Fandom High School

Once the students arrived, Annja began the lecture. "When the word zombie is mentioned, what comes to mind? An undead being, usually found in a horror movie is the typical answer."

If anyone was paying close attention, they'd notice the small twitch that had started in the corner of Arya's eye. She wasn't a huge fan of zombies, thanks to Fandom. "Technically, a zombie is an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means, such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli. Since the late 19th century, zombies have acquired notable popularity, especially in North American and European folklore."

Annja offered her a small smile, before continuing. "According to the tenets of Vodou, a dead person can be revived by a bokor, or sorcerer. Zombies remain under the control of the bokor since they have no will of their own. 'Zombi' is also another name of the Vodou snake lwa Damballah Wedo, of Niger–Congo origin; it is akin to the Kikongo word nzambi, which means 'god'. There also exists within the West African Vodun tradition the zombi astral, which is a part of the human soul that is captured by a bokor and used to enhance the bokor's power. The zombi astral is typically kept inside a bottle which the bokor can sell to clients for luck, healing or business success. It is believed that after a time God will take the soul back and so the zombi is a temporary spiritual entity. It is also said in vodou legend, that feeding a zombie salt will make it return to the grave."

The idea of zombies is present in some South African cultures. In some communities it is believed that a dead person can be turned into a zombie by a small child.[4] It is said that the spell can be broken by a powerful enough sangoma.[5]

"It is also believed in some areas that witches can turn a person into a zombie by killing and possessing the victim's body in order to force it into slave labor," Arya stated, scowling ever so slightly. That wasn't creepy. Not at all. "After rail lines were built to transport migrant workers, stories emerged about 'witch trains'. These trains appeared ordinary, but were staffed by zombie workers controlled by a witch. The trains would abduct a person boarding at night, and the person would then either be turned into a zombie worker, or beaten and thrown from the train a distance away from the original location."

"In modern times, the figure of the zombie has appeared several times in fantasy themed fiction and entertainment," Annja continued. "The zombie also appears as a metaphor in protest songs, symbolizing mindless adherence to authority, particularly in law enforcement and the armed forces. A new version of the zombie, distinct from that described in Haitian religion, has also emerged in popular culture in recent decades. The monsters featured in films and television, are usually hungry for human flesh."

Arya shook her head. "I'm sure the guys at Caritas would have something to say about that," she added. "Sometimes they are victims of a fictional pandemic illness causing the dead to reanimate or the living to behave this way, but often no cause is given in the story."

"Although this modern monster bears some superficial resemblance to the Haitian zombie tradition, its links to such folklore are unclear. Zombie fiction is now a sizeable sub-genre of horror, usually describing a breakdown of civilization occurring when most of the population become flesh-eating zombies — a zombie apocalypse," Annja concluded. "The zombie legend has certainly come far, both through history and popularized fiction."

[OCD is a go!]