Zombies

Zombies are not the undead. They are the DEAD. These are dead bodies that are raised by animators, vaudun priests and necromancers. It is not resurrection, it is reanimation of the dead. The magic that is used to animates the body only works after the soul has left the body. This typically takes three days.

In the Anita Blake Universe, reanimation has become 'big' business. It has been 'legal' for over 5 years. (reference?) In GP Animators Inc has been in business for 4 years. Anita has worked for Bert for at least three years. Bert recruited her from college. Manny Rodriguez was her mentor and trainer.

There are three main 'animation' businesses in the US.

Animators Inc. in St. Louis,
ÉlanVital of New Orleans, and
The Resurrection Company in California.

Animation

Until the animator 'feeds' them, the Zombies have no thought, no will, and they cannot speak. Once the ritual is complete, they do have some memory and residual personality traits, possibly even feelings and memories. However, when under the power of an animator, they must follow the animator's instructions.

The animator must be strong enough to hold the zombie under their control after they have raised it. Zombies raised from violent deaths often want to seek out the person(s) responsible for that death and can be uncontrollable. This is one of the reasons why murder victims are not raised to identify their killers. Another reason is because their memory of the event may be damaged, and they may not be able to give any help.

Zombies are immensely strong and tenacious. They cannot be 'killed'. If the original animator cannot control them, they must be destroyed by fire to stop them.

Zombies do not have a long 'life span' once they have been raised. They begin to decay immediately - the rate depends on the power of

the animator and how much power has been used during the raising. A Zombie's life can be extended (delaying the inevitable decay) by feeding it fresh meat.

More than one zombie can be raised at one time, and the age of a zombie that can be raised depends on the power of the animator. Each animator has a ritual that they use when raising a corpse.

Appearance:

Most zombies look like degrading corpses. The fresher the body or the more powerful the raiser, the more life-like they look. Also, the stronger/bigger the sacrifice the better the result. The older the corpse/body the more power/the bigger the sacrifice required. Many animators have difficulty raising a corpse that is more than a hundred years old without the sacrifice of a 'white goat' (human). Typically, for most animators, the older the corpse, the bigger the death that is required to animate it.

Miscellaneous Facts

Various facts about zombies in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series:

They usually obey whomever raised them from their grave
They crave flesh - without it, they rapidly decay. If fed on flesh, zombies can last a lot longer than usual. One flesh-eating zombie is over three years old. (ref??)
In rare cases, zombies have been known to go crazy and start attacking people. There have been three documented cases of these flesh-eating zombies, all being solitary hunters.
Most have enough mind left to answer questions, if they are simple enough
They have little mind or thoughts, just memories of what they were. If well treated they can retain their personalities for a week. Ill treatment and shock will destroy the memories and personality.
The older the zombie, the bigger the death needed to raise them. After a few centuries, the only sacrifice big enough to raise them is a human.
When risen, they take a moment to orient themselves.
They cannot regain their memories without fresh blood or flesh. Dead meat will not suffice.
Murdered zombies try to kill their murderer on sight.
There was a movement to use zombies in pesticide-contaminated fields, but they degrade too quickly to be used (tLaC)
The dead have no rights under law in America (tLaC)
You cannot use more than one sacrifice to attain enough power to raise the dead.
Freshly dead zombies can bleed a little, like a corpse, but more than a week or so and they don't.
Testimony given by zombies does not hold up in a court of law, as the witness has to be led.
It is almost impossible to 'kill' a zombie. Bullets won't stop it, and neither does hacking one to pieces - the parts still move. (tLaC)
They usually have no soul, though a skilled Vaudun Priest can capture one at the time of death and bind one the raised body. Zombies formed in this manner do not rot. (tLaC)
Zombies cannot be raised until their souls move on. This usually takes three days.
A Vaudun myth about zombies is the human had to be a killer in life to be used as a murder weapon as a zombie.
Short of a cremation, an animator can reanimate any corpse.
Zombies respect and fear fire, as it is one of the only ways to destroy a zombie. Flamethrowers and napalm are used to when one gets out of control.
Zombies are usually forgiving of the living, unless they see their murderer or until they get hungry - when they might start eating people.
If an animator loses control of a zombie, it would either wander away or attack people close to it.

Zombie Rights

There has been talk about a Bill to protect Zombies from being used for manual labour - slavery.
A ruling a month prior to CotD says that the newly dead - less than a week - could be raised and verbally ordered to write a will. Only the rising animator or a neutral third party can control the zombie.
A legislation was in the works during tLaC to ban the use of zombies as slaves.

References:
Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
The Laughing Corpse