We’ve all seen the movies. Some of us are even expecting it to happen. Others have gone as far as preparing for the impending zombie apocalypse. (yes i’m talking to you) But Zombies aren’t real.. Are they? This post will expose the true origin of Zombies and the reasons why real zombies might not be so far fetched after all.
Are Zombies Real?
They lie alone in the small, dark enclosed space. They listen to their mother cry as the nails are hammered into their coffin. They can hear the dirt ominously hit the top of the woooden box that they are trapped in. Everything inside of them is screaming. They are confused. Their thoughts seem unclear. They are unable to move and unable to scream. Soon everything is black.
The next sound is that of digging. The shovel plunges into the ground until it finally hits the top of the wooden coffin, vibrating the body that waits inside. With a sinister creak the lid is opened. Standing over the newly unearthed body is a local witchdoctor. After all, he is to blame for this hellish experience. Soon the body is out of the ground and mindlessly wandering, while following commands of the witchdoctor (or Bokor) and eventually ends up working in his fields..Rejected and feared by the other villagers. Many of his days will be spent chained to the ground like an animal. This is an unfortunate occurrence, but is definitely real and has been documented on many occasions in the country of Haiti.
Many are unaware of the zombification rituals that have taken place in Haiti. The country itself is full of voodoo and black magic. It’s as much a part of their society as hot dogs and baseball is to ours. But how does this happen? Are there truly real zombies in Haiti? It all depends on what your definition of a real zombie is. The victims of zombification are no
more dead than you and I. They are the result of creative mixtures of various drugs that are given to those “chosen” to be a zombie. The drugs are a powerful neurotoxin that creates the illusion of death. The heart slows to near nothing. The body is paralyzed. Breathing is so shallow and slow that it is hardly noticeable. But the mind..Still functions normally. That is until the Bokor administers his mixture of even more powerful psychoactive drugs that render it’s victim virtually incompetent in some cases. They suffer memory loss and aren’t good for anything more than wandering around aimlessly. The Bokor uses this to his advantage and sometimes the zombies have ended up working in sugar cane fields to help increase the Bokor’s income. Because of the deep roots of voodoo in the Hatian culture, other villagers including the victims family believe that the person is a zombie whose soul was snatched by the Bokor. They are shunned and avoided, spending the rest of their lives experiencing what many of us would consider hell.
One of the most popular cases involving zombification involved a man that was pronounced dead only to be discovered eighteen years later, working in the fields, under the control of a local voodoo priest. A photo of a real Haitian zombie can be seen to the right. Movies like “The Serpent and The Rainbow” have been made about the real zombies. It is an ugly part of a culture that many of us do not like to think about, but nevertheless happens. So if you ask many citizens of Haiti, “Are Zombies Real?” Their answer will most likely be a frightening yes.
Other Zombie Possibilites
There are other ways that Zombies could in fact be considered real. Diseases like Mad Cow Disease can turn an animal (or human) brain to mush. Symptoms of Mad Cow Disease in humans include aggression, staggering, moaning and more that resemble classic zombies found in many horror films. Cows infected often attack for no reason. Recently scientists have discovered ants called “zombie ants” that are not in control of their own bodies or actions. A virus consumes them and they are forced to bend to it’s will. Other viruses have been known to infect rats, making them run towards cats instead of away, totally disregarding it’s own safety and instinct. The virus has an “intelligence” that allows it to know that the only possibility of breeding is inside a cat’s intestines. It forces the rat to be eaten. Many have feared that scientists would somehow harness one of these viruses and the results could be cataclysmic. There are many other theories that offer scientific theories resulting in a “zombie apocalyse”. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and some of the most scary things on earth can be found in your science and history books. Below are a few interesting links for zombie lovers (or haters). Until next time, try not to eat your neighbors brains.
5 reasons a Zombie Apocalypse could actually happen
