July 10th, 2008 at 10:01 pm · Link
BTW I love your blog I just found it but i like what i see
July 10th, 2008 at 10:07 pm · Link
Kaylee,
Thanks so much! I hope you’ll visit again.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:43 pm · Link
Oh, I came over here to check out the cool Cadburys commerical and managed to find zombies as well – perfect combination!!!!!
In my world zombies also have a fear of water and humans smell like chicken. Oh, and that whole brain sucking thing? Total urban legend and the truth is that brains give them indigestion!!!!
Btw, the funniest zombie movies I’ve seen are Shaun of the Dead and Fido – both hilarious!!!!!!
July 11th, 2008 at 2:42 am · Link
OMG I loved this zombie list!!! My son loves zombie movies although I must admit I’m a bit squeamish about them – apart from Shaun of the Dead – i LOVE that one!!
July 12th, 2008 at 11:02 am · Link
LOL Who knew there was so much information on Zombies out there. Great list!
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:12 pm · Link
Thank you