SPLICED STUFF /
ISSUE 06
FEATURE / THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE
While battling the hordes of the undead, it helps to know exactly what you’re up against. You’ll
find many different account of the kinds of zombies out there, but in essence we think they
can be divided into two main groups, with a number of sub-categories. To help you out we’ve
compiled a handy list of the different types of zombie undead, just to help you prepare.
/ SUPERNATURAL ZOMBIES /
These would more commonly be classified as “Voodoo Zombies”
and are linked with the religious practice of voodoo, which
apparently has over 60 million practitioners worldwide. In popular
culture however, voodoo has been reduced to the practice of
sorcery and witchcraft, creating a massive prejudice against the
religion which in reality
combines features of some
African religions with Roman
Catholicism.
According to Haitian
folklore, zombies are the
mindless servants of a bokor,
a sorcerer, or houngan
(priest) of the Haitian “vodou”
religion. To gain control over
one such zombie, the bokor
will poison the living subject
with the toxins of a puffer
fish and powders of the
datura plant, causing severe
neurological damage that slows one’s heartbeat and breathing to
near-stasis, rendering the victim indistinguishable from one who
has died (decent healthcare was somewhat lacking in that neck
of the woods). The victim is then buried and abandoned, giving
the bokor opportunity to visit the grave and dig up their newlyacquired slave. The detached, dreamlike state often associated
with zombification is a result of the datura plant, which shares
certain properties with cocaine-relate alkaloids. The combination
of drugs renders the zombie helpless and without self-control,
allowing the bokor to put them to work performing simple manual
tasks. It is often suggested that such a theory breaks the idea
that zombies feast on the flesh of the living, or indeed any flesh.
According to legend, if a zombie tastes either salt or meat, they will
awaken from their undead spell.
/ SCIENCE ZOMBIES /
Most commonly seen in videogames and film, there are a number
of different zombies that fall into this category.
/ UNDEAD INFECTION ZOMBIES /
These zombies are inevitably formed from some kind of virus or
infection that has been released into the population. Although
not all “technically” undead, the zombie inevitably feels the need
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to mindlessly act on a craving to feed on other creatures. Think
The Walking Dead and Night of the Living Dead. Generally slow
moving [