The second theory about the Toraja zombies is equally creepy. According to this one, the villagers believe death is a long process, and that it takes many years for the deceased to work their way through it, finally reaching afterlife. So elaborate and expensive arrangements need to be made for the funeral, allowing the dead to make the transition smoothly. In the case of a family not being able to afford these arrangements, they could make use of a temporary coffin, until the funds have been collected. Once the permanent coffin has been made ready, the dead are actually raised and made to walk into it. Again, pretty unbelievable.
But then, how would you explain this picture that has been doing the rounds on the internet, of a zombie-like woman, standing with very little external support? While some have said it could be a morphed picture, others argue that it could be a diseased woman, suffering from something like leprosy. Whatever it is, she sure does look very much like a corpse. And the fact that she seems to be looking at and walking towards a coffin in the corner, makes it all the more scary. But that isn’t the only thing the myth of the walking dead id based on. Since the quality of roads around Toraja has greatly improved, most people now prefer to transport the deceased the old fashioned way, but to prove they still know the secret of the walking dead, they mostly perform their mysterious rituals on animals. At funerals, it’s common for the people of Toraja to sacrifice cattle, and after they separate the head from the body, reports say they can make the dead animal rise up and walk for as long as ten minutes…Pretty creepy stuff, but without any real video proof, I’m having a tough time believing it myself.
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