Books in the Contributions to Zombie Studies series

Zombie mythology has become an integral part of popular culture. In a reversal of the typical pattern of adaptation, the zombie developed onscreen before appearing in fiction. This collection of new essays examines some of the most influential and inventive zombie literature, from the early stories to the most recent narratives, including some told from a zombie perspective.

The figure of the zombie that entered the popular imagination with the publication of William Seabrook''s The Magic Island (1929)--during the American occupation of Haiti--still holds cultural currency around the world. This book calls for a rethinking of zombies in a sociopolitical context through the examination of several films, including White Zombie (1932), The Love Wanga (1935), I Walked with a Zombie (1943) and The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988). A 21st-century film from Haiti, Zombi candidat a la presidence ... ou les amours d''un zombi, is also examined. A reading of Heading South (2005), a film about the female tourist industry in the Caribbean, explores zombification as a consumptive process driven by capitalism.

With the increased popularity of the zombie, many scholars have begun to consider just why it has captured the attention of audiences today. In this text, the zombie can be viewed as a meditation on death, a memento mori that can help us learn to live with the fact of our own individual mortality.