Noree Cosper is often spotted sharing her encyclopedic knowledge of the things that go bump in the night on Twitter. Today, for the Blogger Book Fair, she is giving us a look at everyone’s favorite shambling undead – zombies! Read on and have fun!
Zombie picture by Sookie on Flickr.com
Since, Brandon is my esteemed host, today I’m going to talk about zombies. I know, it’s a popular subject. Lots of people talk about how they can’t wait for the zombie apocalypse, what they will do if it happens. The sad fact is that if it did indeed even happen, most of those people would be the zombies. Personally, I’m not looking forward to it. I like my modern comforts like internet, heat/air conditioning, and food.
The thing is, zombies didn’t start out as some byproduct of a disease. They actually originated from the African and Haitian Voodoo culture. There were these Voodoo priests, known as Bokors, who had the ability to revive the dead. In Africa, the Bokor held control over the zombies and they had no will of their own. In Haiti, it was believed that a living person could be turned into a zombie through the use of two powers: one called coup de poudre, which included a neurotoxin found in the deadly pufferfish and the other was a dissociative drug. These powders turned those who survived into mindless drones under control of the bokor. Usually, the subjects were people who annoyed their family and the community so much that they could no longer stand to live with the person.
So, how did we get the zombies we know and love now? It started in the 1950’s and 1960’s, when the movies began to portray that zombies had to consume human flesh in order to continue their existence. Then came George Romero with Night of the Living Dead. It completely changed how zombies were viewed. The zombies no longer needed a master, instead they could infect others with their bite. And, their concept evolved from there to what it is today.
The zombies of today are more frightening today. Before, all you would have to do is kill the bokor and the zombies would lose their master and ability to act. Now, when you have a horde, each one has instincts and hunger of its own. There is no hope. Just run.
About Noree
Noree Cosper loves writing about magic in the modern world. While growing up in Texas she constantly searched for mystical elements in the mundane. She buried her nose in both fiction and books about Wicca, Religion, and Mythology. Everyday became an adventure as she joined a group of role-players, acting out her fantasies of vampires, demons, and monsters living in the world.
She embraced her nerdom wholeheartedly.
Noree grew, but never left her love for fantasy and horror. Her dreams pushed her and her hand itched to write the visions she saw. So, with her fingers on the keys, she did what her heart had been telling her to do since childhood. She wrote.
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A Prescription for Delirium
Ninety years ago, Gabriella di Luca promised to protect the family of her dying lover. She failed to keep that promise. She was too far away to stop the devil that murdered the eldest Van Helsing son. Years later, Gabby learns the devil has resurfaced. She arrives in Hampton, TX, determined to stop the devil before it can lay a bloody hand on the remaining three brothers.
However, madness is spreading through Hampton. She suspects the devil is using this madness to test a drug which has a side effect of demonic possession. Gabby rushes to end the source of the madness only to fall victim to it. For a woman cursed with eternal life, dying is no threat. However, Gabby must stop the devil’s plot or risk losing her most precious possession: her mind.
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Brandon R. Luffman 