Experiments involving the use of people will always remain a controversial topic. On one hand, they allow us to obtain more information about the human body that we can put to good use in the future. On the other hand, we have a whole slew of ethical issues to consider. The best that we can do as civilized human beings is to balance the two. Ideally, we should conduct experiments while bringing the least possible harm to the individual. This list shows the exact opposite of that concept. We can only imagine the pain these people went through as they were treated like nothing more than guinea pigs by those who liked to play God.

10 Surgery To Treat Insanity

Dr. Henry Cotton believed that localized infections were the root causes of insanity. After he became the head of an insane asylum in Trenton in 1907, he began implementing a procedure he dubbed “surgical bacteriology.” During that time, Cotton and his team performed thousands of surgical operations on patients, often without their consent. First, they extracted teeth and tonsils; if that wasn’t enough, they would go deeper and remove the internal organs which they believed were causing the problems. He believed in his methods so much that he even performed them on himself and his family. He extracted teeth from himself, his wife, and his two sons (one of whom also had part of his colon removed).

Cotton claimed that his treatments had a high rate of curing patients, and that claim soon became a lightning rod for critics who found his work appalling. In one instance, he justified the deaths of 49 patients from the colectomies and stated that they were already suffering from “end-stage psychosis” prior to the operations. An independent investigation later revealed that Cotton greatly exaggerated the results. After his death in 1933, the surgeries at the asylum ceased and Cotton’s viewpoints faded into obscurity. To his credit, critics ruled that he really was sincere in his efforts to cure his patients, albeit in an insane, deluded way.

9 Vaginal Surgery Without Anesthesia

J. Marion Sims, revered by many as a pioneer in the field of American gynecology, conducted an extensive surgical study on several female African-American slaves during the 1840s. The study, which spanned three years, focused on a surgical cure for vesicovaginal fistula, a condition that abnormally connects the bladder to the vagina. But here’s the kicker—he performed the surgeries without anesthesia. One subject, a woman named Anarcha, endured a whopping 30 operations before Sims finally got it right.

This wasn’t the only horrifying study that Sims performed. Among other insanities that we’ve discussed before, he also tried to cure the infants of slaves suffering from trismus (a condition similar to lockjaw in tetanus) using a shoemaker’s awl to pry their cranial bones into alignment.

8 Accidental Bubonic Plague

Richard Strong, a doctor and head of the Biological Laboratory of the Philippines Bureau of Science, performed several inoculations on inmates at a Manila prison in an attempt to find the perfect cholera vaccine. In one such experiment in 1906, he mistakenly gave the bubonic plague to the inmates instead of the cholera vaccine, which resulted in the deaths of 13 subjects. A government investigation into the incident later corroborated the findings and stated that “a plague serum was probably substituted for a bottle of cholera serum.”

Depressed by the debacle, Strong laid low for awhile, only to resurface six years later for another series of inoculations on the inmates—this time with the disease Beriberi. Some of the participants died, while those who survived were compensated with nothing more than a few packs of cigarettes. Strong’s notorious experiments were such a catastrophe that they were later cited by Nazi defendants at the Nuremberg trials to justify their own horrific research.

7 Slaves Doused With Boiling Water

In what could more accurately be described as torture than treatment, Dr. Walter Jones recommended boiling water as a cure for typhoid pneumonia during the 1840s. He tested his treatment on numerous slaves afflicted with the disease over the course of several months. Jones described in great detail how one patient, a sickly 25-year-old man, was stripped naked and made to lie down on the ground on his stomach. At this point, Jones poured five gallons of boiling water over the patient’s back.

However, that wasn’t the end of the poor man’s suffering—White stated that the treatment should be repeated every four hours, which he rationalized would be sufficient for “re-establishing the capillary circulation.” Jones later claimed that his treatment cured many patients, an assertion that was never independently verified. No surprise there.

6 Electric Current Applied Directly To The Brain

While the idea of shocking someone sounds painful by itself, one man—a Cincinnati physician named Dr. Roberts Bartholow—took it to the next level when he sent an electric current straight into the brain of one of his patients. In 1847, Bartholow was treating a patient named Mary Rafferty who was suffering from an ulcer in the skull. The ulcer had eaten its way so far through the bone that her brain had became visible.

With her permission, Bartholow inserted electrodes directly into her brain and applied varying currents to observe her reactions. He repeated his experiment eight times over a four-day period. Initially, Rafferty seemed fine; however, she became greatly agitated during the later stages of the tests and soon went into a coma. Shortly afterward, she died.

The resulting backlash was so great that Bartholow had to leave his job and continue his work elsewhere. He later settled in Philadelphia and attained a very high teaching position at Jefferson Medical College, proving that even mad scientists can catch the occasional break.

5 Testicle Transplants

Leo Stanley, the chief physician at San Quentin prison from 1913 to 1951, had a crazy theory: He believed that males who committed crimes had low levels of testosterone and, according to him, raising testosterone levels in inmates would reduce criminal behavior.

To test this notion, Stanley conducted a series of bizarre operations in which he surgically transplanted the testicles of newly executed criminals into still-living prisoners. Due to a lack of available human testicles (on average, only three executions took place inside the prison annually), Quentin soon turned to using various animal testicles that he would process into a liquid and inject into the prisoners’ skin.

By 1922, Stanley claimed that he had performed the operations on more than 600 inmates. He also claimed that his operations were successful; in one particular case he described how a senile Caucasian inmate became sprightly and energetic after being given the testicles of an executed African-American man.

4 Shock Therapy And LSD For Kids

Lauretta Bender is perhaps best known for devising the Bender-Gestalt test—a psychological test that assesses a child’s motor and cognitive abilities. However, Bender also engaged in several slightly more controversial studies. As psychiatrist of the Bellevue Hospital during the 1940s, Bender administered daily shocks to 98 pediatric patients in an effort to cure them of a condition she coined “childhood schizophrenia.”

She reported that the shocks were hugely successful, and that only a small number of the children went into relapse. As if the shock treatment wasn’t enough, Bender also gave the children adult-sized doses of mind-bending drugs such as LSD and psilocybin (the chemical in hallucinogenic mushrooms), often for weeks at a time. And while it was never officially proven, there have been allegations that she got her funds from the notorious CIA program MK-ULTRA.

3 The Guatemala Syphilis Experiment

In 2010, a highly unethical syphilis experiment came to light when a professor who was studying the infamous Tuskegee Study discovered that the same health organization also performed a similar experiment in Guatemala. This revelation spurred the White House to form an investigation committee, which later found that government-sponsored researchers intentionally infected 1,300 Guatemalans with syphilis in 1946.

The study, which lasted two years, aimed to find out if penicillin could be an effective treatment once a patient was already infected. To do that, the researchers paid prostitutes to spread the disease to other people—mostly soldiers, inmates, and psychiatric patients—who did not know they were being infected with syphilis. A total of 83 people died from the experiment. These ghastly findings prompted President Obama to personally apologize to the Guatemalan president and people.

2 Skin-Hardening Experiments

Dermatologist Albert Kligman ran a very comprehensive experimental program on inmates of Holmesburg Prison during the 1960s. In one such experiment, the US Army sponsored a study that focused on finding ways to harden the skin. Theoretically, the hardened skin could protect the soldiers from chemical irritants while in combat zones. Kligman applied various chemical-filled creams and agents to the inmates, but the only noticeable outcome was permanent scarring and a good deal of pain.

Pharmaceutical companies also paid Kligman to use his prisoners as guinea pigs to test their products. While the subjects were paid to participate, they were not fully informed of the experiments’ objectives and the potentially adverse effects that could result from them. Many of the chemical concoctions ended up causing the skin to blister and burn. Needless to say, Kligman displayed ruthless, mechanical efficiency in dealing with the inmates during his tenure at the prison. In fact, after he arrived at the prison for the first time, he remarked that “all I saw before me were acres of skin.”

Eventually, public uproar and a subsequent investigation forced Kligman to shut down his operations and destroy all the information from the experiments. Sadly, the former test subjects were never compensated, while Kligman later became rich by inventing Retin-A, the “drug of choice” against acne. Sometimes life just doesn’t play fair.

1 Experimental Spinal Taps On Children

While lumbar punctures—sometimes referred to as spinal taps—are often a necessary procedure, especially for neurological and spinal disorders, we can all agree that sticking a giant needle into someone’s spine is a recipe for excruciating pain. Yet, in 1896, a pediatrician named Arthur Wentworth decided to test the obvious. During an experimental spinal tap on a young girl, Wentworth noted how the patient cringed in pain during the procedure. Wentworth suspected that the operation was painful (it was believed to be painless at the time) but was not totally convinced. So he performed it again—on 29 infants and toddlers.

He eventually reached the conclusion that although temporarily painful, the procedure was very useful in helping diagnose illnesses. Wentworth’s findings received mixed reviews from his colleagues—some praised them while one critic denounced them as nothing more than “human vivisection.” Growing public indignation over the experiments later forced Wentworth to leave his teaching job at Harvard Medical School.

Marc V. is always open for a conversation, so do drop him a line sometime.

The period soon after death can seem like a strange thing. During this time, the body undergoes various changes, shifting from living to being completely dead. While some of these changes—such as stiffening and changing color—are seen on crime TV shows, others seem a bit far-fetched for even the human body.

SEE ALSO: Top 10 Ways To Dispose Of Your Body After Death

Still, the things corpses can do are shocking and a bit creepy. From giving birth to an awareness that it’s dead, the changes that occur in the body after death seem almost too unrealistic to be true. The following list is not for the faint of heart—or stomach.

10 Move

Stories of dead bodies sitting straight up have been told for many years—yet the probability of such drastic movement occurring is slim to none. The body can, however, make slight movements after death. Though the movements do not resemble ones that a person would do while alive, they can still be startling for those around them.

Cadavers can do such things as twitch, move, and even clench muscles. This occurs because the body’s muscles are still receiving nerve signals to contract or even relax, causing the corpse to appear as if it is moving despite being dead.^[1] Once the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is depleted, the body will make its final movements, which can be seen in fingers clenching, hands moving, toes wiggling, and muscles twitching. Another factor in strange movements is how the person died. If there is excess calcium, a temperature change, or, in some cases, violent death or even electrocution, the body can demonstrate such movements.

This process normally occurs between the time of death and rigor mortis, so if anyone tells you they’ve seen a body sit up, they’re probably just trying to get a rise out of you.

9 Give Birth

Unfortunately, death does not have a moral compass, and anyone, even those who are pregnant, can fall victim to its embrace.

Giving birth while alive is a beautiful experience; giving birth after one has died is the complete opposite, especially for those dealing with the dead body. These “births” are referred to as “coffin births” due to them happening inside coffins. Basically, the pressure of gases building up within the deceased pushes the fetus out. The fetus has to be positioned in just the right (or wrong) way for this to occur.^[2]

Even though most of these cases of coffin birth occurred during times without the benefits of modern medicine, they still happen to this day. In January 2018, a woman in South Africa, who had died suddenly ten days prior, shocked people at the funeral home when they saw that she had given birth inside her coffin. The woman had been nine months pregnant at the time of her death, and all arrangements for her funeral had been made when the staff made the spine-chilling discovery that her body had expelled the fetus after death.

8 Eliminate

During the process of death, the body goes through various changes. One of these is the relaxation of every muscle, including those which control certain bodily functions, such as the elimination of urine and feces.

Postmortem elimination is due to the sphincter muscles in the body relaxing. As the brain dies, it no longer sends the signals to keep these muscles contracted, and the contents left in the bowels and bladder will end up being released. ^[3]

These bodily functions do not always happen after death; it depends on how you die and how much food and liquid are in your bladder and bowels before death. In the case of ill patients, there may not be as much food in their system due to the lack of appetite that can accompany illness. However, in cases of sudden death, bodies are more likely to release whatever was left in their system.

The process can take a few hours, though, so it’s best to let nature take its course on this one.

7 Make Noise

Most depictions of dead bodies moaning and groaning focus on zombies rather than the actual dead. However, while corpses aren’t likely to scream or yell, they are likely to make noises such as moans, groans, hisses, and grunts.^[4]

These bodies aren’t making this noise voluntarily, of course. When cadavers are moved after death, the air still left inside the windpipe will escape and vibrate the vocal cords, making noises similar to grunts and moans. These sounds have spurred the horror stories of dead bodies making noise, though the reality is less horrifying. The sounds can often happen when coroners or morticians are prepping or turning the body over; the air will escape, causing what appears similar to human sounds but are just the simple result of the rest of the lungs’ contents leaving.

Another way these noises can occur is when the gases in the body begin to build up. They can escape through the windpipe, causing squeaks, hisses, and sometimes lower groaning.

6 Illusions Of Growth

Even though someone has been ruled dead, it may take time for the body to fully cease functioning. Once the brain shuts down, the body follows, but some have claimed that though the body is no longer alive, the hair and nails continue to grow.

As horrifying as that sounds, the truth is that the hair and nails only appear to have grown. When a body dies, it no longer has a supply of oxygen, making it impossible for glucose, which stimulates nail and hair growth, to be produced. What actually occurs is that the skin around the nails and hair begins to retract due to dehydration, making it appear that the nails and hair have grown longer, when in reality, they’re the same as they were before death. This also applies to men with stubble and hair on their chest; as the skin shrinks, the hair looks more prominent, making it seem as if the body has developed more stubble after death.

Goosebumps after death due to contractions of the muscles in the skin can also impact how hair can appear.^[5] In some circumstances, it will give the effect that the hair has grown longer, but once the contractions end, the hair will return back to its normal state.

Those of you with hair, such as men with beards, shouldn’t worry. Funeral staff will moisturize bodies to decrease the look of dry skin.

5 Self-Digestion

After death, the body begins to decompose. It goes through a process in which it begins to digest itself—yes, essentially feeding on itself to aid in decomposition—through a process called autolysis. We still know very little about human decay, but the growth of forensic research facilities, or “body farms,” together with the availability and ever-decreasing cost of techniques such as DNA sequencing, now enables researchers to study the process in ways that were not possible just a few years ago.

Soon after the heart stops beating, cells become deprived of oxygen, and their acidity increases as the toxic by-products of chemical reactions begin to accumulate inside them. Enzymes start to digest cell membranes and then leak out as the cells break down. This usually starts in the liver, which is enriched in enzymes, and in the brain, which has high water content; eventually, though, all other tissues and organs begin to break down in this way. Damaged blood cells spill out of broken vessels and, aided by gravity, settle in the capillaries and small veins, discoloring the skin.

This is when the bacteria in our bodies come into play. Our bodies host huge numbers of bacteria, with by far, most residing in the gut, which is home to trillions of bacteria of hundreds or perhaps thousands of different species. Most internal organs are devoid of these microbes when we are alive. Soon after death, however, the immune system stops working, leaving them to spread throughout the body freely. This usually begins in the gut, at the junction between the small and large intestines. Left unchecked, our gut bacteria begin to digest the intestines and then the surrounding tissues from the inside out, using the chemical cocktail that leaks out of damaged cells as a food source.^[6]

4 Explode

Tall tales have been told of bodies exploding from the inside out. Though this may seem a bit far-fetched, it isn’t too far from the truth—in a way.

Spontaneous human combustion has been an explanation for many of these tales, but the reality is a bit different. When a body dies, its temperature usually drops. In some cases, the temperature actually increases, which is referred to as “postmortem hyperthermia.” This continuous increase in temperature can be caused by different things, from drugs to trauma to even signals in the brain before death. The body can continue to grow hotter, but the likelihood of actual combustion is low, as the temperature will begin to drop back down as the corpse goes into the regular stages of decomposition.

Still, there have been cases of bodies exploding—although spontaneous human combustion isn’t responsible. What happens is that, as a body begins to break down after death, the gases inside (the same ones that can cause moaning and groaning) have to escape. The gases’ continuous buildup can lead to an “explosion” of bodily remains.

This rarely happens. In January 2013, however, a corpse did explode in a mausoleum in Melbourne.^[7] Those visiting the mausoleum bore witness to the event—and the smell. The experience was enough to traumatize witnesses and ensure that better precautions were taken to avoid another such incident.

3 Appear Aroused

Responding to certain stimuli when alive is natural and occurs even in the most inopportune of times. While it can be embarrassing if the moment isn’t right, it’s nothing near as creepy as a dead man getting an erection.

Once the heart stops beating, all of the blood that was previously circulating begins to trickle down and collect at the lowest part of the body available. In some cases, depending on how the man died, such as those who have suffered a spinal injury or passed facedown, this can be in the genital area. The continuous pooling of blood is only natural, as is the reaction it causes in the dead man’s penis, referred to as priapism.^[8]

While this is uncommonly seen now, it can also happen with women. When a woman dies similarly, her labia can become enlarged, and her clitoris can swell.

2 Orgasm

Even though this sounds a lot like necrophilia, it thankfully isn’t. In corpses that no longer have oxygen pumping through them, this is unlikely ever to happen, but for those that are clinically dead but being used as beating-heart cadavers or as organ donors, the possibility of the body having an orgasm is there.

This isn’t done on purpose. Doctors who work with these bodies sometimes have to trigger parts of the spine electrically. In some cases, when the sacral nerve root in the base of one’s spine is stimulated, it causes a reflexive reaction by the autonomic nervous system. Again, this only works because the bodies are still receiving oxygen, despite being clinically dead. When the doctors trigger this part of the spine, the reflex it causes in the system can result in an orgasm.

However, because the body is clinically dead, no actual enjoyment or pleasure comes from this experience. The brain is no longer sending out signals, and while the body may react, it’s only doing so out of pure reflex.^[9]

1 Know They’re Dead

There are countless stories of those who have come back from near-death experiences and have given their interpretation of what they believe the afterlife is like. While many are left to wonder what happens after we die, scientists may have at least part of an answer.

Scientists have found that after death, the brain can retain some semblance of awareness. This means that after one has passed, they might actually be aware they’re dead. In a study of 2,060 cardiac arrest survivors who had been declared legally dead, meaning that they no longer had identifiable brain function, around 40 percent claimed they were still aware of their surroundings and conversations going on around them.^[10]

The period doesn’t seem to last long, research has found. As death is a process, the time between oxygen leaving the system and the brain sending its last signals can leave room for awareness. Scientists believe that there is an average time of 10–20 seconds of awareness after death. A severed head, for example, still produces EEG waves even after death, though a portion of these seconds have lead scientists to believe the brain enters a stage of unconsciousness.

Still, the idea that a body may be aware that it’s dead is nothing short of unsettling.

A daily stampede of 1.2 billion users makes Facebook the world’s biggest social media platform. This massive landscape comes with the usual creepy users. If they had a super-bizarre king, it would be Facebook itself. Recent investigations found that the company has information on people not using the platform and that violence is used to keep Facebook interesting. While its moderators struggle with PTSD, the company also wants users’ bank details, phone calls and know the last time when they had sex.

SEE ALSO: 10 Creepy Things Social Media Does To Control Your Mind

10 Brain Scans Can See Facebook

Most people have experienced the obsessive compulsion to check their Facebook page. Some might even experience withdrawal symptoms. Researchers decided to see if this so-called “Facebook addiction” showed up in the brain like a drug. The study was small and by no means conclusive, but the results were interesting.

In 2014, 20 volunteers answered questions about their Facebook habits and were diagnosed with a mild addiction. Afterward, each had their brain scanned while viewing images and pushing a button. The pictures rotated between Facebook-related pictures and road signs. The participants could choose when to push the button, but those who scored higher on the addiction survey turned trigger happy when Facebook popped up.

The scans showed that the platform caused a powerful response in the brain. Similar to cocaine users, the impulsive regions lit up. However, there was a big difference between people addicted to drugs and those hooked on Facebook. A cocaine addict’s prefrontal cortex is underactive. This region controls the impulsive areas of the brain and it worked just fine in the Facebook volunteers. In other words, social media addicts are not driven by real cravings they have no control over, but instead a complex mix of habit, cultural and social factors.

9 Users Have A Reputation Score

Reporting legitimate posts as false news is a problem on social media. To fight this, Facebook devised its own system to identify guilty users. Based on what content they flag, for what reason and how many times a user pushes that button determines a person’s “trustworthiness.” For some reason, this score only runs on a scale from zero to 1.

The system took a year to design before being implemented in 2018. The main purpose is to find the trolls and bullies. Many people maliciously report content as violations just to get a thrill. Others genuinely disagree with the material but because of personal preference and not because the post is inherently wrong.

The score is not an all-powerful fly swatter. This is merely one tool, used in conjunction with thousands of behavioral clues mined by Facebook to separate the genuine flags from the false. While this is clearly a great idea, the process that ultimately gives a user a score remains mysterious. Even more so; how these scores are being used.

8 Shadow Profiles

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive and founder of Facebook, appeared in front of Congress in 2018. During the proceedings, he answered tough questions about user privacy. In addition, he was grilled about shadow profiles collecting data on people who were not even using Facebook. Despite that this issue had been making the rounds for five years, Zuckerberg claimed he was not familiar with the term “shadow profile.”

This feature figures out the social circle and contact details of people who avoid Facebook but have friends using the platform. When these friends upload their own phone details, a shadow profile is created for every mobile contact without a Facebook account. Eventually, users with mutual friends give the site a perfect view of their social group.

Should somebody with a shadow profile join, Facebook will send them friend suggestions based on their social circle which, by then, is already known to the company. The idea seems to be a legitimate way that Facebook tries to connect people on the site. Even so, some people might not appreciate any company using their number, after purloining it from a friend’s phone, to create a ghost membership for them.

7 Secret Transcripts

In 2019, a group of third-party transcriptionists broke their silence. Facebook had hired them to transcribe recordings, most of which were voice conversations between Facebook Messenger users. The work was already strange, considering that some of the files contained vulgar topics and language. Additionally, the social media giant never provided an explanation as to why it needed the countless transcriptions.

Smelling a rat, the contractors went public. Facebook had no choice but to admit that users were being secretly taped through their phone microphones but added that permission was always given. However, this permission was necessary—and hidden in the small print—for anyone wishing to use voice messaging. When investigators combed through all the policies, they found nothing where users could agree to have their conversations recorded and farmed out to third-party transcriptionists. In other words, Facebook users could not agree even if they wanted to.

The company said it ended the project and that the transcriptions’ only purpose was to test Facebook’s speech-recognizing AI. This pedestrian explanation, whether true or not, was an admission that user privacy had been violated.

6 Moderators Have PTSD

A lot of users ignore Facebook’s policy against posting graphic, offensive and illegal content. That is where the moderators come in. Their job is to weed out these posts. In 2019, The Verge published an investigation into their working conditions. The original paper ran 7,500 words and covered an in-depth look at one of Facebook’s moderation offices in Arizona. During interviews, moderators claimed that the stress of viewing disturbing material, Facebook’s crappy employee rules and low pay created an unhappy environment.

Employees’ strategies apparently included smoking marijuana and having sex, which happened due to “trauma bonding.” Apart from struggling financially and working under what they described as Facebook’s “inhumane” rules, moderators buckled under a huge load of unsavory posts. These included child abuse and exploitation, racism and graphic violence. Several moderators broke down, developed PTSD symptoms while others turned paranoid by the repetitive conspiracy theories they reviewed.

5 The Brazilian Witch Hunt

In 2014, a tabloid posted a sketch on Facebook. The article claimed that the woman in the picture abducted children and used their organs for witchcraft. A group of people realized that the image “showed” Fabiane Maria de Jesus. As a result, the 33-year-old housewife from Brazil was attacked by a mob.

A graphic video showed the unconscious woman having her head smashed into the ground. She was then tied to a bicycle and dragged through the streets while a crowd cheered. The Military Police cleared Fabiane of any crimes related to black magic, organ trafficking, and kidnapping. Several people were also arrested in connection with the mob attack. However, none of this helped the victim. She was so brutalized that two days later, she died.

Facebook responded by saying the company did nothing wrong and accepted no responsibility for the murder. However, the attack could have been sparked by Facebook’s ignorance of Brazil’s fear of witchcraft and organ theft. Both are real issues, especially for the poorer communities. Facebook’s moderators allowed the post because it seemed mild but considering its audience, it was a cultural trigger that ended in tragedy.

4 FBI Recruits Spies On Facebook

In 2019, Business Insider reported that the FBI placed spy ads on Facebook. True enough, according to the platform’s Ad Library, the three ads went live on September 11. Despite the auspicious date and the cloak and dagger theme, the FBI was open about their intent. They were holding the door open for Russian informants.

When a person feels like giving Putin the finger, they can click on the image. The ad leads the future spy to another website. This page belongs to the FBI’s Washington Field Office Counterintelligence Program. A message, written in both English and Russian, informs the reader that the United States uses intelligence on foreign nations to protect its own citizens. Anyone with useful information is invited to meet with the FBI in person. This may seem like a strange suggestion but the fact is that 99 percent of Russian spies just walk into the relevant building and start spilling. When asked why they targeted the Russians, the Bureau would only reveal that the vast number of active soviet operatives posed a security risk.

3 Facebook Follows Sex And Periods

Privacy International is a Britain-based watchdog. In 2019, it discovered that Facebook had a creepy habit of following women’s periods and the last time they had sex. Of course, none of the women involved volunteered the information nor shared anything on social media. They made the mistake of trusting two period-tracking apps.

Named Maya and MIA Fem, users entered information to manage their health, birth control and even help themselves to conceive. The two apps, however, shared these details without permission with third parties that included Facebook. In other words, these third parties knew when the women last had sex or a period, when they were fertile and what birth control they used.

The apps started gathering details the moment a user installed and opened the tracker, before any privacy terms were agreed to. The information was passed on through the Facebook Software Development Kit, a product linked to the platform’s advertising network.

The unauthorized sharing of intimate details can be life-destroying. Experts are concerned that insurance companies and employers could use the information to discriminate against women by denying them leadership roles and making their premiums extra expensive. Why Facebook likes periods is anyone’s guess.

2 An Attempt To Grab Bank Details

In 2018, Facebook sidled up to a few banks. The company asked them to turn over the financial information of their clients. More specifically, Facebook wanted to eyeball people’s account balances and what they purchased with their credit cards. The Wall Street Journal broke the story and named some of the banks that Facebook approached. They included Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Citigroup.

In return for the financial data, banks would get featured on the Messenger app. This was enticing. Banks face a lot of competition from companies like PayPal. Messenger has over a billion users, which is a massive market and also Facebook’s commerce center. Should the app turn users towards using the banks, the latter would get an edge against their competition.

Give credit where it is due. Facebook shoved a delicious deal across the negotiation table but every bank thus far had said: “No, thank you.” One bank openly refused out of concern for their clients’ privacy, despite promises not to misuse the information. However, Facebook’s shoddy track record with privacy does not inspire trust. Least of all the idea that its staff members will eyeball every product or service you just paid for with a credit card.

1 Facebook Profits From Violence

In 2018, a journalist applied for a job as a Facebook moderator. The reporter took the position at a Dublin-based company called CPL Resources. This contractor has worked with Facebook since 2010. The undercover investigator was gathering material for a Channel 4 documentary called “Inside Facebook: Secrets of the Social Network.”

The training CPL provided was based on Facebook’s community standards. It soon became clear that not all abuse was created equal. The false employee was told to allow certain offensive posts. The training officer then provided two examples. One was real footage of a toddler being beaten by a grown man. The video was flagged as inappropriate in 2012 but still floated around on Facebook. Another was a meme showing a little girl being drowned with the words, “when your daughter’s first crush is a little negro boy.” When Channel 4 brought it to Facebook’s attention, the platform said that both should have been deleted.

It beggars belief that two graphic posts slipped through the cracks before being chosen as training material. Indeed, as much as Facebook protested that users were not being lured with violence to bolster their numbers and ad revenue, a CPL trainer told the journalist, “If you start censoring too much, then people lose interest in the platform. It’s all about making money at the end of the day.”

For the sake of your reading pleasure I have tried to balance the scary (jump-worthy even) with the eerie (sinister and uncomfortable). A list like this can’t be ranked so you get it in the order of my preference. Use the comments at the bottom of the list to add your own favorite moments; who knows, maybe it will end up on a sequel list!

See Also: Top 10 Must-See Recent Genre-Defying Horrors

10 Mulholland Drive—Smile, Boomer . . .

Imagine the screen directions: “smile”. So innocuous. So simple. And yet . . . in an early scene of Mulholland Drive, David Lynch shows us that two boomers smiling can be one of the most unsettling things you’ll see all day—at least until they re-appear later in the film in an equally weird (but more disturbing) scene! I never really did understand the point of this scene (can someone let me in on the secret in the comments maybe?). Anyway—David Lynch is awesome and this is a must-see movie.

9 Signs—The Birthday Party

The Sixth Sense was a great film with some amazing acting from Toni Collette. Two years later he followed it with Signs staring the indomitable Mel Gibson and the brilliant Joaquin Phoenix. The scene here is one of the most paused in movie history: and not for no good reason. Joaquin’s reaction? Yup: that’s pretty much how the entire planet reacted upon seeing this scene. On Youtube with a pause button it loses some of its creepiness, but M. Night Shyamalan did a brilliant job of placing it where he did in the movie and the effect upon first seeing it definitely ranks it as a top 10 creepy moment.

8 Sixth Sense—Under The Bed Scene

Speaking of M. Night Shyamalan, did you soil yourself when you first saw this scene from the Sixth Sense? I sure as hell did. This film really is special: it takes a real-life horror concept (münchausen-by-proxy) and puts it into a classic ghost story with a heck of a twist. The director is great but he has never quite managed to attain the same level of awesome as he did with this movie. Embedding of clips from this movie seem to be disabled universally, so if you want to check out this jump scene, here you go.

7 Zodiac—The Posters

Zodiac is a brilliant movie that anyone who loves serial killer lore needs to see. If you haven’t already, watch it today (and skip the clip above until you have). In the creepy scene, the character played by Jake Gyllenhaal thinks he is onto a lead and has a movie poster that he thinks reveals the killer’s identity. He visits a man he thinks can help him find the man who drew the poster because the writing appears to be a match for the killer. Now watch the clip: you won’t be disappointed. This scene, and the few moments thereafter in the basement are some of the most intensely uncomfortable I have experienced watching a film. In my eyes, the director (David Fincher) can do no wrong.

6 The Blair Witch Project—Guy In Corner

It turns out the people behind Blair Witch only needed a handheld camera and a hell of a good propaganda campaign in which audiences were led to believe that the film was based on real footage to get one of the scariest movies ever: involving no horror movie trickery such as bursts of sound to scare you. The final climax of the film is simply the scene above. If you haven’t seen the movie in its entirety you may not appreciate this scene, as it really needs the full length of slowly building tension to truly creep you out.

5 Silence Of The Lambs—Night Vision

If you thought the few minutes in the basement in Zodiac were awesomely creepy: you’ll love this scene! Here we see FBI agent Starling at the home of the man we know to be the killer. He lives in a veritable horror museum and clearly doesn’t bother with the services of a cleaner. The house is a mess, it is dark, and Starling is way out of her league. And then begins a game of cat and mouse in the dark and only the killer can see. . . Look out for that hand! Silence Of The Lambs it a horror movie everyone has to see.

4 Alien—Chest Burst

I suspect this is the one that almost everyone reading will have seen. This scene of the alien bursting forth from a human chest horrified audiences when it was first released. It was totally new and unexpected. I recently re-watched the entire series of movies and even after all these years I had to watch this part with my eyes closed.

3 Carrie—Last Scene

OMFG—it doesn’t matter how many times I watch this movie, that last scene still gets me. Carrie is one of the truly great horror movies—and while it has a special place in my heart because it is the first horror I ever saw, it is genuinely well made and well acted. This scene I have chosen is really the one that most stylistically reflects the type of horrors we see today. Whilst most of Carrie was about her preternatural powers, this scene gives us a dose of the supernatural. Please don’t watch the new Carrie film from a few years ago: this oldie is the one to see.

2 The Conjuring—Closet Scene

If you’ve been reading all the comments on the lists recently you will have probably seen me mention this scene. I rarely see horror movies at the cinema but on this occasion I did. I was sitting in the crowded theater which, despite being full was sitting in total silence. The film got to the clip shown above. At just the moment you would expect, the loudest and highest pitched scream issued forth from deep within me and I physically lifted from my seat. I didn’t just scare the entire place: I scared myself. Thankfully screaming like a teenaged girl in a movie is not something I do frequently—particularly given that I am over six foot tall and have a fairly deep voice! Watch the scene . . . try not to scream!

1 Hereditary—THAT Scene

SPOILER ALERT: this scene above has spoilers for a particular scene in the film. If you haven’t seen the movie, the clip will spoil a big part of it. And whether or not you have seen it, it will spoil your life. This is only included on a list of oddly creepy scenes because it is entirely unique in the history of horror movies. But it is not just unnerving—it is outright horrifying, brutal, gruesome, violent, and disturbing. Do not watch this video. You’ll regret it. The guy driving has since stated that taking part in this film has given him post traumatic stress disorder.

Plenty of petrified people are unearthed every year. Despite this overpopulation, the fascination with the dried-out dead remains. It is not hard to see why. Mummies offer unexpected markings and ailments. They also appear to move and cluster together in bizarre imitations of a living society.

Sometimes, all that remains are mummified pieces. Even these lonesome fragments can reveal bizarre traditions about love, death, and living cocktail drinkers who must kiss amputated toes.

10 The Hun Warrior

In 1993, a girl found a grave. Alena Kypchakova, then 12, found a collapsed grotto near the rural Kam-Tytugem settlement in Siberia. Inside were the remains of a Hun warrior and his weapons.

Around 1,700 years ago, the man was wrapped in fur and placed on a wooden bed. Next to him was a bow that originally was nearly as tall as a modern man. Pieces of birch arrows revealed that the shafts were marked either white or black, possibly for quick selection during a hunt. They originally came with iron tips and bull horn pieces.

According to ancient Chinese literature, the horn carvings produced a whistle when the arrow shot through the air. This was meant to scare the enemy and distract deer from fleeing. Try as they might, researchers failed to reproduce the effect.^[1]

The mummified archer is kept at a relatively unknown museum because locals refused all attempts by bigger institutions to acquire him for their collections. Located in Kokorya, the museum is now managed by Alena Kypchakova, who found the body as a child.

9 Pygmy Woolly Mammoth

The “island effect” is when a large species turns smaller to adapt to an island environment. The woolly mammoth was one of them. However, rumors circulated about the existence of mammoths that were naturally tiny and not because of island evolution. In particular, people reported finding the bones of these animals, adults and infants, on Kotelny Island in Siberia.

In 2018, scientists headed over to the island and found the first official remains. The unique carcass had yellow fur which soon earned it the name “golden mammoth.” There was a big problem, though. The body was in an inaccessible area. Not much can be proven until its recovery.

The surrounding permafrost did give it a date—between 22,000 and 50,000 years ago. It appears to be an adult about 2 meters (6.6 ft) tall. Normal-sized mammoths measured around 5 meters (16.4 ft) tall. The age of the animal provided the first real hope of a dwarf mammoth species. During that time, Kotelny Island was attached to the mainland, which removed the “island effect” as an explanation for the small adult.^[2]

8 Greenland Surprise

Finding heart disease, atherosclerosis in particular, in mummies is nothing new. However, when researchers wheeled five bodies from Greenland into the scan room, they expected healthy tickers. The mummies belonged to 16th-century Inuits, four adults and a child.

Atherosclerosis narrows the arteries in older people, and these were young adults (plus junior). The condition is also associated with high-cholesterol foods such as pork, beef, and dairy. The Inuit group would have dined on marine mammals and fish. The latter is packed with omega-3 fatty acids, a heart health tonic.

The 2019 study was done at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. During the CT scans, atherosclerosis showed up in three of the adults. Considering their ages and diet, this was surprising. However, there was no mistake. The mummies were exceptionally well-preserved. Even their blood vessels were intact. When the disease showed up in their arteries, the results were fairly conclusive.

These are the first cases of atherosclerosis from Greenland mummies, although their condition remains mysterious. A likely cause could be that they inhaled too much smoke from indoor hearths.^[3]

7 Unique Thigh Tattoo

In recent years, the British Museum obtained the body of a woman. Her mummified remains were found in 2014 in northern Sudan on the banks of the Nile River. When researchers examined the body, they found a tattoo on her inner thigh.

To make the faded design clearer, they zapped it with infrared imaging. They found something recognizable but unique. The tattoo’s unusual look was due to stacked ancient Greek letters. It read “Mixaha,” the name of the archangel Michael.

The monogram was familiar. Archaeologists had found it before on church artifacts and mosaics. However, this was the first time it showed up on a human body. The religious-flavored tattoo might have been a protection charm, or perhaps she wanted it because her faith was important to her.

The ink was around 1,300 years old, which also made it the first body art found from this time period. Although not the oldest tattoo in history, the Sudanese woman’s symbol remains a rare find.^[4]

6 Earliest European Autopsy

In 2013, researchers examined a gruesome relic. The partial mummy consisted of shoulders, a neck, and a head. The man’s death expression was disturbing, almost like a permanent scream.

Scientists thought it was preserved during the 1400s or 1500s, but analysis placed it between AD 1200 and AD 1280. This made it Europe’s oldest preserved human autopsy. It also placed the body right in the middle of what many considered Europe’s most backward time for science.

However, the mummy was prepared by experienced hands and surprisingly advanced techniques. The ancient doctor mixed lime, beeswax, and red cinnabar mercury. The potion was injected into the veins to preserve the body and add a touch of color to the circulatory system. The back of the skull and brain were also skillfully removed.^[5]

This went against the prevailing view that human dissection in the Middle Ages was a “cut up and throw away” affair. This man was possibly even preserved for future use in medical education.

5 Embalmed Human Hearts

France is known for romance, but things went a little too far during the 16th and 17th centuries. During this time, it was considered romantic to be buried with the heart of one’s husband or wife.

In 2015, a group of mummified hearts was found under a convent. The Convent of the Jacobins in Rennes was also home to a large cemetery dating back to said centuries. One lead coffin contained a woman from the elite class, which adhered to this macabre tradition.

Lady Louise de Quengo died in 1656. While her remarkable state of preservation was noteworthy, the best find inside the coffin was a lead urn. Shaped like a valentine’s heart, it contained the real heart of her husband.

Soon, a look through more elite vaults produced four similar urns. The hearts were cleaned and scanned. The images gave researchers a good view of the 400-year-old heart valves, chambers, and arteries. Apart from a healthy organ and another that was too damaged for information, the remaining three showed signs of atherosclerosis.^[6]

4 The Mummified Hand

In Hungary, the village Nyarlorinc has an ancient graveyard. Around 540 people were buried there between the 12th and 16th centuries. When researchers paged through old photos of excavations, they found the mummified hand of a baby.

Curious as to why only one limb mummified, the remains were analyzed. The infant’s copper levels were astronomical. After digging through the cemetery’s artifacts, both the source of the copper and preservation was identified as a coin that fit inside the baby’s hand.

This revealed an unknown way of mummification, but the coin also reflected a known tradition. When a child died before it was baptized, the youngster was buried in a jar with a coin to pay St. John the Baptist to perform the ceremony. That way, the baby could go to Heaven.

The Nyarlorinc child was indeed buried in a jar. Oddly, this tradition was never recorded in Hungary before. A deeper mystery was the coin’s date—between 1858 and 1862. It meant that the baby was buried at Nyarlorinc 150 years after the cemetery was abandoned.^[7]

3 Human Toe Cocktail

Bars are known for alcoholic creativity. However, one cocktail is hard to beat. To order the sourtoe cocktail, one must travel to Yukon territory in Canada. The next step is to find the Sourdough Saloon in Dawson City.

Ask for this particular drink, and the bartender fills a tumbler with spirit (often whiskey). The final ingredient—a mummified human toe—is then plonked inside.

The drink comes with one rule. Your lips must touch the toe. When that happens, the saloon hands over a certificate. So far, over 100,000 people have earned their certificates.

The drink’s history is just as weird. It was born in 1973 after an entrepreneur found the frostbitten toe of a rum smuggler. The digit had been kept in the smuggler’s shack since the 1920s and was around 50 years old upon discovery.

The entrepreneur started the drink as a way in which people could prove themselves as worthy Yukoners. The original toe was swallowed in 1980, but several frostbitten toes have taken its place since.^[8]

2 Double Mystery Solved

Rosalia Lombardo is among the most famous mummies in the world. When pneumonia killed the two-year-old in 1920, her father commissioned Alfredo Salafia to embalm her. This procedure went so well that Rosalia still appears to be napping.

Along with thousands of others, her body was interred in the Capuchin Catacombs under Sicily’s Capuchin Convent. The rest of the corpses were prepared by monks and dried out naturally. Rosalia’s perfect looks came from a long-lost embalming recipe that nobody could crack. For decades, the pretty girl also creeped people out because she appeared to open and close her eyes.^[9]

In 2009, anthropologists tackled both mysteries. One of Salafia’s handwritten manuscripts was found, and it revealed the ingredients. He used glycerin, formalin, zinc sulfate, chloride, and a blend of alcohol and salicylic acid. He simply injected the combined fluid into Rosalia.

The creepy eye thing is an optical illusion. She was mummified with her eyes slightly open. Nearby windows cast enough light to highlight her blue eyes. But as the day shifts and shadows change, viewers are tricked into seeing closed lids.

1 Club Dead

Rosalia is not the only tourist attraction in the Capuchin Catacombs. There are thousands more bodies. Although they are not so well-preserved, the mummies belonged to what researchers called “Club Dead.” It would appear that only the elite, dressed in their best, could hope to be buried there.

Creepily, nobody was buried. Instead, the dead were arranged in poses or hung on the walls. Corpses were dressed in their best uniforms, ball gowns, and religious robes. People were separated according to gender, age, and career. In the hall of professionals, several physicians and lawyers hung from wall hooks. In the nursery, children were in their cribs.^[10]

The subterranean world was maintained by monks who were paid by relatives to change the dead’s clothes and keep them clean. Today, most of the mummies have fallen into disrepair, but their doll-like desperation to act alive remains tangible. The Club Dead collection is part of a greater mystery. Sicily once had a strong tradition of drying out their loved ones. Experts still do not know why.

There’s just something inherently fascinating and creepy about people in masks. Perhaps you’ve read the Goosebumps book or loved the film The Mask. On the other hand, perhaps you’re thinking of a creepy masquerade ball or the emotionless, bloodstained visage of Michael Myers.

But there really is something extra horrifying about masks that it’s difficult to put our finger on. Imagine not being able to see the true face of the person looming in the darkness or meeting a ghoul who reveals who they really are by unmasking. See if you recognize any of the following characters and hope you never meet anyone like them on dark nights!

10 Kuchisake-Onna

Japanese legend tells of a female ghost called Kuchisake-onna, who is the soul of a woman murdered by her jealous husband.^[1] This spirit has been blamed for many assaults and deaths since the 1600s. She stalks dimly lit streets and alleys for victims, covering her mouth with either a fan, handkerchief, or medical mask, depending on which version you hear.

She asks travelers two questions. First, she inquires, “Watashi kirei ?” (essentially, “Do you think I’m pretty?”). Then she removes her disguise to show her bloody mouth with the sides cut wide. She asks her final question: “Kore demo?” (“Do you still think so?”). If you affirm her beauty both times, you’ll only walk away with your face slit like hers. Otherwise, you’re dead.

Stories of Kuchisake-onna were told during the Edo period (1600s–1800s), but then she disappeared until the 1970s, when a rash of sightings even prompted a police investigation. Could Kuchisake-onna have been turned into hannya, a once human woman consumed by jealousy and transformed into a demoness?

9 Ed Gein’s Human Masks

Infamous murderer Ed Gein took the faces (in addition to other body parts) both from his victims and from graves so that he could wear them as masks. Some masks appeared mummified, almost dried out, while others were more carefully preserved, perhaps as Gein grew more confident in his methods of procuration.

A few had lipstick applied and looked more lifelike, and four had been stuffed with paper and hung on the wall of his bedroom, almost like hunting trophies. The rest were put into plastic or paper bags, one of which was found by Deputy Arnie Fritz when he was investigating the house.^[2] It was nestled in a decaying robe thrown behind the kitchen door. When he opened the bag and saw hair, he reached in to pull the contents out. When he lifted the mask to the light, he realized it was the local tavern owner, Mary Hogan, who had gone missing three years previously.

8 Maori Masks

The Maori, who are indigenous to New Zealand, believe that masks, as well as other taonga (“treasures”), have spirits inside them that are tapu (“taboo”). Traditional beliefs also dictate that pregnant or menstruating women are tapu as well, so if they two should meet with something else that’s tapu, then a curse could be invoked.^[3]

This belief is so strong and deeply rooted in Maori culture that in 2010, the Te Papa museum in Wellington, New Zealand, which was exhibiting items of taonga, strongly recommended that pregnant and menstruating women should stay away. The contact between the sacred Maori artifacts and the women present could create a curse, as both the masks and artifacts and the women had negative wairua, or “spirits.”

7 Lead Masks Case

In 1966 in Rio de Janeiro, the corpses of Miguel Jose Viana (left above) and Manoel Pereira da Cruz (right above) were discovered on Vintem Hill wearing business suits and lead eye masks.^[4] They were electronics repairmen from Campos dos Goytacazes, over 280 kilometers (174 mi) away, and their deaths remain a mystery to this day. As well as the lead eye masks, they were found with waterproof jackets, an empty water bottle, two towels, and a notebook.

They were last seen buying water from a local shop, and Miguel was reported to have been in a great hurry and checking his watch a great deal. All that the notebook said was that they should be at the agreed place at 4:30 PM, to swallow the capsules at 6:30 PM, and to “protect metals” and wait for the mask signal. They were found with this paraphernalia and wearing the masks, but their bodies were not well-preserved enough to discover whether they had swallowed poison. Why they would need lead masks that would protect against radiation, towels, and notes about metals is a mystery.

6 Stolen Mayan Face

According to local legend, a mask was recovered at the property of a recently deceased gentleman who lived in Key West, Florida. It was said to have been stolen from an ancient tomb in Egypt decades prior.^[5] Psychics who held the mask reported sensing South or Central American energies. The caretaker of the gentleman’s estate said that he heard it was from a tomb, but he had assumed it to be Egyptian rather than from South or Central America.

The psychics thought that the pyramid they were seeing was probably an Incan or Mayan tomb instead, and when they held the mask in their hands, it was very cold but then suddenly became hot. It would numb their hands and send tingles up their arms as far as their shoulder. The most sensitive psychics wouldn’t touch it at all. While it is clear there is strange energy attached to it, it’s also possible that there is a curse, something not unheard-of when it comes to protecting sacred items from thieves or other enemies.

5 Carl Tanzler

Carl Tanzler was a German immigrant who claimed that during his childhood, he received visions of his one true love from his ancestor, Countess Anna Constantia von Cosel. Despite getting married and having two children with a woman who did not look like his vision, he always kept the face of his true love close to his heart. In 1930, after he’d left his wife and kids, he believed he’d found her at last. While working as a radiologist in Florida, he met a young Cuban American woman Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos. She was suffering from tuberculosis and died the next year.^[6]

Tanzler paid for her funeral and visited her mausoleum regularly. He was obsessed with Maria. In the dead of night in 1933, he took her body from the mausoleum and back to his home in a child’s red wagon. He put her skeleton back together using coat hangers, stuffed her with rags, and made her a wig from her own hair. She was dressed and put in his bed until, seven years later, following rumors of the desecration of her body, she was discovered by police.

While her body was covered with clothes, her face was a death mask of her former self, created by Tanzler, and was kept in his bed after the coroner had removed the rest of her body. Unbelievably, the statute of limitations had expired, and Tanzler’s case was dismissed out of court. He never faced trial or sentencing. Maria’s body was taken to a funeral home, where death tourists could view her before it was taken back to the mausoleum.

4 The Beast Of Jersey

Edward Paisnel began assaulting victims in 1960 on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands.^[7] Stopping short of murder, he would attack women and children in a long raincoat and a strange mask, and all the victims recalled was a strange, musky smell after he had sexually abused them. Paisnel also had access to a children’s home, La Preference, that was run by his wife. He would affect an Irish accent, would often tie a rope around the necks and wrists of his victims, and would drag them into a secluded area. They would be carefully selected and taken from their bedrooms after he had climbed through the window, abducted to a nearby field to be molested, and then returned to their homes.

As Jersey is only 119 square kilometers (46 mi²) in total, it is understandable how much fear he raised through his attacks—the rapist had to be someone everyone knew. His rubber mask was homemade and had black hair, and the tape he used to keep it on was later revealed to have marked his own face beneath. The mask was intended to conceal his identity but also to strike terror in his victims, people he abused until his arrest in 1971. Paisnel was sentenced to 30 years in prison for 13 counts of rape, assault, and sodomy.

3 Dennis Rader

Dennis Rader, also known as the BTK Killer (Bind, Torture, Kill), placed masks on some of his victims in addition to wearing a mask himself.^[8] After he had tortured and killed his victims (mostly women), he would later photograph himself in strategic poses, recreating what he had done as though he himself was the person he’d murdered.

Wearing their clothes and with a plastic mask of a woman’s face, he would take photographs of himself in his parents’ basement in Sedgwick County, Kansas. He would also travel to motels for the perverted photography sessions or go out into the woods. He was finally caught in 2005 and sentenced to life in prison.

2 Fabian Kramer

In 2012, after watching the horror film Saw (2004), Fabian Kramer became obsessed with murder. Just a teenager at the time, he wore a mask as he killed his landlady, 82-year-old Hanna Litz. He stabbed her 50 times in her apartment.^[9] The movie depicts how two victims are tied up in a bathroom, and the only means of escape is to saw off a part of their own bodies. While this did not happen in Kramer’s murder scene, he is said to have watched the movie and become inspired to kill while wearing a gruesome mask, which was set up on a mannequin in court at his trial.

After he stabbed Litz, he phoned the German police, who found him attempting to revive her, saying he was an “ambulance man.” The bloodstains on his body told a different story, and he was arrested and sentenced after the mask and a yellow-handled knife were found in his apartment.

1 Alex Mengel

In 1985, Alex Mengel was pulled over by police in New York while he was driving with three friends. The officer spotted shotgun shells in the car. Mengel shot the police officer, who later died. A day later, Mengel abducted 44-year-old Beverly Capone in her white Toyota. She was said to have vanished after she was last seen going to her car at 8:00 PM that night. The next day, in a residential area near Syracuse, a 13-year-old girl said a driver pointed a gun at her and told her to get in. Thankfully, she ran away before he could shoot or force her into the car. She said he wore a disguise: a wig with long, black hair, lipstick, and a dress. She later identified Mengel in a police lineup.

A week later, the Toyota was spotted in Toronto, and a police chase ended when Mengel’s car skidded on the ice. Beverly Capone’s driver’s license was found in the car with Mengel’s face pasted over her photo. Police also found a wig with black hair in the vehicle, but Mengel denied knowing Capone and said he’d stolen the car.

Investigators retraced Mengel’s steps and found a remote cabin where Mengel had hidden Capone’s ID card. Her body was buried in a stone wall by the cabin. She had been stabbed in the chest and scalped. Her face had also been peeled off, and it is assumed that Mengel had used her hair and face as a mask to try to escape. He was charged with the murder of the officer and Beverly Capone, but when he was being escorted back from court in a police vehicle, he tried to escape and was shot dead.^[10]

Alexa is a writer and inventor of the Haiku, living in Dublin.

Most people have wondered what happens after death, and there is no shortage of questions about what, if anything, follows the cessation of bodily function. Is there an afterlife? Will Elvis be there? Will my pets find me?

If the following list is anything to go by, you can be sure that you will meet little Nemo, Doggo, or Kitty again! Hopefully, they won’t be scary like the black dog of Newgate Prison or run around in circles like the chicken ghost of Pond Square. Whatever happens in the Great Hereafter, pray you don’t meet any of these devilish creatures . . . 

10 The Ghost Bear
The Tower Of London

The ghost of a bear is said to haunt the Martin Tower at the Tower of London, where the Crown Jewels were once held. One night in 1816, a guard on duty saw a huge bear and lunged at it with his bayonet. At the time, the Tower had its own menagerie that was later moved to the London Zoo and Regent’s Park in the 1830s. He could have thought one of the great bears being held in the menagerie had escaped!

The bayonet went through the bear and was plunged so deep into the wood of the door behind that it took two men to remove it. The apparition faded away after the guard attacked it. The guard fainted from shock and died two days later.^[1]

9 The Phantom Horse Of Bryn-Y-Maen
North Wales

A white horse haunts the back roads of the town of Bryn-y-maen in North Wales. It was seen on two separate occasions by different people, first by a man driving the back roads to avoid being stopped by the police, as his car wasn’t taxed. Dawn had broken, and he was driving toward a dip in the road. Suddenly, a huge white horse came over the hedge, and he thought it would crash through the bonnet of his car: “It filled the windscreen!”^[2] The car spun as he slammed on the brakes, but as he did, the horse vanished.

On the second occasion, a young couple were driving the same road and approaching the dip. Again, the white horse came over the hedge but disappeared as they hit the brakes. A possible explanation, or at least a clue, that has been offered is an account of a large horse skull being found when the road was being repaired, but no one has been able to corroborate this.

8 The Chicken Ghost Of Pond Square
London

One extremely cold day in 1626, Sir Francis Bacon was passing Pond Square in his carriage with a friend. Bacon was arguing his new idea of preserving food, whereby instead of salting meat, it might be possible to keep it so cold that it did not deteriorate. His friend, the king’s physician, didn’t agree, but nevertheless, Bacon obtained a chicken at a local Highgate farm, plucked and cleaned it, and packed it with snow, inside and out. Unfortunately for Bacon, his foray into the cold turned into a bout of pneumonia, which finished him off.

Soon after his death, news of a half-plucked chicken running around at Pond Square was reported. The chicken would allegedly vanish when anyone tried to approach it, and sightings continued throughout the years. For example, in World War II, wardens tried to capture it, but it ran through a wall to escape. Around the same time, a passerby heard what sounded like a coach and horses, but nothing was there to be seen except for a chicken running around in circles. It was also seen in the 1970s by a couple stealing a goodnight kiss in a nearby doorway.^[3]

7 The Merrivale Pigs
Dartmoor

A phantom sow and her piglets have been haunting Merripit Hill for 200 years, as the legend goes.^[4] On misty nights when walking the roads, you might stumble across them making their way to Cator Gate, starving and searching for food. As legend has it, the sow and piglets knew that if they traveled to Cator Gate, they would find a dead horse to eat, but upon their arrival, the horse had already been picked clean by crows.

The pigs are said to speak, too! The piglets cry out, “Skin an’ bones, skin an’ bones!” to which the sow replies, “Let ‘un lie, let ‘un lie.” Back they go, then, over the moor searching for food, only appearing once more when the night is foggy and dark.

6 The White Rabbit Of Thetford Warren Lodge
Norfolk

Thetford Warren Lodge was built on the Brecks, an ancient and wild landscape in Norfolk where prehistoric farmers once kept sheep and rabbits. The lodge was built in the 1400s by nearby monks in Cluniac priory as a residence for the warrener, the man in charge of maintaining and catching rabbits on the Brecks for food and their skins. The Brecks are filled with small rabbit burrows.

One enormous white rabbit with glowing red eyes is said to haunt the lodge and is an omen of death to whoever is unlucky enough to see it.^[5] Perhaps it has something to do with the old leper hospital of St Margaret close by, which was raided for silver and burned to the ground in 1304.

5 The Black Dog Of Newgate Prison
London

Newgate Prison once stood by the Old Bailey and was home to a supernatural hound that was an omen of bad luck.^[6] A prison inmate first wrote about the hound in 1596 and recounted that during a terrible famine in London, the prison inmates had turned to cannibalism to stay alive. A scholar was imprisoned at this time, having been accused of witchcraft, and no sooner had he arrived than he was overpowered by the stronger men and eaten.

Shortly afterward, the inmates began seeing a large, black dog roaming the dark corridors, and one by one, each man who had eaten the scholar was hunted down and torn apart by the beast. When the number had dwindled to only a handful of remaining men who had eaten the scholar, they were deranged with fear and broke out of the prison to escape. It is said that no man really escaped, however, and those last murderers were found by the dog and met the same fate as their fellow inmates.

4 The Demon Cat Of Capitol Hill
Washington, DC

The Capitol Building in Washington, DC, has witnessed some incredible history being made, but some might say not so incredible as the demon cat said to walk the halls at night. During the post-Civil War era, the night watchmen began seeing a black cat that would grow in size as it walked toward them.^[7] One man said that it grew to be as big as a tiger, and when it leaped at him to attack, he brought up his arms in fear of being savaged. But when he fell down and didn’t feel the weight of the cat, he lowered his arms and realized it had disappeared.

Could such stories be just the drunken ramblings of the night watchmen, who were probably just reprobate friends of powerful men who needed an easy job? You might think so, except that when concrete was poured to replace some flooring after a gas explosion in 1898, six to eight perfect paw prints were found indented in it.

3 The Black Cat Of The Hellfire Club
Ireland

Just outside of Dublin in the Wicklow mountains is the Hellfire Club, a hunting lodge that was placed right on top of an ancient burial mound. It’s said that Speaker Conolly, the builder of the lodge, used the standing stone from the cairn as the lintel. The club itself, founded by Richard Parsons in 1735, was known for Satanism and the members practicing black magic. Cats (and some say servants) were sacrificed to the Devil.

One famous story tells of a local visitor to the area went one night to see the lodge, the place that had such an intriguing and mysterious reputation. He was found dead the next morning, and his host thought with horror that he must have been murdered at the Hellfire Club during the night. He went with the local priest to find out what had happened. When they arrived at the Hellfire Club, they found a great banquet laid out and a black cat stalking the room. It was huge, and its ears were shaped like horns. The priest threw holy water over the cat, an act which tore it into pieces. When the priest went outside, he found the dead man’s host lying on the grass with his neck and face scratched deeply by what could only be powerful claws.^[8]

2 The Ghost Dog Of Airth Castle
Scotland

Airth Castle dates back centuries and has an even older graveyard just outside. As if that wasn’t enough, the place is packed full of ghosts! One of the most famous is a dog that will nip at your ankles if you’re not watching out for him.^[9] Maybe little Rex belonged to one of the children who burned to death with their nanny in the 1800s, or could he have been the groundsman’s little helper?

1 The Owl At Arundel Castle
Sussex

Arundel Castle officially opened on Christmas Day in 1067. Home to many royals and noblemen, it has been connected to such famous faces as Richard the Lionheart and King Henry II.

As well as a respectable amount of ghosts of the human variety, one apparition sometimes seen is a white owl that flies around the windows of the castle.^[10] Every time it has been seen, someone who lived in the castle or was linked to the building and its inhabitants died under mysterious circumstances. Hedwig never got this kind of press!

Alexa is a writer and lumberjack from Dublin, Ireland.

The Bermuda Triangle is famous for strange happenings and disappearances in the ocean nestled between Florida and Bermuda. That famous area has a smaller cousin further north, centered around Glastenbury Mountain in the southwestern part of Vermont. This mysterious area is known as the Bennington Triangle.

The Bennington Triangle has a history that predates the colonization of North America and persists to this day. It has inspired books and movies, as well as supernatural reports of Bigfoot, UFOs, and interdimensional portals. The truth of the Bennington Triangle remains unknown, but the area has mysteriously swallowed as many as 40 intrepid hikers and residents.^[1]

10 Native American Warnings

It’s stated in Joseph A. Citro’s 1996 book, Passing Strange: True Tales of New England Hauntings and Horrors, that Native Americans refused to set foot on Glastenbury Mountain unless they were burying their dead.^[2] They believed that the whole mountain was cursed land because the “four winds” met there in an eternal struggle. While most refer to this as a myth, there is some truth to it. The wind pattern on Glastenbury Mountain is so erratic that weather changes suddenly, and plants grow at odd angles.

Another myth attributed to the native people of Vermont is that they believed an enchanted stone among the cairns on top of the mountain could swallow a man whole. As reported by Davy Russell in X-Project Paranormal Magazine, a person would stand on the rock to survey the area from the highest point and find themselves suddenly swallowed whole. That person would never be heard from again.

9 A Ghost Town

Glastenbury seems to have been slated to be a ghost town since its very first day. In 1761, Benning Wentworth drew the boundaries of the town on a map without ever stepping foot there.^[3] The area had rough terrain and a very short growing season, so settling was an uphill battle all the way to the 1800s. Literally. There were technically two towns, Fayville and South Glastenbury, on either side of the mountain, but they were never connected due to the impossible incline between them.

Glastenbury was first established as a logging and mining town. Workers were brought up to log and mine coal by a railroad that climbed 14 kilometers (9 mi) at a ridiculous 76 meters (250 ft) per mile. Logs and coal were sent down the Bolles Brook, which forked near the town and flowed down the mountain. Both industries relied on finite resources that quickly dried up. In 1894, a final push was made to reinvigorate the town of Glastenbury by making it into a tourist hot spot. The simple buildings of the town were reinvented as hotels and casinos. The railroad was fitted with fashionable trolley cars. No expense was spared.

Unfortunately, the extreme logging of the past left the mountainside unprotected from soil erosion. In 1897, a massive flood destroyed much of the railway into Glastenbury. No more attempts were made to reinvent the town. People left the area to start over, leaving the town with a rapidly dwindling population. Ripley’s Believe it or Not! documented the Mattinson family in 1930. The three members of the family made up the entire town by themselves and held every office available between them. In 1937, the town was officially unincorporated. As of the 2010 census, a mere eight people lived there.

8 Strange Occurrences Since The 1800s

Reports of strange lights in the sky, sounds with no explanation, and odd odors on the mountain predate colonial settlements. These reports, combined with the many strange disappearances, have led to speculation about UFOs and wormholes in the area. Still, the strangest report may be the Bennington Monster. Thought to be an early Bigfoot or Sasquatch, the monster has been described as well over 1.8 meters (6 ft) tall, with hair from its head to its toes. The first sighting of the monster was reported in the early 19th century, when it rushed a stagecoach on a washed-out road. The beast knocked the stagecoach onto its side and fled into the dark with a roar. Luckily, no one was harmed.

In 1967, a somehow less pleasant monster began to appear on the mountain.^[4] The wild man of Glastenbury lived in a cave near Somerset. Unfortunately for everyone, he didn’t stay there. Reports say that he would descend into nearby Glastenbury and other settlements in the Bennington Triangle to harass women. He accomplished this by pulling open his ratty coat to reveal his nude body while waving around a pistol to scare off anyone who might want to stop him. Luckily, that seems to be all he did before fleeing off back to his cave.

There were strange happenings in the Bennington Triangle that were less fantastic than a massive ape man or gun-wielding nudist as well. The conversion to a tourist town was hard on the loggers and miners of Glastenbury and Fayville. In 1892, a sawmill worker, Henry McDowell, drunkenly bludgeoned a coworker to death with a rock after he heard voices telling him to attack. He was committed to an asylum but managed to escape and vanish. Only five years after that murder, another strange one followed nearby. John Harbour was a prominent Woodford citizen who went into Bickford Hollow, just south of Glastenbury, to hunt. He was shot by persons unknown but was found with his fully loaded gun just next to him and seemed to have been dragged several yards. Those who investigated his death were left wondering why he was so easily shot with a fully loaded gun and why his assailant would bother to put the gun next to him after dragging him. This murder has gone unsolved and will likely stay that way.

7 The Disappearances

The Bennington Triangle’s most enduring unsolved mysteries are the disappearances that plagued the area from 1945 to 1950. In that five-year span, several people went missing on or near Glastenbury Mountain. The first was a 75-year-old man named Middie Rivers, who often served as a mountain guide.^[5] He was leading a group back to their camp in November 1945 when he got ahead of them just enough to be out of sight. In that short time, he completely vanished. It’s unlikely that he became lost because he was highly experienced at navigating the mountain. Nonetheless, he was never seen again.

Paula Welden (pictured above), an 18-year-old college student who had recently taken up hiking, went to explore the mountain in 1946. Welden was spotted on her way by several people, including drivers who gave her rides and fellow hikers who warned her that she wasn’t dressed warmly enough to hike the mountain. Welden’s red coat made her easy to spot, but baffled searchers later couldn’t find any sign of her or her brightly colored clothes. Her case became the most famous disappearance, mostly due to the fact that it caused Vermont to found its own state police force. With no police of their own, Vermont had only one state investigator to put on the case. Police from New York and Connecticut were eventually called in by Welden’s father, but she was never recovered.

In 1949, three hunters went missing on the mountain. That same year, James E. Tetford went missing while on a bus trip from St. Albans to the town of Bennington. In 1950, eight-year-old Paul Jepson went missing from his Bennington home. Police dogs were able to trace his scent to the highway but no further. He was, coincidentally, wearing a red jacket similar to Paula Welden’s coat. That year would see the last of the disappearances with Frieda Langer. She disappeared while hiking with her cousin and friends. Her clothes had gotten wet during a hike and she went back to camp to change. When the group realized that she had never arrived, a massive search was launched. Volunteers, police, firefighters, and the military all joined together to search, but she was never found alive.

6 Remains Lost And Found

Only one body was ever recovered from the disappearances on the mountain. Frieda Langer’s body was found the following May. Search parties had previously heavily combed the field she was found in, leading authorities to speculate that there was foul play. Unfortunately, her body was too decomposed to give any insight into her cause of death.^[6] The advanced decomposition only made someone’s decision to move her there more mysterious, though. The process would have likely been messy and conspicuous.

Far more odd than the discovery of Langer’s body are those that were never found at all. There is dangerous wildlife on Glastenbury Mountain, but their attacks leave behind tons of evidence. Bears don’t usually swallow a person whole. Search parties were frustrated to find no signs of the missing people whatsoever. Both Welden and Jepson were wearing bright red coats that should have been easy to spot on their own. Rivers and Langer seemed to disappear suddenly without being too far from their companions. Tetford’s case is odder still, since he disappeared from a bus. He was surrounded by witnesses but still vanished between stops.

5 A Serial Killer

The pattern of the disappearances has led some to suggest a serial killer was responsible. All of the people who vanished did so within the winter, which suggested something other than chance was at play. The first disappearances left no trace at all, and Langer’s body was discovered in a place that had already been searched. Perhaps someone was extremely successful in abducting and killing people near the highway or on the mountainside. And, like many other killers, maybe that person succumbed to the desire to show off when they moved Langer’s body into the open. It would explain why no traces have been found of the other victims and why Paul Jepson’s trail went cold on the highway. It would even make sense in Welden’s case, since she hitchhiked to the mountain and may have accepted a ride home as well.

As appealing as this explanation is, there are a few problems. The first is that Langer and Rivers went missing on the mountain near friends. It would be extremely risky for a serial killer to abduct someone with their friends within earshot. The second problem is that the victims don’t follow a pattern. Serial killers tend to have a type. It would be extremely rare for one to pick up two elderly men, an 18-year-old woman, an eight-year-old boy, and a 53-year-old woman.^[7] An opportunity killer who is fine with a wide range of victims wouldn’t fit the same profile as one who would be willing to risk grabbing Rivers or Langer near their parties.

4 Supernatural Explanations

Without the serial killer theory, the next most interesting explanations are the supernatural ones. Each has its own flavor of strangeness, and it’s hard to judge which is the wildest. High on that side of the spectrum is the man-swallowing boulder hidden among the cairns at the mountain’s peak. No one knows how the cairns were assembled there or when, but they probably don’t actually eat people. Probably.^[8] However, this description of people being swallowed whole into a rock may have sparked the cross-dimensional wormhole idea. And disappearances coupled with odd lights, sounds, and odors may have led to UFO conspiracy theories in the area.

But the supernatural explanations tend to lack substance. Worse still, they’ve changed drastically over the years. Writer Joe Durwin has covered the strange folklore in his column “These Mysterious Hills” and explains how the mythos of the Triangle has changed with the times. When newspapers first reported on the Bennington Triangle phenomena, the explanation was tied into Native American legends. In the 1990s, the explanations shifted to UFOs and other ideas popularized by The X-Files. In the early 2000s, the myths circled back to Bigfoot and the Bennington Monster. Durwin isn’t overly critical of the supernatural, though. The stories are important to him. They keep the memories of those who disappeared alive and inspire people to think critically.

3 Practical Explanations

In all the research that has been done to answer the maddening questions of the Bennington Triangle, some practical answers have been found. They make sense, even if they aren’t entirely satisfying. One explanation is hypothermia. Temperatures on the mountain can drop very low, and the disappearances did all happen in the winter. When experiencing hypothermia, people might engage in terminal burrowing.^[9] This is a survival behavior that drives people to find someplace small and remote to huddle. It gets people out of the wind and may provide enough warmth to help slow the process of freezing to death, but it usually kicks in too late and just makes it hard for the person to be found.

Another explanation has to do with the area’s history as a mining town. The mountainside is littered with unmarked mine shafts that may cause hikers who go off-trail to plummet to their deaths. Both of these can explain why the missing people were never found. One more complicating factor is the odd wind pattern on the mountain. Most places have a wind pattern that influences how plants grow. We don’t consciously acknowledge it, but this pattern of growth is one of the ways we orient ourselves when outdoors. Glastenbury Mountain has no consistent wind pattern, so plants grow in odd ways. Many modern hikers have had difficulty navigating the mountain for this reason, and it is the basis for the Native American myth about the four winds.

Some of these help to explain why the missing people were never found, but there are still loose ends. If the people perished from hypothermia or a fall, why was Langer moved back into the open months later, and why did Jepson’s trail end at the highway? Maybe the most practical answer is that not all five of the Bennington cluster died in the same way. Some may have met with a killer, while others burrowed or fell. But, if so, why did the disappearances span only five years and stop so abruptly?

2 Modern Reports

Some adventurous souls who’ve heard the rumors have set out to explore the trail infamous for the five-year period of disappearances. One such adventurer is Chad Abramovich of the website Obscure Vermont. He reported on a trip taken to the mountain, saying, “Myself and a few friends departed in his pickup truck and drove up the bumpy forest road into a strange clearing in the middle of the hills. Here, underneath summer humidity, we found old cellar holes almost entirelly [sic] hidden by tall grasses, beneath the shade of gnarled apple trees.”

Shortly after this, Abramovich and his group experienced a sudden, drastic change in the weather. It was a sunny July afternoon when they started, but a torrential thunderstorm quickly appeared. The group was stranded for some time but finally managed to make it back to the flats. When they escaped the downpour, they found that the surrounding area was bone-dry. Locals later confirmed that no thunderstorm had passed through their area.

Robert Singley, a music composition teacher at Bennington College and an experienced hiker, became lost on the mountain in 2008.^[10] He took a trail he knew well to nearby Bald Mountain and then used the same trail to go back. However, the well-known trail didn’t lead where it should have. According to Singley, he walked 8 kilometers (5 mi) before realizing that he should have reached his car already. Just as he became concerned, a heavy fog rolled in, and the whole trail became hopelessly dark. He went to a maple tree that he felt called to him from the fog and tried to start a fire. Every stick he reached for turned out to be an animal bone. This would have distressed most people, but Singley was only upset about his fiancee. He imagined she was worried sick. He finally managed to light a fire and huddled by it through the night. In the morning, he found that he had somehow ended up on the other side of the ridge from his car. Luckily, he made it back to tell the tale.

1 A Popular Trail For Unwitting Hikers

Dedicated hikers tend to seek out challenging trails, like the Long Trail that spans 439 kilometers (273 mi) through Vermont and ends at the edge of Canada. If taken in one go, the Long Trail lives up to its name. It takes from two to four weeks to complete the entire trek. This practice is known as thru-hiking. Hikers tend to plan their trips ahead of time, marking out places to stay and refuel on their maps. They tend to pick their time of year carefully, avoiding the snow of winter and the mudslides of summer. One thing that hikers usually don’t know about at all is the Bennington Triangle, which overlaps the Long Trail.

The Green Mountain Club finished expanding the trail in 1930, and it still maintains the trail and mentors hikers who aim to thru-hike there. Many guides exist for the Long Trail. Advice is abundant. Trail mentors advise bug netting to avoid black fly bites, carrying as little gear as possible, and making sure to bring a water filter. The advice is good and is specific to this trail, which has plenty of water sources and access to nearby towns if needed.

However, there is no mention of monsters or UFOs. There aren’t even mentions of the more realistic threats of mine shafts and hidden cellars. One guide even encourages hitchhiking from the trail into towns for supplies.^[11] It seems like the infamous five years of disappearances have been all but forgotten by the very people who have the most to fear on Glastenbury Mountain. With people unaware of the terrain’s dangers and happily hopping into strangers’ cars, the disappearances may not be over after all.

Renee is an Atlanta-based graphic designer who enjoys writing articles.

For countless years, humans have sat around campfires and regaled one another with tales of mythical, shape-shifting beasts. These macabre creations horrify and thrill in equal measure. They chase us through our nightmares. They play tricks on the mind during those dark winter nights.

We seem equally fascinated by the idea of humans transforming into animals, or therianthropy. The transformation scene from An American Werewolf in London remains an iconic depiction of this otherworldly change. Such horror reminds us of our own animalistic roots.

In modern times, most cultures see shape-shifting and therianthropy as the work of overactive imaginations or the remnants of a superstitious past. But, as some of the entries in this list will show, shape-shifting demons and witch therianthropes are not quite in the rearview mirrors of all cultures.

10 Tanuki

Go to Japan, and you will find the landscape peppered with statues of creatures baring inordinately large testicles. These ceramic sculptures are depictions of the tanuki—small, raccoon-like animals that are common to Japanese folklore. (Actual Japanese raccoon dogs are also referred to as tanuki.)

Japanese legend speaks of a tile-maker who was made wealthy from a dancing tea kettle. The kettle was said to be a shape-shifting creature called a tanuki. These mythical beings were raccoon dogs that used their shape-shifting abilities to reward the kindly acts of strangers.

The tale begins with a Shinto priest repairing an old tea kettle. He places the kettle, now spick and span, on a hot stove. The priest is horrified when, all of a sudden, the object sprouts arms and legs. “Ouch!” cries the tanuki. Thinking the kettle is cursed, the priest gives it away to a local tile-maker. Now in the possession of a new master, the shape-shifter strikes a deal. It promises to serve as the man’s “dancing kettle” in exchange for his kindness and respect.

Some tanuki are said to have a much darker side to them. In the tale of the “Farmer and the Badger,” a tanuki shape-shifter destroys a Japanese farmer’s rice field.^[1] The farmer ensnares the mischievous animal and vows to turn it into tanuki soup. But the farmer’s wife takes pity on the tanuki and lets it escape. In an act of vengeance, the tanuki murders the woman and turns her into soup. The tanuki then transforms into the farmer’s wife and tries to make the farmer eat a bowl of his beloved’s delicious remains.

The story gets stranger yet. An enraged rabbit—one of the farmer’s friends—takes exception to the horror show. The rabbit punishes the tanuki by playing a series of tricks on it. The rabbit hurls a bee’s nest on the tanuki, sets him on fire, and thwarts him in a boat race.

9 Changelings

It was once believed that fairies, elves, or witches would abduct human infants and replace them with their own sinister offspring. The original babies were either raised by the mythological creatures or handed over to the Devil as a sacrificial gift.

While the changeling takes on the guise of a small child, there are obvious signs that a swap has taken place. Changelings were said to speak with greater wisdom than that expected of a normal child. They also liked to dance, drink, and eat. However, despite their insatiable appetite, the creatures often displayed stunted growth.

Changelings are common to European folklore and may even have pre-Christian roots. The first documented case of a changeling was described by the Bishop of Paris William of Auvergne in 13th-century France:

They say they are skinny and always wailing and such milk-drinkers that four nurse maids do not supply sufficient milk to feed one. These appear to have remained with their nurses for many years, and afterward to have flown away, or rather vanished.^[2]

The “brewery of eggshells” test was commonly used to confirm the presence of a changeling. The child was placed in front of a roaring fire. A series of eggshells were filled with water and set ablaze. The display was enough to impress the changeling, prompting it to exclaim: “I have seen the acorn before the oak: I have seen the egg before the white chicken: I have never seen the equal to this!”

Parents who felt they were the victims of changeling swaps took extreme measures. It was thought the fairies would return the original baby if the changeling was harmed. This meant the “counterfeit children” were often burned, beaten, or starved.

In reality, the “changeling” was probably just a sickly child. The parents were likely confusing simple childhood disorders like autism or birth defects like spina bifida with superstitious manifestations.

8 Pooka

A mythical fairy of Celtic folklore, the pooka is a dark-furred creature that assumes a variety of forms. The name stems from the Old Irish word for “goblin,” puca. Legend has it that the pooka have used their shape-shifting powers to change into cats, rabbits, horses, ravens, goats, goblins, and even humans.

The pooka’s motives are usually unclear, demonstrating both malevolent and benevolent intentions. According to some folklorists, the pooka usually comes out to wreak havoc at night. These sly pranksters leave their mountaintop homes to roam the countryside, smashing fences and spoiling crops.

Its most common form is reported to be that of a black horse with golden eyes. The horse gallops around remote areas looking for a suitable rider. Those who fail to answer the creature’s calls have no alternative but to watch as the horse destroys their earthly possessions.

It is said that Ireland’s King Brian Boru once tamed the fabled beast. He leashed the pooka with a bridle made from its own tail.^[3] The king rode the pooka until it was utterly exhausted. He made the creature promise to leave both Christians and Irishmen in peace. The pooka was given a slight concession, though. It was still permitted to play its devilish tricks on unsuspecting drunkards and evildoers.

Pooka can, on occasion, show a more caring side. Some of the more superstitious parts of Ireland believe the pooka reveals prophecies and warns people about evil fairies. They also reward acts of kindness by helping out with manual labor.

7 Skinwalkers

Skinwalkers were once normal members of the Navajo and Ute tribes. But after embracing dark magic and witchcraft, these former tribesmen ended up traveling a very different path.

The skinwalker cloaks itself in the skin of whatever animal it wishes to become. These therianthropes can become bears, wolves, owls, coyotes, and crows. According to Navajo mystics, the skinwalker takes on the properties of that animal. For example, a tribal shaman could change into a wolf to gain speed and agility.

To become a skinwalker, a medicine man must commit an act of great evil, like killing a close family member or friend. These disgraced shamans are permanently exiled from Navajo life. They have become, in Navajo tongue, yee naaldlooshii : “With it, he goes on all fours.”

Skinwalkers are often cast out because of necrophilia, murder, or grave robbery. They also play sadistic practical jokes on others. They plant dismembered fingers in homes to lure apparitions and chase frightened motorists in dead of night.

But the skinwalker’s secret weapon appears to be “corpse powder.” The powder induces convulsions and causes the recipient’s tongue to drop out.^[4] Because they possess such formidable knowledge of spiritual medicine, the Navajo people blame skinwalkers for death, disease, and famine.

6 Kumiho

Popularized in Korean folklore, the kumiho (aka gumiho) is a nine-tailed fox with a penchant for young men. The kumiho is actually a demon who tries to lure men to their deaths by shape-shifting into a seductive woman. The demon fox uses a magical stone to extract the soul of its besotted victim. In some versions of the story, the fox rips out the liver or heart. This can take place while the demon is engaging in sexual acts.

In “The Jewel of the Fox’s Tongue,” a shape-shifting kumiho slays 99 schoolboys, siphoning off their human energy.^[5] In accordance with similar tales of the kumiho, the fox needs to claim just one more soul to reach heaven. But she is bested by her final victim. The fox tries to take the boy’s energy by rolling an enchanted jewel (yeowu guseul ) over his mouth. He sees through the fox’s ploy and swallows the jewel. This grants him great wisdom. He sees no other option but to rally his fellow villagers and hunt down the deceitful kumiho.

The Korean word for “fox,” yowu, has negative connotations. It is often used to describe women who are cunning and manipulative. Tales of the kumiho aim to promote Confucian principles, warning Korean women against engaging in sexual deviancy.

5 Nagual

The Aztecs believed that animal spirits were linked to each person’s life energy. The nature of this spirit was determined through the Mesoamerican calendar. Sorcerers who had the power to transform into animals, and were born on certain dates, were known as naguals. The Olmecs and the Maya thought naguals were stealthy night stalkers who drank the blood of innocent mortals. Other reports suggested they could control the weather and cast bizarre illusions.

The historian Antonio de Herrera penned one of the earliest accounts of these mysterious figures. He argued that the Devil would assume the form of a “lion, tiger, coyote, lizard, snake, bird, or other animal” to con the Maya tribespeople of Cerquin, Honduras. Herrera spoke of a tribesman who, in a desperate bid to achieve the wealth of his ancestors, embraced nagualism. After performing a sacrificial ritual in which he laid waste to a dog or a fowl, the man slept. Talking spirit animals filled his dreams and delivered the following prophecy:

On such a day go hunting and the first animal or bird you see will be my form, and I shall remain your companion and Nagual for all time.^[6]

It is likely this prophecy was the work of an intoxicating plant called peyote (peyotl ). Its hallucinogenic properties were often mistaken for supernatural divinations.

In many parts of rural Mexico, the legend of the nagual lives on. Recent sightings suggest the beast has now taken on a more feral appearance, looking like a large dog or wolf. The naguals have been blamed for missing persons, stolen goods, damaged property, and dead livestock.

4 Madame Pele And The Hog Child

Madame Pele is an ancient deity who played a major role in shaping the Hawaiian Islands. It is no wonder, then, that Pele plays such a pivotal role in Hawaiian culture. Stores feature her memorabilia. The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has a large painting of the goddess. And there is a volcanic rock formation called Pele’s Chair.

The shape-shifting goddess is also known by the name Pelehonuamea, or “she who shapes the sacred land.” Locals claim they have seen their goddess in the form of a white dog or a beautiful woman.

Legend has it that Madame Pele was born in Tahiti. She was forced to flee, however, after seducing her sister’s husband—a wise decision, considering that her sister was the goddess of the sea. The voyage took her to the islands of Hawaii, where she used a divining rod (pa`oa) to create a series of giant fire pits. These pits represent the region’s many volcanoes.

Madame Pele eventually settled down in Hawaii and created the most active of the island’s volcanoes, Kilauea. Today’s volcanic activity is said to be more pronounced when Pele is angered. It is, therefore, not unusual for local islanders to leave offerings to ease her mood.

In 2018, many locals celebrated the eruption of Kilauea. The event triggered a number of earthquakes and destroyed many homes. “My house was an offering for Pele,” explained retired schoolteacher Monica Devlin. “It’s an awe-inspiring process of destruction and creation and I was lucky to glimpse it.”

The goddess was romantically pursued by another shape-shifter—the demigod Kamapua’a (aka the Hog Child).^[7] Kamapua’a could transform into fish, plants, and a powerful human-hog hybrid. Madame Pele was repulsed by the Hog Child’s advances, attacking him with a torrent of fire. In the ensuing battle, Kamapua’a wielded an unstoppable army of hogs to defeat Pele and her relatives.

3 Ilimu

Horrifying accounts of a predatory demon have spread throughout parts of Africa. One of the Bantu tribes of Kenya, the Kikuyu, names this evil hunter the ilimu. Some tribe members say the ilimu takes on the form of a healthy man. Others claim he looks more like a deformed village elder, with one of his feet jutting from the back of his neck.

According to Kenyan folklore, the ilimu is a flesh-eating terror that can shape-shift into a replica of another human. To do this, the ilimu must steal the target’s hair, nail clippings, or blood.^[8]

The demon can also possess a range of animals, most often lions. Some African tribes attribute lion attacks to ilimu activity, consulting medicine men for solutions.

In 1898, the British Empire coordinated the construction of a railway bridge over the Tsavo River. A large camp was established near the site to accommodate thousands of Indian workers. This served as an ideal hunting ground for a pair of highly intelligent lions—the Tsavo Man-Eaters (aka “The Ghost and The Darkness”). The duo worked together to outmaneuver their prey. During a series of nightly skirmishes, the lions negotiated their way around the camp’s man-made traps and fortifications. They would then target the slumbering workmen, one by one, spiriting them away into the undergrowth.

These attacks went on for months, prompting hundreds of workers to flee. News of demon tigers had spread like wildfire through the camps. The bridge project’s overseer, Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, spent weeks hunting the animals. But they were too clever to fall victim to Patterson’s many and varied traps. Eventually, after several direct encounters, Patterson shot and killed the Man-Eaters. Incredibly, one of the lions took nine bullets before succumbing to its injuries.

2 Leyak

On the Indonesian island of Bali, the Witch Widow, Rangda, reigns supreme. She uses a formidable cult of child-eating witches to terrorize the island’s superstitious population. Together, they are known as the leyak.

During the day, the leyak blend in with the crowds. It is only after sunset that the leyak reveals its true form. They spend their nights desecrating grave sites, looking for body parts to steal. These organs are used to craft a magical concoction that grants the leyak its shape-shifting power. Leyak can transform into monkeys, goats, lions, or other animals.

If that was not bizarre enough, a leyak can deliberately rip off its own head. It then flies around, entrails dangling in the wind, in search of sustenance.^[9] While the creature will happily feast on almost any animal, it favors the blood of mothers and their newborn babies.

According to Balinese legend, Rangda’s witch army once waged a war against the king of good spirits, a lion-like beast called Barong. Rangda cast a spell on Barong’s warriors, forcing them to fall on their own swords. But the great guardian prevented this massacre by turning his people invincible. Barong used his mighty powers to overcome the Witch Widow, restoring balance to the Hindu island. The events of this battle are proudly depicted in Balinese ceremonial dances.

1 Lagahoo

Many communities throughout the Caribbean still believe in black magic (obeah ). It is not uncommon to see citizens sporting protective amulets, which are designed to ward off malevolent entities called “jumbies.” Trinidad and Tobago is no exception.

The people of the West Indies nation fear a shape-shifting jumbie named Lagahoo (also spelled “La Gahoo”).^[10] Derived from French folklore, the Lagahoo is a muscular man with a coffin for a head. His torso is sheathed in heavy chains, which rattle as he hunts for food. Lagahoo feasts on the blood of livestock and, more rarely, humans. While the Lagahoo spends much of its time looking like a weight-lifting pallbearer, the beast can transform into a variety of animals, including a centaur-like creature.

Defeating the Lagahoo is no small task. He must be captured and, for nine long days, beaten with a holy stick. During this rather unforgiving process, the creature will shape-shift into a variety of animals, eventually disappearing in a puff of smoke.

The Lagahoo’s French counterpart, the werewolf Loup Garou, is not quite as unshakable. Simply throwing grains of rice into the air is enough to stop this dopey brute in his tracks. Since Loup Garou appears to suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder, the creature must then spend the rest of the night counting each grain of rice.

Being a celebrity has proven to be more than just glitz and glam. In many cases, it can also come with struggles. Though many fans have simple interests in their favorite celebrities, some admirers take their obsessions to the extreme—even committing unspeakable acts at times.

For these 10 celebrities, the dedication of their fans went from mere interest to a completely bizarre and unhealthy obsession resulting in gifts that could never be purchased in stores.

10 Dead Rabbit

Being a celebrity comes with fame and fortune—and fans. For Avril Lavigne, her continued success has made her no stranger to interactions and gifts from her admirers. However, she hadn’t expected the weirdness that accompanies some gifts. During an interview, Avril was asked to name the strangest gift she’s ever received.

For some singers and actors, the presents are articles of clothing—bras, shirts, and sometimes underwear. But for this singer, it wasn’t a material item at all.

Instead, during one of her tours to promote an album, Avril was given the body of a dead rabbit. There was no note, so Avril didn’t understand the fan’s intention. However, it’s been said that a rabbit could be good luck.^[1]

Akin to her first album title, Avril decided to “let go” and move on from the event, though it’s doubtful that she’s accepted any more strange packages.

9 Preserved Baby Shark

The quick rise in fame of the Jonas Brothers—Kevin, Joe, and Nick—was mostly due to their musical talent and eventual Disney deals. Their fans, ranging from teenage girls to adult men and women, have been known to be dedicated and sometimes straddle the line between what is acceptable and what isn’t.

At times, the Jonas Brothers have had to deal with fans taking things a bit too far, including sneaking into their hotel rooms and giving them macabre gifts—such as a preserved baby shark.

The gift, which was provided to the brothers from an adoring fan while they were on tour, did not come with an explanation. But the preserved baby shark was inside a tube. The brothers were uncertain as to what the gift was supposed to mean or what they were expected to do with it.

The shark was accompanied by a simple note saying, “Here’s a dead shark.” The most pressing question was not the “why” but “how” the fan was able to obtain it in the first place.^[2]

8 Sperm

The option of having a family is one that depends on the people involved. However, it doesn’t entail sending one’s sperm in the mail to a favorite celebrity in the hopes of starting a family. For actress Tricia Helfer, a fan decided that his best option to win her favor was by doing exactly that.

The event happened when she was opening fan mail. She didn’t realize what had fallen out of the envelope until she looked at the other contents of the letter: a picture of a man, woman, and child as well as the syringe filled with white liquid and indications that the fan wanted her to start a family with him immediately.

Unsettled and a bit fearful, Tricia told someone at the studio where she was working about the incident. From there, the police were contacted. The detectives were able to track down the creepy fan, though Tricia did not reveal what happened to him.^[3]

Tricia Helfer is not the only celebrity to experience this. In early 2019, singer Iggy Azalea was sent a vial of semen, though it was intercepted by her assistant before she could see it.

7 Breast Implant

Body parts falling off is a strange, macabre aspect of zombies. Norman Reedus, who stars on The Walking Dead, knows about this firsthand. Although he’s dealt with fake body parts being thrown at him in a battle with zombies, he’s also grappled with body parts being mailed to him in real life.

In an interview, Reedus showed a breast implant that was being used as a phone cradle in his trailer. The implant was sent to him as a gift by a fan who thought that Reedus seemed depressed. Instead of getting rid of it, Reedus found the gift hilarious and decided to clean it and put it on display.^[4]

In 2015, the actor received another breast implant in the mail. He decided to throw this one at costar Steven Yeun instead of putting it on display. However, Reedus did joke that he wouldn’t be opposed to getting more implants from fans in the future.

Reedus has continued to receive breast implants, some wrapped in fat and delivered to him in jewelry boxes, as well as gifts such as squirrel meat.

6 Cake With Human Hair

“Let them eat cake” may not have been a real saying by Marie Antoinette, but for Ed Sheeran, eating cake has been a popular pastime. Sheeran’s love for the treat is well-known by his fans.

He has received multiple gifts, ranging from dolls to necklaces to baked goods. As Sheeran is not one to turn down food, he had accepted a cake from a fan thinking that it was just what it seemed to be—a delicious surprise and a thoughtful gift from a fan.

But there was an unexpected filling inside. Once Sheeran bit into the cake, he found that it had been filled with clumps of the woman’s own hair. There was no explanation for this, though Sheeran believes that it may have been the fan’s way of trying to be “inside of him.”^[5]

Despite his love for cake, Sheeran has become a bit less exuberant when accepting baked goods from fans to avoid another hairy situation.

5 Teeth

Known for being eccentric and wanting to stand out from the music crowd, Kesha has done things that could be considered a bit creepy—such as breaking into Prince’s house to have him listen to her music.

This is why it doesn’t seem too out of character for Kesha to request something equally strange from her fans. In this case, she had asked them to send her teeth—real teeth—in the hopes that she could make something out of them while she was in rehab recovering from an eating disorder.

As a result, Kesha received almost 1,000 teeth from her dedicated fans. True to her word, Kesha used the chompers to make items for her to wear, including a bra, a headdress, earrings, and a necklace. In fact, the headdress she wears to promote her album Warrior is made from her fans’ teeth.^[6]

Apparently, the focus started when a lone admirer sent her a tooth that Kesha turned into a necklace made with her own baby teeth. From there, she began to collect the teeth sent to her. Finally, she asked for her fans’ teeth and accumulated hundreds of them.

4 Letter With Menstrual Blood

Letters from devoted fans are not uncommon. In fact, it’s one of the ways that celebrities know that they’ve started to make it big. For Taecyeon, a member of South Korean boy band 2PM, it was not the meaning that went too far but what the letter was physically written in.

Rather than using ink, an admirer wrote her message in menstrual blood. The fan wrote that she had dedicated her menstrual blood to Taecyeon and stated that he could not live without her—even though he didn’t know who she was. She also enclosed her pubic hair inside the letter.^[7]

Many of Taecyeon’s fans had claimed that the letter was fake until the writer came forward to prove that it was true. She even claimed that she wasn’t a fan of the band and just wanted attention.

3 Human Skin

Though it sounds like the plot of a horror movie, Zac Efron did not audition for this part. Due to his starring role in Disney’s High School Musical movies and his continued time in the spotlight, Efron has had his fair share of fan experiences—from receiving their letters to even having them show up at his gated neighborhood to leave tokens of their love in his mailbox.

However, one fan took her obsession a bit too far by sending Efron a piece of her own skin. The actor, who opens his own fan mail, was greeted with the grotesque sight of a piece of skin sitting inside an envelope.

Stunned, Efron got rid of the skin. Now he laughs about the story—mostly because he claims he doesn’t know how else to react to someone sending him a piece of skin.^[8]

2 Human Ear

Jared Leto has not been one to shy away from the strange. Just recently, his date to the MET Gala 2019 was his own severed head, a take on the theme “Camp.” He has also provided strange and slightly unwanted gifts to his Suicide Squad castmates while trying to get into the character of The Joker. Due to his own eccentric personality, Leto seems to draw the same weird tendencies from his fans.

One admirer decided to send the actor and lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars the fan’s own severed ear. In a 2013 interview, Leto explained that he opened up a package to find a severed human ear inside as well as a note that asked, “Are you listening?”^[9]

There was no further explanation for the ear or even any indication of the sender’s identity. Despite the strangeness of the situation, Leto embraced his fan’s macabre gift by tweeting a picture of it as well as poking a hole through the ear and choosing to wear it as a necklace.

Even though he found a use for the ear, Leto did ask his fans not to send him any more body parts.

1 A Baby

Dolly Parton’s fame has eclipsed genres and generations. She is known for her big hair and big attitude, and her music has left an indelible mark on country music and its fans. Due to her popularity, Parton has her share of admirers. However, Parton’s experience with one fan’s gift is unlike that of any other celebrity.

With her single “Jolene” at No. 1 on the country music charts in the early 1970s, Parton may have considered the possibility of a few women naming their newborns after her hit song. But she hadn’t expected a new mother to do so and then leave the baby on Parton’s doorstep.

Parton found the baby girl lying in a box at her front gate. The accompanying note stated that the infant was named Jolene and that her mother wanted Parton to have her. Freaked out and worried for the baby, Parton called the Department Of Health And Human Services and took care of the infant until they were able to come.^[10]

There was never any follow-up from the mother, and Parton doesn’t know what happened to the baby after the authorities took her.