Matt Kaplan’s historical and biological explanations for the origins of vampire/zombies was more convincing than Cohen’s explanation of creatures in Greek mythology. He gave us more information on what was happening back then. It also helped us to get a better understanding of how the creatures evolved from actual events. Kaplan gives specific time periods on how zombies came to be. It’s weird to think that the things that we fear lead us to the creation of monsters. After reading “Cursed by a Bite” I had a better understanding of when and how “zombies” were created. How the experiences that people back in the day witnessed made them create these monsters. It might have been a way for them to cope with the thought of zombies being real. He makes it clear when talking about all of the aspects of the zombie myth. If I had not read this I would have no idea where zombies originated from. Kaplan shows us how we first created zombies and vampires.
It’s crazy how one person dying made people believe that he was a zombie. There were a lot of things that went on for people to believe that he turned into a real-life zombie. According to Kaplan, “Vampires are among the world’s most celebrated and popular monsters, and they have an extremely complex history and biology surrounding them, supported by a long line of books and movies featuring them as both villains and heroes. Yet working out exactly which fears drove the rise of vampires.. they are such multifaceted monsters with no clear point of origin.” (164) We can see vampires both in a positive and negative light. Kaplan’s argument was well constructed and thought out. He gives us the right amount of evidence to help support his scientific approach. The historical and biological explanations he gave helped the reader comprehend his main points.
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