Day 3: A Brief History of Zombies

The raising of the dead is not a new concept. The idea occurs in cultures across the world. Our idea of zombies starts with the Haitian "Zombi" or African "Nzambi". In these cultures, the zombie would be raised by a Bokor (witch doctor) through a ritual which included both incantations and the application of a potion (which will be described in a later post). The zombie would have no self recognition or free will and would mindlessly follow the commands of the Bokor who raised it, sometimes committing murder or other heinous acts as directed. Transformation into a zombie was occasionally used as a punishment for disobedient wives or children or just a means of destruction for an enemy.

While most of the stories of zombies are just lore passed down through communities- there are several cases of individuals who claim to have been turned into zombies. Most notable, is Clairvius Narcisse, a Haitian man who died in a local hospital in 1962, but was found in 1981 wandering his village. Narcisse told a strange story of having been buried alive, pulled from his grave by a local Bokor, and forced to work on a plantation for 2 years before he escaped. While Narcisse's story has never been fully substantiated, his tale sparked conversation and investigation in the possibility of the Haitian Zombie and beyond.

More recently, scientists, survivalists, and enthusiasts have worked to explain and prepare for the event of a zombie apocalypse- an idea presented by George A Romero (often called the father of the modern zombie) in the 1968 movie Night of the Living Dead. The movie introduced the idea of the zombie horde and
its' possible means of destruction for humanity as a whole. While the purpose of the movie was to sensationalize and frighten, the idea of the Zombie became no less plausible and has sparked research into the potential causes of the zombie apocalypse (which will also be discussed later in the week).

References OR for more info:

www.umich.edu/~engl415/zombies/zombie.html‎news.discovery.com/history/history-zombies-12-6-4.htm‎http://www.biology-online.org/articles/dead_man_walking.html