Introduction

Are zombies real? They certainly capture the imagination of the masses. Most have heard about the practice of Zombiism by the bokors of Haiti, who create zombies at the request of folks seeking revenge or cheap slave labor. Some people believe wholeheartedly in zombies and fear an imminent zombi apocalypse. But skeptics persist despite anthropological evidence by the likes of Wade Davis. Yet, are they real?

In a quest to present information that is available, I have included some of the known historical accounts of real zombie outbreaks and current investigations into their existence. Some of the evidence seems plausible, and some seems to be the recreation of the Hollywood zombi archetype, replete with blood, gore, and zombie infections. Keep reading to see movie clips from popular media and facts taken from various archives that document their existence.

Lost Zombies

http://www.lostzombies.com/

Lost Zombies is a community effort to gather definitive proof that zombies are real and to compile that proof into a feature length documentary film. They are asking the general public to help out  by submitting any proof of zombies they may have. Behind this community effort appears to be the firm belief that zombies are not only real, but that a zombie apocalypse is on the horizon.

A noble endeavor. But much of the videos and photos that I saw on the site seemed to be staged creations (I hesitate to add the "re" to the word), reflecting the vivid imaginations of zombie fanatics.

 Check out the video below.

Find more videos like this on Lost Zombies

 

 First Hand Account of Zombies

Here is a letter taken from a dialogue on Bob Corbett's Haiti List, December 1995 with a rare reference to the zombie bottle:

For what it's worth, I wrote about two zonbis I bought by mistake, in an article called A Sorcerer's Bottle: The Art of Magic in Haiti, in Donald Cosentino, ed, Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou. LA: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1995.

It's about zonbi astral, the more common kind of zonbi, which is the invisible spirit of the dead, captured and used in healing and magic.

Best,

Elizabeth McAlister
Yale University

Zombis May Not Be What They’re Reputed To Be

http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/3d806.htm

 

LONDON, ENGLAND -- October 10, 1997

Belief in zombis is widespread in Haiti and in many communities there are individuals who are considered to be zombis not only by their neighbors but even their families. Indeed the phenomenon is taken so seriously the Haitian Penal Code considers making someone into a zombi as a form of murder.

However, two researchers, professor Roland Littlewood of the department of anthropology and psychiatry at London's University College and Dr. Chavannes Douyon of the Polyclinique Medica in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, conclude many so-called zombies may in fact be individuals with psychiatric disorders or brain damage.

In their study, the researchers report on three individuals who were considered to be zombis by their families and neighbors. They found the first individual appeared to have a severe psychiatric condition called catatonic schizophrenia, which can make a person mute and immobile; the second to have brain damage and epilepsy, perhaps due to an episode of oxygen starvation of the brain; and the third individual, a severe learning disability, perhaps due to fetal-alcohol syndrome.

Such people are commonly seen wandering in Haiti and it is possible that belief in zombis became part of Haitian culture as a way to explain the medical condition of these mentally ill individuals and to integrate them into society, the researchers write.

 

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Buried Alive

         

The paranormal has fascinated believers and irritated skeptics for decades. This series uses archive video, expert interview,  dramatic reconstruction and personal testimony to demystify strange phenomena and explore popular mythology in terms of  

current scientific understanding.
 

Episode Buried Alive: Filmed in Haiti and USA, examines the scientific plausibility of creating a zombie and questions whether zombies can and do exist? A paralyzing poison used to create zombies may have a future for space travelers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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