The 2004 remake of “Dawn of the Dead” is an undisputed classic in the zombie genre. It popularized the idea of zombies as the result of a transmittable sickness, gave us some of the first (maybe, in fact, the first) “fast zombies” and continued the time-honored tradition of reflecting the good and bad in human nature from the undead faces of ravenous, cannibal corpses.

One of the several memorable zombies featured (we’ve already covered perhaps the the most memorable one previously) was the nameless bloated woman. Brought in a small group of bedraggled survivors in a wheelbarrow, this fat, dirty woman (played by the very manly stuntman Ermes Blarasin) is only with us a few minutes before she turns, attacks and is brought down expertly by an annoyed nurse with a fireplace poker through the eye.

We salute you, you bloated, bloody, nameless corpse lady!

In the late 1930’s restaurateur Donn Beach apparently decided that his customers were just too damn sober. So he pieced to together a cool, fruit-laden cocktail then injected it with enough Rum to kill a Republican. The rumor is that he created it to help a customer with a hangover, who then returned complaining that it had “turned him into a zombie.” That seems dubious, but The Zombie, has been a popular cocktail ever since.

Although Beach jealously guarded his recipes, it’s difficult to keep something like this completely secret when you have a chain of restaurants and a small herd of bartenders. According to the book, “Sippin’ Safari”, the original recipe included lime juice, falernum, Angostura bitters, Pernod, grenadine and three different kinds of rum. It’s also included something called “Don’s Mix,” which is rumored to be cinnamon syrup and grapefruit juice. I’d rather not have confirmation.

Comedian Billy Connolly, who zombie fans may remember played the titular zombie in 2012’s amazing “Fido“, once suggested that his audience try The Zombie. Apparently you “get drunk from the bottom up”:

Not being much of a drinker myself, I can’t say if he’s correct. If nothing else, it does seem a better way to go than getting eating alive by the animate dead.

Previously we discussed regular old zombies in Minecraft, then we discussed their terrible little hellspawn, but up until now we’ve remained squarely rooted in reality. At least what passes for “reality” in Minecraft, which is pretty damn far from reality, but I hope you get the point.

However there is another reality. If you delve deeply and greedily enough and craft a diamond pick-ax, you’ll be able to mine obsidian. If you then arrange the rare obsidian blocks in an ancient, eldritch pattern (basically, a rectangle) and activate it with fire you will create a portal to this reality. You could also just cheat, I suppose.

Do you dare step through the portal and face the horrors of the other world?! Well, do ya? Dare, I mean? Well, if you do, you’re going to be face-to-rotting face with the horrific zombie pigmen of the Nether realms! They’re really not that bad.

I mean, yes, they are horrific.  They’re pigmen who are now zombies. That’s, at the very least, unsettling. But other than that, they’re pretty decent folks, really. They don’t bother you unless you bother them, they don’t mess with your stuff or fiddle with your radio presets. They just kind of wander around with their little golden swords out and ready.

Honestly, I wish more people were like them. I think I could deal with rotting flesh pretty well if people just minded their own damn business.

I didn’t even realize this was a thing, but a thing it is! The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has tons of information about zombees! Basically when a honey bee is parasitized by the zombie fly (Apocephalus borealis in the smart talk) it stumbles out of it nest at night and wanders mindlessly.

Apparently the eggs change the bee’s mental state causing it to seek out lights in a weird, non-bee way. As the growing maggots eat the bee from the inside out it gets more erratic and less and less… alive. Over a dozen maggots can then emerge from a single bee, wander away for a little bit then pupate into adult zombie flies.

The website has all kinds of information on how to find, collect and study these little undead buggers. Not because the zombees themselves are dangerous, but because the Zombie Fly is rampaging through an already stricken honey bee population. So, if you ever happen to see a Zombie Fly, why not squish it?

The debate on whether Frankenstein’s creature is a zombie has raged for years. One of the problems with the debate is that there are so many completely different incarnations to consider. Sometimes the creature is a reanimated corpse; sometimes an amalgam of many. Sometimes it’s a violent, mindless brute; sometimes an erudite, sorrowful soul. Sometimes it’s just a man who can die again; sometimes an immortal with horrifying strength. Sometimes well-meaning but misunderstood; sometimes evil to the core.

So, I’m going to allow Frankenstein’s unholy spawn into the ranks of zombies, if only in an honorary sense. Hell folks, if Kermit the Frog can get an honorary doctorate, I can say Frankenstein’s monster is a zombie. Besides, I’m well into the second year of “Zombie of the Week” and am running out of ideas.

So, I’ll be spending the next few weeks running down some of my very favorite Frankenstein monsters. Who better to start with than the one who started it all? The archetypal example of the breed? The most famous one of all… Frankenberry!

I’m sorry. That was immature. I promise that I’ll be serious next time.