Zombies belong in horror movies, right? Not entirely. Here are three zombie stories that sound made up, and every single one of them is true.
1. The man who came back from the dead
In 1962, a Haitian man named Clairvius Narcisse was declared dead by two doctors and buried. He had checked into a hospital with a fever and breathing problems, slipped into a coma and died, or so everyone thought.
Eighteen years later, a man walked up to his sister in a village marketplace and said he was her brother. He knew childhood details only Clairvius could have known, and doctors, villagers and family members identified him as the man they had buried.
His story got stranger. He said he had stayed conscious after being declared dead, unable to move or speak, and felt himself being buried. He claimed he was dug up and forced to work on a sugar plantation alongside other "zombies." A Harvard researcher later proposed that a powder made with pufferfish toxin could cause a death-like paralysis, though scientists still debate that theory.
2. The "zombie deer" disease spreading across America
A fatal illness called chronic wasting disease had been reported in deer, elk or moose in 36 states as of April 2025, according to the CDC, with cases in every region of the country.
It earned the nickname "zombie deer disease" because of how infected animals behave. They grow emaciated and uncoordinated, drool, and lose their fear of people and other animals. It's caused by misfolded proteins called prions, and there's no treatment or vaccine.
It's also hard to get rid of. Once the disease is established in an area, the prions can stay in the soil and water for years. There's no strong evidence it has ever infected a person, but the CDC still recommends hunters have deer and elk tested before eating the meat.
3. The fungus that turns ants into zombies
In tropical forests, a fungus called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis infects carpenter ants and takes over their bodies. Infected ants leave their colony, climb a plant and clamp their jaws onto a leaf vein in a final "death grip."
The precision is unsettling. In Brazil, infected ants bite down about 25 centimeters (roughly 10 inches) above the forest floor, where the temperature and humidity suit the fungus best. The fungus doesn't even need the ant's brain: it takes over the jaw muscles directly and locks them in place.
Then comes the horror-movie finale. A few days after the ant dies, a fungal stalk grows out of the back of its head and rains spores onto ants passing below. And this is nothing new: fossil evidence suggests the death grip existed at least 48 million years ago.
