Zombies in film have come a very long way since their inception in the early 1930s–from under the control of diabolical voodoo priests, to infectious shambling swarms, to talking & sentient creatures, to Olympic speed sprinters. With all the variations out there, we thought it would be a good idea to pay homage to them, thus we give you: The evolution of The Zombie. Phase 0: The Pre-Film Era “I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld, I will smash the door posts, and leave the doors flat down, And will let the dead go up to eat the living! And the dead will outnumber the living!” – Ishtar, The Epic of Gilgamesh Dating back to the 7th century BCE (and probably before then too), there has been this written record of the undead eaters of the living (see also the Scandinavian Draugr, the Japanese Jikininki, or the Hindu and Buddhist Rakshasa). While there is a global record of eaters of the living, the zombie proper has its origins in Haiti with… Phase I: Voodoo In 1929, William B. Seabrook published The Magic Island, detailing his experiences with Haitians and their cultural belief in zombies–in fact, credit Seabrook with […]