On May 2, 1962, Clairvius Narcisse was pronounced dead after suffering a brief illness at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Haiti, and was buried in a cemetery near his village. In 1981, he returned to the village, claiming that he had spent two years as a zombie slave, controlled by a powerful Haitian vodou sorcerer.

This case, and the phenomenon of zombification, was investigated by ethnobotanist Wade Davis in his book, “The Serpent and the Rainbow,” which served as the basis for Wes Craven’s 1988 film of the same title.

Based on a True Crime is a podcast where Chelsea’s love of true crime and David’s love of horror movies intersect. Each week we will be discussing murders and/or mysteries, along with the pop culture they have spawned.

Sources:

Dead Man Walking: Wade Davis and the Secret of the Zombie PoisonBy Patrick D. Hahn - http://www.biology-online.org/articles/dead_man_walking.html

The Curious Case of Clairvius Narcisse, and Other Instances of Haitian “Zombies” -

http://kreyolicious.com/the-curious-case-of-clairvius-narcisse-and-other-instances-of-haitian-zombies/4005

How Haitian Slave Culture Gave Life to Zombies by Matthew Blitz

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-haitian-slave-culture-gave-life-to-zombies

The Serpent and the Rainbow by Wade Davis

http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Serpent-and-the-Rainbow/Wade-Davis/9780684839295

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Our podcast intro music, called Spray paint it Gold by Little Glass Men can be found here. The music track was edited for length. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

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