voodoo

An excerpt from Voodoo Can Kill You:

By now the victim is almost completely paralyzed, but also completely conscious. One hears conversations. One sees whenever a medical worker raises the eyelids to check the pupils only to lapse into relative darkness when the lids, now well beyond voluntary control, close. If the dosage has been short of nonlethal, respiration may continue at a level sufficient to maintain life. If successfully induced into a zombie state, that is, you do not die, the skin blisters after three days and begins to peel off after nine.