In
NetHack, a
wand of
undead turning will, when
zapped at an
undead creature (
zombie,
mummy,
skeleton,
vampire, etc) to run away in
terror. This is one of those items that you tend to stash in your
bag of holding when you find it on level 5 of the
Dungeons of Doom, and only remember you had
after the
vampire lord kills you on level 26.
Of course, the Dev Team couldn't resist the chance to exploit a (dubious) double-meaning. If this is wand is zapped at a corpse, it rises as an undead creature -- the corpse is turned undead. This is almost as bad as the infamous cursed potion of gain level.