Örek
The örek is an animated corpse in the folklore of the Turkic peoples of the Volga region and Anatolia. It is a body raised by sorcery, described in the available accounts in terms very close to the modern zombie. The sources are thin and partly shaped by modern usage. It belongs with the hortlak and ubır in a Turkic family of risen dead.1
What the sources say
In Tatar and Bashkir the word itself means 'soul' or 'ghost'1
Described as an animated corpse 'brought back to life' by magic1
Portrayed as mindless and hungry for human flesh1
Some communities held that a dead person could become one through the involvement of a girl dressed in white1
Listed alongside the hortlak in studies of Tatar mythology1
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at hello@zombiewiki.app.
Upiór
Hortlak
Zalozhnye pokoiniki
Mhachkay
Ghoul
Pocong
Ro-langs
Toyol
Xiangxi walking corpses
Condenado