The Zombie Handbook

by Robert Curran

Fans of classic horror films and gothic tales will want to add The Zombie Handbook to their personal library. Combining dramatic narrative with spooky color illustrations, author Robert Curran explains the difference between the zombies of Caribbean folklore and the sinister walking dead mummies from ancient Egypt who are said to rise from their tombs and seek revenge when their burial sites are plundered. Zombies also appear in ancient Celtic folklore, and this book tells of a magical cauldron forged from the helmet of a fallen Welsh god. In ancient Britain it was said that a dead body placed in that cauldron would rise again as a living person. For readers who believe that zombies really do walk the earth at night, here are tips on ways to identify a zombie and survive his attack. Here too are reports that claim to tell of true-life encounters between living men and zombies. This entertaining book combines thrills and chills with touches of macabre humor to offer hours of rea

Genres: Zombies, Horror, Fiction, Paranormal, Young Adult

80 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2011

About the author

Psychologist Robert Curran is an well-known expert in folklore and the paranormal, who has written dozens of fascinating books on faeries, vampires,werewolves and stranger things. His most recent book is The Ghost Handbook, a study of ghost fiction and possibly ghost fact.

Reviews

[Eva-Marie Nevarez]

2.5 - I don't know what to say really. I wouldn't suggest anyone go searching for this book but if you happen to come across it - like I did - it's worth a glance.
It's very short so that's a plus. I started looking at it in the library yesterday afternoon, it's not 8am the next day and I just finished. And that's having done tons of other things besides and also reading another book. Oh, and listening to yet another book on CD also. So, it's a fast one.
The one thing that comes to mind is that this would make a neat little gift for a zombie lover. Someone who has all the movies, all the books, knows everything there is to know, this would be something neat to display on a bookshelf.

[Gordan Karlic]

Other reviews have said it before me, it is a nice short book about the historical mentioning of zombies. Nice cover, nice design, nice illustration, and quick on the point.
Am I somewhat smarter after reading this. No, not really, but it was quick and fun so it is solid rate 4.

[OpenBookSociety.com]

Review brought to you by OBS staff member Connie

Beware of Spoilers

Fans of classic horror films and gothic tales will want to add The Zombie Handbook to their personal library. Combining dramatic narrative with spooky color illustrations, author Robert Curran explains the difference between the zombies of Caribbean folklore and the sinister walking dead mummies from ancient Egypt who are said to rise from their tombs and seek revenge when their burial sites are plundered. Zombies also appear in ancient Celtic folklore, and this book tells of a magical cauldron forged from the helmet of a fallen Welsh god. In ancient Britain it was said that a dead body placed in that cauldron would rise again as a living person. For readers who believe that zombies really do walk the earth at night, here are tips on ways to identify a zombie and survive his attack. Here too are reports that claim to tell of true-life encounters between living men and zombies. This entertaining book combines thrills and chills with touches of macabre humor to offer hours of reading pleasure. It has an elastic place marker bound into the back cover, and it features more than 100 striking color illustrations.

The book is segregated into several chapters.
Chapter 1 describes what a zombie is and what they usually look like.Chapter 2 tells what areas zombies originate from. Chapter 3 tells you how to avoid or kill a zombie if you see one. Chapter 4 explains that there are several types of zombies and describes each one in detail. Voodoo zombies originate from West Africa and Cuba-they have the power to do supernatural harm to someone. Religious and Cultural zombies come from the Caribbean and other places-they take over the body and can be used for either good or evil depending on the person and the area that they live in. Mummy-come from Egypt-don’t have any thoughts-usually just roam or kill people if they come in contact with anyone. Golem-come from Jewish religion-defends groups of religious people. Marbh Bheo-Night walking dead -they come out at certain times of the year-can do good or harm–originate from Carbbean,Africa,parts of South America and Ireland. Chapter 5 tells different zombie tales-they go into each story based on the location. Osiris and Horus,John Domingo, Dr.Buzzard, Zombie Masters of Walnut Hills-Ohio, Marie Laveau-New Orleans, and Clarivius Narcisse. Chapter 6 is about the zombie armies and talks about the various zombie armies including the three major ones: Cauldron of Rebirth, Denmark Vesey and Gullah Jack, and William Seabrook.

I give this book 5 stars. I loved the colorful illustrations and pictures. It was interesting to read. I just wish there was more stories to read or more facts to learn about. Other than that, I really enjoyed reading this book. Everything was categorized very well by chapters. I like the chapter about the Egyptian mummies the best. :)

[Jeremy]

Fun little book I just came across. it was more about historical stories of zombies, not about like the walking dead tv show or zombies in pop culture. It was interesting and educational at the same time, for instance I didn’t realize that zombie uprising was a potent if naive fear among plantation owners in South Carolina back in the 17-1800’s. Or that there were three different Marie Laveau’s that practiced voodoo in New Orleans. The weirdest is most recent sighting of the walking dead in Haiti 1980. A guy was buried and 16 years later stumbles into his home town confused and bewildered. Amazingly he was identified by his two sisters and his death certificate was found to ensure it was not an elaborate hoax. He continued to live with them and never regained his memory of what happened to him, although they suspect his brother of giving him a voodoo poudre ‘potion’ that rendered him ‘dead’ and then later raised him from the dead and sold him to other bokors ‘voodoo masters’. There he lived as a slave until the master died years later and could not give him the poudre that kept him in a trance, at which point he escaped and made his way back home. Some effort was put into locating bokors and learning the secret of the zombie slave trance poudre by several writers in the late 20th century but alas it remains a secret to this day.

[Cora Crotteau]

I just didn't like it. The only thing I liked was the cool history facts.

[len]

it was fun to read, not idk how good piece of a literature but it was fun and enjoyable read, especially if you're into supernatural stuff

[David Brzezinski]

An interesting read, though it focuses more on the historical and cultural zombies than on the Romero style of undead. It is a quick read, focusing on the various types of "zombies" that are found in the world, from the well known "Voodoo zombies" to mummies to even Irish zombies. Also included are stories of people who were supposed to have created zombies, and tales of zombies themselves.

I did have a problem with the treatment of the Romero zombies. There is some passing mention early in the book about this style, and one chapter called "Know Your Enemy" which seems to focus on the cinematic zombie entirely. These references seem out of place in a book that focuses almost entirely on zombies in the traditional sense. I felt that the book would have been better served if it just focused on the traditional rather than the cinematic.

[Jennifer Cain]

Informative. Provided information reflecting many different cultures.

[Shazza Maddog]

A short, very well-illustrated book on zombies, giving a smattering of information about the various types, where the undead may rise, what cultures have zombies (and perhaps how they were/are being created), and some very brief but entertaining histories on Zombie Masters. Dr. Curran has taken a popular subject and written a charming little book, which may or may not help the reader survive a zombie attack, but at least might give the reader a small insight into the zombie attacker.

[Emily]

Good intro to zombie lore. Plus it has different stories from around the world and not just about Haiti or voodoo Louisiana. Not bad. It's on our adult nonfiction section at work but I'd probably make it YA just because of the briefness of the subject, the way the book is laid out, and the reading level.

[Carol]

Some interesting history in a quick read.

[Theresa Kettler]

I learned nothing and wished there was more pop up zombie hands....I have to put remaking this book on my to do list.

[Carol]

This was a fun book about zombies. I gives interesting information about the origin of the zombie legend and has lots of fun pictures.

[Kohl]

This is a kids book. Or at least it's written like one.

[Morgan]

Nothing too special, but it was a light read with some good information. This author has far better books though, so sitting through this one is unnecessary.

[Laura]

lots of interesting tidbits of information.

[Jennifer Matchett]

A quick read if zombies are your jam. The volume was really nice with some cool illustrations.

[Nephrys Darkwater]

Interesting information about the undead from all over the world, especially about the undead folklore in New Orleans.