Reanimates

Reanimates are individuals who have died and have since been resurrected in physical form. They are very similar to zombies in this regard, but for one notable difference: Reanimates still possess the possibility of harboring a living soul, and they may maintain their personality and intellect following their resurrection. This is not true in all cases however.

In film, one of the most well known examples of reanimation is the Frankenstein Monster. The monster is actually composed of body parts taken from several human cadavers, stitched together and then brought to life via some unknown chemical and/or electrical process. Classically, the monster is born with a simple-minded child-like savagery and is given to fits of anger and violence.

Another example of reanimates are mummies. In the real world, mummification is a process made popular by the people of Ancient Egypt who removed the vital organs of the dead and then wrapped their bodies in linen and buried them within massive tombs or pyramids. Naturally, these mummies tend to stay put, as they are most decidedly deceased. In fiction however, all bets are off. All it takes is one cryptically-worded curse and some Tana leaves to bring a mummy back to life as a silent killing machine. These so-called "living" mummies tend to be the servants of a living agent, who uses the mummy as the instrument of revenge against whosoever disrupts their tomb, so forth and so on.

One cannot effectively speak intelligently about reanimates without addressing the most famous re-animator of all time - Herbert West. Created by Gothic horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, and first serialized in a story called "Herbert West - Re-Animator" in the July, 1922 issue of Weird Tales, this ambitious young man was a brilliant scientist who engaged in a series of bizarre acts while attending school in New England. His experiments resulted in the creation of a reagent, which he injected into independent body parts, and later full corpses in order to bring them back to life. This story was adapted into the 1985 feature film Re-Animator by director Stuart Gordon, which yielded to direct-to-video sequels, Bride of Re-Animator in 1990 and Beyond Re-Animator in 2003.