Voodoo is devil-worship and fetishism controlled by secret societies which emerged during the slave revolts in Haiti. While not all Voodoo priests are members, these societies intimidate members and the general population. They control the government and have more weapons than any others on the island.
Voodoo is the mixture of religion and magic imported from Ghana to Haiti and the southern USA blended with elements of Roman Catholic rituals, dating from the french colonial period before 1804. In earlier forms a girl child, called the goat without horns, was sacrificed once a year. Rituals during the rest of the year involve disembowelling black dogs, cocks or hens. Trances are induced by spirit possession are central to the rituals. Belief in a supreme God is combined with service to the loa who are local or African gods, deified ancestors or Catholic saints. Individuals are initiated into the cult through a series of rituals and into the priesthood by a series of test. Transgressors of Voodoo traditions may be punished by being turned into zombies by a sorcerer capturing his soul.
In 1994 much publicity was given in Italy to the case of a TV star would had disappeared in New Orleans on Twelfth Night, traditionally rumoured to involve voodoo practices, under circumstances which cast suspicion on a leading practitioner of voodoo.
A Haitian immigrant has sued the government of the USA for refusing him social security payment because he is a zombie. His death was recorded in 1978, but friends and family claim that he was brought back to life in a voodoo ceremony some days later.
Zombies are poisoned with tetradotoxin, a substance contained in puffer fish. The poison suppresses the autonomic nervous system which controls the basic body functions. If conscious the victim cannot move and with a cursory examination may be pronounced dead.