Zombies (Zonbi)

Last night, I asked my friend Watson to tell me everything he knew about the creation and behavior of Haitian zonbi.

What I learned:

Zonbi are most often created as a form of revenge. The example that was offered to me was the case of a fight between two men. If one man slaps another, the attacked man, infuriated, might go to a witch doctor and ask for a powder that will turn his enemy into a zonbi. He takes the powder and spreads it somewhere that the enemy frequently walks, like outside his front door. When he spreads it, he must say the name of the intended victim. If a person other than the intended victim walks through the powder, they will not become a zonbi. They will merely get sick and nothing else. When the targeted person walks through the powder, however, they die. At least, that’s what it looks like. In reality, the person only appears to die and the man who spread the powder can reawaken him as a zonbi. The creator of the zonbi can now use it to perform any number of tasks. Most commonly, zonbis are used for farm work or for security. They can be put to work all through the day and all through the night, but must be fed. The owner of the zonbi must be careful not to feed the zonbi anything too salty, as salt can reverse the zonbification.

How to spot a zonbi:

They always keep their heads down, are afraid of humans, and cannot talk. Perhaps this is the reason Haitians always greet each other on the street—to make sure everyone’s still human. Who knows how many zonbis there are in NYC.

Zonbi will not directly interfere with you unless they have been ordered to do so. But be wary of a zonbi that has been tasked with guarding a farm or home—

Watson leaned forward and grabbed my arm. “Don’t go into a farm with a zonbi in it. If it attacks you, you die.” Point taken. He went on to tell me that zonbis can also cause you to forget where you’re going. If you are ever walking and forget your destination or find that you don’t know where you are, you have likely been affected by a zonbi.

I asked him if he has ever seen a zonbi, to which he replied, “I don’t think so. Maybe, but I probably wouldn’t know.”

How to escape a zonbi:

I asked Watson what I should do if I see a zonbi on the street. “Oh, don’t worry about it,” he said, “they’re afraid of you, remember? Just keep walking and don’t pay it any attention.”