monsters > zombies > how to become a zombie

According to the movies, there are several ways to become a zombie...if that is what you really want!? However, please think about it. The world has enough zombies as it is!  After traveling back and forth in our cars....everyday, many of us are already zombies! But if your heart it set to become a true horror-movie zombie, well here are some of Hollywood's rules:

1. You need to be the sorry victim of some voodoo or other ritual.

The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)  Haitian voodoo

The Evil Dead (1981) - possession by an evil force once it was awakened through incantations

Army of Darkness (1993) - same as The Evil Dead since it is a sequel to it, but funnier

I Walked with a Zombie (1943) - voodoo ritual

Pet Sematary (1989) - a burial ground's supernatural powers brings back the dead, not in a good way. Is there ever happy consequences after coming back from the dead?

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)-  town became affected by space aliens

White Zombie (1932) - first movie to feature zombies, Bela Lugosi, this time as a voodoo priest, places a voodoo curse in the name of love

2. You need exposure to radiation or toxic chemicals.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) -  radiation

Resident Evil (2002) - the mysterious T-virus

The Return of the Living Dead (1985) and Part II (1988) - both "zomedies" spawned the undead due to sloppy containment of a barrel containing Trioxin gas

Fido (2007) - radioactive material from outer space

Special Consideration  Stephen King's The Cell - We know it's a book, but it will probably become a movie someday. Once you answer your cell phone, you are exposed to "The Pulse" thus turning you into a zombie. We have categorized it under exposure to radiation since everybody should know that cell phones emit signals via radio waves, which are comprised of radio-frequency (RF) energy, a form of electromagnetic radiation. Leave it to good 'ole Stephen King to bring it up to the masses.

3. You need to catch a nasty infection...

28 Days Later (2002) - a plague called the "Rage"

Dawn of the Dead (1978) -  unnamed plague

Day of the Dead (1985) - same unnamed plague as Dawn of the Dead

4.  You must get gnawed and nibbled on by a zombie.

Being human, you are considered a zombie-delicacy. As we all know, they especially like brains - so hold on to your head.  And in ALL zombie films, once bitten, you're screwed - you have now successfully entered the zombiehood. 

5. You must get experimented on by a creepy scientist

Re-Animator (1985) - scientific experimentation gone awry

6. Miscellaneous - your guess is as good as the screenwriters

Land of the Dead (2005) - after some unnamed devastation (plague or toxic fallout?) befalls the human race, the dead are reanimated into zombies

Shaun of the Dead (2004) -  like Shaun, we find London under siege by zombies, but never is it explained how they became that way!.

And there you are. You are now an official  zombie, by Hollywood's standards anyway.

^ back to top