Here considered the first Zombie fiction...
The Magic Island
By William Seabrook (1884-1945). New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1929.
The Magic Island is an illustrated account of William Buehler Seabrook’s travels in Haiti and is considered the first popular English language text to confront the idea of zombies; soon after it was published, zombie movies came to dominate American cinema. A journalist and adventurer, branded a “great traveler and terrible human," Seabrook pursued full immersion of himself into the local and the bizarre. This saga details his experiences with a voodoo priestess who initiated him into the religion's pageantries; incidents that include drinking blood, soul transference, and resurrection. The Vodou religion emerged after slaves arrived in Haiti and integrated their old African customs with the severe realities of slavery, and in so doing created the idea of the
zonbi, a word that can be traced back to the Kongo word for soul. After its release in 1929,
The Magic Island became a best seller, but after his death, Seabrook has remained mostly out-of-print and his social contributions have been unappreciated. The book includes twenty moving line drawings by Alexander King, an Austrian-born author, ad artist, painter, and television personality.
And the first movie...
en.wikipedia.org
White Zombie is considered the first
feature length zombie film. A sequel,
Revolt of the Zombies, opened in 1936. Modern reception to
White Zombie has been more positive. Some critics have praised the film's atmosphere and compared it to the 1940s horror films of
Val Lewton, while others still have unfavorable opinions on the quality of the acting.