Nachzehrer

The Nachzehrer is the German shroud-eater, a corpse that kills without getting up. By chewing its grave clothes it was thought to drag its surviving relatives after it one by one, by malice or simply from wanting company. The belief gave communities a reason to open graves during outbreaks of disease and helped shape learned debate about the 'masticating dead' in the 18th century. It represents the stationary end of the revenant spectrum, where the corpse is dangerous but does not walk.12