At the word "zombie" in the brain, first of all, the image of a slowly walking corpse, overwhelmed by the desire to feast on human flesh, appears. This is how Hollywood created it, this is how many computer games represent it to us. However, nothing arises from scratch. Where did this monster come from? We'll figure out.
Well forgotten old
Humanity has frightened itself with dead man-eaters for a long time. The Sumerian "Epic of Gilgamesh" is considered one of the oldest literary works in the world. (XVIII-XVII centuries BC)
I will pave the way into the depths of the underworld
I will raise the dead to devour the living, Then there will be less living than dead!
As you can see, people created thrillers about the walking dead more than 3,500 years ago. The Sumerians were by no means originals. The Scandinavian sagas are full of stories of the living dead. Coming out of the graves, they walked around the world of the living, and did various dirty tricks.
Promotional video:
Rolangs have long been roaming the Tibetan mountains (Rolang is translated from Tibetan as "standing up corpse"). Therefore, in a classic Tibetan house, low doors and high thresholds are to prevent Rolang from entering the house: the stiff dead man cannot bend over or bend his knees. It is assumed that while the unexpected guest is stomping in front of the door, the neighbors have time to run to the nearest monastery and bring a monk - only they know how to “calm down” Rolang.
Indian epics are full of stories about vetals - spirits that adore settling in human bodies. But if you need to fight for a place in the body of a living person (the living space is occupied!), Then the corpse left by the soul can be occupied without problems.
The Japanese came up with Buso to tickle their nerves. These are decomposing corpses, roaming the streets of night cities and towns in search of food - human flesh. Busos are absolutely devoid of intelligence and only think about food.
In China, there is jiang-shi (literal translation for "stiff corpse"). They walk slowly, limping, arms outstretched forward. They feed on people. It is difficult to kill jiang shi, bullets do not take them. Only a shot to the head can stop the walking dead. (Why not a Hollywood zombie? It's not for nothing that the Chinese say that all European achievements in the field of science, culture and technology were actually created in China!)
So the story of the terrible zombies that persecute mankind stretches from time immemorial. But in the XX-XXI centuries. zombies have become more than just a horror story. They have become a cultural element.
How it all started
It all began in 1929, when the New York Times reporter William Seabrook published the Island of Magic notes about his trip to Haiti. Of the 4 chapters of the book, the zombie chapter was the most interesting. But the Haitian "living dead" evoked not only horror, but also sympathy.
Local sorcerers (bokors) resurrected the deceased in order to get not a mindless killer, but a meek worker to their fields. The "resurrected dead" worked for years seven days a week on sugar plantations for a cup of rice and a piece of bread.
They were deprived of memory, will, reason, but they understood the simplest commands and performed meaningful actions. Tell them "dig" - they will dig, say "carry water" - they will carry buckets around the clock, without showing any emotions. The cherished dream of any capitalist.
Cinema immediately responded to the appearance of the book. In 1932, the film "White Zombie" was released in the USA. The directors did not stray too far from the image of the classic Haitian zombies. In the film, these are wordless, uncomplaining workers at their "owner's" sugar factory.
But this was enough for the viewer. With a budget of $ 50,000, the tape grossed $ 8 million. Naturally, after such an amazing commercial success, zombies were simply doomed to a long cinematic life.
Zombie made in Holliwood
In 1968, George Romero directed his first feature film, Night of the Living Dead. The viewer saw "real zombies" - walking monsters obsessed with the idea of killing and devouring the living. And although the word "zombie" in the film never sounded, the viewer intuitively understood that the cannibals raised from the graves should be called that way.
The film's success stunned even its creators. At a cost of $ 114,000, he brought authors $ 30 million. Naturally, numerous remakes and sequels followed: "Dawn of the Dead", "Day of the Dead", "Diaries of the Dead", "Survival of the Dead", etc.
But we seem to have gone away. What about real zombies?
Going to Haiti
What surprises everyone who comes to Haiti is the local cemeteries. The graves here are filled with heavy stones, covered with concrete slabs, and poured with concrete. This is not fear, zombies are not afraid here (well, who can be scared by these unfortunate creatures?). However, no one wants his deceased relative to turn into a dumb working cattle, devoid of reason.
Those who do not have the money to create a concrete grave simply watch over their dead. Replacing each other, the relatives of the deceased guard the burial day after day until the corpse begins to decompose. The sorcerer no longer needs a half-decomposed corpse.
Some of the dead are buried next to the house, near roads or busy places (won't a sorcerer tear up a grave in front of everyone ?!). In the most extreme case, the deceased is pierced through the heart, pierced the head, i.e. make the body "inoperative".
And save you from laughing at the inhabitants, accusing them of superstition. Any doubter here will be told a dozen stories about the living dead.
Zombie stories
A 30-year-old woman died, her death was recorded by doctors. She was buried in the presence of numerous relatives. Three years later, the husband of the deceased saw her in a neighboring province on a sugar cane plantation. The woman, exhausted by hard work, spoke with difficulty and did not remember anything - a zombie!
A zombie came to one village, who was once its inhabitant and was buried four years ago. The peasants got scared and took him to the police. In the precinct they were not at all happy about this. The zombies sat down on a bench and tried to ask questions. But he only looked before him with unseeing eyes and was silent. Someone said that the "walking dead" can be revived by giving him salt water to drink. They got me drunk.
To everyone's surprise, the zombie slowly revealed his name and the name of his sorcerer master. Since the relatives of the resurrected person refused to accept him, they sent the sorcerer a note with a request to come and take his "property".
The sorcerer, of course, did not come, and the zombie died two days later. The "walking dead" who died in the precinct was declared a madman from nowhere and the case was closed. Well, who wants to mess with a mighty sorcerer? Nobody wanted to turn into a zombie himself.
Once, pursuing a dangerous criminal, the police found a sugar cane plantation in the jungle. Emaciated people with glazed eyes made monotonous movements, not paying attention to the guardians of the law who came out of the forest. Allegedly, one of the police officers even recognized one of the zombies as his fellow villager, who died several years ago.
Carrying out their immediate task (pursuit and capture of the criminal), the police did not delay. When a detachment arrived at the plantation a few weeks later at their signal, it was already deserted.
“Just think,” another skeptic snorts, “I myself can think of a million such stories. Let us facts, facts! Names, surnames, dates, etc. Do you have them? We answer: yes.
Specific facts
Felicia Mentor. She died in 1907. In 1936, Felicia's brother accidentally met a naked, emaciated woman wandering aimlessly, whom he recognized as his sister. The ex-husband who arrived also confirmed that it was Felicia. Of course, a woman for 29 years has changed a lot, but the gait, characteristic gestures and a birthmark on her left ankle!
Felicia did not recognize anyone, could not give her name, did not respond to questions. White face with dead eyes. Her family took her to a clinic, where she was observed by the writer Zora Hurston, who left memories of this meeting.
In 1966, a certain Nataghetta Joseph died. The doctors confirmed the death and issued a certificate. Six years after the burial, the unfortunate woman was found in the vicinity of the village. Glazed eyes, uncertain gait, incoherent speech - a classic zombie.
In 1979, Francis Ilius was found, "dead" three years ago. The same symptoms: slow movements, inability to focus on something and formulate a clear thought. The grave of the "deceased" was opened, and no corpse was found in it.
The most famous zombie
Claudius Narcissus is considered such. In 1962, he consulted a doctor, and three days later, the doctor signed his death certificate. The deceased, as usual, was buried. He returned 18 years later. Unlike other zombies, Narcissus retained his memory. For some unknown reason, the mechanism for turning into a zombie malfunctioned and Claudius remembered both his name and his past.
Lamarck Douyon, director of the local center for psychiatry and neurology, met with Claudius in 1981. Lamarck's goal was to expose the impostor. With the help of relatives, he compiled a list of questions that only a true Claudius Narcissus could answer.
Douyon saw a classic zombie. A dull, indifferent look, slowed down like mechanical movements and a barely beating heart.
In a monotonous low voice, the "impostor" answered tricky questions and was not mistaken even once. He told how the doctor raised a mirror to his lips, how relatives cried at his funeral, how they hammered nails into a coffin. One nail pierced the lid and cut Claudius's forehead, leaving a scar.
He told how clods of earth knocked on the lid of the coffin, how he was dug up by the sorcerer's henchmen, and how the bokor performed the "resurrection" ceremony. Together with other zombies, Narcissus worked on a sugar plantation and left only after the death of the "owner".
Lamarck Douyon left, convinced that he had seen a real zombie. Finally, he photographed Claudius Narcissus sitting alone on his grave.
The dead don't come to life
Any doctor would say that walking resurrected dead man is delusional. After stopping the heart and cessation of blood circulation after 5, from the force of 7 minutes, brain cells die and already forever. It would seem, does a zombie need a brain? The dumber it is, the better! But even for the simplest functions, such as walking after "prey", grabbing it, biting it, a healthy nervous system is necessary. If the brain is dead, the dead man can and will be "alive", but not "walking".
Doctors have repeatedly attempted to restore the work of the heart 10, 20 minutes after stopping, but as a result, instead of a person they received a "living plant" devoid of the slightest signs of intelligence and could not even move a finger, let alone walk.
To resolve the controversy, Dr. Wade Davis undertook in 1982, who went to Haiti for this.
Dr. Davis's investigation
Long before Davis, theories were expressed that there was no resurrection. Victims are plunged into a state close to lethargic sleep, when even an experienced doctor is unable to distinguish between living and dead. It remains for the sorcerer to dig up the "corpse" and "resurrect". This destroys the parts of the brain that control will and speech. Here is a ready-made zombie. But how does this happen in reality? Davis decided to find the answer to this question.
The sorcerers (bokors), to whom Davis managed to gain confidence, confirmed the initial assumptions about the use of a certain drug. It does not last long, only 24 hours, but in the hot climate of Haiti, the dead are buried quickly. The components of the potion and oxygen starvation lead to damage to certain parts of the brain, a person becomes an obedient thoughtless robot.
Of course, there are overlays: drug overdoses, delays in the funeral, concreting of the burial - these and other factors can lead to a lethal outcome for the victim. But as one bokor noted not without "humor", "no one has ever complained."
With requests, persuasion, flattery and packs of green notes, Davis obtained 8 samples of the mysterious potion. Returning to the United States, he examined the brought materials. They all turned out to be different. On several occasions, he was slipped into a completely useless mixture of dried herbs. And yet, the trip turned out to be useful. In most of the samples, he found tetrodotoxin, the strongest natural nerve poison.
It was obtained by sorcerers from fish of the pufferfish family. The sun-dried intestines, liver, peritoneum (where the highest concentration of poison is) is ground into powder. A dose of one ten-thousandth of a gram is sufficient for death. With less, the person falls into a state in which breathing almost disappears, the pulse is not palpable, the eyes turn glass and do not react to anything. Even experienced doctors confidently state death. You just need to seize the moment and add the drug to the food of the future victim and then act strictly according to the approved plan.
Dr. Davis honestly said that he could not guarantee that at least one of the boors gave him real "zombie powder." Therefore, one of the main questions, namely: in what proportions tetrodotoxin should be mixed with other poisonous spices that make up the potion, remained a mystery.
Zombies around us
Today the term "zombie" has a new meaning. This is the name for people who do not have their own thoughts, their own opinions, who take on faith any word printed or spoken from the TV screen. Comprehending information, comparing facts and analyzing them is overwhelming work for today's "zombies". And why, because everything is already thought out for them.
And when the "master-sorcerer" calls them to the next revolution or "to fulfill their civic duty" - they obediently and thoughtlessly go where the leader, the messiah, the Fuhrer will show them and sweep away everything and everyone that stands in their way. And such zombies are much more dangerous than Haitian poor fellows and fictional Hollywood monsters.
Klim Podkova, "Steps of the Oracle" №4 / 2016