Long before they graced our screens as mindless, brain-eating monsters, zombies were rooted in Haitian folklore. Rumors of a zombie potion made their way to 1980s Boston, where an ethnobotanist hoping to uncover the concoction found himself enmeshed in a secret society and face-to-face with a real zombie.
Keep up with us this spooky season on Instagram @the ... Show More
Yesterday
Missing Heiress: The Disappearance of Juanita Nielsen
On July 4th, 1975, journalist and Sydney heiress Juanita Nielsen disappeared. Most assumed she was the victim of foul play. After all, for years she’d been fighting a land developer determined to turn her charming, low-income neighborhood into a bunch of high-rises. She was last ... Show More
44m 9s
Sep 2
Chuck Barris: Game Show Host and CIA Assassin?
Chuck Barris created game show classics like The Dating Game and The Gong Show. However, his memoir claims his prolific career was all a cover for his classified missions as a CIA assassin. The agency says his claim is 100% false, but as Barris notes, "Have you ever heard the CIA ... Show More
51m 42s
Sep 2025
The Truth About "Zombies"
As summer turns and fall begins, Ridiculous History officially enters the most wonderful time of the year. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the legend of a specific kind of 'living dead' -- the zombie. According to the stories, a zombie is a cadaver reanimated thro ... Show More
50m 17s
Oct 2023
268. History of Zombies: From Haiti and Voodoo to the Night of the Living Dead! (English Vocabulary Lesson)
What is a zombie? You might be thinking of the flesh-eating, undead monsters common in Hollywood, but the origin of zombies is much more fascinating than the stories in film and TV.
From the brutal slave plantations of Haiti to the development of voodoo legends and traditions, ... Show More
25m 6s
Oct 2023
Lucy Swanson, "The Zombie in Contemporary French Caribbean Fiction" (Liverpool UP, 2023)
Believed to have emerged in the French Caribbean based on African spirit beliefs, the zombie represents not merely the walking dead, but also a walking embodiment of the region's history and culture. In Haiti today, the zombie serves as an enduring memory of enslavement: it is de ... Show More
49m 59s