#Clairvius Narcisse

[gbhbl]

Horror Movie Review: The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

In a time of social and political unrest in Haiti, anthropologist Dennis Alan travels to the torn country to study a Voodoo drug used in religious practices to turn victims into living zombies.

The Serpent and the Rainbow is a 1988 American horror film directed by Wes Craven and starring Bill Pullman. The script by Richard Maxwell and Adam Rodman is loosely based on the non-fiction book of the same name by ethnobotanist Wade Davis. Wherein Davis recounted his experiences in Haiti investigating the story of Clairvius Narcisse. Who was allegedly poisoned, buried alive, and revived with an…

[folksy]

like in pop culture zombies are reanimated corpses craving brains as sustenance and oftentimes zombification is done through disease or mutation so idk how well known it is that zombies originate from haiti and specifically are reflective of the prominence of slavery in haiti’s history. people become zombies through necromancy, where they have no free will and are under the control of the bokor (vodou priest). they do slave labor. they’re not rotting corpses that can barely move- they literally do manual labor. in re4, the ganado are being controlled by a religious leader and they are practically slaves to his will. they are literally called cattle that’s how dehumanized they are. so they very much follow more in line with haitian zombies than what we have come to know as zombies today through the fact there’s a religious aspect (as opposed to the viral spread of zombies in previous games and pop culture), they’re serving said religious leader against their will, and just seem like people who are under mind control as opposed to some mangled corpse without a conscience

I have a degree in folklore to specifically talk about how resident evil 4 may seem like where the series starts to go away from zombies but in reality the game has the most folklorically accurate zombies

[papamystique]

Zombi Child is a 2019 French drama film directed by Bertrand Bonello. It is based on the account of the life of a supposed zombified man in Haiti, Clairvius Narcisse.

[stayecstatic]

WK3 - ZOMBIE

Family and friends passing away can take a toll on a person, but what if they aren’t really gone? What if they come back from their own grave. What if they are apart of the undead? In this blog, our story begins in the 17th and 18th century, where we will see how the walking dead took the world by storm.

Zombies are the reawakening of corpses with a desperate appetite for flesh and blood. They spread fairly quickly due to the fact that once they get a hold on another living human being, they better hope they don’t get bit by a zombie. This term comes from Haitian folklore. They are usually portrayed with rotting and decaying flesh. These creatures date back to the 17th century when West African slaves were brought in to work on Haiti’s sugar cane plantations. The brutal conditions left the slaves desperate for freedom. The life (or afterlife) of a zombie represented the horrific plight of slavery. Some people believe that zombies re people revived by a voodoo practitioner known as a bokor. Bookers have a tradition of using herbs, shells, fish, animal parts, bones, and other objects to create concoctions including “zombie powders”.

What if I told you possibly REAL zombies were reported in medical journals? It’s not too far off that diseases like these can *potentially* happen..

“A 1997 article in British medical journal The Lancet described two verifiable accounts of zombies.

In one case, a Haitian woman who appeared to be dead was buried in a family tomb, only to reappear three years later. An investigation revealed that her tomb was filled with stones, and her parents agreed to admit her to a local hospital.

But 18 years later, a man walked up to Angelina Narcisse in a village marketplace, insisting she was his sister. Doctors, townspeople and family members all identified him as Clairvius Narcisse, who claimed he had been buried alive, then dug up and put to work on a distant sugar plantation.”

Keep some supplies with you, you never know when the undead might start walking.

Zombies have infected across multiple medias. Video games are a core part of that. The Last of Us is set twenty years into a pandemic caused by a mass fungal infection, which causes its hosts to transform into zombie-like creatures and causes the collapse of society. One of the core themes of this video game is what it really means to be alive and are you truly living if your only purpose is to survive. Our characters Joel and Ellie, a pair connected through the harshness of the world they live in, are forced to endure brutal circumstances and ruthless killers on a trek across a post-outbreak America. As the story goes on Joel starts to become a father figure to Ellie, making him see the purpose in still living in a cruel world.

The infected in this game goes through 5 stages.

STAGE 1: RUNNERS - the first type of infection is the most human-like stage and occurs anywhere from 24-48 hours after the infection. The fungus hasn’t taken over the whole body yet. They become irritable and violent, often moaning in pain, and are defined by their speed and molted, pale skin, bloodshot eyes, and thinning hair.

STAGE 2: STALKERS - the second stage can take up to two weeks post-infection to reach and is one they remain in for up to a year. The infected become less human-like and start to grow fungus out of their bodies, often losing on side of their face, begins croaking, and they remain quiet enough to hide and attack victims. They stalk their prey and require your instincts to mostly track them.

STAGE 3: CLICKERS - This takes about a year post-infection to reach. There is no resemblance to a human at all. In place of their eyes and face is a blooming fungus skull, leaving them fully blind and only with a mouth that emits a creepy clicking sound to locate humans and communicate with other infected. Their fungus serves as an armor on their body and because of how advanced the fungus is, they are obsessive attackers, overwhelmed with the need to find humans when they’re in their presence.

STAGE 4: BLOATERS - This is one of the rarest stages, but this is one of the most dangerous type of infection and happens several years post-infection. Fungus almost covers its body and acts as armor plates, and is insanely strong and aggressive. It’s larger and slower than most infection, but an encounter with one leaves the healthy human dead 9 times out of 10. Their skin has pockets of toxins that can infect human skin, so it’s best to stay far, far away. Sometimes bloaters can turn into SHAMBLERS, who are as bing and strong as bloaters are. They have more pus-like toxic spores and they fling at their enemies, often travel in packs, and are just as hard to kill.

STAGE 5: THE RAT KING - This final stage takes over 25 years to form. The Rat King is a terrifying infect anomaly composed of multiple stalkers, clickers, and a bloater that have been fused together by the cordyceps fungus. This massive super-organism is one of the most dangerous and difficult foes. When taking enough damage, the intertwined infected can break off from the larger mass, detaching itself. This creature possesses incredible strength and resilience, surpassing that of a bloater. It can smash through walls and destroy anything in its path. The Rat King’s name comes from the actual way mice or rats intertwine their tails and bound together in some way. So watch out…

The Rat King…

the stages of the infection…

That was The Last of Us and all its stages of infection. It’s an amazing game with a great and touching story that I think everyone would love dearly.

I know it’s a really obvious choice to pick this piece of pop culture, but god I love this show.

The Walking Dead is based on the comic book series by Robert Kirkman. This gritty drama portrays life in the months and years that follow a zombie apocalypse. A group of survivors travel in search of safety and security, constantly on the move in search of a secure home. But the pressure each day to stay alive sends many in the group to the deepest depths of human cruelty, and they soon discover that the overwhelming fear of the survivors can be more deadly than the zombies walking among them. At times, the interpersonal conflicts present a greater threat to their continuing survival than the walkers that roam the country.

The show follows Rick Grimes, waking up from a coma to a new world that is in ruins and he must lead a group of survivors to stay alive. Daryl Dixon soon takes over the leadership role after Rick sacrifices himself to save his family and friends.

The zombies in the show are known as WALKERS. Walkers in the show prove to be a force that is unstoppable. However, the zombies in this show are extremely slow, but travel in great hordes. They have killed a ton of main characters from the show, devouring them into flesh and pieces. They are an antagonistic force that serve as the primary catalyst for the events within The Walking Dead. Later in the show, the walkers evolve and start climbing walls, opening door knobs, etc. They become a bigger threat as the show goes on. THE WHISPERERS serve a purpose in the story of The Walking Dead. They are a group of people that use the faces of walkers to walk among them, allowing them to travel in hordes of walkers. The humans in the show become a greater threat than the walkers, but that’s a story for another day.

To close this post off, I’d say that I never believed in zombies. They will probably always be a fictional monster in video games, books, movies, or any type of media. But I really do like the concept of a zombie apocalypse. I’d always say that if there was a zombie outbreak in the future, I’d kind of be a badass. Just give me a sword and that’s all I’ll need. But the idea of your loved ones coming back from the dead only to kill you is terrifying. Although I said I’d never believe in zombies and that I think they will always be a fictional monster, I never said that something like this couldn’t happen. Who knows?

All I know is that it’s best to keep your resources and supplies with you. You never know when you might need it.

[spookyseasonfacts]

So I know I was just decrying blood libel against Haitians. Take this with a grain of salt, of course. But by some accounts, there have been Haitian sorcerers who have mastered the art of brainwashing people into believing they've been killed and raised from the dead so they can use them for slave labor on a plantation. They were said to have used regular doses of Datura stramonium for this, aka jimsonweed, which is one of the plants I mentioned in the previous post.

This guy apparently survived and escaped and blew the whistle on the whole eldritch operation. If it's really possible to do this sort of brainwashing, I suppose it will make a comeback any day now under the unsustainable economic system that we optimistically call late stage capitalism.

[irunevenus]

The Mystery of Clairvius Narcisse: The Man Who Came Back from the Dead

In the world of the supernatural, few stories are as disturbing and enigmatic as that of Clairvius Narcisse, the Haitian man who supposedly died, was buried, and then returned from the dead as a zombie. This extraordinary case shed light on the practices of Haitian Vodou, defying medical and scientific understanding and leaving an indelible mark on popular culture. Narcisse’s story is not just a legend, but a documented account that continues to intrigue skeptics and believers alike.

The Beginning of the Mystery

In 1962, Clairvius Narcisse was pronounced dead in a hospital in Haiti after showing symptoms of a mysterious illness. His body was released to his family and he was buried in the local cemetery. However, 18 years later, in 1980, Narcisse reappeared in the village of L’Estère, claiming to be the same man everyone believed to be dead and buried.

According to Narcisse’s account, he had been poisoned by a bokor, a voodoo priest who practices black magic, and entered a state of apparent death. After being buried, he was dug up by the same bokor and subjected to a life of slavery on a sugar plantation, where, under the continuous influence of drugs, he worked as a zombie until the bokor died, breaking the spell.

The Science Behind the Legend

The case of Clairvius Narcisse attracted the attention of ethnobotanist and anthropologist Wade Davis, who traveled to Haiti to investigate the story. Davis found evidence suggesting that Narcisse had been poisoned with a combination of toxins, including tetrodotoxin, a substance found in puffer fish that can induce a state of paralysis resembling death.

According to Davis, this toxin was used to simulate Narcisse’s death, allowing him to be buried alive. Once unearthed, Narcisse was kept in a submissive and dissociative state through the use of plant-derived psychotropic drugs, which would explain his zombie-like behavior during the years he was held as a slave. Despite Davis’s scientific explanation, many question whether this narrative can truly explain all aspects of the case. The idea of ​​a “zombie” created through the use of poisons and witchcraft still defies medical understanding and raises questions about the limits of science and belief. Cultural Impact and Legends of Voodoo The case of Clairvius Narcisse has become one of the most famous examples of the practice of zombification in Haiti, where Voodoo is an integral part of the culture and spirituality. In Haitian Voodoo, a zombie is not just an undead person, but a person whose body has been robbed of its soul through magical rituals, transforming the person into a willless slave. Narcisse’s story has brought to light the complex and often misunderstood traditions of Vodou, which are often stigmatized and sensationalized by Western media. For Haitians, Vodou is a rich and multifaceted spiritual practice that includes a vast array of rituals and beliefs, of which the creation of zombies is only a minor and often feared aspect.

Narcisse’s case has also sparked renewed interest in Vodou in the Western world, inspiring films, books, and academic studies that explore the concept of zombies and the relationship between death, spirituality, and mind control.

Final Thoughts

The mystery of Clairvius Narcisse continues to be one of the most fascinating and controversial cases at the intersection of science, spirituality, and culture. While there are plausible scientific explanations for his experience, Narcisse’s story transcends simple biology, delving deeply into the cultural and spiritual aspects of Haiti. For many, the case remains an enigma, a reminder that there are areas of human experience that defy logic and rational understanding. Whether Clairvius Narcisse was truly a zombie or the victim of a complex ritual of manipulation, his legacy lives on, not only as an unsolved mystery, but as a symbol of the power and mystery of Haitian Vodou. This story forces us to reconsider the boundaries of what is possible, and invites us to look beyond simplistic explanations, recognizing the complexity and depth of cultural traditions that, though often misunderstood, continue to shape the lives and beliefs of millions of people around the world.

[bafflingmysteries1]

Explore the mysterious and chilling story of Clairvius Narcisse, a Haitian man who was declared dead and buried in 1962, only to reappear 18 years later claiming to have been turned into a zombie through the use of voodoo. This fascinating case sheds light on cultural beliefs, the power of folklore, and the potential for real-life horror. The Enigmatic Case of Clairvius Narcisse: Haiti's Real-Life Zombie published first on https://www.youtube.com/@bafflingmysteries/

[archivoparanormaldelcaribe]

Zombi (Haiti)

ZOMBI

El tema zombie ha estado muy popular desde que se estrenó la serie The Walking Dead en el 2010, pero los zombies siempre han estado vagando por cerebros en Haití, desde hace mucho más tiempo.

Todo esto de los zombies se volvió de conocimiento mundial, por notas de viajeros que las llevaron a sus países sobre las practicas vudús y las técnicas que había en mi vecino pais de Haiti. Muchos han dicho que los zombies tienen mucho paralelismo con la vuelta a la esclavitud porque Haiti fue el primer país latinoamericano en abolir la esclavitud a la que estaban sometidos, el primero de enero de 1804 y eso de no querer ser esclavos está muy presente en su cultura.

Haiti tiene mucha influencia africana, y eso se nota mucho en su religión. Los zombies son supuestamente creados por brujos llamados “Hougans” quienes les devuelven la vida a muertos para que trabajen para ellos como esclavos. Y es que según las creencias, se dice que una vez que conviertes a una persona en zombie, esta hará lo que sea que se le ordene sin quejarse ni cuestionar lo que se le pide.

TIPOS DE ZOMBIS

Algunos son muy agresivos y atacan a seres humanos, otros son muy hogareños y solo se dedican a hacer labores domésticas, o de agricultura. Unos salen de noche, otros solo de día. Algunas clases de zombies corren y trepan paredes, los más comunes tienen un andar perezoso y lento. Lo que tienen todos en común es que parecen tener oídos y visión superdotados a pesar de estarse pudriendo y desmembrando. Y obviamente, por la razón que ya dije, no sienten ninguna clase de dolor. Hay gente que discute que los muertos que son por virus no deberían llamarse zombies porque la definición genérica de zombies es que fue convertido por algún brujo. Pero yo no me meteré en esa discusión.

Siguiendo con el tema hay cosas que yo no sabia del mundo zombi. Lo único que he oído de ellos es que dicen que en nuestra frontera con Haití es común que conviertan a gente (dominicanos y haitianos por igual) en zombies y los vendan. Yo no sabia que existía el concepto de alma zombie hasta hace poco. A parte de sacarte de la tumba o matarte para hacerte esclavo, hay brujos que solo se dedican a secuestrar almas, las cuales meten en una vasija y las venden con el mismo propósito que a los zombies con cuerpo, que es ser esclavo. Por ejemplo, el alma zombie, al venderlo o rentarlo, puede pedírsele que posea algo y que haga el trabajo que se le pida.

COMO DEJAR DE SER ZOMBIE

si un muerto viviente toca o come sal recupera su consciencia y solito vuelve a su tumba. He escuchado que antes de devolverse, los zombies primero buscan venganza y matan al que los convirtió. O puede pasar como en el caso supuestamente real de Clairvius Narcisse, quien dice que lo convirtieron en zombie porque le dieron unas drogas y que luego de que el brujo que lo convirtió murió, los efectos se fueron y pudo regresar con su familia.

Pero yo solo te estoy contando cosas que son parte de creencias de una cultura. Los muertos vivientes no existen y no existirán porque desafían las leyes de la biología. Me refiero que un ser que se pudre y no se alimenta, no tiene fuerzas para siquiera caminar. Aun así, los zombies siempre vagarán en nuestra cultura popular detrás de nuestros cerebros.

[unatestadellidra]

Guarda "LO ZOMBIE DI HAITI - La storia di Clairvius Narcisse)" su YouTube

[roskirambles]

The topic of this one is quite complicated, and this got reflected on the filming itself. It was planned to be shot on location at Haiti for 30 days. Since it talks about the regime of François Duvalier though, it pushed buttons among the locals, and with a crew that wasn’t used to the weather, thought they got cursed and apparently even nearly got lynched at points, filming had to be finished at the Dominican Republic as they bailed the hell out of Haiti by the 11th day. The source material is it’s own can of worms too, since the work of Wade Davis about the supposed zombification of Clairvius Narcisse got questionable methodology as it relied a lot on oral accounts. It was also more interested in portraying a nuanced image about Haiti and it’s religious practices than making an accurate record of the supposed effects of tetrodotoxin in Narcisse (which is noble, but quite unscientific and may have spread sensationalism even further). I’ve been unable to find that many opinions from Haitians on the finished film, which is a shame but it’s also probably telling.

Horror Movie of the Day: The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

Zombie. A word used nowadays to depict flesh eating undead monsters in works of fantasy and science fiction, the very etymology of the word is debated but decidedly African in origin and related to a practice in Haitian vodou. Allegedly a person can be brought back from the dead on the will of a bokor while stripped of their will (said to be achieved with the aid of powder). A phenomenon that was researched by Canadian botanist Wade Davis and documented in a non fiction book that was loosely adapted into this film. A story about a researcher that has to find this powder for a pharmaceutics company while having to survive against the attacks of a bokor leader of the Tonton Macoutes may sound… not great on paper. But the film actually tries depicting vodou as a fully rounded religion. One that might have evil bokor trying to turn you into zombie and drink blood to cast curses, but also has oungan officiating weddings and unifies people culturally. Where the love of Erzulie is not any lesser than that of the Virgin Mary but one and the same. As for the mighty whitey? Mostly out of his depth in a land with it’s own conflicts where he doesn’t belong. The film was directed by Wes Craven of A Nightmare on Elm Street fame, who for the later half of his career felt trapped by the shadow cast by Freddy Kruger. And with good reason: there’s grounds to suspect this film underwent quite a lot of meddling that forced his hand into familiar territory against his wishes to make something more like a political drama. The end result is a film of two souls, one with masterful nightmarish sequences that may come across as exploitative and one that wants to depict Haiti, it’s costumes AND struggles with the nuance and dignity any country deserves (regardless if some of it’s calls are ill fit for an American to make). It is quite a mixed bag but the end results are, at the very least, worth earnest discussion.

[luminaltheater]

ICYMI: The character of Clairvius Narcisse in ZOMBI CHILD, currently streaming through our #CaribbeanFilmSeries partnership with BAM (see bio link) was a real life person who was zombified!  

As covered in Harvard Magazine in 1986, Narcisse was turned into a zombie  by his brother over a land dispute, using a mix of puffer fish neurotoxin and  poisonous cane toad secretions.  Although depicted slightly differently to tell the story of this dynamic film, in real life he returned to his village 18 years later after no longer being exposed to the poison that left him a zombie slave for many years.  

What a trip!  

Narcisse’ story was then depicted in the book “The Serpent & the Rainbow” which soon after would be turned into a cult classic of the same name by horror master Wes Craven. That film starred Bill Pullman (Independence Day), Cathy Tyson (Mona Lisa), Zakes Mokae (Cry Freedom, A Rage in Harlem), Paul Winfield (Sounder, “King”) in a very classic scene, and Brent Jennings (Boycott, Witness).  

[redr-d-nghood]

Clairvius Narcisse (January 2, 1922 – 1994) was a Haitian man said to have been turned into a zombie by a Haitian vodou preparation, purportedly a combination of psychoactive substances. The single greatest proponent of this possibility was a graduate student in ethnobotany at Harvard University, Wade Davis, who published two popular books based on his travels and ideas during and immediately following his graduate training. However, subsequent scientific examinations using tools of analytical chemistry alongside critical review of earlier reports have failed to support the presence of the claimed key pharmacologically active compound tetrodotoxin in the preparation, which was central to the phenomena and mechanism reported by Davis. No further supporting evidence has appeared. Based on the presumption that tetrodotoxin and related toxins are not always fatal, but at near-lethal doses can leave a person in a state of near-death for several days with the person remaining conscious, tetrodotoxin has been alleged to result in zombieism, and has been suggested as an ingredient in Haitian Vodou preparations. After various anthropologic investigations of "zombie" stories in various cultures—including Narcisse and a handful of others—reports appeared that Narcisse received a dose of a chemical mixture containing tetrodotoxin (a pufferfish toxin) and bufotoxin (a toad toxin) to induce a coma that mimicked the appearance of death. He was then allowed to return to his home where he collapsed, "died", and was buried. His account was fictionized in The Serpent and the Rainbow, a 1988 American horror film directed by Wes Craven. -Wikipedia sourced.

[junghwwwa]

Bertrand Bonello revient sur un vrai cas de zombification, celle de Clairvius Narcisse en Haïti en 1962, dans son dernier film “Zombi Child”. Malgré le titre accrocheur, on est loin du film de zombies classique. Bonello a d’ailleurs repris l’orthographe originelle, sans e, du mot “zombi” comme pour se démarquer du genre. Le film est scindé en deux parties qui en fait s’entremêlent: l’une se passe à Haïti en 1962 et suit la zombification de Clairvius tandis que l’autre se passe de nos jours à Saint-Denis dans la prestigieuse école  “La Maison d’éducation de la Légion d’honneur” fondée par Napoléon pour instruire les jeunes filles, parentes d’un détenteur de la Légion d’honneur. L’idée en soi de mêler fait historique et fiction dans le présent est plutôt bonne même si elle n’est pas entièrement nouvelle, Wes Craven s’étant inspiré du même fait pour son Empire des ténèbres. Mais il y a dans le parallèle fait par Bonello entre le zombi haïtien et la jeune fille en uniforme du lycée d’excellence quelque chose qui ne prend pas vraiment. Le personnage de Mélissa, descendante de Clairvius, est pourtant bien senti. Elle a une étrangeté un peu ambiguë et est finalement la seule qui fasse lien avec le reste de l’histoire. Mais elle n’est pas si bien exploitée et ne sert qu’à faire un pont entre Fanny, sa camarade au coeur brisé, et sa tante qui est une manbo (c’est-à-dire une prêtresse vaudoue). Et le personnage de Fanny est fade et peu crédible. Le film démarrait pourtant bien dans sa partie haïtienne: la fabrication de la poudre de zombi est plus vraie que nature, la plongée dans l’esclavagisme de “zombi” intéressante et instructive, la photographie est belle... L’image est belle mais le propos est un peu creux et on reste sur sa faim malgré l’incursion à la fin d’un Baron Samedi finalement presque plus ridicule qu’inquiétant.