living dead
Reanimated dead bodies
The living dead are corpses that have been reanimated—zombies, vampires, or similar undead creatures in horror fiction: a horde of the living dead shambling through the streets.
The phrase captures the paradox of beings that move and act despite being dead.
Figuratively, the living dead are people who seem lifeless or emotionally vacant: After the divorce, he wandered through his days like the living dead.
Awkward, dragging gait
- groanLow vocal expression of distress
- walkerAmbulatory person or aid
- lurchAbrupt unsteady movement
- reanimateRestore to life
horde · undead · rotting · decay · necrosis · reanimation · mindless · shuffling
Returned from death
- ghoulUndead flesh-eating demon
- lichUndead mage with phylactery
- wightArchaic term for creature
- mummyEmbalmed, wrapped ancient body
golem · dybbuk · necromancy · voodoo · curse · resurrection · folklore · legend
Total civilizational collapse
- shelterProtected place or structure
- fortificationStrengthening defenses or nutrients
- barricadeObstacle blocking a path
- scavengingGathering discarded or dead material
rationing · weapons · ammunition · escape · evasion · stockpile · bunker · stronghold
Occupied by ghosts
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
- terrifyingEvoking extreme fear
- nightmarishFrightening like bad dreams
- gruesomeCausing horror and disgust
chilling · dreadful · gory · bloodcurdling · creepy · eerie · sinister · morbid
Intense anticipatory fear
- terrorExtreme, overwhelming fear
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
- nightmareFrightening dream causing wakefulness
- creepsUnsettling individuals
goosebumps · heart-pounding · scream · anxiety · trepidation · phobia · fright · alarm
Microscopic infectious agent
- outbreakSudden eruption of trouble
- epidemicWidespread disease occurrence
- pandemicGlobal disease outbreak
- infectionPathogen invasion causing illness
plague · spread · quarantine · transmission · carrier · contamination · mutation · pathogen
shamble
Awkward, dragging gait
reanimate · horde · undead · rotting · decay · necrosis · reanimation · mindless · shuffling · corpse
revenant
Returned from death
mummy · golem · dybbuk · necromancy · voodoo · curse · resurrection · folklore · legend · ritual
apocalypse
Total civilizational collapse
- shelterProtected place or structure
- fortificationStrengthening defenses or nutrients
- barricadeObstacle blocking a path
scavenging · rationing · weapons · ammunition · escape · evasion · stockpile · bunker · stronghold · hideout
haunted
Occupied by ghosts
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
- terrifyingEvoking extreme fear
- nightmarishFrightening like bad dreams
gruesome · chilling · dreadful · gory · bloodcurdling · creepy · eerie · sinister · morbid · ghastly
dread
Intense anticipatory fear
- terrorExtreme, overwhelming fear
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
- nightmareFrightening dream causing wakefulness
creeps · goosebumps · heart-pounding · scream · anxiety · trepidation · phobia · fright · alarm · paranoia
virus
Microscopic infectious agent
- outbreakSudden eruption of trouble
- epidemicWidespread disease occurrence
- pandemicGlobal disease outbreak
infection · plague · spread · quarantine · transmission · carrier · contamination · mutation · pathogen · biohazard
- oxymoronsbittersweet, deafening silence, pretty ugly, act naturally, alone together
- Zombieszombie, zombies, undead, walkers, walker
- undeadzombie, vampire, ghost, lich, skeleton
- magical realismGabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Salman Rushdie, magical elements
- Nonsense & Oxymoronsparadox, contradiction, nonsense, gibberish, balderdash
- African spiritualityancestral spirits, ancestor veneration, traditional healers, spirit world, orishas