The Zombie Book. Nick Redfern

ancient Greek teachings and lore, Asclepius was the Olympian god of medicine and the offspring of the mighty Apollo and his lover, Coronis. But Asclepius was far more than that: he possessed the supernatural ability to raise the dead from the grave. Perhaps somewhat appropriately, his birth was itself dominated by death. When an enraged Apollo learned that Coronis had committed adultery, he had her killed—immediately after which she was sliced open. At the very last moment, however, Asclepius was rescued from the clutches of the Grim Reaper. The tiny, premature baby was duly raised by Chiron, a legendary centaur and the son of Cronus, one of the mighty Titans that dominate ancient Greek mythology.

      Skilled in the mysteries of medicine—to the extent that he learned the ancient secrets of literal reanimation—Asclepius soon became adept at ensuring the dead didn’t always remain where they should. That, as we all know, is in the ground. There was, however, a steep price to be paid for guaranteeing reanimation and a second chance to live. In return for breathing new life into the dead, a significant amount of gold had to be handed over by the loved ones of those destined to be brought back. Asclepius’ biggest, and ultimately fatal, mistake was in resurrecting Hippolytus, the stepson of one Phaedra, who was the wife of Theseus, the king of Athens.

       A circa 1860 drawing based on a statue of Asclepius at the Louvre museum in Paris, France.

      When Hippolytus declined Phaedra’s offer to take their relationship in a direction that no stepson and stepmother should ever contemplate taking it, Phaedra—angered at being coldly spurned—told Theseus that Hippolytus had raped her, which was nothing but a rage-induced lie. Theseus, unfortunately, fell for the ruse and placed a curse on his son that resulted in a terrible end for Hippolytus: he was dragged to a horrible, bloody death by his very own horses.

      When Asclepius elected to return Hippolytus to the world of the living, his actions did not sit well with Zeus, the all-powerful leader of the Olympians, who viewed the idea of resurrecting the dead abhorrent and against the natural order of life and death. As the god of thunder, Zeus unleashed a powerful thunderbolt that took the life of Asclepius in just seconds. There was, however, another reason for Zeus’ actions. Such was the sheer extent of Asclepius’ dead-raising activities, none other than Hades himself—the Greek god of the dreaded Underworld—became furious that, thanks to Asclepius’ life-returning powers, Hades’ dark domain would soon become bereft of the souls of the dead. And, as Zeus and Hades were brothers—and brothers with a mutual interest in seeing Asclepius dead and gone—the outcome was pretty much inevitable. As the old legend demonstrates, there are very good reasons for letting the dead stay dead, lest you soon become one of them yourself, which is exactly what happened to Asclepius.

       Aswang

      Within the mythology of the Philippines there exists a deadly and diabolical creature known as the Aswang. Also referred to as the Sok-Sok and the Tik-Tik—as a result of the strange and menacing vocalizations it makes—the Aswang is said to predominantly dwell in Mindanao, which is the second largest island in the Philippines, and in the Visayas Islands, chiefly on the islands of Bohol and Negros.

      For many Filipinos, however, the Aswang is not just a monster of legend: it is also one of cold, grim, reality, and has been so for centuries, too. Since the Aswang is said to suck vast amounts of blood out of its human victims, it has become definitively, and inextricably, linked to vampire lore and legend. There are, however, a number of characteristics attributed to the Aswang that suggest it is far more zombie-like in nature and appearance than it is vampiric.

      Usually, although not exclusively, female in appearance, the Aswangs are very often described as resembling normal human beings, but with several key characteristics that reveal their true identities, and which also provoke zombie-style imagery. They are, for example, thin to the point of near-emaciation, they are often described as being dressed in dirty and ragged fashion, they are able to run with astonishing speed, and they have gaunt, pale faces, and malevolent-looking eyes. And it’s not just blood they feed on. The Aswangs are full-on carnivores with a love of meat of the human variety. Could there be a better description of a zombie? Certainly, we would be very hard-pressed to find one, no matter how hard we looked.

      Horrifically, the personal, favorite delicacies of the Aswangs are newly born human babies and young children. The reasons are as simple as they are horrific: the young are easy to catch, kill, and savagely devour. Aswangs are known for their particular, voracious love of human organs, particularly the heart and the liver, which are considered to be particularly prized delicacies. And, on occasion, they will even devour the bodies of the recently deceased. Further emphasizing the zombie links, when a person is bitten—but not outright killed—by an Aswang, widespread infection very soon sets in and spreads. Inevitably, the infected soul soon begins to take on not just the appearance of the dreaded monster, but also its near-maniacal lust and need for human flesh, bodily organs, and blood.

      The Aswang is also said to have the ability to shape-shift into certain other creatures, such as a monstrous hound, a werewolf-like beast, and a giant, marauding hog. It does so to ensure a swift and decisive kill while stalking its prey, after which it returns to humanoid form to devour the fresh kill.

       August

      For traditional Chinese in many countries, August is known as the Month of the Hungry Ghosts. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), a special Ghost Festival is held on the fifteenth night of the seventh lunar month. In Chinese tradition, the thirteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day, and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month, in which ghosts and spirits, including those of deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. During the Qingming Festival, the living descendants pay homage to their ancestors and on Ghost Day, the deceased visit the living.

       Spirits are offered food at a Chinese temple during the Ghost Festival.

      On the thirteenth day, the three realms of Heaven, Hell, and the realm of the living are open, and both Taoists and Buddhists perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditional filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family. The deceased were treated as if they are still living.

      Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from the Ghost Festival because the former includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the latter only includes older generations. Other festivities may include releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities.

      The Ghost Festival shares some similarities with the predominantly Mexican observance of El Da de los Muertos. Due to its theme of ghosts and spirits, the festival is sometimes known as the Chinese Halloween, though many have debated the difference between the two.

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