Wondering about zombies.

Some mornings I feel like a zombie, I think.  But really, I am not sure what a zombie feels like.  If they are really the walking dead, then maybe they don't "feel" at all.  Have any of you ever met a zombie?  I never have and am not sure if I want to, no matter how much I wonder about them!!  So, what is a zombie?  Are they really real?  I will try to answer those two questions.

From my Dictionary of World Folklore: "A zombie is a human whose soul is stolen by black magic and thus becomes lifeless and is buried.  His murderer then exhumes the body and gains a useful slave with no will except that of its master, which he imposes on it."  There are other definitions but this is the most popular.  That answers the first question.

The answer to the second question, are they really real, is not so straight forward.  I guess the answer is "maybe".  My folklore book goes on to say, "It is thought that voodoo priests may actually perform such an operation, effectively at least, by giving their victims a strong poison which results in a death-like coma.  The 'corpse' is exhumed some hours after the burial, before he or she can suffocate and when the effects of the poison wear off may be given a hallucinogenic plant to eat before being used for slave labour."  So you decide for yourselves if they are real or not.  So, don't be a zombie today and try to have a great day, its the start of the weekend you know.