In the Neanderthal graves, the corpse has sometimes been placed in a foetal position, as though for rebirth: the deceased had to take the next step himself.

NPR: Karen Armstrong: Myths and the Modern World

Once the doctor has reanimated the corpse, played by Peter Boyle, it becomes clear that something is seriously wrong.

FORBES: Young Frankenstein Offers Lessons On Interpersonal Skills To President Obama And Congress

From Benghazi we heard news that Abdel Fattah Younes went from being the rebels' general to a murdered corpse burnt and dumped in the desert, and now the National Transitional Council has had its entire cabinet dismissed by Mustafa Abdel Jalil - all of which point to divisions galore somewhere in the near future.

BBC: African viewpoint: Caged comeuppance?

Consider William Faulkner's tale "A Rose for Emily, " which hinges on the absurd, macabre discovery that an elderly woman, who in the distant past murdered her lover, has continued to sleep beside his decomposed corpse.

WSJ: A.B. Yehoshua, Author of Mr. Mani, on the Limits of Imagination | Word Craft