Did zombies ever exist

Answer 1

No.

We should be clear here: we're talking about the Hollywood shambling-corpse "braaaaaiiinnns" type of zombie. Those aren't real (there is a belief in some parts of African and the Carribean that a powerful sorcerer (bokor) can reanimate corpses, but so what; there are people who believe in Frosty the Snowman too, and no one takes that too seriously).

What may be real is that there are reported cases of living people believing themselves to be Zombies (under the influence of drugs) and obeying the commands of the bokor claiming to have created them. The research setting forth this hypothesis has been criticized, though; and it's been suggested that the "zombies" may just have been mentally ill or exceptionally gullible people, rather than being produced through the use of drugs.

Answer 2

Zombies as depicted in popular culture, reanimated corpses that consume human flesh, have never existed. However, throughout history, various cultures have folklore and myths about the dead returning to life in some form.