Wednesday, 15 June 2011

Zombies go to Hollywood.


Here is a bit more of my reading about the history of zombies and how they crossed the seas from Haiti to America. 
It was William Seabrook, a man known for him bizarre sexual encounters, described on line as a Lost Generation writer, occultist, explorer, traveller, and journalist who brought the zombie to America in his book: The Magic Island.  Seabrook was famed for his travelogues, which drew on his sensational adventures and experiences in exotic and far-flung places.  Some examples of his kjhkjh he tasted human flesh, was reputed to travel with a chest of whips and chains and wrote the first celebrity re-hab account of his time recovering from alcoholism entitled Asylum. 
In 1920 he traveled to Haiti to investigate the voodoo culture there and subsequently wrote The Magic Island which became a best seller in the US.  It was the first book to showcase the zombie phenomena and the idea was seized upon by Hollywood. This was an era of hot on the trails of German expressionistic horror films such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligary, The Golum and Nosferatu.  As such it was welcome material for screen-writers to draw upon.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is The Golum the same as The Golem?

snapdragonrachel said...

Yup, this was written in a hurry yesterday. The Golem not Golum Although pronounced Golum if you are from yorkshire. Great movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zag79w8eIQ