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Zombies: A Field Guide to the Walking Dead
In the myths, legends, and folklore of many peoples, the returning, physical dead play a significant role, whether they are the zombies of Haiti or the draugr of Scandinavia. But what are the origins of an actual bodily return from the grave? Does it come from something deep within our psyche, or is there some truth to it?
In Zombies, Bob Curran explores how some of these beliefs may have arisen and the truths that lay behind them, examining myths from all around the world and from ancient times including Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Celtic. Curran traces the evolution of belief in the walking cadaver from its early inception in religious ideology to the "Resurrections" and cataleptics of 18th-century Europe, from prehistoric tale to Arthurian romance. Zombies even examines the notion of the "living dead" in the world today—entities such as the "living mummies" of Japan. Zombies is a unique book, the only one to systematically trace the development of a cultural idea of physical resurrection and explore the myths that have grown around it, including the miracles of Old Testament prophets. It will interest those enticed by the return of the corporeal dead and also those curious as to how such an idea sits within the historical context.
In Zombies, Bob Curran explores how some of these beliefs may have arisen and the truths that lay behind them, examining myths from all around the world and from ancient times including Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Celtic. Curran traces the evolution of belief in the walking cadaver from its early inception in religious ideology to the "Resurrections" and cataleptics of 18th-century Europe, from prehistoric tale to Arthurian romance. Zombies even examines the notion of the "living dead" in the world today—entities such as the "living mummies" of Japan. Zombies is a unique book, the only one to systematically trace the development of a cultural idea of physical resurrection and explore the myths that have grown around it, including the miracles of Old Testament prophets. It will interest those enticed by the return of the corporeal dead and also those curious as to how such an idea sits within the historical context.
220 pages, ebook
Published April 24, 2012
About the author
Bob Curran
53 books55 followersBOB CURRAN is an educational psychologist in Coleraine University. His interests are broad-ranging but are focused especially on history and story. He has written several books, including The Field Guide to Irish Fairies, The Wolfhound Guide to the Shamrock, Creatures of Celtic Myth, The Truth about the Leprechaun.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 16, 2011
I'll warn you in advance the sub-title of the book is something of a misnomer. A "field guide to the walking dead" would imply some sort of encyclopedia of zombies, whereas the book is more of a discussion of differing forms of the walking dead throughout history. Medieval folklore sits alongside Far Eastern mythology, while a whole section is devoted to Biblical examples of the dead rising from their graves. In addition, Curran seems less concerned with zombies and more interested in the different ways in which the dead might return. Only his section on voodoo seems to consider the "contemporary" representation of the zombie, but it seems woefully short compared to the rest of the book.
It's an interesting read, and the illustrations are wonderful, but I did feel it was a bit of a disappointment due to its lack of engagement with the contemporary zombie and its place within popular culture. Still, if you read it as a work that seeks to explore notions of the zombie throughout the ages, then it's well-written and thoroughly researched.
It's an interesting read, and the illustrations are wonderful, but I did feel it was a bit of a disappointment due to its lack of engagement with the contemporary zombie and its place within popular culture. Still, if you read it as a work that seeks to explore notions of the zombie throughout the ages, then it's well-written and thoroughly researched.
October 22, 2016
This book has a lot of zombie origins, stories, and folklore. I learned about a lot of new thing like Japanese Mummies, and the Black Stone. At first I wasn’t digging this book at all. I’m bad when it comes to trying to read and remember a lot of information, and I actually don’t remember half of this book because I was tying to read it just to get through it. However when I picked it up again after a few weeks, I found myself pretty intrigued.
February 12, 2017
I need to admit, while I was disappointed with Dr. Bob Curran's lack of sources in his book about vampires; thus made me question his credentials as 'Dr.' I had to buy this book for curiosity's sake. Dr. Curran presents a lot of varied zombie lore within this book from a variety of cultures around the globe and this time, he included a bibliography! I also felt inspired to research this author a little further and discovered he was born in Northern Ireland and he does indeed, hold a doctorate degree, works on community development, has written 38 books, has worked for the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland as well as works on cross cultural issues. I have a whole new respect for this author and have decided to track down his other books! :) In the meantime, I must say this book was a pleasant surprise and not what I expected. The illustrations by Ian Daniels add a nice touch to this book.
January 16, 2019
Yet another great guide that gives you insight into the different myths and stories. It doesn't go super deep, but it doesn't have to, it shows the connections between the different stories regarding zombies and the living dead. And there are a lot of different local variations. Even going to places one hardly has heard off.
A good guide to get the basics.
A good guide to get the basics.
March 11, 2019
Appears to be aimed at young people, IMO. Full of interesting historical /cultural factoids on a wide range of global beliefs, legends, and lore about corporally presenting, animated dead people. Good fun and perfect information for my cursory research purposes. It's not all Romero, kids.
October 5, 2008
Bob Curran gives you a crash-course in mythology related to the dead returning from the grave, either as the undead or back to life -- including a certain Mr. Christ. And he gives an overview of ye olde graverobbers, from the days when surgery students had to buy corpses from disreputable cads. All of this is supposed to inform and underlie the modern zombie archtype -- the flesh-eating corpse returned from the grave.
And yet, it doesn't.
Don't get me wrong, the book was interesting enough and I enjoyed certain aspects of it, but it really fails in its supposed mission of being "a field guide to the walking dead."
Curran barely touches on the tales of zombie powder in voodoo, he very briefly mentions modern zombie movies and yet manages to mangle the basic details of "Night of the Living Dead" by saying it is about a group of teenagers holed up in the farmhouse (huh? did he even watch the movie?) and he misses the biggest point of all.
See, while the age-old myths of returning dead surely plays a part in our collective consciousness and the creation of the whole modern zombie myth, zombies are blatantly an analogy for disease. The dead have been equated with disease for centuries at the very least. Look at those paintings from the time of the Black Plague, with their dancing skeletons and corpses. Yet this is never mentioned in the book, while Jesus raising Lazarus is. Nor does he go into possible representations of Communism, mobs or any other thing that has been read into the zombie myth. But for me, not even mentioning the role disease plays in the undercurrent of the modern zombie is just a huge flaw.
Also, giving the title and subtitle, one could have also reasonably expected this book to be about the various types of zombie-like undead from various cultures. That probably would have even been a better use of the pages in this book.
Basically, this book is an overview of resurrection myths, graverobbing history, voodoo religions and folklore about the dead returning -- packaged with a title intended to exploit the Halloween season and the modern fascination with Romero-style walking dead.
And yet, it doesn't.
Don't get me wrong, the book was interesting enough and I enjoyed certain aspects of it, but it really fails in its supposed mission of being "a field guide to the walking dead."
Curran barely touches on the tales of zombie powder in voodoo, he very briefly mentions modern zombie movies and yet manages to mangle the basic details of "Night of the Living Dead" by saying it is about a group of teenagers holed up in the farmhouse (huh? did he even watch the movie?) and he misses the biggest point of all.
See, while the age-old myths of returning dead surely plays a part in our collective consciousness and the creation of the whole modern zombie myth, zombies are blatantly an analogy for disease. The dead have been equated with disease for centuries at the very least. Look at those paintings from the time of the Black Plague, with their dancing skeletons and corpses. Yet this is never mentioned in the book, while Jesus raising Lazarus is. Nor does he go into possible representations of Communism, mobs or any other thing that has been read into the zombie myth. But for me, not even mentioning the role disease plays in the undercurrent of the modern zombie is just a huge flaw.
Also, giving the title and subtitle, one could have also reasonably expected this book to be about the various types of zombie-like undead from various cultures. That probably would have even been a better use of the pages in this book.
Basically, this book is an overview of resurrection myths, graverobbing history, voodoo religions and folklore about the dead returning -- packaged with a title intended to exploit the Halloween season and the modern fascination with Romero-style walking dead.
November 5, 2010
Dr. Bob Curran presents an eminently readable, indepth, and fascinating tome on the history of the walking dead. The title of this book is "Zombies" but to limit it to that specific term and its origins also limits the impact of this comprehensive history of many cultures perception of the corporeal forms of the undead that have come back for varied reasons, both fair and foul, since nearly the dawn of time.
This book does explore the origin of the classic Haiti zombie but goes much deeper than that, explaining ancient European forms of the undead, the African origins of voodoo, and a wide array of other versions of those who come back from the grave since ancient times including Egyptian mummies (and Japanese ones as well).
While it must be stressed that this is more of a historical journey than one that delves into the modern day movie monster (only brief passages allude to the works of George A. Romero and others) this is still something that any true fan of the walking dead can appreciate. Dr. Curran has done exhaustive research and presents his efforts in a very easily readible format that certainly could allow some creative writers out there to develop "new" strains of undead in their books and movies based on historical context, outside of the traditional voodoo variety that are displayed in this book, such as the Draugr, as just one example.
If you are at all interested in the supernatural and the afterlife/living dead, this is a book you should have on your reference shelf. It certainly gave me a far greater appreciation for the origins of humanities long time fascination with those that return from the dead.
This book does explore the origin of the classic Haiti zombie but goes much deeper than that, explaining ancient European forms of the undead, the African origins of voodoo, and a wide array of other versions of those who come back from the grave since ancient times including Egyptian mummies (and Japanese ones as well).
While it must be stressed that this is more of a historical journey than one that delves into the modern day movie monster (only brief passages allude to the works of George A. Romero and others) this is still something that any true fan of the walking dead can appreciate. Dr. Curran has done exhaustive research and presents his efforts in a very easily readible format that certainly could allow some creative writers out there to develop "new" strains of undead in their books and movies based on historical context, outside of the traditional voodoo variety that are displayed in this book, such as the Draugr, as just one example.
If you are at all interested in the supernatural and the afterlife/living dead, this is a book you should have on your reference shelf. It certainly gave me a far greater appreciation for the origins of humanities long time fascination with those that return from the dead.
July 9, 2009
I gave this book one star because everything about the title is a misnomer.
There is very little "zombie" about this book, and even less "field guide"
While it is somewhat well researched - it is simply that. A research paper. Basically, a really long essay about the history of folklore surrounding resurrection myths. NOT zombies as we know them. In fact, the "zombies" we all know and love are summed up in about a page and a half that mentions george romero and his movies ... and kind of messes that up.
While there is about a third of the book dedicated to voo doo, a third of the book dedicated to ancient folklore and mythos, and another third that just reiterates the other 2/3 of the book over again.
Yeah ... no zombies to be found here. Just a research paper on resurrection myths. Give it a title that wasn't blatantly designed to steal the money from people wanting to read something about George Romero and Max Brooks style "zombies" and i would have given it 3 stars ...
And the illustrations are poor and seemingly irrelevant to the content. For example, the illustration labeled "Frankenstein" is of a woman with stitches on part of her face staring seductively at you.
Huh?
There is very little "zombie" about this book, and even less "field guide"
While it is somewhat well researched - it is simply that. A research paper. Basically, a really long essay about the history of folklore surrounding resurrection myths. NOT zombies as we know them. In fact, the "zombies" we all know and love are summed up in about a page and a half that mentions george romero and his movies ... and kind of messes that up.
While there is about a third of the book dedicated to voo doo, a third of the book dedicated to ancient folklore and mythos, and another third that just reiterates the other 2/3 of the book over again.
Yeah ... no zombies to be found here. Just a research paper on resurrection myths. Give it a title that wasn't blatantly designed to steal the money from people wanting to read something about George Romero and Max Brooks style "zombies" and i would have given it 3 stars ...
And the illustrations are poor and seemingly irrelevant to the content. For example, the illustration labeled "Frankenstein" is of a woman with stitches on part of her face staring seductively at you.
Huh?
February 21, 2018
This book's title and description was pretty mis-leading. I got this thinking I was going to get an actual field guide about zombies like how to fight them, their habits, their appearance, etc. But this book really had very little of that.
This book was mainly just a lot of research about zombie legends from around the world and the history of grave robbing and famous zombie figures throughout history and famous grave robbers. The book did touch on modern zombie films and zombie comics as well. And the author does get another star in my book for doing such excellent research on the topic.
However I wasn't looking for research, I was looking for something more along the lines of Max Brook's famous survival guide but with a different spin. If that's what you're looking for, you may want to look elsewhere. If the title had been different like, "The History of Zombies," or "Zombies Throughout History." That would be a more accurate title.
I'm sure some people will love this book, but it just wasn't for me.
This book was mainly just a lot of research about zombie legends from around the world and the history of grave robbing and famous zombie figures throughout history and famous grave robbers. The book did touch on modern zombie films and zombie comics as well. And the author does get another star in my book for doing such excellent research on the topic.
However I wasn't looking for research, I was looking for something more along the lines of Max Brook's famous survival guide but with a different spin. If that's what you're looking for, you may want to look elsewhere. If the title had been different like, "The History of Zombies," or "Zombies Throughout History." That would be a more accurate title.
I'm sure some people will love this book, but it just wasn't for me.
June 2, 2011
For starters, I think it's a misleading title. For a "field guide" I expected one of those humorous writings on how to fight off zombies and win the apocalypse. However, this turned out to be simply a world history on how zombie stories have come about. While this was not what I was expecting, it was fascinating and I learned a lot! But, I only gave it three stars because of the writing and grammar (the author apparently has never heard of the word "whom" and there were other typos as well), and while the back cover informed me that the author was a professor (I then expected the writing to be aimed at an older audience) I found the writing to be "dumbed down". I would recommend this book highly to older schoolchildren (late middle and high school) who want to learn about the history surrounding zombies.
December 17, 2008
I didn't really research this book before I picked it up from the local public library. I just added it to my list because it said "Zombies" in the title, and started reading.
At first, it was somewhat interesting, hearing about the actual historical folklore surrounding zombie stories. But then this book basically repeated the same information over and over again.
It read very much like a poorly written textbook about zombie folklore, which is actually what it was. I can't honestly say I enjoyed it at all, or learned much from it.
At first, it was somewhat interesting, hearing about the actual historical folklore surrounding zombie stories. But then this book basically repeated the same information over and over again.
It read very much like a poorly written textbook about zombie folklore, which is actually what it was. I can't honestly say I enjoyed it at all, or learned much from it.
September 25, 2008
Good book. Once again this author is more of a gateway into folk lore, giving an average depth look into the zombie folklore from around the world. However, some of the things in this book are indeed incredable and it was alot of fun reading it.
Once again the art was also amazing!
The publishing company isnt that great though. There were something like fifty typeos.
Once again the art was also amazing!
The publishing company isnt that great though. There were something like fifty typeos.
December 7, 2012
I found this book very interesting. The author's thorough research in diverse cultural beliefs in the dead rising (from various voodoo practices to the Baltic strigoi) was magnificent. Some of the accounts including actual historical individuals were very intriguing. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history, cultural superstitions, and indeed, the walking dead.
May 27, 2015
If you can put aside the title of the book, which is a complete misnomer, and all of the many editorial issues, which are hugely annoying, this becomes a great collection of myth-legend-folklore regarding the reanimated dead. Curran obviously did some research into many different regional beliefs. Daniels is a great artist but his stylised drawings seem slightly out of place here.
January 12, 2015
Good little read on how the myth of the zombie or walking dead came about. Very interesting to read about the beginnings of the belief in the walking dead and how it changed over time and in different cultures. If you are interested in zombies at all, I would recommend this book.
January 30, 2010
I only read some of it, and it was very informative, but some of the religous stuff I didnt agree with the author.
January 17, 2011
quite nice !!!
February 5, 2011
It had a few interesting facts, but mostly, it was a bunch of common since things for us zombie fans.
February 24, 2015
good and awesome book
February 10, 2016
Just paged through this book to help with my Teen Zombie Program. Not so great
THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE was helpful though[Nick F. (teen) recommend that book]
THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE was helpful though[Nick F. (teen) recommend that book]
July 6, 2010
Great reference book with interesting illustrations!
March 11, 2013
A little gem of a book, interesting and unnerving in places. Answered a lot of questions for me.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews