Phoners are zombie like creatures that feature in the Stephen King book named Cell. They are, however, different than zombies because they are still technically alive and can be killed like a normal human. They were originally humans but after the apocalyptic phenomenon that was later named The Pulse they turned into Phoners. The Pulse was a signal that transformed every cellphone into a kind of converter. Anyone who listened to a cell phone turned into a Phoner. They were later named Phoners because they became these creatures after listening to a cellphone.