Talk:Zombie

"In theoretical academic papers" section

This section is a little sparse and I believe it can be expanded upon. It would most likely benefit from additional material from a variety of different scholars who are knowledgeable on the subject of zombies. I believe the following article would jumpstart/add more substance to this section:

McGee, Adam M. 2012. “Haitian Voudou and Voodoo: Imagined Religion and Popular Culture.” Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 41 (2): 231-256

McGee discusses zombies in popular culture (mostly film) at length and their connection to Haiti and Haitian voudou as well.

A significant shift in the genre

The Zombie section does not seem to address the significant shift in the genre.

In the 18th and early 19th century, it was loosely based on folklore. In the mid-19th century, possibly resonating with people coping with the death of two world-wars, the genre spoke against various forms of dehumanization. It has been argued that today, the zombie genre serves to justify the disengagement that it was once meant to speak against. (Incarnate, Michael Frost. Also an article I can't remember).

I also haven't heard anyone mention the effect of the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the genre. From the diary of Hiroshima survivor Michihiko Hachiya:

    "It was all a nightmare - my wounds, the darkness, the road ahead. My movements were ever so slow; only my mind was running at top speed.  In time I came to an open space where the houses had been removed to make a fire 
    lane. Through the dim light I could make out ahead of me the hazy outlines of the Communications Bureau's big concrete building, and beyond it the hospital. My spirits rose because I knew that now someone would find me; and 
    if I should die, at least my body would be found. I paused to rest. Gradually things around me came into focus. There were the shadowy forms of people, some of whom looked like walking ghosts. Others moved as though in 
    pain, like scarecrows, their arms held out from their bodies with forearms and hands dangling. These people puzzled me until I suddenly realized that they had been burned and were holding their arms out to prevent the 
    painful friction of raw surfaces rubbing together. A naked woman carrying a naked baby came into view. I averted my gaze. Perhaps they had been in the bath. But then I saw a naked man, and it occurred to me that, like 
    myself, some strange thing had deprived them of their clothes. An old woman lay near me with an expression of suffering on her face; but she made no sound. Indeed, one thing was common to everyone I saw - complete silence."

The slow movements, outstretched arms (like scarecrows), "like the walking dead". These came from reports from the war/bombing, why is it unaccounted for? There are other reports, all painting the same picture, one from a young girl if I remember correctly.

Evolution of the Modern Zombie Archetype correction

I found this text beneath the Evolution of the Modern Zombie Archetype section:

″There has been an evolution in the zombie archetype from supernatural to scientific themes. I Am Legend and Night of the Living Dead began the shift away from Haitian dark magic, though did not give scientific explanations for zombie origins″

This is inaccurate. Richard Matheson goes into some detail about the science behind the vampire infection in I am Legend. He describes it as microbial in origin, the result of a bacteria infecting the host and modifying a variety of metabolic processes.

Folklore being stated as fact

The second paragraph of the current version of the article currently reads as follows:

Zombies are real-life individuals in Haiti who have undergone a religious punishment called zombification for committing crimes such as rape or land theft. They are drugged, buried alive, exhumed and then enslaved by secret societies in Haiti. This practice became the basis for the zombie myth of a resurrected corpse

This entire section has only a single source, which is a New York Times article simply documenting an exhibit a single man set up, and in the article the man states these beliefs. The New York Times did not fact check these claims because the article itself doesn't endorse them as factual. The claims that there are currently '50,000 zombies' walking around Haiti today who were once drugged with some mysterious unknown uncited drug which somehow rendered them miraculously able to survive being buried alive, only to be dug up again by an unnamed 'secret society' which then enslaved them and continues to hold them as slaves through today is quite extraordinary. As we all know, outstanding claims require extraordinary evidence, and zero evidence is presented in this article, it's citations, or anywhere else.

I strongly suggest doing one of the following:

1. Deleting this section entirely if this is a fringe belief not widely thought to constitute the origin of the term Zombie.This seems to be the case at the moment based on my reading of several reputable sources that have summarized research on the origins of the zombie myth.

2. If these claims made in these folklore myths seem to be a legitimate source of the term of zombie or have other major significance, ir needs to be clearly stated that specific groups of people in certain regions or among certain groups (religious/cultural/etc) have shared these stories as folklore, these claims are part of a cultural mythos, or something to that effect. it also seems to be better placed further down in the article. The following paragraph (3rd) in the current version of the article does a much better job at clearly starting the article by citing the origins of the term and the myth of zombies.

If no one responds with a dissenting view and no edits are made to correct this section, I will make an edit to remove or contextualize these claims within the article. TheCrimsonLegacy (talk) 01:59, 22 June 2025 (UTC)

This seems to have been addressed by someone effectively removing the entire section I was addressing (option 1).

There seems to be a pattern of edits and requested edits being made by individuals who are attempting to add their own theories about various aspects of the Zombie mythology as well as adding uncited and irrelevant information.

I support this article continuing to be shielded under either a partially-protected or protected status to prevent such edits. TheCrimsonLegacy (talk) 11:51, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 29 October 2025

Change Citation 3 (which is now a dead link that also needed a subscription) to the following: - https://archive.org/details/historyofbrazil03sout/page/24/mode/2up - The Internet Archive has the original text scanned. - On page 24 of The History Of Brazil, CHAP XXXI 1695, we can see the actual quote: "... Perhaps a feeling of religion contributed to this obedience; for Zombi, the title whereby he was called, is the name for the Deity, in the Angolan tongue..." G.W. Harcus (talk) 09:16, 29 October 2025 (UTC)

So far Partly done: I made an attempt. Hope this helpsSlomo666 (talk) 01:32, 1 November 2025 (UTC)

Super-section on archetypes

I would suggest that that the #Apocalypse section be grouped with #Modern archetype evolution, rather than being part of the over-broad #Depictions in popular culture. Possibly it could be under a new super-section on archetypes, with one part on hybridity and evolution of the creature type, and another on the mass apocalypse aspect. Pharos (talk) 00:17, 30 December 2025 (UTC)

Super-section on metaphorical uses

Similarly to above, I would suggest a super-section on metaphorical uses, grouping together #American government, #Social activism, #Theoretical academic studies, and possibly also #Video and performance art. Pharos (talk) 00:37, 30 December 2025 (UTC)

Split

Some 10 years ago, Zombie (folklore) and Zombie (fictional) were merged together and moved over Zombie (see previous discussion). Currently, it has a short description "Undead creature from Haitian folklore" and a hatnote stating "This article is about the mythological creature." However, most of the article is about the archetype or stock character. It takes the reader some time to confirm they are at the right page. Section Zombie#Mythological creature could easily be split out back into Zombie (folklore) or Zombie (mythology). Then, the short description and hatnote could be updated to reflect the weight of coverage in the article content. fgnievinski (talk) 02:01, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

People come to Wikipedia to add context to their own cultural experiences, and we shouldn't be erasing deeply relevant real-world origins, in this case that deriving from the history of Haitian slavery. You rightly point out the flawed short description / hatnote we have currently; rather better would be something like "mindless, undead being from Haitian folklore and horror fiction". The horror fiction zombie has indeed diverged a lot from its folklore inspiration, but then again so has the vampire and werewolf. Pharos (talk) 18:16, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

@Pharos As per summary style, the lead of the new article could be left in the old article. The two different topics are sufficiently notable on their own to deserve separate articles. Better of all, it'd allow the folklore concept to grow unencumbered by the overwhelming coverage of the more popular modern topic. For example, are there any movies about the folklore topic? If there is any one currently listed, it's drowned out in a long list of off topic entries. fgnievinski (talk) 01:35, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

Oppose: For the reasons Pharos had stated. Savvyjack23 (talk) 18:39, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

It's been quite some time, and I don't think there's been any support for the split beyond the original proposer.--Pharos (talk) 00:13, 26 April 2026 (UTC)

I do think this article's scope is bad but I'm not sure if this is the way to solve it. PARAKANYAA (talk) 22:34, 4 August 2026 (UTC)

Support. I already made my position clear years ago, but, I must address a claim made by Pharos. He said that the zombie has diverged its original inspiration. But the modern zombie was not inspired by the Hatian zombie. It is a completely separate creature that got the name "zombie" attached to it, likely by French film critics who borrowed it from French-speaking Haiti. The creatures were originally called "ghouls" and were directly inspired by the vampire novel "I Am Legend." Serendi^podous 11:09, 5 August 2026 (UTC)