Depictions of zombies (ro langs) in Tibetan sources often contradict one another. Some narrative accounts portray them as threats to human life while others describe how zombies can be harnessed as slaves or sources of supernatural power. In many of these accounts it is also unclear whether the zombie is spiritual or corporeal, or if the term refers to an undead demonic entity or the means by which one is turned into the undead, leaving us without a definitive understanding of the rolang. This paper suggests that the rolang may be understood as a liminal figure, existing between fixed categories of good and evil, spirit and flesh, etc. It will also explore the extent to which we might understand the rolang in conjunction with the Western tradition of the literary grotesque.