The world clearly needs more zombie cats. To further this laudable aim, we present the zombie of Hodge, Dr

Johnson’s favourite cat.

Samuel Johnson is probably the second most quoted person in the English language, after Shakespeare. His A

Dictionary of the English Language made him one of the major celebrities of Georgian London. A Life of Samuel

Johnson, the biography written by his friend James Boswell, cemented his status as one of the most mordantly

incisive – and quotable – thinkers of his age. Having been often bitten by poverty himself, Johnson was frequently

kind to those less well-off than himself. He was also – very unusually for his time – affectionately disposed towards

animals.

A statue of Hodge, his favourite cat, stands outside his house at 17 Gough Square in London. The idea of a zombie Johnson, surrounded by a legion of re-animated moggies, is an appealing one.

As with other zombies in this series, the zombie of Hodge comes from the forthcoming book Zombies from History: A Hunter’s Guide.