posted
LOL!! Gotcha! But you know, it actually *could* be a valid arguement. I would want to know how one could be "mostly dead" vs alive vs completely dead. But then, that's the nature of the undead, yes? *g*
For the undead-philes here, do any undead need to breathe?
posted
EJS quotes The Princess Bride! Quick, single women, he might still be available...
What's so great about zombies? They are funny! I skimmed all the messages, and think people missed out on mentioning the movie "An American Werewolf in London" - because of the werewolf's magical nature, people he kills become zombies.
Funny zombies. Zombies with a sense of humor. Well, at least that is how I remember the best friend of the guy who gets turned into a zombie by the werewolf who turned him into a werewolf. Got it? Ok, some of the humor is visual (gross, but funny). I avoid reading and watching horror, but this one I would recommend.
Really. Oh, and maybe they should be termed the "animate dead" - they are totally dead, but they can talk, walk, and do the Rubber Duckie.
"Southpark" used them too - hilarious.
[This message has been edited by punahougirl84 (edited September 28, 2004).]
posted
They weren't zombies, merely cursed ghosts. Zombies (like all forms of undead) have a physical body (however magical its animation may be).
It is the continued connection of the body itself to some animating force that makes these creatures non-dead (or undead, as the more common term would put it). The term refers to the corporeal body itself, not to any incorporeal elements like a ghost or spirit (which is presumed to survive death in most cases anyway, and has its own terminology already).
posted
Any good stories around with more uncommon types of undead? Ghouls, ghasts, etc? I'm a vampire fan myself, but these days vampires are just (pardon the pun) done to death! Ghosts are also pretty common, and we've been exploring zombies in this thread. How about some unusual undead types?
posted
Well, there's ye olde barrow wight, which is basically a non-mummified mummy guarding his non-Egyptian tomb. I would count them as mummies, myself.
Let's see, undead types tend to be classed by their motives, behavior, and physical decomposition path, right? So really you can just generate your own undead spec and call it whatever you like, I should think.
Drinks blood and doesn't decay much=vampires. Eats flesh of the living and decays horribly=zombies. Eats flesh of the dead and decays backwards=ghouls. Defends tomb against robbers and decays naturally=mummies. What about "seeks vengence and decays artfully" ala The Crow? Or how about "continues to live normal life but decays normally" which we occasionally see? There's the old "frets about having never been baptized but never decays either" thing. Oooh! the "interior bits replaced by robotic machine, does not decay unless the outer bits are 'killed'" thing. I like those myself.
Could the Borg be classed as pseudo-zombies? I know they aren't dead, but the sickly grey colour of their skin almost makes it appear as though they're decomposing and they are always out looking for new brains to devour, uh, I mean assimilate. Also, they are controlled by an evil queen.
(Okay, I know they are actually cyborgs and merely drones, but Survivor's description of the various undead made me think of this )
[This message has been edited by Robyn_Hood (edited September 30, 2004).]
posted
"I guess you'd call that Amberzombie & Witch."
To which I say, "BWAH!" Love it!
I read a great short story by Richard Matheson about a teenage ghoul girl. I don't remember the name of the story, but she was Deidre and she rose from the grave to eat people. She got herself a job at the local morgue in order to chow down, only to be caught by a co-worker who threatened to turn her in. She gets out of it by breaking up her own body and lying on a slab, so that when the cops come, it appears the co-worker murdered her. It was dark and funny, and pretty unique, since the ghoul herself looked like a normal, teenaged girl when she chose to.
posted
I'd definately count The Borg as Star Trek's answer to the zombie ideals. They're just technozombies, in way.
The borg represent the loss of individuality, zombies represent the loss of humanity. Very similar ideas, being you can still look like a human but you are shorn of all your human characteristics, and thusly become a threat to other humans.
We humans are very protective of our individualism, it seems.
I love Richard Matheson's short stories, but think I missed that one. He wrote a lot of undead stuff. If you want to read about major undead action, check out Matheson's - I am Legend. Also included in my version of I am Legend is is a story about "radioactive reanimated corpses".
posted
First, not all zombies eat the flesh of the living. Second, one term that has been used for the 'Crow' type of undead (comes back for revenge) is 'Revenant,' though IIRC that may just be a term for any reanimated corpse.
The problem with classification is that it almost always leaves someone out. For example, Varney the Vampire of the old penny dreadfuls decayed quite a bit.
What was this about ghouls decaying backwards?
Oh, and IMO the term for a destroyed undead is 're-dead.'
Finally, as to the Borg, IMO they've been altered over time to become more like undead, but I'd compare them more to vampires that zombies. After all, they assimilate you now using two prongs injected into the neck, and the queen is a sensual being as depicted in [u]First Contact.[/u]
[This message has been edited by DeepShadow (edited October 01, 2004).]
[This message has been edited by DeepShadow (edited October 01, 2004).]
posted
Well, I guess that decay mechanisms do vary quite a bit. The thing about ghouls is that typically, they are portrayed as starting out very decayed and sort of moving towards a less decrepit condition by virtue of eating other dead bodies. But they don't usually un decay, they get grosser and all, just not in the juicy, soft way that zombies get grosser. Like, the ghoul is getting...um, healthier and stronger, just not in any sense that makes them less disgusting. Of course, there are exceptions.
Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
Technically a Zombi is a dead body that has been brought back to life by some supernatural force.
There can be no such thing as a techno-zombi unless it is animated by a supernatural force. But it can be called zombi-like if it acts like a zombi.
Premise: If we take a human as part body, part mind and part spirit, (spirit being the quickening element, that which moves and animates and responds to intent ), what is a zombie? Clearly it is a body and spirit without mind. Other forms of 'zombi' therefore could be body and mind without spirit (vampire?) and spirit and mind without body (ghost?), so long as there has been some form of supernatural agency involved in their creation.
It is also possible to break a being down into its most basic parts, perhaps it is just a spirit, (an apparition doomed to replay events over and over again in order to play-out some unresolved intent) or mind (an example of an overmind type entity able to reason and be self-aware) or just plain body (manifestation of physical elements).
In the overlap between the three big areas there could also be beings of twilight, not quite mind, but not quite spirit or body either, something transitioning from one to another. Like a poltergeist. You have all read about poltergeists that progress from making noise, to moving things, to making breathy voices to slapping people and pulling the sheets off beds then finally appearing. It is a being in transit.
So lets say someone could take a fleshly body, prepare it with his clever arts, then offer it up 'for rent' to any passing entity to use at its will. The practitioner may retain ownership of the body and the right to pull the plug on the possessive being's lease to ensure it remains compliant. You kill the body and the spirit just goes back to his 'landlord' and gets a new one, a better one, one that fits better.
What sort of rent would he charge? What price would the entity be willing to pay? What could he get the 'zombi' to do? What could stop him?
The threat I see from zombis is not the zombi itself but what it signifies, that there is a practitioner who has mastered his art and turned to achieve his own ends.
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited October 12, 2004).]
posted
That is a facinating story idea hoptoad. It certainly is an interesting question. Are you planning to write it up? If so, I would love to read whatever you come up with.
Posts: 579 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Someone gave me a link to Zombo.com about five years ago, and it basically hasn't changed in all that time (except the links at the end may be different.)
Posts: 1517 | Registered: Jul 2003
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