# Any fictional zombie animals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566 "2012-07-27T13:53:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/1 "2012-07-27T13:53:06Z")
The title pretty much says it all. The only zombies I remember seeing or hearing about are human. Any animals (or plants) that are zombies? How do they behave? Here’s a cite for the idea that rabies (spread by animals) inspired the idea of zombies. It’s also been associated with vampires and lycanthropy. > **[The Virus that Inspired the Whole Zombie Genre](https://gizmodo.com/the-virus-that-inspired-the-whole-zombie-genre-5919645)** > > Zombies have come to dominate pop culture — and the explanations for their origins range from dark magic to strange satellites. But the concept of zombies has been around for thousands of years — and it looks like the idea originally came from the... ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/2 "2012-07-27T13:59:32Z")
Allow me to introduce **Hal Briston’s** favorite zombie film, _Black Sheep_: [Black Sheep (2006) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0779982/) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/3 "2012-07-27T14:00:41Z")
Also, the plants in “Day of the Triffids” function sort of like zombies. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/4 "2012-07-27T14:01:33Z")
Stephen King’s classic _Pet Sematary_ has lots. Unfortunately the last time I read it I was ten, and that was over twenty years ago. I can’t remember how the animals behave, but it wasn’t the way you’d want them to. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/5 "2012-07-27T14:02:13Z")
I don’t recall exactly, but I think Piers Anthony’s Xanth series has zombie animals of all types. Xanth is a very fantastical universe, so zombie animals aren’t all that distinctive in that setting. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/6 "2012-07-27T14:04:25Z")
Sally, the zombie Tyrannosaur from the Harry Dresden novel _Dead Beat_. Dresden rides her into battle against a horde of human zombie; it goes poorly for them. Plus, she eats a ghoul. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/7 "2012-07-27T14:18:12Z")
George R. R. Martin’s series **A song of ice and fire** (AKA Game of Thrones) features reanimated dead animals. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/8 "2012-07-27T14:27:03Z")
There were/are zombie dragons in Warhammer and semisentient undead dragons in Warcraft. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/9 "2012-07-27T14:27:51Z")
Pretty sure that Resident Evil: Extinction had zombie birds. Or at least birds as carries of the virus. ---
**Author:** ![Sehmket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Sehmket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sehmket)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/10 "2012-07-27T14:30:46Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Pretty sure that Resident Evil: Extinction had zombie birds. Or at least birds as carries of the virus. Resident Evil (The movie) had some zombie dogs; Resident Evil (the games) have many, many critters in various forms of mutated by various zombie-like viruses. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/11 "2012-07-27T14:34:56Z")
I don’t know if\*\*\* I Am Legend \*\*\*counts as a zombie film, but in Will Smith’s version, the “Dark Seekers” (what they call the zombies) have pet dogs who seem to be infected. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/12 "2012-07-27T14:43:27Z")
Not really what you’re looking for I guess, but in Heinlein’s \*The Puppet Masters,\*the slugs do take animal hosts as well as humans. How about an animal vampire? [Bunnicula](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunnicula) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/13 "2012-07-27T16:05:11Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I don’t recall exactly, but I think Piers Anthony’s Xanth series has zombie animals of all types. Xanth is a very fantastical universe, so zombie animals aren’t all that distinctive in that setting. For bonus points, the _ **first** _ zombie in Xanth was a frog; having thus discovered his zombie-making powers, the Magician in question promptly started helping folks out by _“making zombie animals to guard their homes, or fight their battles”_ – and of course eventually built himself a big fine retinue of zombie servants: zombie people, sure, but also everything from zombie wolves and zombie bats to a zombie serpent and even a zombie tree. (And like the man said, it’s an over-the-top fantasy setting, so the Zombie Master of course set himself up with a zombie swamp monster to guard his moat, plus a zombie ogre to pitch in on land, and a zombie roc to help out in the sky…) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/14 "2012-07-27T16:41:49Z")
Niven’s\*[Night on Mispec Moor.](http://www.sffaudio.com/?p=744)\* ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/15 "2012-07-27T16:58:20Z")
It’s real: [zombie ants](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/pictures/110303-zombie-ants-fungus-new-species-fungi-bugs-science-brazil/). ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/16 "2012-07-27T17:18:22Z")
Lois McMaster Bujold’s “Sharing Knife” series has animals that are zombie-like. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/17 "2012-07-27T17:43:16Z")
In Mira Grant’s [Newsflesh](http://miragrant.com/) trilogy, mammals over 40 lbs can amplify/spread the virus. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/18 "2012-07-27T18:02:51Z")
> **[The Return of the Living Dead (1985) ⭐ 7.3 | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089907/)** > > 1h 31m | R Return of the Living Dead has a zombie dog and zombie butterflies. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/19 "2012-07-27T18:10:45Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Also, the plants in “Day of the Triffids” function sort of like zombies. … weren’t they just slow-moving carnivorous plants? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566/20 "2012-07-27T18:31:43Z")
Not quite the same thing, but in Harry Turtledove’s _The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump"_ there is a vampire hamster, of all things. It’c called a vampster, and is used to clean cloth that has blood on it. The little critter is pale and wan at first, but after an episode when it cleans the blood from a pair of slacks it’s depicted as hissing, much pinker, and quite frisky. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fictional-zombie-animals/629566.md?page=2)