It is risky to eat the fugu--and Japan regulates the training of the chefs who are licensed to prepare it. Eating it can cause numbness of the lips and tongue, and tingling all over the body--which seem to be the sought after effects. The worst case--it causes paralysis, and eventually, respiratory failure. There is no known antidote for it. Unfortunately, every year (on average) 20-44 people die from eating it.
Pretty bad actor, huh? Well, it gets worse. Voodoo "priests --mostly in Haiti, figured out a way to take advantage of the toxin's nature. They dry the fish, powder it, then blow it off the palms of their hands or toss it onto the faces of their victims. The victim succumbs to the poison, paralysis sets it, but...the victim does not die. Their body mimics death--so completely, that doctors with modern equipment have pronounced victims dead.
The "deceased" are then buried alive--with their voluntary muscles paralyzed, unable to shout out or let people know they are alive. They are aware of the dirt being put on top of their coffins as their graves are closed.
Then, later...the voodoo priest digs up the grave and takes them away to work as slaves. They are told that the voodoo priest took their souls, and that they are the living dead--soulless creatures.
A very good article about Haiti's Living Dead-- written by a Harvard botanist, is here .
