Quick answer
Graveyard Keeper 2 lets you resurrect more zombies than your current limit. The limit does not block Resurrection. Instead, when the game checks your count, going over the limit can apply Excessive Zombies, a debuff that heavily reduces 
Faith and money from most sermons.
The Resurrection Lab's normal base limit is effectively 0. The main ways to raise it are:
There is no normal repeatable way to delete an existing zombie. You cannot cremate, bury or throw it into the river. The count almost never decreases; the confirmed story exception is the 8-red-skull zombie 
Albert takes during Personal Zombie Zone.
Why is there a zombie limit?
Zombies are extremely powerful in GK2.
They can:
gather resources;
operate workstations;
farm;
power the Factory;
transport materials;
fight;
Unlimited workers with no downside would turn the entire economy into free automation very quickly.
So the game uses a soft penalty.
Not a hard cap.
You can raise 30 zombies while your limit is 10.
The game simply makes society increasingly unhappy about the army of corpses doing public-sector work.
The main cost appears through your Church economy.
Where can you see the current limit?
Once 
Gunter's PR storyline introduces the system, the Resurrection Lab displays a count/limit value.
For example:
17 / 20
means you are under the current limit.
While:
23 / 20
means your count is above the threshold when the next limit check occurs.
Before the relevant story event, the interface may not clearly expose the system even though story zombies already exist and count.
Why does the base limit start at zero?
The zombie limit is tied to the Resurrection Lab's quality.
But normal objects in the room do not provide a conventional quality score.
So without special modifiers, the base limit is effectively 0.
That sounds ridiculous:
“The story gave me zombies, but my zombie limit is zero?”
Yes.
The game first introduces automation and only later introduces the public-panic/PR mechanic that is meant to control its scale.
That is why your first workers arrive before the limit system is properly explained.
What is Excessive Zombies?
When the game checks:
Zombie count > Zombie limit
it can apply Excessive Zombies.
The debuff does not make workers worse.
Your zombies still:
work;
mine;
carry goods;
produce;
fight.
The penalty targets sermons.
Most prayers produce substantially less:
That is why the symptom often looks like:
“Same church, same people, but this week my sermon paid almost nothing.”
Check Excessive Zombies.
Does Excessive Zombies reduce attendance?
Mechanically, the major penalty modifies prayer rewards:
money per parishioner;
success bonuses.
Do not immediately rebuild Church furniture when your payout collapses.
Attendance and reward are separate systems.
If the problem is the actual number of people, see How to Get More Parishioners.
If attendance is normal but the reward crashed, the zombie debuff becomes much more likely.
I went over the limit. Why didn't the debuff appear?
Because the game does not continuously recheck the limit.
This is one of the least intuitive parts of the system.
Checks happen at specific events, including:
when a PR Machine campaign starts;
when one ends;
certain PR quest steps;
the end of some related buffs.
Simply resurrecting one more worker above the current limit may not instantly create the icon.
Likewise, increasing the limit does not always remove an existing debuff until a recheck.
Look at the actual count/limit rather than relying only on the icon.
Permanent +10: Good Fellow
The Keeper talent tree has the Good Fellow perk.
It gives:
+10 zombie limit permanently
This is a great baseline for a modest workforce.
A handful of:
production workers;
porters;
miners;
farmers;
can fit comfortably without maintaining a PR campaign.
A developed Factory, however, can consume ten worker slots very quickly.
How do you unlock the PR Machine?
The PR Machine arrives through Gunter's storyline.
After his zombies become part of your overall count, Congregation Trouble introduces public concern about all the undead labor.
Gunter proposes a characteristically practical solution:
not fewer zombies — better publicity.
The sequence involves:
- 1
- 2
- 3
holding the relevant sermon;
- 4
Gunter then installs the PR Machine near his house at the Port.
When can you use the PR Machine?
Only on Gluttony day.
On other days the machine simply tells you when it will become available.
A campaign raises the limit immediately.
When its duration ends, the temporary bonus disappears and the game checks Excessive Zombies again.
It is therefore useful to plan the next campaign for the following Gluttony day.
See Days of the Week.
PR Machine I — +10 for one week
The first campaign uses:
→ +10 zombie limit
for 1 week.
It ends at the end of Wrath day.
If you have 14 zombies and no other sufficient bonus, forgetting to reload the campaign is an easy way to ruin your next sermon payout.
How do you make a Charged Hypno-device?
After the relevant Gunter progression, obtain a 
Hypno-device.
At the 
Formulation Bench:
1 Hypno-device
+ 1 Faith
→ Charged Hypno-device
The first campaign needs two.
So PR I spends a small amount of Faith to protect a potentially much larger amount of future sermon Faith.
PR Machine II — +20 for two weeks
Upgrade PR Machine I with:
No separate technology is required for the upgrade.
The new campaign uses:
The old +10 campaign remains available.
You choose the program that fits your current workforce.
PR Machine III — +30 for three weeks
The upgrade to PR Machine III requires:
Its new campaign uses:
The higher tiers become increasingly useful because you do not need to maintain the system every single week.
PR Machine IV — +50 for four weeks
The upgrade to PR Machine IV requires:
The PR IV campaign uses:
→ +50 zombie limit
for 4 weeks.
This program no longer needs Hypno-devices.
By this point, the 
Printing Press and paper production should be a normal part of your economy.
If paper is still scarce, see How to Make Paper.
PR Machine V — +80 for five weeks
The upgrade to PR Machine V requires:
The maximum normal campaign uses:
→ +80 zombie limit
for 5 weeks.
Combined with Good Fellow, that can support roughly 90 zombies without exceeding the normal limit while the campaign is active.
That is an enormous workforce for a standard playthrough.
Why do Newspapers control the zombie limit?
Newspapers come from the Printing Press.
PR II+ literally turns writing production into mass public relations:
the undead workers are fine, actually.
Higher campaigns require more papers and better quality.
This means paper, 
Ink and Stories eventually become part of zombie automation.
See How to Get Ink.
Can you delete a zombie?
No normal repeatable disposal mechanic exists for a raised zombie in the current build.
You cannot:
cremate it;
bury it;
throw it into the river;
release it through a normal menu;
turn it back into an ordinary
corpse with a standard button.
More importantly:
the zombie count normally does not go down.
Think before raising a terrible corpse simply to test the system.
Is there any exception?
Yes.
During Personal Zombie Zone, Albert asks for a zombie with 8 red skulls.
When you give that worker to Albert, it leaves your workforce and comes off the zombie count.
This is a confirmed story exception.
It is a one-time quest event, not a repeatable disposal service for dozens of bad workers.
What should you do with a bad zombie?
Repurpose it.
Weak workers are perfect for jobs where high Mastery is not the priority.
Examples:
Porter
Move resources between areas.
Supplier
Feed materials to production stations.
Zombie Carousel
Generate Factory Power.
Simple gathering jobs
Some low-level resource jobs can work with basic equipment.
That lets a poor worker free up a strong zombie for demanding production.
Can an existing zombie be improved?
Partially.
Later Anatomy and corpse-treatment systems can change body stats where the specific mechanics allow it.
You can improve red-skull potential and make some existing workers more useful.
But that is not the same as:
deleting the zombie;
lowering the zombie count;
freely resetting every learned talent.
Starting corpse quality still matters.
See Red and White Skulls Explained.
Red skulls and zombie talents
For zombies, red skulls effectively define talent capacity.
More red skulls allow more talent upgrades.
If you later remove an organ and reduce the red-skull count, the most recent upgrades can switch off.
The spent zombie tech points are not refunded.
Do not casually rewrite the anatomy of a highly developed worker.
Should you be afraid to make many zombies?
No.
You should plan your PR capacity.
Excessive Zombies is an economic penalty, not a game-over condition.
If ten extra workers:
fully automate the Factory;
mine every resource;
maintain Town Orders;
their value can easily outweigh one temporarily poor sermon.
Just know what you are choosing.
A sensible order is:
- 1
check your current count/limit;
- 2
start a suitable PR campaign;
- 3
- 4
remember when the campaign expires.
Why didn't Good Fellow remove my debuff immediately?
Because the limit is not continuously rechecked.
For example:
- 1
- 2
Excessive Zombies active;
- 3
learn Good Fellow → limit becomes 10;
- 4
the icon may remain until the next check event.
Starting or renewing a PR campaign causes a check and can update the state.
Why is my zombie count higher than I remember?
Story zombies count too.
The number is not necessarily only workers you personally prepared at a 
Resurrection Table.
Albert/Gunter story progression adds zombies and changes when the system begins showing the count.
“I only resurrected three, why does the game say five?” is therefore not automatically a bug.
Which PR tier should you use?
Match it to the actual workforce.
Up to 10 zombies
Good Fellow may solve the entire problem without constant PR.
10–20
PR I or II is usually enough.
20–30
PR III is much more convenient than maintaining tiny weekly campaigns.
30+
PR IV/V starts making sense for a heavily automated Factory and resource network.
Do not run +80 simply because it is the biggest number.
High tiers require a developed Printing Press supply chain.
FAQ
Can I raise zombies above the limit?
Yes. Resurrection is not blocked.
What happens when I exceed it?
At a limit check, Excessive Zombies reduces rewards from most sermons.
How do I permanently increase the limit?
Good Fellow gives permanent +10. Most large increases come from temporary PR Machine campaigns.
Can I delete a bad zombie?
There is no normal repeatable disposal mechanic.
Can I burn a zombie?
No.
Can I throw a zombie into the river?
No.
When can I load the PR Machine?
On Gluttony day.
Why didn't the debuff disappear immediately?
The game checks the limit only at particular events rather than continuously.
