When you hear the phrase 10 extreme reports, you probably picture wild rumors or horror movies. In reality, over the past two centuries real people have faced such desperate circumstances that they crossed the ultimate taboo: eating human flesh. Below, we walk through each chilling case, from doomed sea voyages to wartime sieges, and see exactly how and why these atrocities unfolded.

Unsettling Accounts of Survival

10 Essex Crew

The annals of maritime disaster are littered with grim tales, and the 1820 tragedy of the whaling vessel Essex stands out as a textbook example of why cannibalism can become a brutal last resort.

After a ferocious sperm whale rammed the ship, the crew of twenty scrambled into three lifeboats. Supplies ran thin, and three men chose to abandon the flotilla on a desolate island, leaving seventeen to drift on the open sea.

Weeks of exposure took a toll. One sailor suffered a convulsive fit and died; his comrades, driven by starvation, sliced open his body, harvested the organs, and consumed what they could.

As additional crew members succumbed to the elements, the survivors turned on each other. Eventually a grim decision was made to sacrifice one more man so the remaining five could stay alive. Those five were rescued, bearing the haunting memory of what they had done.

9 Until There Was Only One

In 1822, a band of eight convicts escaped the brutal confines of Sarah Island. Among them was the notorious Alexander Pearce, whose journey into the Tasmanian bush would become a macabre saga of survival.

After a few days, three men abandoned the group, leaving five desperate fugitives. Hunger soon forced the first gruesome act: the group butchered a man named Bodman, ensuring that each participant shared in the crime.

Later, another grim episode unfolded. Pearce and a companion restrained a third convict while Greenhill slit his throat and dismembered him. When Matthew Travers fell victim next, only Pearce and Greenhill remained.

Eventually a camp was discovered. Pearce emerged alone; Greenhill had already been consumed. Pearce’s subsequent capture and confession shocked authorities, who only believed him after a second escape revealed human remains hidden in his pockets. He was later executed for his cannibalism.

8 The Francis Mary

The timber‑laden schooner Francis Mary was caught in a ferocious gale on 5 February 1826. Both masts snapped, leaving the vessel adrift and its twenty‑one souls facing imminent starvation.

The first casualty died after several days, but the crew hesitated to turn to cannibalism. When a second crew member perished, the men finally cut up his body, dried the meat, and rationed it among themselves.

More deaths followed, and the grim routine continued. When the ship’s cook was on the brink of death, his wife Ann Saunders claimed “property rights” over his corpse, bled him, and claimed the larger share of flesh. She then assumed the role of cook, reportedly showing no remorse as she prepared the human fare.

Rescue finally arrived, finding only six survivors among the original twenty‑one, each bearing the haunting memory of what they had been forced to do.

7 A Native Feast

In 1866, a French war steamer dispatched a small boat up a river on the island of New Caledonia. The boat never returned, prompting a frantic search that uncovered a gruesome scene.

When the steamer finally reached the river’s mouth, it discovered the mutilated remains of its own men—clearly killed and devoured by local tribes.

Captured natives confessed that they had split the victims’ skulls with axes, boiled the flesh, and eaten it. One tribal member even complained that an elderly victim was so tough they had to cook him longer before the meat became palatable.

Outraged, the French forces retaliated mercilessly, killing every native they could locate in a brutal campaign of vengeance.

6 The Greely Expedition

The ill‑fated Greely Arctic expedition set sail in 1881 under the command of Lieutenant Adolphus Greely, aiming to establish a scientific outpost in the high north.

Twenty‑five men departed, but by 1884 only six remained alive when a rescue party finally reached them after a grueling three‑year ordeal.

Initially hailed as heroes, the survivors soon faced scandal when rumors swirled that one of the men had been shot and consumed. Government officials attempted to suppress the story, but autopsies on the deceased confirmed the horrific truth.

5 Eat The Youngest

In 1884, affluent Australian lawyer Jack Want commissioned the yacht Mignonette for a leisurely voyage to Australia. He hired an experienced seaman and three crewmen to crew the vessel.

A violent storm battered the yacht in the South Atlantic, sinking it. The four men escaped onto a tiny dinghy, but supplies were nonexistent.

For three harrowing weeks they survived on turtle blood, their own urine, and sheer willpower. When desperation peaked, they abandoned the idea of drawing lots and instead chose to kill the youngest and weakest member, 17‑year‑old Richard Parker.

After feasting on Parker’s flesh, the remaining three were rescued, forever marked by the grim choice they had made.

4 Frozen Strips Of Meat

Siberian penal colonies earned a fearsome reputation for their harsh conditions. In 1903, four inmates fled the island of Saghalien, hoping to reach freedom.

Two were quickly recaptured, but the other two vanished into the unforgiving tundra. With supplies exhausted, the pair turned on each other, murdering their companions.

They drained the victims’ blood, sliced the flesh into thin strips, and laid the pieces in the snow to freeze, creating makeshift jerky. When authorities finally caught them, the men still clutched frozen strips of human meat.

3 Siege Of Leningrad

When German forces encircled Leningrad in the summer of 1941, they severed every supply line, plunging the city into a months‑long famine.

Initially, citizens foraged the zoo for animal meat and turned to any fish they could catch. As the crisis deepened, they began eating their own pets, and eventually resorted to consuming wallpaper paste and boiling down leather into a gelatinous broth.

Desperation forced many to cross the ultimate taboo: cannibalism. Estimates suggest hundreds to thousands of residents partook in human flesh consumption. The city’s police even formed a special task force to curb the practice, highlighting the sheer scale of the horror.

2 Belsen Prison Camp

During World War II, the Bergen‑Belsen complex evolved from a prisoner‑of‑war camp to a notorious concentration camp, cramming civilians and soldiers alike into cramped, disease‑ridden barracks.

By early 1945, food rations had been reduced to starvation levels. Survivors went days without a bite, and the sight of emaciated bodies became a daily reality.

When Allied forces finally liberated the camp, Brigadier Glyn Hughes reported chilling testimonies: “The prison doctors tell me that cannibalism is going on.” He described bodies stripped of flesh, with organs like liver, kidneys, and heart neatly cut out for consumption.

1 Human Flesh In Pots

In February 1948, authorities in the Russian‑controlled sector of Chemnitz received a baffling missing‑person report concerning 26‑year‑old Maria Oehme. Her brother, Bernard, was suspected.

Police searching the Oehme residence uncovered a grotesque scene: pots, buckets, and dishes filled with human flesh, while Maria’s severed head, hands, and feet lay hidden in the cellar.

Confronted, Bernard confessed to killing, cooking, and eating his sister, offering no motive for his gruesome act. The case remains one of the most unsettling post‑war cannibalism reports on record.

10 facts about human cannibalism may sound like something out of a horror movie, but the reality is far more complex—and surprisingly common across the ages. Cannibalism, the act of devouring a member of one’s own species, isn’t just a macabre curiosity; it’s woven into the fabric of the animal kingdom, including our own. From ancient rituals and survival scenarios to modern scientific insights, the motives range from religious rites and serial killings to sheer starvation. Even creatures you’d never suspect—hippos^[1], certain bears, salamanders, and worms—turn to this grim feast without a second thought.

10 Facts About Human Cannibalism

10. Prehistoric Humans

Archaeologists and anthropologists are now confident that cannibalism dates back to the very dawn of humanity. Bite marks, cut scars, and tool‑induced incisions on ancient bones prove that early humans didn’t just hunt each other for sport; they sometimes turned their victims into a meal. These forensic clues show that prehistoric peoples occasionally feasted on relatives, friends, and foes.

But hunger wasn’t the sole driver. Many sites reveal that cannibalism co‑occurred with homicide and inter‑tribal warfare, suggesting a brutal cultural component. Across the globe, digs consistently uncover evidence that early humans could be violent, murderous, and, yes, cannibalistic—even when food was plentiful.

9. Neanderthals

Our close evolutionary cousins, the Neanderthals, also dabbled in cannibalism. Excavations of burial sites have unearthed bones bearing clean, straight cuts—signatures of deliberate flesh removal rather than the blunt trauma typical of animal attacks. These marks indicate that Neanderthals killed, dismembered, and consumed each other.

One of the most telling discoveries comes from Krapina, Croatia, where scattered fragments of numerous Neanderthal remains were found. Some of those bones show evidence of burning, which many scientists interpret as a clear sign of ritualistic or survival‑driven cannibalism.

8. Natural

Despite the gut‑wrenching image of a “big, juicy bite” of human flesh, cannibalism is actually a natural behavior observed in many species, humans included. It appears to be an innate response that can be triggered by extreme environmental stressors.

A notorious example is the 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, where stranded survivors resorted to eating one another to stay alive. Even in modern times, when religious or cultural taboos loom large, dire circumstances can override the revulsion most of us feel.

7. Kuru

Kuru is a chilling reminder that eating human brain tissue can have deadly consequences. First identified among the Fore people of New Guinea in the 1950s and ’60s, kuru—meaning “to shiver” in the local language—causes a progressive tremor that eventually leads to death, typically within a year of infection.

The disease spreads through the consumption of infected brain matter, turning a macabre act into a lethal prion infection. Kuru serves as a stark warning: cannibalism can transmit devastating pathogens that attack the brain and end in fatal dementia.

6. Prion Diseases

Beyond kuru, a whole class of illnesses known as prion diseases can arise from consuming infected tissue. These include Creutzfeldt‑Jakob disease (CJD), its variant form (vCJD), Gerstmann‑Straussler‑Scheinker syndrome, fatal familial insomnia, and the infamous “mad cow” disease in livestock.

Prions are rogue proteins that wreak havoc on the brain, causing neurodegeneration. Cannibalism is a recognized risk factor for these conditions. Some researchers even suggest that early humans suffered widespread prion epidemics, fueled by the very practice of eating each other.

5. Resistance

Good news (if any) emerged from studies of the Fore people: a genetic mutation called V127 appears to grant resistance to prion diseases. Individuals carrying this mutation survived the kuru outbreak, and laboratory mice engineered with V127 showed similar immunity.

This discovery hints that repeated exposure to cannibalistic practices may have driven a subtle evolutionary shield against some of the deadliest brain‑affecting pathogens.

4. Necessity?

Was cannibalism ever truly a matter of survival? Some scholars argue that the Aztec practice of human sacrifice might have doubled as a nutritional safety net during periods of ecological pressure. As populations swelled, the need for protein could have nudged societies toward ritual cannibalism.

However, the evidence remains speculative. The Aztecs generally performed sacrifices during harvest festivals as offerings to deities, not as a famine‑driven food source, and the caloric return from human flesh appears negligible compared to other available meats.

3. Digestion

From a digestive standpoint, human meat behaves much like any other animal protein, but it falls short on nutritional density. While our bodies contain fats, oils, and proteins similar to other meats, the overall calorie yield is modest.

Estimates suggest human muscle provides roughly 1,300 calories per kilogram—far less than the 4,000 calories per kilogram you’d get from bear or boar meat. This makes human flesh a relatively poor energy source for survival.

2. Human Calories

Even though the caloric content of a whole human is substantial—about 125,800 calories for an adult male—the distribution is uneven. A brain can yield roughly 2,700 calories, while an upper arm might provide around 7,400 calories.

When stacked against megafauna like a woolly rhinoceros (≈1,260,000 calories) or a mammoth (≈3,600,000 calories), human meat simply isn’t a cost‑effective fuel source for long‑term survival.

1. Humans In The Lab

Think cannibalism is a relic of the past? Think again. Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins recently sparked a conversation on Twitter: “What if human meat is grown? Could we overcome our taboo against cannibalism?” The idea hinges on lab‑grown, or “clean,” meat—a process that uses a few stem cells to cultivate tissue without killing an animal.

In theory, the same technique could produce human muscle in a petri dish, offering a macabre but ethically distinct way to experience cannibalism. While a mainstream market is unlikely, niche groups—perhaps performance artists—might someday sample lab‑grown human flesh.

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Some politicians love to bluster about “having their opponents for lunch,” but how many actually have the stomach to turn that rhetoric into a gruesome reality? Below we tally 10 suspected cases where political power collided with literal cannibalism, whether as accusation, confession, or horrifying victimhood.

10 Suspected Cases of Political Cannibalism

10 Lon Nil Cooked And Eaten By Angry Cambodian Mob

In 1970, Cambodia experienced a violent coup that ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk and installed Cheng Heng, with Lon Nol eventually rising to head of state by 1972.

The upheaval sparked heavy fighting on both sides, and one of the most notorious deaths was that of Lon Nil—brother of Lon Nol—who fell victim on March 28, 1970, after Prince Sihanouk publicly called on Cambodians to rise against the new regime.

The call sparked riots in Kampong Cham; Lon Nol dispatched his brother to assess the turmoil, only for Lon Nil to be dragged into a central market where a mob of Sihanouk loyalists brutally beat him to death.

Witnesses say the mob ripped open his chest, removed his liver, and prepared it in a nearby Chinese restaurant, then devoured the organ as a visceral expression of their fury toward Lon Nol.

Although Lon Nol eventually quelled the unrest in Kampong Cham, the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975, forcing Nol into exile, leaving the gruesome episode as a stark reminder of the era’s savage brutality.

9 Johan And Cornelis De Witt Ambushed And Eaten By Dutch Peasants

The Dutch disaster year of 1672, known as the Rampjaar, saw the nation plunged into chaos, with Johan de Witt occupying the highest political office alongside his brother Cornelis.

On June 21, 1672, Johan suffered a severe knife wound and was removed from office in August; shortly thereafter, Cornelis faced accusations of plotting to assassinate William III, was arrested, tortured, and slated for exile.

When Johan visited his brother in prison just before the planned departure, both brothers were violently assaulted and shot by an organized militia, their bodies later displayed publicly.

It is widely believed that the enraged mob shredded the de Witt brothers, consuming parts such as their livers and eyes, turning political rivalry into a literal feast.

8 Victor Biaka Boda Wanders Off The Road And Is Never Seen Again

Victor Biaka Boda secured a seat in the French Senate in 1948, representing Côte d’Ivoire’s Democratic Party, only to become a target of French colonial suppression soon after his election.

The most plausible date for his disappearance is January 28, 1950, when his vehicle broke down near Bouaflé; while his driver repaired the car, Boda stepped away and never returned.

Investigators later uncovered scattered bones and personal effects in November of that year, yet the remains could not be definitively matched to Boda, fueling rumors that his constituents may have cannibalized him—a story that originated from a satirical French newspaper piece.

Regardless of the macabre conjecture, Boda’s death was officially recorded in 1953, confirming that something truly tragic occurred after he strayed from the road.

7 Bedel Bokassa Accused Of Keeping Enemies’ Corpses Hung Up In Cold Storage

Jean‑Bédel Bokassa ruled the Central African Republic—briefly renamed the Central African Empire—from 1966 until his overthrow in 1979, leaving a trail of brutality that included the murder of over a hundred schoolchildren.

During his trial, Bokassa downplayed the accusations, claiming, “I’m not a saint. I’m just a man like everyone else,” while former president David Dacko testified that human flesh had been discovered in Bokassa’s refrigerator, neatly trussed and ready for roasting.

Although prosecutors could not prove cannibalism beyond a reasonable doubt, Bokassa was convicted of all other charges and sentenced to death; the verdict was later overturned in 1988, commuting his sentence to life in solitary confinement, and he was eventually released under a 1993 amnesty.

6 Samuel Doe Dismembered To Prove That He Wasn’t Protected By Black Magic

Samuel Doe seized Liberia’s presidency in 1980 after a coup that eliminated President William Tolbert Jr., subsequently displaying Tolbert’s inner circle in their underwear before publicly executing them.

Doe’s regime was marked by rigged elections and a notorious massacre of over 600 worshippers inside a church; in 1990, a rival coup captured him, and footage shows him stripped to his underwear while politician Prince Johnson, sipping beer, ordered his men to amputate Doe’s ears, fingers, and toes to demonstrate that black magic offered him no protection, before the dictator was decapitated.

Persistent rumors allege that Johnson’s forces consumed parts of Doe’s body, but Johnson, now a senior senator from Nimba County, vehemently denies the claims, insisting that the Nimbaians are not cannibals and that even if he were, he could not have eaten Doe because the corpse had been embalmed with chemicals for 25 years.

5 Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Accused Of Wanting To Eat His Enemies’ Testicles

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has ruled Equatorial Guinea since 1979, turning the nation into a long‑standing dictatorship where opposition parties are outlawed and the sole legal party bears his name, the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea.

In 2003, a government aide broadcast on national radio that Obiang could kill without accountability, claiming divine backing; over the ensuing decades, he has been accused of torturing and murdering countless opponents.

Exiled adversary Severo Moto first spread the bizarre rumor that Obiang believed strength came from devouring his foes, allegedly stating on a Spanish radio program in 2004 that the president wanted him to return to Guinea and eat his testicles, a claim that sparked international headlines.

4 Charles Taylor Accused Of Using Cannibalism As A Demoralization Tactic

Charles Taylor held Liberia’s presidency from 1997 until his ouster in 2003, during which he faced numerous foreign accusations of crimes against humanity, especially linked to the Sierra Leone civil war.

After his 2006 extradition from Nigeria, Taylor stood trial and was accused of personally eating human flesh and ordering his subordinates to do the same as a psychological weapon to terrorize opponents; he dismissed the allegations, calling them “sickening” and asserting that only a sick person could believe them.

In 2012, Taylor was convicted of terrorism, murder, rape, and other atrocities, receiving a 50‑year prison sentence; the presiding judge noted his responsibility for some of the most heinous crimes ever recorded.

3 General Butt Naked Drank A Lot Of Human Blood

In the early 1990s, Joshua Milton Blahyi—better known as General Butt Naked—commanded the notorious Butt Naked Brigade during Liberia’s first civil war, a force distinguished by fighters who fought entirely naked, with the few clothed members donning women’s garments and high on drugs.

Blahyi recounted a typical battle day: after heavy drinking and drug use, his troops would sacrifice a local teenager, drink the blood, strip down to their shoes, and charge into combat sporting colorful wigs and imaginary purses, cutting off heads and even using them as soccer balls, all while believing that bloodletting and nudity granted them bullet immunity.

Since converting to Christianity in 1996, General Butt Naked has expressed remorse, claiming that satanic forces once controlled him and drove him to such atrocities, and he now speaks out against the brutal practices of his past.

2 Idi Amin Suspected Of Engaging In Kakwa Blood Rituals

Idi Amin ruled Uganda from 1971 to 1979, cultivating a flamboyant public image that masked a regime responsible for up to half a million deaths.

His ethnic background belonged to the Kakwa, a group historically known for blood rituals that involved cutting flesh from a victim’s body and consuming it to neutralize the spirit’s vengeance; Amin allegedly kept human livers refrigerated, claiming, “It is customary in Kakwa culture to eat the enemy’s liver to cleanse the sin of murder.”

When pressed about the rumors, Amin often deflected with humor, famously remarking, “I don’t like human flesh. It’s too salty for me,” leaving the truth of the accusations shrouded in mystery.

1 Joseph Kony Abducts Children And Forces Them To Engage In Cannibalism

Joseph Kony heads the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group infamous for its operations across Uganda, where Kony claims divine authority as God’s spokesperson and seeks to reshape the nation into a theocratic state governed by the Ten Commandments.

Former LRA officer Francis Ongom has testified that Kony justifies murder, the killing of pigs, and even human slaughter by invoking biblical stories such as the Gadarene swine and the floods of Noah, framing these atrocities as divinely sanctioned.

The LRA’s brutal strategy hinges on abducting children, indoctrinating them, and compelling them to commit horrific acts—including drinking the blood of enemies and eating human flesh—to break inhibitions and foster loyalty.

Survivor Pamela Aber recounted a night when she and other captives were ordered to bite a 14‑year‑old girl attempting escape; despite their relentless biting, the girl survived, after which the rebels beat her to death with a log, illustrating the group’s sadistic cruelty.

While Kony once commanded several thousand fighters at the height of the LRA, recent estimates place his remaining force at fewer than one hundred, signaling a dramatic decline in his operational capacity.

David, the author, prefers aubergine pizza over human flesh; you can explore more of his work at CultureRoast.com and watch his videos on YouTube.com/CultureRoast.

When you think about the phrase “top 10 accounts,” you probably picture rankings of movies, gadgets, or travel spots. But this list dives into a far darker territory: the most unsettling, documented instances of cannibalism ever recorded. From modern urban legends to ancient rituals, each case is a grotesque reminder that humanity can cross the most taboo lines when desperation, madness, or twisted desire takes hold.

Why These Top 10 Accounts Send Shivers Down Your Spine

Each story below is drawn from police reports, forensic studies, or first‑hand testimonies, ensuring that the horror is not merely fictional. The details are vivid, the motives baffling, and the aftermath often more chilling than the act itself. Buckle up, keep your lights on, and prepare to be both horrified and fascinated.

10 Rudy Eugene

Florida’s infamous “Florida Man” headlines have a new, terrifying chapter thanks to Rudy Eugene. On May 26, 2012, in the blistering heat of Miami, the 31‑year‑old’s car broke down en route to a beach party. Rather than waiting for help, he abandoned the vehicle, stripped down to his skin, and started walking—an ominous first warning sign.

Shortly after, he encountered homeless man Ronald Poppo on the MacArthur Freeway. After a brief, seemingly courteous greeting, Eugene lunged, beating Poppo unconscious, ripping off his pants, and then viciously biting his victim’s face—snipping off a piece of his left eye in the process. When police arrived, Eugene only responded with an animal‑like growl before being shot dead. Toxicology reports later revealed only marijuana, with no definitive evidence of the anticipated “bath salts.”

9 Fore People, Papua New Guinea

It’s easy to cast distant cultures as “uncivilized,” but the Fore people of Papua New Guinea present a stark, real‑world lesson about the dangers of consuming human tissue. In the late 1950s, the community was ravaged by Kuru, a fatal wasting disease that resembled Mad Cow Disease in its neurological devastation.

Scientists eventually linked Kuru to a prion‑induced spongiform encephalopathy, spread through the ritualistic consumption of deceased relatives’ brains—a funerary practice meant to honor the dead. Women and children were most often the ones eating the brains, unknowingly ingesting the misfolded proteins that turned their brains into a Swiss‑cheese‑like mess.

8 The Milwaukee Monster

Jeffrey Dahmer earned the moniker “The Milwaukee Monster” for his horrific spree in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Targeting vulnerable gay sex workers, he lured victims with promises of money for nude photographs, then drugged, strangled, and performed necrophilic acts on them. Dahmer famously claimed that human flesh tasted like “filet mignon.”

His gruesome habit of arranging the remains into macabre art—shaping meat into severed limbs and adding ketchup “blood”—infuriated fellow inmates. This theatrical cruelty provoked Christopher Scarver to bludgeon Dahmer to death in 1994, just a few years after Dahmer received 16 consecutive life sentences.

7 Jamestown Starving Time

History lessons often glorify the Pilgrims, but the winter of 1609‑1610 at Jamestown tells a grim tale of survival. A relentless drought, failed crops, contaminated water, and delayed supplies left the settlement famished. When conventional meat sources—horses, dogs, cats, even rats—ran out, desperate colonists turned to the ultimate last resort.

Archaeological analysis uncovered evidence that a 14‑year‑old girl was brutally murdered, her skull bearing four shallow chop marks. The settlers resorted to cannibalism, and the colony’s population plummeted from roughly 500 to a mere 61 by the season’s end.

6 Leonarda Cianciulli

True‑crime aficionados will recognize Leonarda Cianciulli, one of the rare female serial killers. Born in Southern Italy, she was haunted by the fear that none of her children would survive to adulthood—a dread fueled by superstition and the poor medical care of the era. By 1938, only four of her seventeen pregnancies resulted in living children.

When her eldest son expressed a desire to enlist for World War II, Cianciulli took a macabre approach: she lured three trusted women from her community, murdered them, and turned their bodies into household items. She boiled the flesh into a fragrant soap, adding cologne, and baked the blood into sweet cakes—serving both to neighbors and to herself and her husband.

5 North Korean Black Market

Even in 2021, North Korea remains a hermetic totalitarian regime, but beneath the propaganda lies a grim underground economy. While the elite enjoy scarce luxuries, the majority endure the “Hidden Famine,” surviving on meager rations that barely meet caloric needs.

Defectors have recounted harrowing tales from black‑market stalls where, beyond the usual pork and noodles, human flesh occasionally surfaces. One chilling account details a noodle shop owner who offered two children a warm broth, then, once they fell asleep, butchered them and served the meat to unsuspecting patrons.

4 The Man Who Ate His Own Foot

Reddit user IncrediblyShinyShart chronicled a bizarre, yet verifiable, episode of self‑cannibalism. After a severe motorcycle crash, doctors amputated his foot. Instead of discarding the limb, he jokingly asked if he could bring it home, aligning with a darkly humorous tradition among his friends.

Back at his house, the group marinated the severed foot overnight, then pan‑fried it the next day, pairing the meat with vegetables for a makeshift “foot taco.” Photographs and interviews confirm the unsettling culinary experiment.

3 Armin Meines

German cannibal Armin Meines, dubbed the Rotenburg Cannibal, pursued the ultimate intimacy: consensual cannibalism. He met fellow fetishist Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes on a niche website called The Cannibal Café, where they discussed the eroticism of consuming another human.

On March 9, 2001, Brandes ingested a cocktail of sleeping pills and cough syrup. Meines then amputated Brandes’s penis, frying it with salt, pepper, wine, garlic, and the victim’s own fat—though Brandes complained it was overcooked. Meines placed Brandes in a tub to bleed out while he read Star Trek, later stabbing him in the neck, hanging the corpse on a meat hook, and dismembering him. Over ten months, Brandes consumed roughly 44 pounds of Meines’s flesh before authorities intervened after an online partner search raised alarms.

2 Joel Guy Jr.

While technically not cannibalism, the grotesque murder scene uncovered on November 26, 2016, rivals any flesh‑eating tale. Joel Guy Jr., a 28‑year‑old unemployed adult, plotted to eliminate his parents—Joel Sr. and Lisa—burn their house, and claim a $500,000 life‑insurance payout.

When police performed a welfare check, they discovered a nightmarish tableau: Joel Sr. had been stabbed over 40 times, his body dismembered and largely dissolved in a vat of putrefying stew, with only his hands left on the floor. Lisa’s head rested in a pot on the stove, apparently simmering for days, while her body bore more than 30 stab wounds. The horrific scene halted Guy’s scheme.

1 Issei Sagawa

Japanese student Issei Sagawa, studying in Paris in 1981, devised a chilling plan to lure classmate Renée Hartevelt to his apartment under the pretense of dinner and poetry translation. Once inside, he shot her in the back of the head, then proceeded to mutilate, rape, and devour portions of her corpse, documenting each step with photographs.

After attempting to discard the remains, French authorities deemed Sagawa legally insane, leading to his deportation. Exploiting legal loopholes, he remains free in Japan, where he has authored books describing his twisted rationale. Standing at 4 feet 9 inches, Sagawa claimed he wanted to absorb Hartevelt’s beauty and strength, a disturbing justification for his heinous act.

When you think of cannibalism, the first image that pops into mind is usually a starving crowd gnawing on each other’s flesh. Yet, the truth is far more layered: 10 things you probably never learned about this grim practice range from aristocratic apothecaries in Europe to solemn funeral feasts in the Amazon, and even to bizarre rites in China’s distant past. Buckle up for a whirlwind tour through the strange, the shocking, and the surprisingly ritualistic corners of human history.

10 Things You Might Not Expect About Human Eating

10 The Real Cannibals Were the Europeans

Believe it or not, from the late Middle Ages all the way to the Victorian era, Europeans treated human parts as a premium ingredient for medicine. Back in Shakespeare’s day, the pressing question wasn’t whether to eat a person for a cure, but rather which sort of corpse would make the best remedy. The trade began with genuine Egyptian mummies, but by the 1500s merchants in North Africa were fabricating “counterfeit mummies” by baking the remains of lepers, beggars, or even camels to keep the market supplied.

A notorious 1609 recipe even instructed the apothecary to select a fresh corpse of a “red man” aged twenty‑four, who had been hanged or broken on the wheel, and left exposed for a full day and night. The flesh was to be chopped, dusted with myrrh and aloes, macerated in wine, and then hung to dry until it resembled smoked, odorless meat.

Among the elite who dabbled in such grisly pharmacology were Emperor Francis I, the physician to Elizabeth I (John Banister), Charles II, chemist Robert Boyle, and neuroscientist Thomas Willis, alongside countless aristocratic gentlemen and ladies. The poorer classes supposedly drank fresh blood at public beheadings across Austria, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden—a claim that still sparks debate over its veracity. Records suggest this macabre practice persisted from roughly 1500 until 1866, especially among epileptics, and even into the Victorian age when skulls were still smuggled for medicinal use.

9 Famine Cannibalism

Even well into the eighteenth century, Europe witnessed desperate cannibalism sparked by relentless wars. In 1590, when Paris was besieged by Henri of Navarre, a famine committee resolved to grind bones from the Holy Innocents Cemetery into bread. The makeshift loaf appeared by mid‑August, but those who ate it reportedly perished shortly after.

Germany’s own horrors unfolded in late 1636 at Steinhaus, where a woman allegedly lured a twelve‑year‑old girl and a five‑year‑old boy into her home, murdered them, and ate them with a neighbor. Around the same period in Heidelberg, rumors swirled of people digging up graves to feast on corpses, while a woman was discovered dead with a man’s roasted head in her mouth and a rib clenched in her jaws. Historian Piero Camporesi recounts that in Picardy, starving villagers went so far as to gnaw on their own arms and hands, meeting a tragic end in the process.

8 The French Traveler Who Probably Preferred to Live with Cannibals

In the 1550s, French explorer Jean de Léry spent months among Brazil’s ferocious Tupinamba cannibals. Upon his return to France, the brutal reality of European bloodletting likely made him nostalgic for the Brazilian savages. During the infamous St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (August 24 1572), roughly 5,000 Protestants were slaughtered, and Léry later claimed to have witnessed a French Protestant’s heart being plucked, chopped, grilled, and even auctioned for consumption—though the veracity of this lurid tale is disputed.

Later, during the harrowing siege of Sancerre in 1573, Léry described a starving family that sacrificed a young girl, whose grandmother persuaded the parents to eat her. The grandmother was subsequently executed for her role. Confronted with the gruesome sight of the girl’s carcass, Léry’s stomach turned, and he vomited on the spot—a visceral reaction that underscored the stark contrast between the Brazilian rituals he’d observed and the desperate cannibalism erupting in war‑torn France.

7 Warring Christians Were Known to Eat or Drink Each Other

When Spanish troops ravaged the Dutch town of Naarden in December 1572, a hundred fleeing citizens were captured, stripped, and hung from trees to freeze. The marauding soldiers, described as “growing increasingly insane,” allegedly slit open the veins of some victims and drank the blood as if it were fine wine.

French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, in his essay “On Cannibals,” argued that devouring a living person was far more barbaric than consuming the dead, noting that contemporaries witnessed roasted bodies being torn apart while dogs and swine feasted on them. In April 1655, Catholic forces massacred Protestant villagers in the Piedmont valleys; a French officer named Monsieur du Petit Bourg reported soldiers cooking human brains, disguising breasts and genitals as “tripe,” and even skewering a young girl alive on a pike. After killing Daniel Cardon of Roccappiata, the troops fried his brain in a pan and were prepared to fry his heart—only stopping when nearby peasants threatened retaliation.

6 Much Supposedly “Savage Cannibalism” of the Americas Was Entirely Consensual

The classic European narrative of “savage cannibalism” often highlights violent, external eating (exo‑cannibalism). Yet many indigenous societies practiced internal, consensual cannibalism as a solemn funeral rite. The Wari’ of Brazil, for example, performed endo‑cannibalism well into the 1960s, only ending when missionaries intervened. Their ritual involved painting the corpse with red annatto, adorning the firewood with vulture and macaw feathers, and singing mournful songs while the deceased’s house was burned.

These ceremonies were far from gluttony. When an elder’s body was finally consumed, it could be putrid from the long mourning period, forcing participants to gag or even vomit, yet they persisted out of reverence for the spirit. Ironically, the Wari’ found Christian burial—where a body lies cold and sealed in earth—deeply disturbing, labeling it a polluting practice.

5 Like the Mafia or Academics, Savage Cannibals Only Killed Their Own

Exo‑cannibalism among rival tribes was a ritualized act of domination, but it was executed with elaborate religious symbolism. French traveler André Thevet documented the Tupinamba’s practice: a captive would live among the enemy for a year, marry, father a child, and then be ritually clubbed, roasted, and shared piece‑by‑piece among the tribe. The victim’s flesh was meticulously harvested, leaving only a clean skeleton after the ceremony, emphasizing “incorporation” of the enemy into the community’s very being.

Anthropologist Peggy Reeves Sanday noted that while the captors howled with fury, their faces often displayed a gentle, humane demeanor toward the condemned. The ritual was carefully staged, with the captive periodically revived to ensure he survived until the appointed moment, underscoring a paradoxical blend of cruelty and compassion rooted in shared spiritual beliefs.

4 Chinese Cannibalism (I): How Much Do You Love Your Mother‑in‑Law?

China, too, has its own eerie chapter of cannibalism, both consensual and violent. Scholars Daniel Korn, Mark Radice, and Charlie Hawes describe ancient customs of filial piety called “ko ku” and “ko kan.” In “ko ku,” a daughter‑in‑law slices a piece of her own arm or thigh and mixes it into soup for an ailing mother‑in‑law, allegedly prompting miraculous recovery.

The more extreme “ko kan” involves the donor opening their own abdomen, extracting a portion of their liver, and feeding it to the sick relative. The liver’s famed regenerative ability supposedly allowed the donor to survive, while the recipient remained oblivious to the true nature of the “medicine.”

3 Chinese Cannibalism (II): How Much Do You Hate Your Class Enemies?

During the Cultural Revolution’s violent climax in the late 1960s, cannibalism surged as a weapon of class warfare. In Wuxuan Province, students turned on teachers, brutally murdering the Chinese Department head Wu Shufang, then cutting out her liver and cooking it over a schoolyard fire. The foul scent of simmering human flesh soon permeated the campus.

In another gruesome episode, a young man, son of a former landlord, was bound to a telegraph pole, his stomach opened, and his liver removed while still barely alive. The still‑hot cavity forced the attackers to douse it with river water before cooking. Estimates suggest around 10,000 participants partook in such cannibalistic acts, with roughly 100 victims consumed, as recounted by former Red Guard Zheng Yi, now living in exile.

2 And the Prize for the Nastiest Cannibals in the World Goes to…

Two particularly chilling examples emerge. Seventeenth‑century French writer César Rochefort described the “Country of Antis” in South America, claiming its inhabitants stripped a high‑status victim naked, tied him to a post, and slashed his flesh, focusing on thighs, calves, and buttocks. They then doused themselves in his blood and devoured the meat raw, like cormorants, without chewing, while the victim watched his own demise.

Yet even this barbaric tableau held a twisted sense of honor: a person of “quality” received the worst treatment, yet the Antis supposedly showed respect if the victim remained silent throughout.

Perhaps the most unsettling contestants were the Solomon Islanders, as recounted by Earle Labor. In the early 1900s, islanders would stake live victims up to their necks in running water for days, “tenderizing” them before cooking. The practice, devoid of ritual or religious significance, treated humans as mere “long pig,” a term for meat, showcasing a stark, unembellished appetite for human flesh.

1 Cannibal Myths

One of history’s greatest distortions is the European portrayal of “savage” cannibals, which conveniently obscured the continent’s own industrial‑scale consumption of human parts. Historian William Arens attempted to deny any tribal cannibalism, a theory now largely discredited. The myth persisted, painting indigenous peoples as barbaric while Europeans feasted on corpses under the guise of medicine.

These myths also acted as a vortex, pulling in other lurid tales. In 1688, the Peruvian Chirihuana were said to devour enemies and indulge in rampant sexual promiscuity, even shouting for an old woman to be tossed from a basket for a live feast. Earlier, Francis Bacon reported that during the 1494 French siege of Naples, merchants allegedly barrelled fresh human flesh and sold it as tuna.

In 2022, cannibalism became a popular subject again for mass media purposes. First, there was the 2022 three-part series House of Hammer about disgraced actor Armie Hammer who was accused of sexual abuse and cannibalistic fantasies. Then there were shows like Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and Yellowjackets as well as the movies Fresh and Bones and All.

Cannibalism is nothing new, though. Shakespeare even tackled the subject in Titus Andronicus. By and large, cannibalism involves one adult eating another. However, there’s a long, dark, and forgotten corner of history about cannibals eating children. This article examines some of the most terrifying cases from the medieval ages about filial cannibalism or the cannibalism of children.

10 The People of Lamuri

Odoric of Pordenone is a Franciscan friar who lived from 1286 to 1331 and documented his travels during the 14th century. Odoric’s reports were subsequently popularized and even later plagiarized by Sir John Mandeville, who is likely to have never left his abbey or dispensary.

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville are how great minds like Columbus, da Vinci, and Shakespeare first learned about the wonders of the ancient East.

One of the many places that Odoric visited was Lamuri, a kingdom in northern Indonesia that lasted until the beginning of the 16th century. The area is believed to be one of the earliest places where Islam arrived in the Indonesian archipelago.

During Odoric’s travels, he passed through Lamuri, which is derived from the medieval Arabic word for the area of Sumatra, where the population traded. The populace of Lamuri walked around without clothing and made fun of Odoric for his clothes. The people of Lamuri also did not believe in marriage, sharing all women among each other. Odoric, however, noted that the people of Lamuri had one “wicked habit”: children were bought if adequately “plump” or reared until they were bigger. The people of Lamuri commented to Odoric that child flesh was the “sweetest meat in the world.”^[1]

9 The Siege of Ma’arra

The Siege of Ma’arra occurred in late 1098 in what is now Syria during the First Crusade. After capturing Antioch, Crusaders moved to the south and began raiding and pillaging each town they found, which is where they encountered the city of Ma’arra on December 11, 1098. It was a peaceful city whose economy was based on the growth of olives, figs, and grapes. Ma’arra was subsequently devastated by the Crusaders, who killed thousands of people.

But Ma’arra was also the site of cannibalism. Radulph of Caen, who chronicled the genocide, observed that adults classified as pagans were boiled in pots while children were impaled on spits, then grilled and eaten. Fulcher of Chartres, another observer at the time, wrote that the Crusaders, driven by hunger, removed the buttocks from corpses found in the city, which they then cooked and ate mostly rare.^[2]

8 The Waldenses

The Waldenses began as a Christianity movement in France during the late 1170s. The group was named after its founder, Peter Waldo, who was a wealthy Lyon merchant. Waldo had heard a troubadour sing about St. Alexius, the patron saint of beggars and pilgrims. This song, combined with the loss that Waldo experienced at the sudden death of his friend, led him to believe that all his belongings were worthless. This led him to give away his property to the poor and begin street preaching.

The Waldenses were persecuted heavily throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1655, the Duke of Savoy ordered the Waldenses to attend Mass or be removed from their homes. The Waldenses had twenty days to sell their land. The Waldenses chose to leave their homes and move to the upper valley, which required them to make a trek through the Alps in the middle of winter. The Duke sent his troops after the Waldenses and required the Waldenses to allow the troops into their homes, which gave the troops easy access to the group.

On April 24, 1655, a signal for a massacre was given, known as the Piedmont Easter. Writer Peter Liegé observed that children were separated from their mothers, clasped by their feet, and smashed against rocks or held between two soldiers and torn apart. During the Piedmont Easter, troops also cooked the arms and legs of people, including children. Other people were roasted alive.^[3]

7 The Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty ruled China from 1368 to 1644, during which time China’s population increased substantially. The Ming Dynasty is remembered for expanding trade, creating long-lasting drama and literature, and making porcelain.

The Ming Dynasty popularized a practice that had become popular during the earlier Tang Dynasty. In the 700s, a physician, Ch’en Tsang-ch’I, became the first Chinese doctor on record to prescribe human flesh for various ailments. Three requirements were necessary before the good doctor prescribed human flesh. First, the act must be voluntary—the donor had to donate parts of themselves for this intended purpose. Second, the donor and the recipient needed to bear a close relationship, which often meant that the donor was a child or child-in-law. And finally, the recipient could not know they were consuming human flesh, so the flesh was disguised in ordinary food.^[4]

6 The Great Famine of 1315

In the 14th century, cold weather and famine in England led to the Great Famine of 1315 to 1322. Before the cold came, Europe pushed itself to the limits of its resources. Four centuries of mild temperature led the country’s farmers to grow crops on vast quantities of land that were previously not suitable for agriculture. This led to an increased food supply which led to a population explosion and tripled the number of people in Europe. When these lands stopped being able to produce food due to frosts and floods, millions of extra mouths needed to be fed. This led to civil wars and rebellions. Two harvest failures in 1314 and 1315 turned into years of famine.

While all of Europe was hit, Europe’s towns were where the Great Famine hit the worst. Corpses piled up in streets, bodies were flung into open pits, and countless stories abound of cannibalism and child abandonment. The cannibalism of children was so common during this time that the folk tale “Hansel and Gretel” was created.^[5]

5 The Tupinambá

The Tupinambá are a group of South American Indians who speak the Tupian language and live on the eastern coast of Brazil. In the past, the group lived in villages that ranged in size from 400 to 1,600 people who supported themselves by farming and fishing in the ocean. War among the Tupinambá was a common occurrence. The group was focused on war and is alleged to have practiced cannibalism.

Manuel de Nóbrega was a Jesuit priest who lived from 1517 to 1570 and founded the Jesuit mission in Brazil. Nóbrega wrote in his book Reports on the Lands of Brazil that the Tupinambá only waged war out of hatred for the enemy. Nóbrega wrote that the Tupinambá fought one another and that when enemies were captured, they were kept as prisoners. At the same time, their daughters were taken as wives, and the prisoners were then killed with great celebration. They smoked corpses in the fire and then ate them. If the enemies left children, these were eaten too.^[6]

4 The Caribs

The Caribs are indigenous people on the northern coast of South America. Today, the Caribs live in villages along the shores of Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, and French Guiana and speak a language called Carib. Christopher Columbus was the first to report on cannibalism among the Caribs. Amerigo Vespucci wrote that the Caribs ate little meat except that which came from humans and that the Caribs ate all of their enemies, whether man or woman.

Observing the Caribs, Padre Augustin de Frias wrote that the Caribs from the Guarapiche/Guanipa area chose to eat young children instead of prisoners. The Caribs in this area also practiced a form of euthanasia in which the elderly were eaten so they would not have to face a lingering death. Some historians argue that these practices were merely the result of propaganda against Indigenous people, though, who resisted the Spanish.^[7]

3 The Aztecs

The Aztecs began sacrificing humans in the early fourteenth century. At first, sacrifices were uncommon but grew in number as time passed and the empire expanded. The Aztec sacrifice of humans was inspired by the idea that the human body contained energy that kept the sun in motion through the sky and subsequently renewed time, crops, and human lives.

During Aztec sacrifices, human hearts were offered to the sun, and blood was smeared on the walls to make sure Aztec temples were coated with energy. In addition to men and women, children were sacrificed too in the first quarter of the Aztec year. Children were purchased from their parents specifically to be sacrificed. Hernando Cortes’s man allegedly came across roasted babies, which the Aztecs carried as provisions but abandoned when they noticed the Spaniards.^[8]

2 The Korowai

The Korowai tribe of Papa New Guinea practices a type of revenge cannibalism that impacts children. The Korowai were in full swing during the Middle Ages and, for centuries, have believed in sorcery, witchcraft, and revenge on a widespread social level. Abnormal behavior among the Korowai can lead a person to be accused of participating in sorcery. Additionally, because the culture has had no breakthroughs regarding medicine and health, they have their own methods for explaining sicknesses.

Before someone passes away in the Korowai tribe, they might claim that they know who the sorcerer is. This might lead to a child being named. After the person’s death, the alleged sorcerer is then found, made to stand in a clearing, shot with arrows, cooked, and eaten. The alleged sorcerer’s body is then dismembered and placed on branches to warn others.^[9]

1 The Siege of Suiyang

China’s An Lushan Rebellion started in 755. The following year, the rebel Yan army had control of most of northern China. In 757, emperor An Qinxu ordered general Yin Ziqi to take control of Suiyang (which is the current day site of Shangqiu, Henan) because the city was situated between two major ones. Yin Ziqi’s 130,000-man army then took control of Suiyang while fighting against Zhang Xun and the Xu Yuan army of around 6,800 men.

Through clever tactics, Zhang Xun was able to kill around 5,000 Yan troops at first. Zhang Xun then killed general Yin Ziqi, which greatly disorganized the Yan army. In 16 days, the Yan army had lost around 20,000 men, which led Yin Ziqi to order a retreat. Yin Ziqi returned to take Suiyang later with 20,000 new men. The Xu Yuan and Zhang Xun had prepared for the battle by storing food inside the city of Suiyang. This was lessened when it was shared with neighboring kingdoms. Soldiers received very small rations. Zhang Xun was soon left fighting 1,600 soldiers who were starving and sick. The soldiers grew further desperate without outside help. Before long, Zhang Xun’s men were eating tree bark, tea leaves, and paper.

The dwellers of Suiyang during this time traded their children to eat and cook corpses. Zhang Xun even killed his concubine in front of his soldier and proceeded to cook and consume her flesh. When the woman was eaten, the troops ate the old and young. Before long, there were no more people to eat. Eventually, Suiyang fell to the rebels, and Zhang Xun was captured.^[10]