~Guest Post!~
A History of Zombies
A History of Zombies
As the author of a zombie novel, I know a lot about zombies.
If you’re a zombie fan, and even if you’re not that into zombies, you probably
know your fair share too. That’s why when I say this is an article about the
history of zombies, I’m not saying we’re going to discuss their lengthy
filmography, or slow and fast zombies. No, my friend, we’re going right back to
where it all started. Haiti.
Haiti was my first introduction to zombies, and ultimately
the first step on the path that led me to write my novel DISEASE, which is now
available in paperback and for Kindle. Haiti was a wild and mysterious place,
full of dangers and witchdoctors. The thing that were happening there were so far removed from what I knew
growing up in middle-class suburbia.
I traveled there for the first time before the age of 10,
via the “paranormal” section of my local library. I was instantly hooked, and
so began my first introduction to zombies. Little did I know at the time that
the “real-life” zombies I was reading about had given rise to the zombies we
know and love today.
The original zombies weren’t the decaying, flesh-eating,
walking corpses that grace the pages of our books and our movie screens these
days, but they were just as terrifying. As legend has it voodoo and zombies
were brought to Haiti with the slaves.
As we all know slavery was a brutal and unforgiving
existence. The inhumanity that the slaves endured was beyond cruel and from
that cruelty rose lore that mimicked what was wrought upon the slave every day.
A slave’s worse nightmare was to be a slave forever, even in death, and hence
the zombi (no “e”) was born.
A zombi was one who had died, but rose from the grave, not
to eat flesh or reap vengeance, but to do his or her master’s bidding, for
eternity. Mindless, and unable to refuse the master’s command, a zombi was
doomed forever to slavery.
Perhaps spurred by popular lore it would seem that some moral
lacking “witch-doctors” took inspiration from the zombi, and decided it would be
great if they could have their very own. Local history tells us that these
practitioners of voodoo found a way to put unsuspecting patients into a
coma-like state using, among other ingredients, the poison sac of a
puffer-fish.
The witch-doctor’s victim would be given a potion containing
the coma inducing ingredients and at some point appear to die of natural
causes. Little did friends and family know that this person was not only still
alive, but reportedly aware as well. The victim was only paralyzed, and
appeared to be dead.
Following the funeral and burial the witch-doctor would dig
up his victim and either sell them off, or keep them as a personal slave. Continuously
drugged with concoctions that kept them from running away, the zombi was doomed
to do the bidding of those that asked.
The idea of the zombi was eventually studied and written
about, from there taking a hold on the American conscious. The movie “White
Zombie” was the first movie to portray the “zombie” and from there zombies grew
from poor drugged souls doomed to slavery, to the dead, risen from the grave,
ready to devour the flesh of the living.
So, now you can see why at an early age I became infatuated
with zombies. bThe history is just as sad and unnerving as the countless narratives
it spawns. Inevitably I was lead to write my first zombie novel DISEASE,
populated by the modern flesh-eating variety, but I never forgot the true
essence of what it means to be a zombi(e).
~Try an Excerpt!~
The man in the other room peers sharply into the darkness.
His eyes are swollen and bloodshot. One orb is so overinflated it bulges from
its peeling socket. Rips blanket the dulled cornea and try as it might, the
eyelid is unable to close.
Black, clotted blood forms dried rings around the man’s
neck. Flake by flake, it falls to his chest, as though his jowls are the
world’s most profane croissant. His lips peel back in a snarl.
The smashing of glass rings through the air.
Back in the kitchen Casey pushes her arm through the broken
window of the door. The damned thing is jammed – of course. Alex stands beside
her, thin-lipped and fidgety. He knows the stakes are as high as they get.
Casey pulls back her arm. Glass nicks at the skin. It’s
useless to try the knob from either side. The only way this door is opening is
if she forces it.
Casey slams her foot into the wood just beside the knob and
lock. She drives her heel into the door. Her foot punches through wood and for
a moment it sticks. Cheap piece of shit! It isn’t even solid. She looks over
her shoulder just in time to see a shadow approach.
Like the mouth of a hyena, the man’s skeletal jaw gleams
teeth from the darkness of the hallway. Alex pulls on Casey’s arm. The man
launches himself at her.
~Meet M.F. Wahl!~
Blog tour prize: A signed paperback copy of DISEASE and a prize package courtesy of LeglessCorpse.com. Prize
a Rafflecopter giveaway
As a child
M.F. Wahl quickly ate through the local library’s entire sections on the
paranormal, true crime, serial killers, magic, and hypnosis. By the age of
11 “IT” by Stephen King was the reading
material of choice, hidden in a school desk (much to the dismay of one math
teacher who wrote home that Wahl “read too much!”).
As an adult
M.F. Wahl spends as much time writing as possible. Days are spent funneling
creative energies into penning dark tales. Nights are spent watching horror
movies and TV curled under a blanket with the family. At the end of the day
when eyes finally close other people’s nightmares are fuel for M.F. Wahl’s
dreams.
DISEASE is a
serialized novel and is M.F. Wahl’s debut. Currently it’s available for
purchase on Amazon, iBooks, KOBO, Smashwords, and more. The paperback is slated
to be released just is time for Halloween, and an audiobook is in the works as
well.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks so much for hosting me! I had a blast writing the guest post. :)
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