Wojciech Gerson - Zjawa Barbary Radziwiłłówny

The undead are beings in

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by supernatural means, technology, or disease. In some cases (for example in

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (T ...

) the term also includes

incorporeal Incorporeality is "the state or quality of being incorporeal or bodiless; immateriality; incorporealism." Incorporeal (Greek: ἀσώματος) means "Not composed of matter; having no material existence." Incorporeality is a quality of souls, ...

forms of the dead, such as

ghost A ghost is the soul (spirit), soul or spirit of a dead Human, person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visibl ...

s. The undead are featured in the belief systems of most cultures, and appear in many works of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

and

horror fiction Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. ...

. The term is also occasionally used for real-life attempts to resurrect the dead with science and technology, from early experiments like Robert E. Cornish's to future sciences such as "chemical brain preservation" and " cryonics."

History

Bram Stoker considered using the title, ''The Un-Dead'', for his novel '' Dracula'' (1897), and use of the term in the novel is mostly responsible for the modern sense of the word. The word does appear in English before Stoker but with the more literal sense of "alive" or "not dead", for which citations can be found in the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

''. In one passage of ''Dracula'', '' Nosferatu'' is given as an "Eastern European" synonym for "un-dead". Stoker's use of the term "undead" refers only to vampires; the extension to other types of supernatural beings arose later. Most commonly, it is now taken to refer to supernatural beings who had at one point been alive and continue to display some aspects of life after death, but the usage is highly variable. Reanimation or the creation of zombies through non-supernatural means has become a trope since at least the 19th century. ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific exp ...

'' (1818) used unspecified technological means, the influential '' I Am Legend'' (1954) blamed a germ, '' The Return of the Living Dead'' (1985) depicted a toxic gas, and ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environmen ...

'' (2002) featured a bioweapon. The undead have become popular adversaries in fantasy and horror settings, featuring prominently in many

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

s, role-playing video games, MMORPGs and strategy games.

Literature

up'' The Dead Lovers'', ca. 1470 (Strasbourg, Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame">Strasbourg.html" ;"title="The Dead Lovers'', ca. 1470 (Strasbourg">The Dead Lovers'', ca. 1470 (Strasbourg, Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame) In Bram Stoker's novel '' Dracula'', Van Helsing describes the Un-Dead as the following: Other notable 19th-century stories about the avenging undead included

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by ...

's '' The Death of Halpin Frayser'', and various Gothic Romanticism tales by

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

. Though their works could not be properly considered zombie fiction, the supernatural tales of Bierce and Poe would prove influential on later writers such as H. P. Lovecraft, by Lovecraft's own admission. In Russia, the undead was the theme of Alexander Belyaev's novel '' Professor Dowell's Head'' (1925), in which a mad scientist performs experimental head transplants on bodies stolen from the

morgue A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have c ...

, and reanimates the corpses. Utagawa Yoshiiku Specter

List of undead forms

Living corpses

* Anchimayen *

Ahkiyyini The Ahkiyyini is a skeleton spirit in Inuit folklore. He is the ghost of Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western Uni ...

* Draugr * Drekavac * Deildegast * Dhampir *

Fext A Fext is a mythical undead creature in Slavic mythology. Its origins are found in the terrors of the Thirty Years' War (17th century) in central Europe. It is said that the Fext is invincible to bullets, except bullets made of glass. Some of the ...

* Ghoul * Gashadokuro * Gjenganger * Hone-onna * Jiangshi * Kukudh * Lich * Langsuyar *

Mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...

* Nachzehrer * Qutrub * Revenant *

Ro-langs A ro-langs (Tibetan: རོ་ལང) is a zombie-like creature from Tibetan folklore. Ro is the word for corpse and Langs is the perfect tense of "to rise up", so Ro-Langs literally means "a risen corpse". A ro-langs is usually created by a gdon ...

* Orek * Skeleton * Rusalka * Strzyga * Vampire * Vrykolakas * Vetala * Wight * Wiedergänger * Zombie * Zombie animal

Incorporeal spirits

* Ayakashi *

Banshee A banshee ( ; Modern Irish , from sga, ben síde , "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. Her name is ...

* Baykok * Bal-Bal * Bhoot * Dullahan * Dunnie * Funayūrei *

Ghost A ghost is the soul (spirit), soul or spirit of a dead Human, person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visibl ...

, phantom, or spectre * Goryō *

Hupia In Taíno culture, the hupia (also ''opia'', ''opi'a'', ''op'a'', ''operi'to'') is the spirit of a person who has died. In Taíno spiritual beliefs, hupias (ghost spirits of those who had died) were contrasted with goeiza, spirits of the living. ...

* Hitodama * Headless Horseman * Inugami *

Ikiryō , also known as , , or , is a disembodied spirit or ghost in Japanese popular belief and fiction that leaves the body of a living person and subsequently haunts other people or places, sometimes across great distances. The term(s) are used in c ...

* The Grim Reaper * Jikininki * Korean Virgin Ghost * Kuntilanak * Kuchisake-onna * Lemures *

Lietuvēns Lietuvēns or lietonis (in Latgale also can be called “lītūņš”, similar to Slavic “mara” ( Russian: ''Мара'') or Lithuanian “lauma”) is a mythological creature in Latvian folklore. According to Latvian folk epics and omens, ''l ...

* Mavka * Moroi * Mononoke * Mogwai * Myling * Noppera-bō * Onryō * Poltergeist * Pocong * Preta * Sluagh * Shade * Shiryō * Shikigami * Sayona * Strigoi *

Shadow person A shadow person (also known as a shadow figure or black mass) is the perception of a patch of shadow as a living, humanoid figure, and interpreted as the presence of a spirit or other entity by believers in the paranormal or supernatural. His ...

* Umibōzu * Ubume * Vengeful ghost * Yūrei * Yuki-onna *

Wraith Wraith is one of several traditional terms for a ghost or spirit. Wraith, Wraiths, or The Wraith may also refer to: Fiction Characters * Wraith (G.I. Joe), a Cobra mercenary in ''G.I. Joe: America's Elite'' * Wraith (Image Comics), a comic book s ...

History

Literature

List of undead forms

Living corpses

Incorporeal spirits

Mixed

See also

References

External links