Subzero Zombies

Every conversation on the topic of survival during the zombie apocalypse includes a strategy to head north. There is always one in the group that states zombies cannot travel that far, nor survive in harsh winter conditions. Well, I hate to say, that while the north remembers, it does not invite.

Image courtesy of Game of Thrones

It is not a class required text, however, George R.R. Martin and HBO’s Game of Thrones certainly has zombies. The White Walkers are walking dead in themselves and spread the affliction as they move across Westeros’ Far North. Their origin is quite like that of the Haitian tradition, as they were created by magic/spiritual substance and utilized by their creators. In the Haitian sources, plantation owners created the zonbi to work the sugar fields. Martin’s are created to protect the Children of the Forest from the invading First Men. Unlike the traditional zonbi, the White Walkers display a more modern aspect of the trope, as they are able to rapidly convert the living to wights, thus spreading the condition amongst the living population. As the creatures are the undead of the north, and are in part ice themselves, Martin/HBO’s White Walkers and their wights disprove the theory that extreme cold will protect the living from threat of the zombie plague. In this world it looks like the north is actually a breeding ground for a new version of the zombie to arise.