Revenants - think of zombies and vampires from literature and film - are well-known to everyone and are a fixed part of our culture. This notion, which is both eerie and absurd, has played a role in human history for a long time and was once regarded as real and feared, especially in German-speaking regions. Even today, people believe in the living dead and the potential danger they pose. This book examines the belief in revenants and the fear of the dead as a cultural-historical phenomenon and discusses their possible causes. In prehistoric archaeology, this belief is often used as an explanatory model for so-called special burials. For instance, corpses that are weighted down with stones, bound, or 'dismembered' are frequently referred to as feared dead, who were neutralized by these corresponding measures. Whether such an interpretation is justified in every case is something the author seeks to explore in this work.