The flesh-hungry undead have been a fixture of world mythology dating at least since The Epic of Gilgamesh , in which the goddess Ishtar promises : I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld , I will smash the door posts , and leave the doors flat down , and will let the dead go up to eat the living !
If you do not give me the Bull of Heaven , I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld , I will smash the doorposts , and leave the doors flat down , and will let the dead go up to eat the living !