Clairvius Narcisse; Haitian Zombie?

Clairvius Narcisse; Haitian Zombie?

By. Rebecca L. Brown

Clairvius Narcisse was declared dead on the 2nd May 1962 and yet in 1980 he returned to his home, the village of I’Estere in Haiti with an almost unbelievable story of magic and zombies. Could Narcisse and others like him truly be the walking undead?

After investigating reports of ‘zombies‘ (including Narcisse and a handful of others), researchers believed that Narcisse was given a dose of ’zombie powder’, a mixture containing tetrodotoxin (pufferfish venom) and bufotoxin (toad venom), by a ‘sorcerer’ to induce a coma which mimicked the appearance of death. He was then allowed to return to his home where he collapsed, ‘died’ and was buried. His body was then recovered and he was given doses of datura stramonium to create a compliant zombie-like state and set to work on a plantation. After two years, the plantation owner died and Narcisse simply walked away to freedom and spent the next sixteen years of his life trying to return home.

It was explained that Narcisse had broken one of many traditional behavioural codes and was made into a ‘zombie’ as a punishment; when questioned, Narcisse told investigators that the sorcerer involved had ‘taken his soul’.

But was any of this true? Traces of ‘zombie powder’ presented for analysis were found to contain varying amounts of tetrodotoxin; whilst some samples could have caused death-like comas, others were unlikely to have had the reported effect or indeed any effect at all.

The original researchers argued that cultural beliefs played a role in reinforcing the action of the chemicals. In Haitian culture, there is a widespread belief in the existence of zombies. Narcisse reported that he had heard doctors declare him dead and had been aware of being buried and exhumed. If all evidence suggested he was a zombie, why should he believe any differently? It is impossible to confirm Narcisse’s story but it would seem likely that creating a zombie-like state would be possible through the processes described.

Would ‘zombies’ created in this way be classed as undead though? As Narcisse was never actually dead in the first place, only unconscious, the answer is no. The Haitian ‘zombies’, then, were never truly reanimated despite their return from beyond the grave.

Rebecca L. Brown is a British writer. She specialises in horror, SF, humour, surreal and experimental fiction, although her writing often wanders off into other genres and gets horribly lost. For updates and examples of Rebecca’s work, visit her Twitter page @rlbrownwriter or her blog Bewildering Circumstances ( http://bewilderingcircumstances.blogspot.com/ )

Dr Dale's Zombie Dictionary: The A-Z Guide to Staying Alive. BOOK REVIEW

Where do I even begin with such greatness? I was given a copy of Dr. Dale's Zombie Dictionary to do a review on, and I was completely blown the fuck away. This book consists of every little nook and cranny about what it takes to survive in the up and coming zombie apocalypse. There are books circulating all over the world with the similar topic, but I truly feel none of them hit the topic harder, and are more accurately structured than Dr. Dale's book.

Dr. Dale did an amazing job with the words he chose for his guide. You're going to find a lot of unique things when it comes to the mind of Dr. Dale. I liked the humor and pop culture references that occasionally pop up. "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONNEEE!!!" (haha totally kidding). The references added to the awesomeness of this book. There are a lot of words in here that you wouldn't expect like: Spiderman Zombies. Do you know what that is? I didn't know what that meant until I read the book. Am I going to tell you? No, order the book!!! Another personal favorite word of mine was: YMCA. Probably one of the most brilliant things I've ever read in my life.

Anyways.

One of the things I liked about this book was the information given. Dr. Dale doesn't just give you a word and a definition. He breaks down every word and includes as much information and knowledge as possible. He breaks down every possibility of survival and gives you a buffet of options. As an American, it's obvious we love buffets! In all seriousness though, I find mind self hanging up my machines guns, and I'm going to start stocking up on peanuts and training sheep. I know now to never try and hide in a kangaroos pouch during the apocalypse.

In all honesty you can't go wrong with this book. There's no way this book gets shelved especially when the zombie apocalypse can hit any time. I read this book twice and both times I was laughing, and other times I was so focused on what I was reading because that's how powerful this book is. Yeah it's a humorous book, but Dr. Dale sets the line and presents you with a legit survival guide. There are no made up infections in this book. He takes knowledge and gives you the facts. You won't find this in your fiction section folks.

I recommend this book to whomever reads this blog. I'm serious, I can almost guarantee it that this will be your new favorite book. It's my new favorite book! So that means it will be yours too!

Thanks to the guys over at How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse for giving me a chance to review Dr. Dale's book.

My Ideal Zombie

I want my zombie to be slow moving.

I want my zombie to have its arms stretched out forward so it's easier to grab me.

I want my zombie to have a vocabulary. This vocabulary will consist of one word... BRAAAIIINNNSSSS!

I want my zombie to be created by some zombie making gas, or some kind of experiment gone terribly wrong.

I want my zombie to be evil looking and deadly.

I don't want my zombie to have a high metabolism.

I want my zombie to die with one bullet through the brain.

I want my zombie to be able to smell living flesh.

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Check the links in the sidebar.

You've Got Dead On You just recently popped episode number 14 for download, and they've been doing all kinds of things that let the listeners get involved which is really cool. Go give them a listen!

There are a lot of Facebook sites on the right of the page. One of the groups has a lot of people involved in the zombie fan mayhem and that's Zombie Apocalypse Preparation. Non Practical is a well spoken leader/mentor for the ones who care to survive. NP covers every ground of survival so you don't forget!

Also, I am almost done with Drs. Zombie Dictionary. I had a problem with printing it before and it took a while for Staples to turn it into print form for me cause it was so big. So finally I will have the review... finally... soon!

keep surviving.

Edison Zombie Walk

So I've been thinking about getting a zombie walk together in my township. I'm sure there are ones around the area, and I'm sure they're great, but I don't care to look haha. I want one in my township of Edison. I got my pen and pad and started writing down some ideas of what I can propose to the mayor or whomever I find the right person to send it to. As I'm writing, I realized this is the same dude I wanted to propose a Zombie Apocalypse Plan to a few months ago and worried that he'd probably put me in a looney bin. Regardless, I'm more into getting the zombie walk on and that was my main goal right now. Maybe when I get the zombie walk, I can propose the Edison Plan to him as a joke/serious matter and this way it would fit the character, rather than just another nut bag in his book.

The big problem is, what do I write to him that would even sound slightly convincing?

Dear Mayor,

I wanted to thank you for keeping Edison in tip top shape, and I want to send my condolences for not winning the Democratic race to be our mayor for next year. The big question here is, I wanted to know if you'd be interested in allowing me to form a zombie walk. Thank you.

Then I'd get an interview with him. And this is how it would go.

Mayor: Hi Arthur, how's it going?

Me: Good, gre...

Mayor: (cutting Me off), anyways, I had gotten your letter about the Zombie march?

Me: Zombie walk, it's a walk...

Mayor: (cutting Me off again), whatever it is, it sounds kind of extreme, and violent. what is it?

Me: It's where a bunch of people dress up like zombies, and they walk from destination to destination, kind of just giving people the willy's.

Mayor: Is there a purpose to this?

Me: to have fun?

Mayor: So this is just an irrelevant waste of time?

Me: YOU'RE AN IRRELEVANT WASTE OF TIME!

Haha, okay that wouldn't really be how it happens, but I can imagine just an extreme awkward looks on his face and him possibly saying no. I mean it would make more sense to do it around halloween time to make it even less crazy. My townships really old school and lazy when it comes to township projects.

I'll think of something and invite everyone! I'm sure if I get donations and give them to the township to help them plant another tree somewhere, they'd love it. We don't fix parks, baseball fields, ponds, roadways, or anything that's relevant in this town. Instead, we spend all of our township money on planting a tree somewhere. Two months later, right where that very tree is planted, we knock down the trees anyway and build condominium complex. This town is retarded.

That's all for now, keep surviving.