Clairvius Narcisse

Clairvius Narcisse (January 2, 1922 – 1994) was a Haitian man who claimed to have been turned into a zombie by a practitioner of Haitian Vodou, and forced to work as a slave.

One hypothesis for Narcisse's account was that he had been administered a neurotoxin such as the paralyzing pufferfish venom tetrodotoxin, which rendered him helpless and seemingly dead. The greatest proponent of this possibility was Wade Davis, a graduate student in ethnobotany at Harvard University.

Biography Narcisse admitted himself to the Schweitzer Hospital (operated by American medical staff) in Deschapelles, Haiti, on April 30, 1962. He had a fever and fatigue, and was spitting up blood. Because the instigator of the poisoning was suspected to be Clairvius's brother, with whom he had quarreled over land and inheritance, Clairvius only returned home once he heard of his brother's death, 16 years later. When questioned, Narcisse told investigators that the sorcerer involved had "taken his soul".

It has been suggested that one reason that Narcisse had been targeted to become a zombie was because he had abandoned his children. inducing a coma that mimicked the appearance of death. He was then allowed to return to his home where he collapsed, "died", and was buried. Davis then hypothesized that Narcisse was dosed with Datura stramonium after his body was recovered to create a compliant zombie-like state until the bokor died and he stopped receiving Datura.

Davis does not suggest that the zombie powder containing tetrodotoxin was used for maintaining "mental slaves", but for producing the initial death and resurrection that convinced the victims and those who knew them that they had become zombies.

Skepticism While these popular accounts suggested that tetrodotoxin was used in Vodou preparations of zombie poisons, subsequent analysis has repeatedly challenged earlier studies on technical grounds. Later research failed to identify the toxin in any such preparation, and discussion of tetrodotoxin in this context has all but disappeared from the primary literature since the early 1990s. In a paper published in 1986, toxicologists Chen-Yuan Kao and Toshio Yasumoto concluded that "the widely circulated claim in the lay press to the effect that tetrodotoxin is ... [the] causal agent" in a "zombification process" is "without factual foundation".

Kao, of the State University of New York, when interviewed on the matter in 1988, stated, "I actually feel this is an issue of fraud in science". A supporter of Davis, Bo Holmstedt of the Karolinska Institute, argued that it was "not deliberated fraud," but accused Davis of "withholding negative data" which fails to support the desired conclusions) and called his work "simply bad science".

Davis responded formally to the charges, arguing the variability of the preparations and possible ineptitude in dissolving the toxin could have explained Kao's inability to detect it. He also speculated that "other ingredients" in the preparations might help "enable transport across the blood–brain barrier," suggesting this could make the toxin effective at significantly smaller doses, and arguing that "only when the bokor... causes others to believe the victim is dead and then revived" do his efforts become apparent, and that only a single "success... would be sufficient to support the cultural belief in the... phenomenon." As of 1990, his critics were unpersuaded, and no subsequent literature has appeared to support the original contentions, although lively popular discussion continues.

Cinema Narcisse's story was loosely adapted into The Serpent and the Rainbow, a 1988 American horror film directed by Wes Craven.

Zombi Child, a 2019 French drama film, is also inspired by his story.

A Haitian toxin causing zombification was the inspiration for the BBC's Father Brown episode 10 in season 4.