Origin & Evolution

How did zombies grow into the unique subculture they are today? It all began with 'Voodoo Zombies'.

The original zombie is commonly thought to be born in a religion formed by African slaves brought over to Haiti called Haitian Vodou (commonly written as 'voodoo' in English). While zombies do seem to be a part of Haitian culture, they are not proven to be associated with Vodou.

Regardless, American culture has formed a strong association linking zombies to 'voodoo', hence the name voodoo zombie.

The belief is that an individual can bring a deceased body back to life. The reborn corpse would then be under the mind control of whoever preformed the ritual. They would not be contagious, nor would they have a taste for human flesh (unless their creator willed them too). The voodoo zombie is more like a marionette, easily and definitely controlled by a human.

But these aren't the zombies we see in our favorite movies terrorizing the planet. How did the lore change so much? The answer is George A. Romero.

They are sometimes called 'Romero Zombies' to distinguish from the voodoo zombie mythology.

Poster for Night of the Living Dead.

It wasn't until 1968 that these new zombies were born in Night of the Living Dead, although the word zombie is never actually used in the movie, it was used in the script.
This makes the modern Romero zombie an extremely young monster when put next to its rivals, the vampire and the werewolf.

Although, there are a few pieces of fiction that came before Night of the Living Dead that seem to piece the evolution from voodoo to Romero.

Poster for the film adaptation of Herbert West-Reanimator.

1) 1920s - Early 1930s: H.P. Lovecraft wrote several novelettes about the undead. In The Vault may contain the first recorded character bitten by a zombie. Herbert West-Reanimator involved corpses brought back to life who could not be controlled, were mostly mute, and were extremely violent.

2) 1936: H.G. Wells wrote the screenplay for Things to Come, based loosely on his own novel. The film was about a plague that caused infected people to wander aimlessly spreading the infection.

Cover of an EC Comics comic.

3) Early 1950's: A comic company called EC Comics made a series of comics about the undead. Some of the stories were adaptions of H.P. Lovecraft's novelettes. Romero states EC Comics as an influence of his.

Poster for the first film adaptation of I Am Legend.

4) 1954: Richard Matheson wrote the novel I Am Legend, which is about vampires, but they are closer to zombies than most vampires. Romero also states this book as an influence of his.

Then, in 1968 Romero "bred the zombie with the vampire, and what he got was the hybrid vigour of a goulish monster". And from there it was history. Everyone kept building on the foundation of Romero's new creature, until this neo-zombie could stand on it's own beside the werewolf and the vampire.

Today, the zombie is stronger than ever.