Meerkat Prompts: Zombies
Of late, my daughter has been into the Resident Evil games. Her focus has been on Resident Evil VIII, which features lycans (basically werewolves), but the series is predominantly known for zombies. Watching her play these games has provided inspiration to develop this post. How did the idea of the zombie originate? Where do zombies fit within the monster pantheon?
Haitian Origins
The zombie mythos begins in Haiti, where magic, as part of the religion of Vodou, is used to reanimate the dead. The sorcerer who resurrects the dead has complete control over them; the zombie is in effect a slave, with no will of their own. The Haitian origins arguably have roots going back to Africa, prior to the transportation of slaves to the Caribbean, with quite a few legends of mindless, formerly dead entities stalking the living, perhaps under the sway of a mage.
Somewhere along the line, these myths caught the attention of the western world, but it would not be until the 1960s that we got our first depiction of what people imagine zombies to be. George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead has become something of a cult classic of the horror staple, featuring hordes of zombies seeking out human flesh. The film – inspired by Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend (which would also become a movie, decades later, but is more about vampires) never actually referred to the undead as zombies, but it’s credited with the birth of the genre.
A Scientific Origin
Modern zombie stories tend to offer some form of scientific explanation for their origins, as opposed to supernatural or magic origins. The Resident Evil game series features a viral outbreak, which then spreads via bites and scratches. The TV series Z Nation follows a similar story, and perhaps the most famous of recent zombie stories, The Walking Dead, hints at a similar beginning for the zombie apocalypse. Another TV series (based on the hugely popular Last of Us games) depicts people becoming under the sway of a cordyceps infection, and behaving in a manner similar to the zombie.
Scientists are quick to suggest that a zombie apocalypse is in fact, extremely unlikely. There is little in actual medical science to support the concept, so I think we’re safe from undead plagues! Still, the idea has persisted in popular fiction, with other franchises (Left 4 Dead, Silent Hill, Dead by Daylight, 28 Days Later, World War Z, and, um, Plants vs Zombies) all emerging onto the scene, among several more. It seems there is something about the zombie that taps into our psyche, and for some people, the concept has become more than it seems.
What does often differ is whether or not zombies are slow, lumbering beasts (which begs the question, how does anyone fall prey to them?), or fast, nimble, predatory creatures. In the early Resident Evil games, zombies are the stereotypical lurchers, but in films like World War Z, they are fast-moving swarms. Needless to say, the latter is considerably more terrifying.
Zombies as Liberation?
Zombies are mindless, but to some people, this also represents a strange form of freedom. Zombies are not at the behest of social convention, and exist outside of mainstream behavioural expectations. I’m not at all sure if I particularly like every connotation to be had here.
Zombies as Friends?!
There have been films and shows that depict zombies in a more sympathetic light. The film Warm Bodies has zombies attempting to grow and evolve, and they seek out relationships. Disney has four (yes, four) films called Zombies, with plots around high school and romance. Films like Zombieland have attempted to provide a humorous backdrop to the zombie apocalypse, albeit without any friendly zombies!
What does seem likely is that our fascination with the undead is not going anywhere for a while. Zombies are too mainstream now, and we can expect to see more of them on our screens. The question is, how terrifying will they be?
