History Literature / TheCorpseOfCharlieRull

* SwampsAreEvil: When he dies from his heart attack, Charlie falls into the fetid and polluted swamp near the junkyard where he lives. Between this and ''[[Literature/Slime1953 Slime]]'', it seems Joseph Payne Brennan really had something against swamps.

* PoliceAreUseless: [[Spoiler:Averted. The local police captain and his men very quickly believe survivors' stories, and their hastily thrown together defense involving rifles, machine guns and searchlights is able to sufficiently deal with the killer zombie hobo.]]

''The Corpse of Charlie Rull'' is a 1959 short horror story written by Creator/JosephPayneBrennan. It tells the short, horrific tale of a [[DisposableVagrant homeless]] [[HollywoodHeartAttack heart attack]] victim who falls into a swampy pool saturated with radioactive chemicals unintentionally leaked from a laboratory near the dump where he lived. The radiation resurrects Charlie as an inhumanly strong zombie. Remembering nothing of his former life, Charlie feels only the pain of the radiation burning through his undead body. Filled with a vicious hatred for all other life, he proceeds to go on a murderous rampage.

* PoliceAreUseless: Averted. The local police captain and his men very quickly believe survivors' stories, and their hastily thrown together defense involving rifles, machine guns and searchlights is able to sufficiently deal with the killer zombie hobo.

''The Corpse of Charlie Rull'' is a 1959 short horror story written by Creator/JosephPayneBrennan. It tells the short, horrific tale of a [[DisposableVagrant homeless]] [[HollywoodHeartAttack heart attack]] victim who falls into a swampy pool saturated with radioactive chemicals unintentinally leaked from a laboratory near the dump where he lived. The radiation resurrects Charlie as an inhumanly strong zombie. Remembering nothing of his former life, Charlie feels only the pain of the radiation burning through his undead body. Filled with a vicious hatred for all other life, he proceeds to go on a murderous rampage.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Charlie Rull was honestly just a down on his luck homeless guy who never hurt a soul until he fell into the radioactive swamp.

''The Corpse of Charlie Rull'' is a short horror story written by Creator/JosephPayneBrennan. It tells the short, horrific tale of a [[DisposableVagrant homeless]] [[HollywoodHeartAttack heart attack]] victim who falls into a swampy pool saturated with radioactive chemicals unintentinally leaked from a laboratory near the dump where he lived. The radiation resurrects Charlie as an inhumanly strong zombie. Remembering nothing of his former life, Charlie feels only the pain of the radiation burning through his undead body. Filled with a vicious hatred for all other life, he proceeds to go on a murderous rampage.

* FiveRoundsRapid: The police captain's initial response to Charlie using ordinary rifles. [[spoiler:When that fails, he has his sergeant unleash MoreDakka with a machine gun, with cuts the zombie in two.]]

* {{Determinator}}: As a zombie, Charlie very rarely gives up once he sights a victim. [[spoiler:When Cynthia and her mother run inside the house as he chases them, Charlie slams himself repeatedly against the door as well as the side of the house in a frenzied effort to get inside. Although he succeeds, Cynthia and her mother escape out the front door and hide in the tall grass.]]

* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: [[spoiler:Charlie gets completely torn in half by the police sergeant's machine gun. Both halves continue living and crawling around]]

* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: [[spoiler:Charlie gets completely torn in half by the police sergeant's machine gun.]]

* PoliceAreUseless: Averted. The local police captain and his men very quickly believe survivors' stories, and their hastily thrown together defense involving rifles, machine guns and searchlights is able to sufficiently deal with the killer zombie hobo.]]

* {{Fainting}}: Cynthia's mother faints after seeing [[spoiler:what Charlie did to her horse.]]

* PoliceAreUseless: Averted. The local police captain and his men very quickly believe survivors' stories, and their hastily thrown together defense involving rifles, machine guns and searchlights

* NightmareFace: Being a bloated, radioactive corpse, Charlie has a pretty nasty-looking face. [[spoiler:It gets worse after his fight with the knife-wielding hitchhiker, who slashes him several times and even cuts off his left ear.]]

* {{Determinator}}: As a zombie, Charlie very rarely gives up once he sights a victim. [[spoiler:When Cynthia and her mother run inside the house as he chases them, Charlie slams himself repeatedly against the door as well as the side of the house in a frenzied effort to get inside.]]

* WouldHurtAChild: Because the resurrected Charlie hates ''all'' life, he has no qualms about chasing after a little girl named Cynthia and attempting to kill her.

''The Corpse of Charlie Rull'' is a short horror story written by Creator/JosephPayneBrennan. It tells the short, horrific tale of a [[DisposableVagrant homeless]] heart attack victim who falls into a swampy pool saturated with radioactive chemicals unintentinally leaked from a laboratory near the dump where he lived. The radiation resurrects Charlie as an inhumanly strong zombie. Remembering nothing of his former life, Charlie feels only the pain of the radiation burning through his undead body. Filled with a vicious hatred for all other life, he proceeds to go on a murderous rampage.

* ILoveNuclearPower: It is radioactive chemicals which brings Charlie back to what could charitably be called life and makes him inhumanly strong.

''The Corpse of Charlie Rull'' is a short horror story written by Creator/JosephPayneBrennan. It tells the short, horrific tail of a homeless heart attack victim who falls into a swampy pool saturated with radioactive chemicals unintentinally leaked from a laboratory near the dump where he lived. The radiation resurrects Charlie as an inhumanly strong zombie. Remembering nothing of his former life, Charlie feels only the pain of the radiation burning through his undead body. Filled with a vicious hatred for all other life, he proceeds to go on a murderous rampage.

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Charlie is resurrected by irradiated chemical contaminants in the swamp water he falls into, and isn't interested in eating his victims, only mindlessly killing them, like a Rage virus victim in Film/28DaysLater (minus the TechnicallyLivingZombie part; it isn't called "''The '''Corpse''' of Charlie Rull''" for nothing).

* KnifeNut: The [[spoiler:SerialKiller hitchhiker who ends up as Charlie's second victim prefers murdering people with a switchblade. He even uses it against Charlie in an effort to defend himself, to no effect.]]