Becoming a Zombie

A zombie, also known as a “living dead,” is often imagined as a creature one might encounter in a cemetery. It is believed to be a corpse brought back to life. In this context, Voodoo practitioners—sorcerers or sorceresses said to practice black magic—are thought to have the power to create zombies. This belief, originating in parts of West Africa and Southern Africa, is also widespread in the Caribbean islands.

Zombies are said to be under the control of a voodoo practitioner, who keeps them in a trance-like state and forces them to obey orders.

Many African legends mention the presence of zombies. One story tells of a train filled with these terrifying creatures, wandering aimlessly. From a distance, it appears to carry ordinary passengers, but if unsuspecting people board it at night, they are thrown off into the desert or transformed into zombies themselves.

The Canadian researcher Wade Davis conducted studies on zombies in the 1980s. He concluded that these individuals were not actually dead. Instead, they had been drugged and placed into a deep coma, then declared dead and buried. Later, a voodoo practitioner would exhume them and revive them using hallucinogenic substances. The victims, believing they had died, became convinced they were zombies. Davis suggested that the substances used were derived from the pufferfish and the datura.

Thus, zombie legends and beliefs continue to live on today, especially in films, where these creatures are depicted as frightening, repulsive, slow-moving beings who rarely speak, attack humans in groups—and eat them.