text: Zombies originated from the Vodou religion of Haiti, which developed when traditional African religion met up with the Roman Catholic missionaries. I take the zombie to be a manifestation of limbo, or purgatory, the holding spot for those souls not qualified for heaven. In the Vodou version, such souls can be summoned back to the physical realm. In our current fascination with zombies, I see anxiety about the second coming of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead, which, if taken literally, will be a very scary thing indeed.