Undead

Death is defined as the ending of the organism’s life processes, and this process is complex and often not strictly linear. For as long as we have stories of any kind, there have been stories of the restless dead. There may be many explanations for this, from quirks of the evolution of the human brain, to experience of what might remain of the sentience of the departed, to something else altogether.

One model might be found in highly charged thought forms. The undead are not necessarily the consciousness or soul of the departed. Many forms of undead have no connection to any specific individual at all, and are instead born of a collective spiritual scar or mark on an entire population. Then there is curse related undead, intense energy shared between you and this other person creates a curse, and while the issue remains unresolved, they are unable to rest or move on emotionally.

In no case is the undead under any compulsion to see the light necessarily, admit the wrong doing or offer any forgiveness. So this state can persist perhaps even beyond the point at which the life situation has ceased to exist.

“Sometimes dead is better” Stephen King, Pet Sematary

“It had occurred to him that if the undead don’t realize that they are dead, he might easily be one of them himself.” Dan Chaon, Stay Awake