12. • “Naked man eats face off victim
when high on LSD”
• “Another „zombie-like‟ attack?
Man eats family dog after police
say he ingested synthetic drug K-
2”
• “Catholic priest bites ear off
other priest: Ungodly battle over
parking space”
Zombies in Pop Culture
16. • The word “zombie” comes
from African and Haitian
legends regarding voodoo
doctors
• People thought these doctors
could temporarily resurrect
the dead and turn them into
slaves
The Origin of Zombies
17. • A 1929 account of meeting a
Haitian zombie:
"The eyes were the worst. They
were in truth like the eyes of a
dead man, not blind, but staring,
unfocused, unseeing. The whole
face, for that matter, was bad
enough. It was vacant, as if there
was nothing behind it."
The Origin of Zombies
18. • In reality, the doctors
administered a powerful
narcotic that induced a
coma-like near death state
• People only seemed dead
• “zombi” = spirit of the dead
The Origin of Zombies
19. • The walking corpses
associated with zombies
today is closer to Arabian
legends of ghuls
(a.k.a. Western “ghouls”)
The Origin of Zombies
20. • Ghouls are shape-shifting
demons that typically
assume the form of hyenas
• They eat people and rotten
flesh
The Origin of Zombies
21. • Because they can take the
form of what they eat, they
sometimes appear as the
recent dead (sound
familiar?)
The Origin of Zombies
22. • 1920s: Author H.P.
Lovecraft was famous for
his short horror stories
• He blurred the line between
ghouls and zombis
The Origin of Zombies
23. • In “Re-animator,” a mad
doctor revived the dead; the
zombies were murderous
and violent cannibals (sound
familiar???)
The Origin of Zombies
24. • 1954: Richard Matheson
published the novel I am
Legend
• an infection turns people
into vampires, who create
other vampires during the
night
The Origin of Zombies
25. • 1968: George Romero‟s
movie, Night of the Living
Dead
• Influenced by the I am Legend
concept of “monsters creating
other monsters”
• Finally, the “classic” zombie
they crave flesh and are
capable of creating other
zombies through biting
The Origin of Zombies
26. • 2002: Danny Boyle‟s 28
Days Later
• People infected by a virus
(like in I am Legend) and
experience uncontrollable
rage
• Gave birth to the idea of the
“quick zombie” (no longer
laughably clumsy)
The Origin of Zombies
39. • Dan Birlew: “Perhaps
swinging on a guy‟s head
with a cricket bat is starting
to sound like a good way to
blow off some steam….
What does this say about society?
40. • Dan Birlew: “…But the only
problem is, you‟re talking
about a person…”
What does this say about society?
41. • Dan Birlew: “…So you need
something that‟s not a person,
but a kind of
rudimentary
semi-person
with no
intelligence”
What does this say about society?
42. • Dan Birlew: “[Zombies are]
former people that you can
beat down and tear apart in
the most gruesome ways you
can think of…”
What does this say about society?
43. • Dan Birlew: “…The more
clever and savage, the
better”
*warning: upcoming image contains some
graphic elements
What does this say about society?
