A zuvembie is a creature used by Robert E. Howard in his short story "

Pigeons from Hell "Pigeons from Hell" is a horror short story by American writer Robert E. Howard, written in late 1934 and published posthumously by ''Weird Tales'' in 1938. The title comes from an image in Howard's grandmother's ghost stories, that of a deserte ...

," published in ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, pri ...

'' in 1938. In the 1970s

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

used the term in place of "zombie", which had been banned by the

Comics Code Authority The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA allowed the comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. ...

Pulp magazines

Robert E. Howard used the "zuvembie" in his short story "

", published in ''

'' in 1938. In the story, a woman can become a zuvembie by drinking the Black Brew. The resulting creature is no longer human, knowing no friend or relative. It cannot talk, or think like a human. It doesn't need to eat and will live forever, staying in a cave or an old house. It has certain powers—it can command owls, bats, snakes, pigeons and werewolves. It can hypnotise the living with its voice, and command the body of someone it has killed until the body is cold. It can only be killed by lead or iron.

Television

When "Pigeons from Hell" was adapted into an episode of the television anthology series '' Thriller'', the "zuvembie" was adapted with it, played by

Ottola Nesmith Ottola Nesmith (December 12, 1889 – February 7, 1972) was an American actress who appeared in more than 100 films and television shows. Selected filmography * '' Still Waters'' (1915) - Drasa La Rue * '' Rich Man, Poor Man'' (1918) - Mr ...

Comics

Under the

, comic books in late twentieth century United States operated under many restrictions, mostly aimed at preventing horror elements from being used. This code became more lenient in 1971 but still prevented the use of certain terms such as "

zombie A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in w ...

", because they lacked the literary background of creatures such as vampires and werewolves, although not the use of zombies or zombie-like creatures. In order to circumvent this,

used the term "zuvembie" in place of "zombie" in their comics. In 1989 the Code was changed again, permitting the word "zombie", and Marvel retired the term "zuvembie".{{cite book , title=Comic Book Collections for Libraries , first1=Bryan D. , last1=Fagan , first2=Jody Condit , last2=Fagan , publisher=ABC-CLIO , year=2011 , isbn=978-1-59884-511-2 , page=44 In 1997, John Byrne used the word again briefly in ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

Annual'' #6, published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. In 2007

Deadpool Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadp ...

, a character known for breaking the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

, uses the term alongside Zombie in ''Cable & Deadpool'' #48. These uses suggest that, since its first appearance in ''

'', "zuvembie" has become a term acknowledged by both major comic book companies,

and

, and that it is now seen as an esoteric reference to comic book cultural history.

Music

Zuvembies is also the name of an underground, odd time signature funk band based in New York City.

References

Corporeal undead Horror fiction Robert E. Howard Zombies