Haiti has never gotten its act together since gaining independence from France during a rebellion of slaves.
Battered constantly by internal corruption, poverty and hurricanes, the nation of just a few million souls now reels from a devastating earthquake that flattened its largest city and killed tens of thousands.
Yet, the small Caribbean nation that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic has made huge contributions to modern civilization:
Namely, nightmares.
Without Haiti, the classic film Night of the Living Dead would not have been possible without that country's legendary undead zombies.
Ditto for that classic line of Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles: "Go do that voodoo that you do so well"--referring to Haiti's dark practice of witchcraft.
And who doesn't appreciate getting one's mojo back after suffering a hex inspired by some Haitian Creole priestess? (17 JANUARY 2010)
