The Legend of Zombies

It’s time to talk about the Legend of Zombies. Like the Mummy,zombies are a lumbering, staggering, Halloween and horror presence. Quite annoying actually … be sure not to get bitten by one as they are very contagious!

Voodoo Vaccination

Instead, the zombie story originates on the little Island of Haiti, where West Africans were brought as slaves to work on the sugar plantations. As a part of the voodoo religion, Haitians believe that Voodoo Witches, or houngans, can revive the recently dead, turning them into mindless, soulless servants. Believers in voodoo will guard the grave of deceased relatives until they are certain that it has begun to decay, for the magic only works on fresh bodies.

Zombie Zoo

It’s been figured out what exactly the Voodoo Witch does to make someone a zombie under their spell:

• The victim is given a drug that puts them into a deep coma
• The victim is pronounced dead and buried alive
• The Voodoo Witch hangs around the grave and digs up the victim
• The victim is kept under the influence of drugs to be used in the witch’s army of zombies
• The soul of the victim is captured into a bottle and sold for Voodoo luck and healing
• The victim turns into a zombie that is uncontrollable, mute with primitive and violent actions

Zombie-Zania

The story of the zombie was studied by Americans and in the early 1900s, they wrote books and made movies that incorporated the myths of the zombies from the Voodoo witches. Combining the real stories with their own imagination. The big movie that created a cult of zombie-loving teenagers was made in 1968 called “Night of the Living Dead”. Since then thousands of zombie movies, books, and comics have been made to make zombies scarier. Here are some of the more modern zombie characteristics:

• Rise from the Grave by themselves
• Bloodsucking like vampires
• Their bite is contagious
• Faster and Stronger
• Hunger for brains
• Controlled by the devil

Famous Zombies

Zombies are more of a group thing and not many individual zombies have emerged as famous… but there are a few famous ones. Kidzworld found them:

Have Your Say

Will you be dressing up as a zombie for Halloween? Let us know by leaving a comment below!