Zombies: The Epidemic of Undead
“Braaaiiiiinnnsssss….” The ghoulish figures of the risen dead shambling towards you in a never-ending hunger for human flesh is a monster we all know well. This icon of modern horror has appeared in virtually all forms of entertainment- from books and comics, to movies and television, to video and board games. And the definition of what a zombie is has also evolved- from shambling corpses having been raised by unexplainable unholy powers, to racing violent humans infected by a viral agent. With the remote beginnings in small Voodoo tribes, tipping with the 1968 George Romero movie, Night of the Living Dead, and exploding to the unarguable popularity of zombies in modern-day popular culture, the zombie craze definitely fits Gladwell’s definition of an epidemic.
In his book The Tipping Point, Gladwell defines an epidemic as “A function of the people who transmit infectious agents, the infectious agent itself, and the environment in which the infectious agent is operating” (Gladwell 2002). As he continues his explanation, he also refers to a critical point present in every epidemic, called a “tipping point”. “When an epidemic tips, when it is jolted out of equilibrium, it tips because something has happened, some change has occurred in one (or two or three) of those areas.” (Gladwell 2002). The idea of zombies as it is known today in popular culture is an example of an epidemic of an epidemic. “Zombie-ism” itself is an epidemic, just as a plague would be, because it spreads from person to person exponentially through various methods, like being bitten or coming in contact with infected bodily fluids. Just the same, the popularity of zombie books, movies, and video games depicting this infectious spread has also swept the country.
“Zombie” comes from the Kongo word nzambi, which means “spirit of a dead person” (Wilson 2005). Haitian legends and folklore have countless reports of the “corpses” of recently deceased people coming back to life, controlled by a bokor, or Haitian voodoo sorcerer (Wilson 2005). The bokor would introduce certain substances to the bloodstream of the victim, inducing a death-like state, after which the zombie would be created (McAlister 1995). These zombies would be mindless bodies, slaves of the bokor to do physical work. Zombies, and the creation thereof, are taken very seriously in Haiti, where laws were even put in place in 1839 prohibiting the creation of zombies. Article 246 of the Haitian Penal Code
Classifies the administration of a substance that creates a prolonged period of lethargy without causing death as attempted murder. If the substance causes the appearance of death and results in the burial of the victim, the act is classified as murder. (Wilson 1995)
Extensive studies on the creation of Haitian zombies have been made by numerous people, including Dr. Wade Davis who wrote The Serpent and the Rainbow and The Passage of Darkness, chronicling his findings.
Stories and intrigue of the Haitian nzambi sparked the creative imaginations of western authors and directors, dating back to the turn of the 19th century, when in 1818, Mary Shelly published the literary classic Frankenstein, which while not exactly about the idea of the zombie we know today, presented the idea of reanimating dead flesh in a scientific way. Another influential book that furthered the intrigue of western society in zombies was The Magic Island, written by W.B. Seabrook in 1929 that told the tale of the narrator who encountered voodoo tribes in Haiti that performed zombie resurrections. According to Time Magazine in 1940, this book was what brought the word “zombi” into U.S. speech (Time 1940). Between the 1920’s and 1930’s, famous horror author H.P. Lovecraft also wrote numerous stories about the undead, the most definitive of which being Herbert West: Re-animator, which "helped define zombies in popular culture" (Underground n/d).
Zombie portrayals in motion pictures date back to 1919, however the real tipping point of zombie popularity in western culture happened with the release of George Romero’s 1968 black and white film Night of the Living Dead. Movie critic Pauline Kael, who wrote for The New Yorker from 1968 to 1991 was quoted saying, "[the film is] one of the most gruesomely terrifying movies ever made- and when you leave the theatre you may wish you could forget the whole horrible experience… The film's grainy, banal seriousness works for it- gives it a crude realism" (Kael 1991). The movie not only created the new “splatter film” sub-genre of horror movies, but became the predecessor to all the zombie movies we have known and loved since.
The “types” of zombie have also evolved as their popularity has grown. The original tales of Haitian zombies were broken-spirited bodies enslaved by a bokor. However, western zombies began as depictions of shambling, mindless monsters with an insatiable hunger for living human flesh. They seemed impervious to physical pain, showed no signs of base intelligence or natural instincts (other than to eat), and could only be stopped by severing the head or destroying the brain. They also could spread whatever created them on to living humans through bites or coming in contact with infected bodily fluids. Modern recent movies have taken the theory of zombies and have completely re-written it with productions such as 28 Days Later where zombies are actually living humans, but infected with the “Rage Virus” which makes them behave like rabid animals with the sole intent of killing but not eating other humans, and eventually starve themselves to death. Also, unlike the classic model of zombie, these zombies can run just as fast as a normal person and show basic intelligence, which creates a heightened sense of terror because they are more dangerous and difficult to escape from.
In addition to movies and books, zombies have also been the subject of video games and board games. The most arguably notable video game Resident Evil by Capcom came out in 1996 and has since released four sequels and sold over 40 million copies. Other first-person shooter games like House of the Dead and Left 4 Dead are very popular. There have even been board games created around a zombie theme, such as Last Night on Earth by Flying Frog Productions and Zombies!!! by Twilight Creations, Inc.
Zombies have also become a source for comedy, turning fear into laughter. Books such as The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z by Max Brooks take the reader through a ludicrous theoretical scenario of a zombie apocalypse and how to be prepared for it. Movies have also satirized zombies in comedies such as Shaun of the Dead, a remake of 1978 and 1994’s Dawn of the Dead and the most recent movie Zombieland.
With the Haitian voodoo folklore beginnings of nzambi, growing with books by H.P. Lovecraft and W.B. Seabrook, and tipping with the 1968 George Romero movie, Night of the Living Dead, the American “zombie craze” has definitely done well for itself and its popularity sees no end in sight in modern-day popular culture. With the small beginnings and exploding popularity after Night of the Living Dead, the zombie craze is an excellent example of Gladwell’s definition of an epidemic.
References
Gladwell, M. (2002). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. 18-19. New York:
Back Bay Books.
Gladwell, staff writer of The New Yorker since 1996, writes on his theory of social phenomena as being like epidemics, where an action or idea, much like a virus, starts in a few key people, then from there, multiplies exponentially. After hitting its peak, it then oftentimes reduces to nothing more than a thought of the past. The popularity of zombie and zombie theory has behaved in this exact same way and is still in its rising phase.
Kael, P. (1991) 5001 Nights at the Movies. Henry Holt and Company May 15, 1991.
Movie critic Pauline Kael, writer for The New Yorker from 1968 to 1991, reviews Night of the Living Dead, rating it one of the most important horror movies of all time.
McAlister, E. (1995). "A Sorcerer's Bottle: The Visual Art of Magic in Haiti" Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou
304-321.
Elizabeth McAlister, associate professor of Religion at Wesleyan University with a Ph.D. from Yale University, has written numerous books on Afro-Caribbean religions. In this book, she tries to help American society better understand the voodoo practices in Haiti and writes about her findings during case studies.
Time Magazine (1940). Books: Mumble Jumble. Time Magazine. Accessed 26 October 2009. Retrieved
from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,764649,00.html
Time Magazine, having run since 1923, writes about author W.B. Seabrook’s books on voodoo, zombies, and witchcraft. It states that Seabrook’s works are responsible for bringing the word “zombie” into U.S. speech.
Underground Online (n/d). Our Favorite Zombies. Accessed 24 October 2009. Retrieved from
http://www.ugo.com/a/zombies-attack/?cur=favorite-zombies&content=reanimator
Quote found on Wikipedia, but originated from Underground Online, an online forum that published an article about zombies and zombie popularity.
Wilson, T. (28 October 2005) "How Zombies Work." HowStuffWorks.com. Accessed 23 October 2009.
Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/zombie.htm
HowStuffWorks.com, a branch of the Discovery Channel which has aired since June 1985, published an article on the development of zombies and their introduction to American culture. The author explains the origins of Haitian zombies, quotes research made by Dr. Wade Davis, and outlines the progression of zombie pop-culture.
