Soucouyant, Zombies, & Ghost Stories: Real Fears Explored

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]They were allegedly able to get around on land to some degree with another soldier claiming to have seen one running about on the sand at dusk seeming to be looking for something.

[00:00:11]However, they were claimed to be most at home in the water.

[00:00:15]To which they were able to dart and zoom through with ease. Like and follow for more stories.

[00:00:27]Okay, so let's talk about the soucouyant. According to Caribbean folklore, the soucouyant is known as a fire hag in the Barbados. [music] Legendary evil, wrinkled, old woman who hides by day, but by night she sheds her skin. She then turns into a ball of fire that roams through the air going [music] after anyone who's sleeping. She will suck the blood out of these victims, especially babies. They say that if you suspect there's one nearby that you should throw dried rice all around your bed. Apparently, there's this mysterious law that if the soucouyant comes across dry [music] rice, she is compelled to pick up each grain of rice one by one, [music] which gives you time to escape.

[00:01:08]So, I did some research and I ran across this video that I'm just going to put this out here. So, that ball of fire just roaming around was caught in Trinidad. So, let me know if you guys would like to hear some stories. I never encountered her personally, but apparently a lot of people have.

[00:01:25]So, one night God and Death are walking up this hill and Death is just, you know, making conversation as he does.

[00:01:31]He's just talking about his little route, who he's visiting next. He's like, "Last week I visited that man over there from that big old house. Tomorrow I'm visiting him down there." And God is just like, "Oh my God, you're always taking from people. I'm always giving to them. This is why they don't like you.

[00:01:47]This is why they like me best." And Death is just like, "Says who? Says who? WHO SAID THAT?" AND GOD IS JUST LIKE, "EVERYBODY. Everybody says that because it's true and I can prove it, too." And Death is just like, "Okay. Okay. Go. Prove it, then." So, God makes this whole plan and he's just like, "Okay, we're going to visit the man that you're about to visit tomorrow.

[00:02:11]We're going to ask him for some water and whoever he gives the most water to, that's the winner. That's who everybody likes best. One simple test. Let's go."

[00:02:20]And so, he does. He goes down there and he's just like, >> [snorts] >> "My good sir, could you please spare me some water?" And the man is just like, "I ain't got a drop for you. NOTHING."

[00:02:32]SO, AND SO HE'S JUST LIKE, "I'm so thirsty. If you could please just give me some water, I'm sure that God would bless YOU." AND THE MAN IS JUST LIKE, >> [screaming] >> SO, THEN GOD IS JUST LIKE, [screaming] "OH!"

[00:03:10]AND DEATH IS IN THE BACKGROUND DYING, BY THE WAY. AND GOD IS JUST LIKE, "OH!

[00:03:15]IF YOU KNEW WHO I was, you would not speak to me that way." And the man is just like, "Who are you?" And God is just like, "I I am God." And the man's just like, "And?"

[00:03:26]>> [laughter] >> And Death is dying by now, right? And so, God goes back up the hill and he's just shaking his head. And Death goes down and he's just like, "Can I have some water?" And the man is just like, "Who are you?" And he's just like, "I am Death." And the man is just like, "Here, have as much water as you want. TAKE IT ALL." AND GOD IS UP THERE LIKE, "WAIT A MINUTE. WAIT A MINUTE. WAIT A MINUTE.

[00:03:47]WAIT A MINUTE. WHAT?" AND THE MAN LOOKS UP AT HIM and he's like, "What about it?

[00:03:51]AND WHAT ABOUT IT? AND WHAT ABOUT IT?

[00:03:53]UNLIKE YOU, he is fair. Last week he took somebody from that big old house.

[00:03:58]The week before he took my neighbor's wife. The week before that he took that child over there. He takes everybody equally. He's got no favorites. So, he can get as much water as HE WANT. AND BY THE WAY, BY THE WAY, WHY'D YOU COME FOR ME FOR WATER?

[00:04:15]YOU DIDN'T even give me any to give.

[00:04:22]So, as I mentioned in the previous video, the origin of zombies can be traced back to Africa, specifically Central Western Africa >> [music] >> through Haiti. Zombies were made popular through Haiti. Haitians descend from Africa. And the word zombie itself, or zonbi as it's said in Haitian Creole, originates from my language, Kikongo. It originates from my people's language, Kikongo, and other Bantu dialects from that region. The origin of zombies is so different from what we've come to know today. These days they're cool, they're trendy, they're funny, but the real meaning behind zombies is sad. The origin and the real meaning of zombies comes from the very real fear of millions of African and African descended people from the past to the present, the fear of being enslaved, of having your freedom taken away from you.

[00:05:13]Zombies is essentially a supernatural allegory to slavery. Our ancestors were terrified. [music] Their lives were being taken away from them, their freedom, their decisions, their agency, and they were being turned into these objects that people could use for their own gain. That is a fear that was real then and it is a fear that is still real now. You get African refugees that are being sold into slavery. You get young women and girls that are being sold into marriage. Orphan children get turned into house slaves because there's no one to look out for them. This is a very real fear that was taken [music] and turned into a commercial joke. I see a lot of people on the internet talking about how we're trying to steal their history, their mythology through Lord of the Rings and having black elves and an our aerial. Meanwhile, look what you did to our mythology. You took a very real fear, a tragedy of millions of people and you turned it into a joke. You turned it into something that is trendy and cool. George A. Romero is considered by many to be the one who ushered in the modern day zombie craze. But essentially, what happened? The traditional zombie was Westernized. You took the original face of zombification and replaced it with this. But to our ancestors, to many of us, this is not cool or funny or trendy. This is scary and it's sad and it's painful. You go from being a fully formed human being with thoughts and feelings and hopes and dreams to being turned into an object that people can use and abuse over and over again and there's nothing you can do and there's no one to save you because you're as good as dead in their eyes. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the real meaning of zombies. And that's why I'm writing my African zombie movie because it's about time our version of the story got told.

[00:07:06]This is one of the most terrifying urban legends I've ever heard that ended up being true. But in Canada, there was this legend that one night a bunch of people saw a bright blue light in the sky and the next day an entire village of people disappeared. But it turns out that legend is rooted in something that really happened. This is coming from this week's episode. I have a whole series on urban legends that ended up being true and it's a very scary lesson.

[00:07:26]So, in Canada in 1930, a fur trapper named Joe Labelle was riding in the river in his canoe when he came to a village he had seen before. Except this time when he came upon it, it looked like everyone had left in a hurry. Food was still cooking and a bunch of dogs were barking and super hungry as if they had been left behind.