I am pretty certain something like this has been discussed before but I could not see anything in search, perhaps it didn't get transferred?
Anyhooz, so below are some "undead" creatures and stories we have read about throughout the history of mankind.
These have inspired countless of urban legends and have kept their reputation intact for hundreds of years, amusing both young and old.
Could have the undead really existed as all these stories claim? Or were they merely created as camp site stories?
The mention of zombies and the undead rising predates history by something like 2000 years, you can see such mentions in the Epic of Gilgamesh Tablet 6 of the 12 Sumerian clay tablets discovered in 1853.
Tablet 6 reads- "Gilgamesh rejects the advances of the goddess Ishtar because of her mistreatment of previous lovers like Dumuzi. Ishtar asks her father Anu to send Gugalanna the "Bull of Heaven" to avenge her. When Anu rejects her complaints, Ishtar threatens to raise the dead who will "outnumber the living" and "devour them"-Wikipedia
In England, 12th century historian William of Newburgh described several cases of reanimated corpses-or revenants-hideous creatures that wandered through villages at night spreading disease and killing anyone they met.
Vodou (Voodoo)-Haitian method of reanimating corpses through pharmaceutical means, we all have heard of those.
Draugr-Norse mythological corpses of Viking warriors returned from the dead to attack the living.
They were believed to have supernatural strength, and the ability to grow to a giant size after they emerged from their grave as wisps of smoke.
They crushed their victims then devoured them or drank their blood.
Golems-In Jewish folklore a Golem is an animated artificial man,usually made out of clay and brought to life through magical means, such as words inscribed on their foreheads or a piece of parchment placed in their mouths.There are many tales where medieval European rabbis, following instructions given in the mystical Kabbalistic text, the Sefer Yetzirah, created and animated Golems to do their bidding.
The most famous one was created by Rabbi Judah Loew, a 16th century scholar in Prague. According to the legend the golem was created to protect the residents of Prague's Jewish ghetto from harm, but the Golem turned violent and began killing non Jews before turning on its creator.
Jikininki (human eating ghosts) In Japanese folklore these are greedy and selfish spirits that are cursed after death, to seek out and eat human corpses.
Kuchisake-onna- A Japanese myth of a woman mutilated by her jealous husband, returns as a malicious spirit. In modern days the legend says she returns wearing a surgical mask. She asks children if she is pretty and according to their answer she carries out specific actions. Of course like in many legends, there are always ways to confuse a malicious spirit. This legend apparently caused havoc in the 80's and children were forced to return home in groups for safety.
Fext-In Slavic mythology it is an undead creature that is invincible to bullets except glass bullets.
Ghoul(ghul-'to seize')-In Arabian Folklore the ghoul is a desert-dwelling demonic shape shifting creature that prays on travelers, children, robs graves, eats the dead and drinks blood, taking the form of the one they previously ate.
Ro-Langs- In Tibetan folklore a ro-langs literally means "a risen corpse". Ro-langs are created usually by sorcerers, they cannot speak or bend over and their joints are stiff and cannot bend either. It signals its victims by wagging its tongue back and forth. In some regions of Tibet, they have low doorways to keep ro-langs out.
Dybbuk-In Jewish folklore it is a malicious spirit that has taken over the body of a living person and inhabits the flesh.
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I love my history and all folklore, legends and myths originated from somewhere, whether they were pure fiction I do not know, but I just don't believe in coincidences and the similarities between the various cultures is great, so it is safe to assume that the origins of SOME of these legends carry some sort of truth in them.
These are just but a few examples to indulge in. The variety of undead portrayed is so vast that if the dead decided to rise once again,in the form of any of those legends, I would like to be knowledgeable enough, to know how to dispatch them.
How many of these have you heard of?
Can you add any more?
I'm gonna list some that I reckon you'd find fun to look up....
Literature:
Frankenstein
Animated Mummy's
Lich
Folklore:
Wight / Wraith
(I'm probably going to get reamed for suggesting this, but besides literature and movies they were and still are considered a form of "zombie" in cultures...) Vampire - but the chinese version...
Bunyip's slaves (all characteristics of zombies)
Rumor / Archeological findings:
Zombies in Ancient Ireland
"Leo84: id love to spartan kick a kid" - ZPI CHAT
DUMB WORKERS
oh ive heard of them..i have heard of all of them lol
I just added the ones that intrigued me personally the most.
I mean how the hell would you battle these sort of undead creatures?
Zombies ARE part of folklore yet we believe they are possible to be created, for arguments sake...if all those beasts I have put in the post, and all sort of other ones DID exist, and there was a possibility of them returning, would you have enough knowledge to know how to kill them?
Just trying to spark a conversation.
Live, Love, Conquer
I heard somewhere that there's this place in Indonesia where they bury their dead at the top of a hill. But instead of carrying the body, they used some black magic to make the corpse "walk" up the hill. Creepy, but not so sure if its true.
Btw, try this short korean horror comic. My friend screamed when I showed this, I didnt, but that was because I "froze" hahaha. See how you react hahahaha XD
http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=31&weekday=tu
it may come or it may not. But its not just zeds that may ruin your life
Good point Leo. Every bit of folklore and myth had truth to it. How much truth did these legends have? If.cultures had and still took preparation against these things, it truly makes you wonder. A lot of closed minds caused by modern culture, upbringing, religion, "science", etc make it impossible for one to believe it could be true.
Many suggest killing the source by decapitation or fire. Others need to be destroyed by aiming at the source instead of minions.
In an outbreak, we may not have time to Google these legends that have been spoken about for hundreds, if not, thousands of years in cultures.
Has anyone have specific thoughts on creatures? What about more folklore and legends?
"Leo84: id love to spartan kick a kid" - ZPI CHAT
DUMB WORKERS
Before our time and only maybe up to a few hundred years ago these myths and creatures, paganism, alchemy, all this new age stuff was common and accepted, now people fear it or they just ignore it as complete nonsense.
How is it possible that there are hundreds of myths and gods from every culture and EVERY culture speaks of the same stories within different deities, monsters and gods to describe them.
To me it doesn't feel right. Each culture is different yet their ancient stories are pretty much the same, they share the same kind of mythology just in a different shell so to speak.
For example vampires-part of the undead genre however their stories have been told for thousands (yes thousands) of years.
Legends say they cannot withstand the sun, the sun kills them and drinking blood gives them strength.
Lets search a little deeper:
Supposedly vampires got their name through the vicious Vlad Dracul Or Vlad the Impaler because of the way he tortured and killed his victims, his most preferred method was impalement.
Dracula was inspired by this man. HOWEVER lets look at his name.
Dracul "the dragon" or Dracula (which was his patronymic name)means "son of the dragon" and his father was a member of the Order of the dragon, which supposedly defended the Cross from the enemies of Christianity
Dragons - Common among MANY cultures, Chinese, Japanese, Hindu, St George slaying the dragon..etc etc also commonly described and righteously so as "winged serpents"
Quetzalcoatl-Important Mayan god "feathered serpent" originally depicted with a snake head but further on it acquired more human features.
Mayans believed that their gods came from the sky, and they frequently sacrificed humans and animals as an offer to them, the offer was their blood.
Bloodletting was associated with the Vision Serpent meaning that blood was a way for them to get in contact with their gods during important ceremonies. There are various theories.
Snake worship- Don't even get me started on that..here is the link if you are interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_worship#Hindu_mythology
and to make it even shorter have a look at the List of dragons in myhthology and folklore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dragons_in_mythology_and_folklore
Malevolent dragons in mythology are associated with the underground or "underworld", the darkness with thousands of heads, large, blood thirsty blah blah blah
If you where trapped underground for thousands of years you would hate the sun too...
Benevolent dragons are associated with fertility and rebirth and protection to name a few, still characterized with humanoid features or human bodies and snake heads and of course like all gods they were colossal or ok, sometimes maybe a head or two taller than the average human being....
Modern cult sacrifices to the "devil" follow ancient protocol. The devil is even depicted as a oh let seeeee? A serpent.
Serpents and dragons where IMPORTANT to all cultures including Australian Aboriginal culture.
They were part of the creation process and major gods to countless myths.
Two "types" of dragons. You do the rest of math.
They caused fear and havoc and also had the ancients respect.
These are but a few clues/background to get you going. The thing is, when it comes to vampires at least, there is more than a shitload of metaphorical symbolism that is ultimately there for you to uncover, in the process however you might end up somewhat nutty.
How did the legend came to be? Ask the ancients...or even open the Bible...or the Qur'an...its all the same, just make the connection and Bob's your uncle, its ALL there.
Anyhoo there is just SO MUCH on this subject...I could write a book...
Oh..no..."Vampires" as WE know them..do not exist..not even the glittery kind...sorry..
Live, Love, Conquer
btw DE....IT SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME...i left it at the head twist as it was 3am...I'll try to finish it tomorrow when the sun is up lol
Live, Love, Conquer
As a student of psychology, innate human fears or superstitions manifest regardless of culture or location. Superstitions arise from unexplained phenomena that there is neither knowledge or an academic pursuit to explain. There are 5 legends ever present in humans shapeshifters, ghosts, undead, werebeasts, and god. Remember the pursuit of knowledge with out religious bias or forbidden topics is a relatively new concept.
As a studier of lore, I hope its because it is a real phenomena ever present in reality although rare. This would explain its presence in most societies. I have no problem holding 2 contradictory points of view because somewhere in the middle I'm right. lol
Lol of course. If you can find someone who doesnt feel scared Id happily salute him/her. Their trick is to fool us that we control how fast the story moves(by how fast we scroll down). Then all of a sudden they made it as if "something" is happening on your computer.
it may come or it may not. But its not just zeds that may ruin your life
Fear and anxiety are useless emotions and all emotions can be controlled or reconditioned given the will and patience to do so. Startled is one thing fear is another. Military programs often instill angry as a correlative and adjusted response to the onset of fear.
Our emotions are what makes us humans. Fear is a GOOD thing. Fear warns us about danger. I reject your notion that emotions are worthless, and instead say that emotions have their place as long as you do not let your emotions control you. Besides, fear can be fun, like when watching scary movies, or on roller coasters, or the above video.
Courage is not a lack of fear, its being afraid and doing the right thing anyway.
Lack of fear is psychotic.
What Zombies Fear
Well said. I agree with this.
well all i can say about this, is that my perception of fear and yours are two completely different things...unfortunately no one can prevent fear because that's how we are wired from an early age. I don't remember fearing ANYTHING as a child and yet I was untouchable, nothing ever happened to me...I don't see fear as a good thing at all.
And there is a lot more to add to that...which I won't
Live, Love, Conquer
Fear is not an inherent response to humans. It is absolutely a conditioned response. Fight or flight is an instinctive inherent reaction and it is a logical process. Fear is neither logical or instinctive. You learn to fear things. All covered in depth in an Deviant Psychology class (Abnormal Psychology in some schools). Psychosis are usually derived from acquired fears, some rational but most are not.
Mostly non chemically based psychosis, neurosis and Personality Disorders:
Borderline personality disorder- fear of intimacy
schitzotypal- fear of rejection
anti social personality disorder- fear of victimization
narcissism- fear of inadequacy
HPD- fear of rejection
Avoidance PD- Fear of rejection
DPD- Fear of separation, or fear of inadequacy
OCD- usually fear of not being in control, sometimes fear of germs or contamination
SPD- fear of rejection or separation
MPD- same
Dissociative PD- fear of crisis, confrontation or suffering
Avoidance or Compulsory neurosis- Pick any phobia on earth or beyond an insert here.
Deitiphobea neurotic disorder- being my absolute favorite; compulsion to act as a liaison for or avoidance of the concept of a higher power. Its so common its scary.
PTSD- fear of a specific traumatic event or individual that caused it.
Sociopathy, psychopathy, schizophrenia, Bipolar and the ilk are all proven biochemical disorders and are not caused by any other influence although they can be enhanced through compounding fear.
Point is when one lacks fear they are not sick, twisted or needing psychological treatment. They are logical beings who have unlearned or not been subjected to situations in which their body boosts and sustains adrenaline, dopamine, endorphins and epinephrine beyond the initial phase of the associated catalyst. Therefor they remove the association or have not made the association with a "danger" and their ability to live.
Example: Case in point snake handlers. They know its dangerous many have died or almost died due to snake bites, but they understand a snake is a creature that is trying to live how it believes it needs too. They aren't afraid of snakes and why? Because the snake handler never made a connection in their mind basically saying "Snakes are dangerous, they can kill me, snakes can kill me, avoid snake = avoid death, snakes are death."
snake+bite=death so therefore snake=bite=death. It is how ALL neurosis form more complex the neurosis the more equivalents added to death. Like Autophobia. The fear of being afraid. Debilitating and hilarious all at the same time.