Zombies

Excerpt from the Book of Revelation, detailing the rising of the dead.

These vary according to the type of zombie involved. So far within the show there have been six types; the first being a person who has been reanimated through the use of black magic, the second being "Croats" - people afflicted with the Croatoan virus, the third being the more traditional cannibalistic zombies who were resurrected by Death, the fourth were people who had adverse reactions to the Leviathan food additive - becoming "mottled wretches," the fifth as Nazi necromancers, and finally the "rabids", from the Darkness.

From Season 2 Companion, p. 39

Zombies are dead people brought back to life by black magic known as necromancy. But "life" is a misnomer, since their bodies are still dead. The longer a person has been dead prior to reanimation, the less likely their body will be able to function properly, especially with regard to thinking, talking, or moving quickly.

Fresh zombies will appear to be like normal people who have been out of the sun too long, but even then they're not at all normal. Being stuck in a decaying body tends to drive people insane, a side effect of which is murderous rages.

Zombies are usually created for one of two reason: either the conjurer loves the person and will do anything to be with them; or else the conjurer want a monstrous slave to do their dirty deeds for them. There have been reported incidences of toxic waste and extraterrestrial viruses reanimating dead bodies that desire only to eat human brains, but there's no verifiable evidence to support such claims.

And if you believe in zombies, you are going to want to know how to kill them. The lore is varied and conflicting, but I have collated the most common methods: Cut off their head, put them back in ther coffin, and drive a silver stake through their heart, then salt and burn the body for good measure.

Zombie is a term used to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli. Of voodoo origin, the word initially reffered to a curse cast by sorcerers (or bokors) allowing them to take control of a person's mind, therefore affecting his or her actions. However, due to significant influence of Haitian Vodou and New Orleans Voodoo on witchcraft mythology, this meaning soon morphed into that of a human corpse mysteriously reanimated to serve the undead. Since the late 19th century, zombies have acquired notable popularity, especially in North American and European folklore.

In popular culture, zombies take a number of forms. There are those raised from the dead by a spell or ritual or reanimated by some supernatural event (such as the movie of George Romero), or people turned into mindless violent cannibals by a virus (such as in the movie 28 Days Later or the Resident Evil franchise). Some are mindless, shuffling monsters - others cunning and quick. Methods of dispatch generally involve beheading, staking, or fire.

Reanimated

Croats

Traditional

"Mottled Wretches"

Nazi Necromancers

Rabids