ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Clairvius Narcisse

Hey kiddo, let me tell you about a man named Clairvius Narcisse. He was from a country called Haiti and he became famous for something really strange. You see, he was believed to have died and then come back to life as a zombie.

Now, a zombie is not like the ones you see in movies. They are people who are thought to have died but then they come back to life under the control of someone else, like a witch or a sorcerer. They are usually made to work on farms or in mines and they don't have any free will of their own.

Clairvius Narcisse was believed to have died in 1962, at the age of 40, from a mystery illness. But 18 years later, in 1980, people in his village saw him walking around as if nothing had happened. They were shocked and scared. Some people thought he was a zombie, but others were convinced that he was a ghost.

It turns out that Clairvius Narcisse had actually survived his illness, but he had been buried alive in a hot, dark coffin. He was later dug up by people who wanted to turn him into a zombie. They used a special powder made from pufferfish poison to make him feel like he was dead. Then they dug him up, revived him with another potion, and kept him under their control for many years.

It wasn't until the man who had turned him into a zombie died that Clairvius Narcisse was able to escape and return to his village. He was weak and emaciated, but he was happy to be alive and free. It was a miracle that he had survived being buried alive, and even more miraculous that he had managed to escape the clutches of those who had made zombies out of people.

So that's the story of Clairvius Narcisse, a man who was believed to have died but came back to life as a zombie. It's a scary story, but it's also a reminder of how precious life is and how we should never take it for granted.