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What Gave Life To The Idea Of The Zombie?

Enthusiast dressed as zombies take part in the Zombie Walk event in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, within the framework of the 12th edition of the European Fantastic Film festival, which runs from September 14 to 22.
FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images
Enthusiast dressed as zombies take part in the Zombie Walk event in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, within the framework of the 12th edition of the European Fantastic Film festival, which runs from September 14 to 22.

Zombies occupy a special place in the Halloween monster pantheon.

They’re all over pop culture, in our TV shows, our

(https://www.pcgamer.com/some-kind-of-dying-lightleft-4-dead-2-crossover-appears-to-be-coming/) and our books.

While George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” is credited with starting the undead fascination here in America, zombies aren’t exactly an American invention.

The concept actually traces its origins back to slavery and Haitian folklore.

How did zombies make their way to the U.S.? And what does the American fascination with zombies tell us about ourselves?

Produced by Jonquilyn Hill.

GUESTS

Rund Abdelfatah, Host, Throughline; @RundAbdelfatah

Ramtin Arablouei, Host, Throughline; @ramtinarablouei

Max Brooks, Author, World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide, and Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre; @MaxBrooksAuthor

For more, visit https://the1a.org.

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