For nearly a century, big-screen tales of zombies have fascinated viewers, shambling their way from horror films to action thrillers and comedies. In recent years, there have even been news reports of real zombie-like behavior. But few know the truth behind Haitian folklore’s biggest contribution to global imagination. These pages get to the bottom of the origins of the zombie legend and its changes and development over time. The possible sources of “zombification,” including tropical drugs and poisons, are examined, and real stories of zombies are debunked. Real or not, zombies have invaded pop culture and there’s no escape.

“A compelling account of the zombi as an anthropological reality and evocative symbol of a state of dispossession, desperation, and death.”—Roger Luckhurst, author of Zombies: A Cultural History “An adventurer’s anthropological quest offering a novel description of the contemporary zombie.”—Sarah J. Lauro, author of The Transatlantic Zombie: Slavery, Rebellion, and Living Death “Displays an empathy for the cultural reality of the zombie in Haiti that delivers important insight on the island nation’s people and their lived realities.”—Christopher M. Moreman, coeditor of Race, Oppression and the Zombie: Essays on Cross-Cultural Appropriations of the Caribbean Tradition Forensic pathologist Philippe Charlier—dubbed the “Indiana Jones of the graveyards”—travels to Haiti where rumors claim that some who die may return to life as zombies. Charlier investigates these far-fetched stories and finds that, in Haiti, the dead are a part of daily life. Families, fearing that loved ones may return from the grave, urge pallbearers to take rambling routes to prevent the recently departed from finding their way home from cemeteries. Corpses are sometimes killed a second time...just to be safe. And a person might spend their life preparing their funeral and grave to ensure they will not become a wandering soul after death. But are the stories true? Charlier’s investigations lead him to Vodou leader Max Beauvoir and other priests, who reveal how bodies can be reanimated. In some cases, sorcerers lure the dead from their graves and give them a potion concocted from Devil’s Snare, a plant more commonly known as Jimsonweed. Sometimes secret societies use poudre zombi—“zombie powder”—spiked with the tetrodotoxin found in blowfish. Charlier eagerly collects evidence, examining Vodou dolls by X-ray, making sacrifices at rituals, and visiting cemeteries under the cloak of night. Zombies follows Charlier’s journey to understand the fascinating and frightening world of Haiti’s living dead, inviting readers to believe the unbelievable.

Two experts on the unexplained and paranormal team up to bring you the definitive guide to zombies! The apocalypse of the rapacious, infectious living dead is more probable than ever—at least, if movies, books, and television are to be believed. But long before exotic viruses, biological warfare, and sinister military experiments brought the dead back to life in our cinemas and on our television screens, there were the dark spells and incantations of the ancient Egyptians, the Sumerians, and the Babylonians. Blending the historical with the modern, the biographical with the literary, the plants and animals with bacteria and viruses, the mythological with the horrifying true tales, The Zombie Book: The Encyclopedia of the Living Dead is a comprehensive resource for understanding, combating, and avoiding all things zombie. More than 250 entries cover everything about the ignominious role in folklore and mythology to today's pop culture, including … Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Mad Cow Disease The Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 The Centers for Disease Control and FEMA’s Zombie Preparedness plans The MacArthur Causeway Face-eating Zombie Nazi Experiments to Resurrect the Dead Night of the Living Dead and much, much more. Blending historical review and a lot of pop-culture fun with chilling tales of ravenous end-of-times horrors, The Zombie Book is perfect for browsing or for a thorough reading by fans of the macabre. An extensive bibliography and index make this the perfect start to anyone’s quest for preparing for a zombie cataclysm.

When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth. . . And law enforcement is ready to take them down! Since Night of the Living Dead, zombies have been a frightening fixture on the pop culture landscape, lumbering after hapless humans, slurping up brains and veins and whatever warm, fleshy matter they can clench in their rotting limbs. But what if they were real? What would happen if, tomorrow, corpses across the nation began springing up out of their graves and terrorizing the living? Employing hard science and solid police work--not to mention jaw-dropping (literally!) humor--Zombie CSU is the only guide you need to make it through alive--not undead. At last you can: • Investigate zombie crime scenes, collecting and analyzing evidence of zombie attacks, and create a "murder book." • Examine the psychology of the zombie and develop a perp profile. • Observe medical science pros as they probe felled zombies for forensic clues. • Devise a zombie apocalypse survival scorecard and more! Complete with lists of must-see zombie flicks from around the globe and tons of tips for kicking undead butt, Zombie CSU features hundreds of interviews with real zombie experts, forensics experts, detectives, filmmakers, and more. Special guest stars: Tony Todd, Brian Keene, Patricia Tallman, David Wellington, James Gunn, Robert Kirkman, Dr. Wade Davis, Robert Sacchetto, Zombie Squad, Ramsey Campbell, Kim Paffenroth, Jamie Russell, Michael "CJ" Kelly, Bruce "Andy" Bohne, and dozens more! "Fascinating! An indispensable tool for anyone contemplating tackling a festering corpse onslaught." -- Fearzone.com "Candid, eye-opening, cutting-edge, startling . . . the existence of zombies may not be so far-fetched after all." --Rue Morgue

30 bloodcurdling and bone-chillingly real-life zombie encounters. Not recommended for reading when a virus hits! Paranormal researcher extraordinaire and author of hundreds of books on the mysterious and unknown, Brad Steiger provides an alarming chronicle of zombie history, and stories of first-person encounters. Along with the bloodcurdling stories, Real Zombies, the Living Dead, and Creatures of the Apocalypse explores spells and hexes; ceremonies and initiations; ghouls and wendigos; sacred zombie and voodoo-related sites; zombies and monsters of the Bible; and zombie traditions in China, Japan, the Pacific, India, Persia, and Native America. Some of the topics and stories chewed over in this fascinating book include... Zombies versus Vampires Damballah Wedo and the African Pantheon Black Cat Mama Couteaux and the Great Zombie War The Devil Baby of Bourbon Street Recipes for Hungry Ghosts Eating Human Flesh as a Religious Experience Hitler’s Quest to Zombify the World The CIA Experiments to Create a Zombie Nation Golems and Tulpas—Psychic Zombies Zombies and Voodoo Magic around the World And many, many more hair-raising stories! Highlighting news articles, historical accounts, and first-person interviews, Real Zombies, the Living Dead, and Creatures of the Apocalypse will leave you worried about whether man can survive the next plague.

In 1968, George Romero's film Night of the Living Dead premiered, launching a growing preoccupation with zombies within mass and literary fiction, film, television, and video games. Romero's creativity and enduring influence make him a worthy object of inquiry in his own right, and his long career helps us take stock of the shifting interest in zombies since the 1960s. Examining his work promotes a better understanding of the current state of the zombie and where it is going amidst the political and social turmoil of the twenty-first century. These new essays document, interpret, and explain the meaning of the still-budding Romero legacy, drawing cross-disciplinary perspectives from such fields as literature, political science, philosophy, and comparative film studies. Essays consider some of the sources of Romero's inspiration (including comics, science fiction, and Westerns), chart his influence as a storyteller and a social critic, and consider the legacy he leaves for viewers, artists, and those studying the living dead.

Dr. Farnham had thought to help the world with his invention, instead he released a plague upon it.