Undying Legacy - A comprehensive history of Zombies

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Ah zombies, truly the most recognizable undead creature, comics, books, movies, and, of course, videogames, there is no media that can escape the horde.

Do you remember the first zombie you'd ever seen? Was it a glimpse of House of the Dead at the Arcade? Resident Evil perhaps? Maybe a late night showing of Night of the Living Dead?

Yet, all things must start somewhere, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step after all, have you ever wondered, where do zombies come from?​

The First Zombie Boom​

It all started in 1915, with the American occupation of Haiti, an occupation which lasted about 19 years, now this is where it all began.

When marines returned home, either when their tour of duty was over, or some other circumstances, they returned with fantastic tales.

Tales of living dead toiling in the fields at midnight, tales of voodoo and witch-doctors, tales of supernatural rituals, tales of prohibited concoctions…

Tales of zonbi.

Tales that captured the public’s imagination.

Yet, what truly made those tales spread, was a certain book, The Magic Island by W.B Seabrook, filled with many fascinating experiences with Haitian culture, but most importantly, it held the original understanding of zombies, the living dead, the gift granted by The Snake god.
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Every single rule we know regarding the voodoo zombie, comes from this book.​

It was through pulp magazines, that the boom had finally begun, Manly Wade Wellman, Robert E. Howard, Garnett Weston, among many many other authors, brought an americanized vision of voodoo and zonbi (now called zombie) to the general public.

Of course, it wasn’t just voodoo or witchcraft, there were stories, inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, tales of science going too far, mad scientists with delusions of grandeur bringing back the dead for nefarious reasons, Lovecraft’s Herbert West Reanimator is a prime example.

But, there was a new medium as well, cinema.

White Zombie, Ouanga, Revolt of the Zombies, King of the Zombies (which is the original Nazi Zombies), I walked with a zombie, The Isle of the death, etc. etc. Many many movies, featuring our lovely rotting friends.
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Most importantly of course, a cocktail named “The Zombie.”

Yet, as it happens with all fads, it was bound to loose its steam at one point or another, and by the mid 40s, the zombies had mostly come and gone, just like that, the boom was over.

Over, but not forgotten that is.​

An Undying State​

After the first time zombies fell off the spotlight, being replaced by different trends now capturing the public’s attention, there wasn’t much of note. Popping here and there in comic books and magazines centered around horror.

Until, a small indie film, you probably never heard of it…
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Of course I am being facetious, who hasn't seen this movie?
What is there to say about this movie that hasn’t been said already? Established the rules for the new zombie, yes yes, everyone knows Romero used to call them Ghouls (which is a similarish creature from another folklore), but, the name zombie stuck and… Didn’t become a sensation just yet.

You see, Night of the Living Dead, bombed, due to some strange legality, Romero didn’t see a penny from it, it was so bad, he almost quit film-making all together.

Yet, at the same time, that legality, made it so NotLD was public domain from the moment it was released, and would later achieve cult status, thanks to a little invention, the TV, and because it was public domain… You get what I am putting down, don’t you?

Not wanting to have such talent die, Romero was approached by none other than Dario Argento, who managed to convince him to try it again.

And, we got Dawn of The Dead, zombies are back baby.
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Zombie Boom 2 Electric Boogaloo​

Just like its older sister film, what else is there to say about Dawn of the Dead? It is the quintessential zombie film, everything we know and love about the modern zombie, canonized into western culture.

The late 70s and the 80s would become paramount for zombie films.

But, it won’t end there, with Dario Argento being granted the rights for the European distribution, Dawn of the Dead will go to Europe, under the name Zombi (we don’t have time to discuss how confusing the whole Zombi 2 thing is).

The zombies had reached the old continent, and beyond.

In 1985, another landmark had come, The Serpent and The Rainbow by Wade Davis, it is arguably considered to be the first time in which zombies would be created through pharmaceutical means.

And, not only that, another legend who had worked in NotLD had decided to take his gander in the ring, John Russo would make, The Return of the Living Dead (We don’t talk about the sequels situation, its very confusing), which would bring the brain eating zombies to the formula.

And, of course, a new medium had entered the fray, videogames, giving the first few pixelated zombies, in games like Entombed, Zombie (by none other than Ubisoft), Sweet Home, or showing up as enemies in Ghost n Goblins and Castlevania.
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But, it won’t be until the 90s that the zombie horde would truly appear in videogames, a golden decade for both zombie videogames and films.

Romero would not release a zombie movie in the 90s, therefore, it was free real state.

Classics like, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil 1, 2 and 3, The House of the Dead, Half Life, Doom, Monkey Island 2, Blood, Nightmare Creatures, Dead of the Brain 1, and 2, etc. etc. Adopted the zombies into their rogues gallery.
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Zombie Boom 3 A New Millennia​

Although the horde was loosing momentum by the end of the 90s, it was revitalized yet again.

There is no true “detonator” for the third boom, it was solely a combination of many factors.

A perfect storm was brewing in the 00s, 28 Days Later gets released, A remake of Dawn of The Dead is released, The Walking Dead comic is released, Romero returns with Land of the Dead, World War Z is published, among many other happenings.

Alone they weren’t much, but together… Zombies were back from the grave, they did it again.

From the 00s to the 10s, there was no escaping zombie media, with the internet now in full swing, like a disease did the zombie fever spread, no one was safe.

And, surely I don’t need to say more, you quite likely lived through this one.​

Is it over?​

Against all odds, zombies had come, gone, and returned.

Their fad, much as themselves, has an undying quality to it, now they remain as a main stay in all kinds of media.

Zombies have made it through every single medium of modern media, leaving their mark in the public every single time.

Would we have a Zombie Boom 4? We will never know until it happens. Zombies are now over a century old, and still going strong.

Now, I hope you enjoyed this read, and have a newfound appreciation, for the humble zombie, the little walking corpse that could.

It's been quite some time since i have written something purely historical, do tell me what your thoughts are, was it enjoyable?

 
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Loved this, dude; random history/trivia is right up my alley. Your retelling of the facts was well done, came out in your voice rather than just putting the facts down on a page. I give it a solid ?.

Voodoo zombies are so cool, I almost prefer them to the Romero type and wish more things had them.
 
Fantastic article. An accurate and succinct overview of zombie media. I believe what allows the zombie to endure as a cultural mainstay is it's versatility. It's a very simple concept at it's core: a creepy walking body that wants to eat you. But much like a bowl of oatmeal or a plate of pasta, the you can add lots of different stuff to it to give it a new flavor. When people are being superstitious, zombies can be paranormal beings brought forth with voodoo magic. Everyone worried about the collapse of civilization? Zombies are an excellent catalyst for a societal collapse and the human adaptations and conflict that would arise. Need an excuse to commit mass murder in style without any moral dilemmas? Zombies are already dead! The person isn't really there anymore. Get fucking ruthless and laugh about it! Need a relentless hoarde to test the fitness, cleverness, and resolve of your protagonist? Zombies have no self preservation and want nothing but to eat your face, and they'll just keep coming. I could go on. Zombies are a storytelling and gameplay mechanic multitool, and are a catalyst to exploit whatever society is afraid of at the time to simultaneously scare the audience and keep them fascinated.
 
I've always had a soft spot for Magician since my introduction to him in The House of the Dead 2. He came across as more aware and intelligent than the other creatures, so I was curious about his potential as a character rather than just a dude who loved wrecking my shit for quarters every weekend.
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That was an interesting write-up! I was aware of the Haitian zonbi but I didn't know it as the origin of all things zombie. TIL ?
(You know what makes zombies really cool? Every zombie has a skeleton inside!)
 
You mad man ! You mentioned one of the most awesome and underrated Zombie games that ever exists .

Zombi on the amiga ! Its concept is still oozing with immersive atmossphere and a approach that can potentially be made into much more awesome games .

I still think at the Ps2/Classic Xbox/Gamecube-era we could have some huge and awesome Zombie-games back then but most of them get cancled and few great ones released but it wasnt enough . There is still huge potential to make really great Zombie games that goes more the classic route of almost unkillable , slow moving wall of rotting undead that can actually bring some great concepts of their own while the Usain Bolt kind of running variant became stale fast and overdone lately (but thats my two cents on that) .

Especially Singleplayer games could need more zombie madness besides Resident Evil or Left 4 Dead .
 
The best zombies were the ones in Dead Space. First you learn that, unlike standard zombies, brain-panning them just pisses them off and and second, those fuckers are fast.
Both the original and the remake are probably my favourite horror game, I hold them pretty both much equally. The necromorphs have to be one of the coolest monster designs ever.
 
Yeah, Necromorphs were a very refreshing addition, Dead Space had a ton of extended material as well, i still remember watching the animated prequel movie, good times.
I think there was like 2 or 3 animated movies by the end of its heyday, and I remember them all being pretty good. The arcade style light gun spinoff game on the Wii/PS3 is sick as well, Dead Space: Extraction.
 

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