# How do you make a Zombie

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-a-zombie/92129>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [November 8, 2001, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-a-zombie/92129 "2001-11-08T04:13:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-a-zombie/92129/1 "2001-11-08T04:13:14Z")

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**First, you get her drunk!**

A book title, I think, from Jack Paar.(The "how do you…part.)

[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990521.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990521.html)

Hey, don’t blame me, Cecil brought this up. I never knew he gave great “straight line.”

I have waited over 30 years to use this.

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-a-zombie/92129/2 "2001-11-08T14:10:10Z")

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Don’t quit your day job…  
😃

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**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-a-zombie/92129/3 "2001-11-08T15:27:32Z")

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_Don’t quit your day job…_

Hey, I thought it was a great line.

Anyway, here’s how you _really_ make a zombie:  
[http://cocktails.about.com/library/recipes/blzombie.htm](http://cocktails.about.com/library/recipes/blzombie.htm)

RR

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**Author:** ![Ian\_Orchard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5fc32e/32.png) [@Ian\_Orchard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_Orchard)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-a-zombie/92129/4 "2001-11-09T20:25:45Z")

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Quoting Cecil:  
\> Two experts on tetrodotoxin, C.Y. Kao and Takeshi Yasumoto, tested two of his  
\> samples and found they contained only a minute amount of it, too little to have  
\> any pharmacological effect.

I know these guys are experts, but did anyone think to ask what the shelf life of tetradotoxin is? 😉

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**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-a-zombie/92129/5 "2001-11-12T22:07:24Z")

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My thoughts on the tetradotoxin testing… these samples were hand-mixed batches with poor quality control. The recipes themselves are likely individual to the particular bokor who mixed it. The article does not tell if the samples were all from the same person, or from different people each trip. I would suspect Davis would wish for the latter. It is conceivable that one bokor makes a better zombie than another bokor, and perhaps a couple samples were weaker. Also, did Davis obtain samples that were from a batch that was actually used, or did he get samples made that were not demonstrated? If they weren’t actually used, how do we know the particular batch of the sample would have been effective? Maybe the bokor screwed a batch and if it were used he’d have had to try again.