Since the late 19th century, psychiatry in the Western world has claimed to be a medical specialty. By stressing that mental disorders are an “illness like any other,” psychiatrists strive to keep the same status as their colleagues in cardiology, oncology, and other specialties. Mental disorders, they argue, should be viewed no differently from diseases like heart failure or leukemia.

There is a dearth of evidence for this grand claim. Psychiatry, ably abetted by the drug industry, has created an idea of mental health that may bear little resemblance to reality. Listed below, in no particular order, are the 10 biggest myths of modern psychiatry.

10Mental Illness Is The Result Of A Broken Brain

Most psychiatrists believe that the main cause of mental illness is a life-long brain defect. We are often told that people diagnosed with schizophrenia (a severe mental health problem involving hearing voices, jumbled thoughts, and unusual beliefs) display brain deformities. Using the latest technologies, we are shown not-so-pretty pictures of schizophrenic brains displaying abnormal bumps and craters.

But recent research suggests that the antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia can cause human brain defects directly in proportion to the amount of medication ingested—the more of the drug consumed, the greater the extent of damage to the brain. Despite failing to find any strong association between brain shrinkage and the intensity of the schizophrenia, the researchers cling to the idea that antipsychotic medication only aggravates underlying brain defects. However it has also been demonstrated that antipsychotic drugs given to macaque monkeys reduce their brain volumes by around 20 percent, casting further doubt on the broken brain dogma.

Furthermore, childhood abuse (a major risk factor for schizophrenia and other disorders) is known to alter brain structure, suggesting that early trauma may contribute to structural changes in the brains of adults with mental health problems.

Thus, it seems possible to conclude that brain defects in schizophrenia sufferers are likely to result from what life in general, and psychiatry in particular, inflict upon them.

9Severe Mental Disorders Are Mainly Genetic In Origin

Most psychiatrists also link the risk of schizophrenia to the genes we inherit from our parents. In support of this argument they point to studies of identical twins (who share exactly the same genes), which seem to show that if one twin has schizophrenia there is a very high chance the other will too. Almost 70 years ago, one of the most famous twin researchers, Franz Kallman, announced an 86 percent concordance rate for schizophrenic twins—in other words, if one twin was diagnosed with schizophrenia there was an 86 percent chance their sibling would suffer from the same condition—suggesting a huge genetic influence.

Although these claims have moderated over the last few decades, 21st century psychiatry persists in the view that schizophrenia is primarily genetic in origin. As well as twin studies, psychiatrists cite adoption research that measures the concordance rate between blood relatives separated early in life. The idea is that this rules out the possibility that aspects of a shared environment may account for the correspondence. By demonstrating that children of schizophrenic mothers continued to be at greater risk of developing schizophrenia themselves, despite being adopted away as babies, the adoption studies are often considered to be the most convincing evidence of a genetic basis for the condition.

However, decades of research has signally failed to identify the genetic marker that supposedly underlies schizophrenia. Meanwhile, psychiatrists like Jay Joseph have sought to demonstrate that the twin and adoption studies touted as proof of a genetic cause are riddled with biases, ranging from blatant misreporting of the data to subtle statistical tricks. Reviews of the research that have excluded the effects of these flaws and focused only on more recent, better designed studies, have estimated the schizophrenia concordance rate for identical twins and non-identical twins to be 22 percent and 5 percent respectively, indicative of a real but modest genetic contribution—on a par with the genetic contribution to traits such as intelligence.

Life experiences seem to be a much more potent cause of the symptoms labelled as schizophrenia. For example, childhood sexual abuse has been convincingly shown to render a person 15 times more susceptible to psychosis in adulthood. The size of this effect is far in excess of any gene yet discovered.

8Psychiatric Diagnoses Are Meaningful

Medical experts diagnose illness—the symptoms presented guide them to deduce the presence of a named disease process that explains the cause and maintenance of the patient’s complaints. So if a doctor makes a diagnosis of diabetes, we know that we lack a hormone called insulin and that injections of it should improve our health.

But if mental health problems are not primarily the result of biological defects (or a “broken brain”), psychiatry is faced with a problem that is impossible to solve. So how do psychiatrists overcome this fundamental obstacle? They gather around a table and invent a list of mental illnesses!

In the USA, this list is crafted by the American Psychiatric Association and is grandly titled the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM for short). The latest edition (DSM-5) of this psychiatric bible thrust itself onto the world last year and lists over 300 mental illnesses.

A useful diagnosis should pinpoint a specific underlying pathology that can explain the symptoms, provide guidance as to the appropriate treatment, and display high levels of reliability (so that two or more psychiatrists assessing the same person will typically reach the same conclusion). DSM-5 (along with its predecessors) fails on all three fronts. Even a key figure in earlier editions of the DSM berated the latest offering as “deeply flawed” for mislabeling normal emotions as mental illness.

7The Number Of Mentally Ill People Is Increasing

Psychiatry constantly tells us about the vast number of “mentally ill” people there are in the general population, most of them never having received professional help and many not even aware that they have a problem. One recent study claimed that almost half of all Americans will suffer a formal mental illness at some point in their lives.

The central reason for this apparently ever-increasing number is that psychiatry keeps widening the net of mental illnesses to incorporate more and more normal reactions to life’s challenges. According to DSM-5, if you remain sad two weeks after the death of a loved one you are suffering from “major depressive disorder.” A child displaying tantrums risks acquiring the label of “disruptive mood dysregulation disorder.” And a modest degree of forgetfulness in later years means you are suffering with “mild neuro-cognitive disorder.” It is a wonder anyone manages to avoid the grasp of these ever-elongating psychiatric tentacles.

6Long-Term Use Of Antipsychotics Is Relatively Benign

Psychiatry carries a shameful history of failing to recognize when its treatments are doing more harm than good. Whether it be mutilating genitals, slicing brains (“leucotomy”), surgically removing organs, inducing comas with potentially lethal doses of insulin (“insulin coma therapy”) or triggering fits by electrocuting people’s heads (“electro-convulsive therapy”), psychiatrists always seem the last to realize they are damaging the very people they are paid to help.

And antipsychotic medication could well be a similar story. Long term use, particularly of the older (typical) antipsychotics, blights around 30 percent of patients with uncontrollable twitching and spasms of the tongue, lips, face, hands, and feet, an often permanent affliction known as tardive dyskinesia. The newer (atypical) antipsychotics are a little more forgiving in this respect, although not to the point of eliminating the problem altogether.

In addition to the curse of tardive dyskinesia, long term antipsychotic users may also be at greater risk of drug-induced heart disease, diabetes, and obesity (the newer atypical type being arguably more problematic in this regard). As we’ve already discussed, and perhaps most disturbingly of all, there is mounting evidence that antipsychotics may directly cause brain shrinkage.

5Effective Treatment Of Mental Illness Is Essential For Public Safety

High-profile psychiatrists continue to promote the myth of public safety being compromised by psycho-killers in our midst. A striking recent example is provided by Jeffrey Lieberman, the president of the American Psychiatric Association, who claimed that, “shocking acts of mass violence are disproportionately caused by people with mental illness who have not gotten treatment.”

Although there may be rare instances where a person’s psychotically-driven paranoia leads to an act of violence, a recent Dutch study calculated that only a tiny 0.07 percent of all crimes were directly attributable to mental health problems. A UK study found that only 5 percent of all homicides are carried out by people who have acquired a diagnosis of schizophrenia at some point in their lives, a figure dwarfed by alcohol and drug misuse, which contribute to over 60 percent of such cases.

To put the risk posed by insane people into perspective, it has been estimated that the odds of us being murdered by a psychotic stranger are about one in 10 million, on par with being hit by lightning. And people suffering mental disorders are much more likely to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators—one study found that those diagnosed with schizophrenia were 14 times more likely to be the subject of a violent crime than to commit one.

4Many People With Mental Health Problems Have No Potential To Recover

Anyone who has spent time within Western psychiatric services could be forgiven for assuming that many of those afflicted with mental health problems were hopeless cases with little or no chance of improvement. Such pessimism is unsurprising, given that many psychiatrists believe that mental illness is caused by brain defects, and is a life-long condition akin to diabetes or heart disease.

The language of psychiatry screams hopelessness, as illustrated by the oft-used terms “severe and enduring mental illness” and “chronic schizophrenia.” Yet the reality is very different. Even when medical views of schizophrenia are considered, along with narrow, symptom-reduction definitions of recovery, the expectation is that around 80 percent of sufferers will, in time, achieve some significant improvement.

Recovery from mental health problems doesn’t necessarily equate with the elimination of all symptoms. A more meaningful definition for many sufferers might involve the pursuit of valued life goals, and the subsequent achievement of a worthwhile life, irrespective of difficulties. In this sense, to move towards recovery requires the transition from pathology, illness, and symptoms to a greater focus on health, strengths, and wellness. Free from the shackles (and self-fulfilling pessimism) of psychiatric dogma, meaningful recovery is a realistic goal for all.

3Psychiatric Medications Are Very Effective

In the USA alone, 3.1 million people were prescribed antipsychotics in 2011, at a total cost of $18.2 billion. These drugs continue to be the core treatment for people suffering with schizophrenia and practice guidelines from around the world recommend them as a first-line intervention.

In the same year, a staggering 18.5 million Americans (about 1 in 14 of the youth and adult population) were swallowing antidepressant drugs. The current view of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the United Kingdom is that three months of treatment with antidepressants will “much improve” 50 to 60 percent of patients.

But the effectiveness of both antipsychotics and antidepressants has been seriously challenged.

Surprisingly few studies have directly compared antipsychotics with a sedative drug like diazepam (Valium) for someone suffering an acute psychotic episode. A review of the research that has been carried out demonstrated that general sedation can have a significant effect on psychotic symptoms. This suggests that reduced arousal could be the common factor in achieving respite, as opposed to the specific “anti-psychotic” effect touted by drug manufacturers.

A recent review of 38 clinical trials of atypical antipsychotics (the newer type most commonly prescribed) concluded that they achieved only moderate benefits when compared to a placebo and “there is much room for more efficacious compounds.” The authors also found evidence of a publication bias—in other words, researchers (many sponsored by drug companies) may have been guilty of selectively publishing those studies showing the drug in a good light, while withholding those where the results were disappointing.

Furthermore, it has been established that around 40 percent of people who suffer psychotic episodes can improve without any medication at all, thereby casting further doubt on the appropriateness of blanket antipsychotic perscription.

As for antidepressants, the case is more complicated, but a recent scholarly review concluded that, overall, benefits from antidepressant use did not meaningfully exceed those from a placebo. Although the authors reported that a small number of the most severely depressed patients achieved a level of drug-placebo difference that did reach clinical significance, this probably reflected a decreased responsiveness to placebo rather than an increased responsiveness to the antidepressants.

However, a subsequent group of researchers who re-examined the results concluded that 75 percent of patients on antidepressants did show some improvement, but that the other 25 percent actually suffered a deterioration in their depressive symptoms. This risk of worsening symptoms led the original study’s author to conclude that “antidepressants should be kept as a last resort, and if a person does not respond to the treatment within a few weeks, it should be discontinued” in favor of physical exercise and cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, which have both been shown to have a positive effect on depression sufferers.

2An “Illness Like Any Other” Approach Reduces Stigma

Psychiatrists often lament the everyday stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems and emphasize the importance of educating the general public about these disorders. Under the banner of mental health literacy they strive to convince the public that schizophrenia and depression are illnesses like any other, primarily caused by biological defects such as biochemical imbalances and genetic brain diseases. Many psychiatrists believe that promoting biological causes for mental health problems will result in the perception that the afflicted are not to blame for their mental disorders, thereby improving attitudes towards them.

On the contrary, trying to convince the general population that schizophrenia and depression are diseases like diabetes is likely to exacerbate negative attitudes towards people with mental health problems. A recent literature review found that in 11 out of the 12 studies examined, biological explanations of mental disorders led to more negative attitudes toward sufferers than explanations based on a person’s life experiences. In particular, “illness like any other” explanations encouraged social exclusion and inflated perceptions of dangerousness.

1Psychiatry Has Made Huge Progress Over The Last 100 Years

Many medical specialties can boast impressive progress over the last 100 years or so. Vaccines for polio and meningitis have saved millions of lives. The discovery of penicillin, the first antibiotic, revolutionized our fight against infection. Survival rates for cancer and heart attacks are steadily improving. But what has society gained from more than a century of professional psychiatry? Apparently surprisingly little.

Psychiatry’s claims of progress have been commonplace. Edward Shorter, in the preface to his book, A History of Psychiatry, swanks that: “If there is one central intellectual reality at the end of the twentieth century, it is that the biological approach to psychiatry—treating mental illness as a genetically influenced disorder of brain biochemistry—has been a smashing success.” Recent, high-profile commentators continue to stubbornly defend psychiatry’s status as a bone fide medical specialty.

But the cold facts paint a radically different picture. If you are ever unfortunate enough to suffer a psychotic episode, you will have a greater chance of recovery if you live in the developing world (Nigeria, for example) than you would in the developed world (e.g. the USA). The overuse of psychiatric medication in Western countries seems to be the primary reason for this difference.

Furthermore, you have no more chance of a recovery from schizophrenia today than you would have had over a century ago. A recent scholarly review of 50 research studies concluded that: “Despite major changes in treatment options in recent decades, the proportion of recovered cases has not increased.”

Psychiatry a smashing success? I don’t think so!

I am a freelance writer who recently opted for early retirement following 33 years of continuous employment in the UK’s psychiatric services, mostly as a clinical psychologist. During my career as a mental health professional, I have written around a dozen papers, published in academic journals or as book chapters. Since retirement, my writing focus is shared between criticisms of western psychiatry and humor.

More of my mental health writing can be found on gsidley.hubpages.com/ or at twitter.com/GarySidley.

For humor articles and chit-chat, visit brianjonesdiary-menopausalman.blogspot.co.uk/, facebook.com/gary.sidley, and bubblews.com/account/108867-gsidley.

We have something of a love-hate relationship with fast food. Many of us happily stop at a drive-through when we need something in a hurry, but we still sneer at the food and look at it with suspicion. We fear constantly eating food that was made in a commercial kitchen, and the speed with which it’s prepared implies that it was made without care. The megalith of commercialized, super-quick food production leaves many nostalgic for the good old days, when you knew exactly where your food came from and what was in it.

While eating fast food may not always be the healthiest option, and we certainly can’t guarantee the safety of our food if we don’t prepare it ourselves, many rumors of the fast food industry’s incompetence are greatly overstated.

10The Incorruptible Hamburger

People have an odd belief that mass-produced food is literally made of industrial chemicals meant more for paint stripping than eating. This has led to the even odder belief that fast food hamburgers never decay. What makes this myth particularly weird is that despite being one of the most pervasive myths about food, it is also one of the easiest to debunk. Anyone can buy a burger and watch it decompose over time, but the myth has only recently seen serious busting.

McDonald’s Canada was asked about the “incorruptible McDonald’s hamburger,” and the company decided to finally kill this silly rumor. A spokesman admitted that the company’s burgers do tend to dry out rather than rot, but that’s not because they’re laden with chemicals. The burgers simply don’t have much moisture in them after the cooking process, and leaving them in the open air removes even more. In properly moist conditions, a McDonald’s burger would rot just like any other food.

An independent study by a food blogger found that under similar conditions, McDonald’s fare rots at the same rate as homemade burgers.

9Fast Food Restaurants Are Less Healthy Than Dine-In Establishments

You’ve decided that you want to take the family out to eat, but you want to feel good about the food you’re shoveling into their starving mouths. You decide that you should go to a sit-down restaurant, since those places clearly offer much healthier options than the local McDonald’s. Unfortunately for your family, you may have made the wrong choice.

A Drexel study examined full-service restaurant menus, and the results were not at all pleasant. While a combo meal at a burger joint has more calories than you need for one meal, a full meal at a sit-down restaurant may have more than you need in an entire day.

The researchers defined a meal for an adult as an entree with a side and half of an appetizer, along with the free bread often offered. The average full meal at a sit-down place hit about 1,500 calories and went well over the daily recommended limit for saturated fat and sodium content. If you throw in a drink and half of a dessert, the average restaurant meal puts you over your daily recommended caloric intake. If you want to make sure you are getting a healthy option, you may just need to cook it yourself.

8Taco Bell’s Seasoned Beef Is Only 35 Percent Meat

A few years back, a rumor arose saying only 35 percent (or another disturbingly small percentage) of Taco Bell seasoned beef is meat, the meat is Grade D, it’s unfit for humans, and it’s somehow still allowed to be sold to massive numbers of people. The rumor’s roots go to an Alabama lawsuit, which was thrown out of court because it was complete and utter nonsense.

To address the rumors, Taco Bell explained that their seasoned beef is 88 percent beef and 12 percent filler, which may sound less than ideal, but that’s comparable to its competitors’ recipes. The website containing this explanation also gave fun explanations for some of the more obscure components, such as “Trehalose,” which they use for sweetening purposes.

Certain paranoid people will continue to fear Taco Bell’s chemical ingredients like “maltodextrin,” but actual chemists laugh off these worries—the ingredients are all very much safe and edible.

7McDonald’s Frozen Desserts Use Pig Fat And No Dairy

McDonald’s calls their frozen treats “thickshakes” or just “shakes,” rather than “milkshakes.” Some people noticing this choice concluded the drink can’t be a proper milkshake at all. In fact, it probably contains no dairy whatsoever. From there, it wasn’t long before people started coming up with theories as to what McDonald’s was using instead. People proposed all sorts of fillers, from pig fat to cow eyeball fluid to Styrofoam balls to bird feathers.

It’s true that the treats don’t use real ice cream, which is why McDonald’s doesn’t call them “milkshakes.” Instead, they use a premade mix—one that does contain dairy. Making actual ice cream shakes fresh on a massive scale day in and day out would be hard to manage logistically.

You may choose not to drink their shakes if you don’t like the taste, but for those of you who do, there isn’t anything out of the ordinary to worry about, aside from how fattening they are.

6The Salads Are A Healthy Option

Salads seem the healthiest option when eating fast food. They’re made of vegetables, after all, which surely have to be better for you than greasy burgers and fries. In reality, however, the salad option contains so much cheese, dressing, or meat that they’re as bad as anything else on the menu.

The Consumerist looked at several fast food chains and found that the salads have as many calories as other menu items. Even worse, salads often contain more fat, more sugar, and oftentimes an absolutely whopping pile of sodium. While salad may sometimes be a healthy option, when you buy it from a burger joint, it probably isn’t.

5Fast Food Is Cheap

One of the most pervasive myths about fast food, as well as junk food in general, is that it’s far less pricey than healthier alternatives. This explanation is often used by people incredulous that anyone would willingly choose junk if better food is cheaper or comparatively priced. But while fast food is certainly cheap compared with other sorts of restaurants, it’s downright expensive compared with what you prepare at home, even when you cook far higher-quality food.

NY Times food columnist Mark Bittman notes that the average McDonald’s combo meal costs about $7, adding up to $28 to feed a family of four. You could feed the family an entire chicken dinner at home for roughly half the cost, and you’ll be giving them a much healthier plate.

On the other hand, cooking food yourself does have a cost of its own. It takes time, and it takes effort. Fast food is undeniably the more convenient choice, which is why people will continue to pick it. But if you have the time and energy, eating at home is a much better option in every way.

4White Castle’s Bait-And-Switch Onions

You may not live in an area with a White Castle, but you may know of it from a certain movie where two guys try really hard to get to one. For those still unfamiliar with the chain, White Castle’s miniature burgers are famous for being incredibly cheap and, anecdotally, for giving indigestion a few hours after eating them. Fans also know the restaurant for its trademark steamed meat that always comes with onions because onions are just that important. For some reason, rumors say that White Castle is pulling a bait-and-switch with one of their most cherished ingredients.

The rumors state that White Castle onions are actually pieces of cabbage soaked in onion juice. It would seem one of the strangest and most pointless things that a fast food restaurant could do, but enough people believe the rumor that White Castle actually responds to it on their website.

Their burgers contain no cabbage and do indeed have real onions—although the restaurant admits to using rehydrated onions ever since World War II.

3Arby’s Roast Beef Is Made From A Gel

This weird rumor says Arby’s roast beef arrives at the store in a liquid gel form inside a sealed plastic bag. The congealed mixture is heated till it becomes sliceable and is then served to the poor, naive customer. Unlike some rumors, this one has understandable origins, but it’s still wholly false.

The fact-checkers at Snopes talked to several people who worked at actual Arby’s restaurants and learned the source of the confusion. The meat arrives at the store inside airtight plastic bags, with a thin layer of basting solution that looks like a gel. This could easily lead a new employee who hasn’t yet cut into the bag and roasted the beef to think they were looking at a lumpy, gelatinous mess. You may or may not find Arby’s food particularly appetizing, but rest assured that it’s actual beef.

2McDonald’s Egg Patties Come Pre-Formed

The uniform circular shape of McDonald’s Egg McMuffin patties look so perfect that people think it’s some artificial substance sent to the restaurant in readymade shapes. However, when McDonald’s in Canada was asked about this question, they responded by supplying a video of how the egg process actually works.

The eggs really are just eggs, and that perfect shape is achieved by cooking them using a ring mold, a method almost elegant in its simplicity. The scrambled eggs are slightly more questionable, as they are made with a liquid egg mix and cooked with margarine, but they still do contain actual egg.

1Darker Roasted Coffee Contains More Caffeine

One of the most common misconceptions among those who head to Starbucks or order coffee at a burger joint is that bolder, blacker coffee is stronger and gives a more intense buzz. But if you’re looking for the strongest possible caffeine hit, you should purchase a lighter roasted coffee.

Coffee beans start out green and become darker due to the roasting process. As the roasting process continues, you also end up losing more caffeine, so darker roasts have less than their lighter counterparts.

The best way to truly increase your caffeine buzz in the morning is to add a shot or two of espresso to your coffee, something that most cafes will happily do for you.

Gregory is eating fast food right now. Don’t judge him.

“Little people,” among other meanings, is a generic term for mythological creatures that generally look like very small humans. Such entities are especially prevalent in European folklore and include fairies, goblins, gremlins, dwarves, imps, pixies, and gnomes.

They vary in size and looks, and some are good, while others are malevolent or a mixture of both. However, they are all smaller than humans, elusive, and usually magical. Though Europe has the highest amount of these myths, they can be found worldwide, as many different cultures have their own stories of “little people.”

10 Patupaiarehe

The Maori of New Zealand believe in the Patupaiarehe, also called the Turehu or Pakepakeha, fairy-like people who live deep in the forests and mountains.^[1] They have very pale skin (despite the Patupaiarehe which appears on the New Zealand postage stamp above being blue) and either red or light blond hair. Most stories say they’re very small, though some descriptions indicate that they are the size of humans or giants.

These creatures are rarely seen, as they stay out of the light, only emerging during the twilight. If they met people, they would sometimes play their flutes and put the human under their spell. They would sleep with beautiful women, so some believe that redheads are descended from Patupaiarehe. If they met a man, they would either abuse him and let him go or kill him. To avoid meeting them, people would cover themselves in stinky concoctions or cook food, since fire and light kept the creatures away. However, sometimes the Patupaiarehe would teach humans spells and other useful skills.

The Maori also have tales of the Ponaturi. These creatures look like the Patupaiarehe, except they have claws and live in the ocean.

9 Nisser And Tomtar

The Norwegian nisse and the Swedish tomte are very similar characters.^[2] They usually live solitary lives on farms, staying out of sight of the farmer but taking care of the buildings and animals. Often, they are pictured as small men, the height of a child, with red hats and worn-out clothing. They work very hard to make sure the farm is well-kept, especially focusing on making the horses comfortable.

In return for their work, the creatures only demand respect and a bowl of porridge with butter on Christmas Eve. This bowl is supposed to be left out in the barn so that the creature can eat it in peace.

8 Native American ‘Little People’

Many Native American tribes had stories about little people, so many that they actually deserve their own list.^[3] For example, the Mohegans believed in the Makiawisug, small people who lived below Mohegan Hill in Connecticut. They are nice if they’re taken care of, so the Mohegans would leave them baskets of food. They were not to be spoken about during the summer, when they were active, and not to be stared at; otherwise, they would freeze you and steal your things. In return for the food and respect, the Makiawisug taught the Mohegans how to grow corn and use healing plants, and they kept the Earth fertile.

The Eskasoni in Canada believed in little people, thinking that most of them lived on a hill in Nova Scotia. Children were told not to go near it, lest they be stolen.

The Shoshone tribe believed in little people called the Nimerigar who lived in the Rocky Mountains. They were not very friendly, using bows and poisoned arrows to keep trespassers away.

The Choctaw called them Kwanikosha; these people were feared and supposedly kidnapped boys to test them and figure out their nature.

The Cherokee tribe believed in three different types of little people: the Laurels, the Rocks, and the Dogwoods. They ranged from being good and helpful to being purely malicious.

The Crow tribe called their little people the Nirumbee; they supposedly lived in the Pryor Mountains.

7 Ebu Gogo

In Flores, Indonesia, they have tales of a people they call the Ebu Gogo.^[4] “Ebu” means “grandmother,” and “Gogo” means “he who eats everything.” They supposedly do eat everything they can get hold of, not bothering to cook anything but eating it all raw. This covers fruits, vegetables, and meat, including human meat if they manage to get it. As they use plates made from pumpkins on the island, they would eat those, too, if villagers served them food. Sometimes, they would raid people’s crops. They can also repeat words when spoken to and often climb thin trees.

The Ebu Gogo are about 100 centimeters (3’3″) tall, with long hair, long arms and fingers, big stomachs, and ears that stick out. They also walk awkwardly, and the women have such long breasts that they are said to sometimes toss them over their shoulders when they’re moving about. Some people have theorized that these creatures are not purely fictional, rather that they are based on Homo floresiensis, an extinct species that lived on Flores and looked like short humans.

6 Leprechaun

One of the most famous “little people” myths is that of the Irish leprechaun.^[5] Their descriptions vary, though they are usually about 60 to 90 centimeters (2′–3′) tall, with a beard and the face of an old man. Though they look old, they have an incredible spirit and agility. They wear handsome coats and hats, though their description varies across Ireland. They all also have high-quality shoes with shiny buckles. They originally were said to dress in red, the color of solitary fairies. However, their color is now green, probably because it’s the color people associate with Ireland.

Leprechauns are well-known for their skills in shoemaking. Many stories are about them sneaking out at night to make beautiful shoes, usually for a fee of gold. They are also talented musicians who can play all the traditional Irish instruments. This goes hand in hand with their reputation as jolly creatures who love having a party. They are also magical; they can appear out of thin air and create images of pots of gold at the ends of rainbows, luring in foolish humans. If a human catches them, they can get three magical wishes. However, the leprechaun usually makes sure at least one of them backfires as punishment for being trapped. For this reason, they are known as being mischievous, though they only really do this to people who have harmed them. To avoid these encounters, they hide themselves and their treasure underground.

5 Woodarjee

The Noongar of the Australian Aboriginals have tales of the Woodarjee.^[6] These people look like Aboriginals, but they are only around 30 centimeters (1′) tall. One claimed sighting says the Woodarjee had a big, bushy beard and only wore a loincloth. They travel with spears and other traditional weapons.

If a human comes across them, the Woodarjee might attack, as they can be quite violent. Any wounds sustained from a meeting like this will disappear as soon as the human leaves the area.

4 El Duende

The story of El Duende came from the Iberian Peninsula and spread to Latin America, the Philippines, and Guam due to colonization.^[7] Originally, El Duende looked like a small man, about 90 centimeters (3′) tall, with a red hat and clothes made from animal hide. Some countries added features, such as him carrying a cane, having a big beard, or not having any thumbs.

He is said to live in a cave deep in the forest or inside the wall of a child’s bedroom. In some stories, he is evil and will lure children to his cave, where they will be stuck for forever. He might also sneak into their room at night to try to cut their toenails while they’re sleeping, inevitably cutting off their toes entirely. These stories were used to scare children into listening to their parents. In other tales, he is a good creature who helps people who are lost in the forest, guiding them home. Other stories say he protects the forest and animals from anyone who would harm them.

3 Domovoi

In Slavic folklore, they have house spirits called domovoi.^[8] They look like a small man with either a beard or hair all over. Some stories say that they end up looking like the owner of their house, just with a grey beard and sometimes also a tail or horns. These spirits live behind the oven and protect the house, its inhabitants, and their animals. Every house has one, but it is never seen. Instead, people are only aware of it through the noises it makes, such as through footsteps or murmuring.

To keep the domovoi happy, people would leave milk or bread in a corner near the oven. When the domovoi feels respected, he does his best to protect the family, but if they upset him, he causes mischief. He does so by riding their horses or cows all night so that they’re too tired to work during the day, tripping them in the dark, or making milk go bad. If people moved, the domovoi would come with them; otherwise, they wouldn’t be safe.

2 Aziza

In West Africa, the Dahomey people have stories about the Aziza: tiny, forest-dwelling, fairy-like creatures.^[9] They look like regular humans, but they’re incredibly small and have wings that look like those of an insect. These magical creatures are purely nice and help out humans who are hunting. They also taught people how to make fire back when humanity didn’t have the knowledge.

In return, people would leave out fresh food for the Aziza. When people realized how useful they were, they started looking for them more often. This caused the shy creatures to retreat further into the forest and avoid human contact more.

1 Menehune

The Native Hawaiians believe in people called the Menehune, who lived on the islands long before the Polynesians arrived.^[10] They were supposed to be about 60 centimeters (2′) tall, though some were no more than 15 centimeters (6 in). They were shy and not often seen by humans, but it’s said that they liked singing, dancing, cliff-diving, and archery. If a human was angry, they’d use magic arrows to pierce the person’s heart and make them feel love instead. They were also excellent craftsmen and engineers, as they would build temples, fish ponds, roads, and more under the cover of night.

Some stories say that the Menehune disappeared after the islands were settled by humans. However, others believe they are still there, causing mischief while hiding. In 1820, the official census of Kauai even listed 65 Menehune as part of the official population.

The internet is full of fad diets, and quick tips that are meant to help you lose weight, gain muscle, and get fit with the least amount of effort and complication possible. These one-size-fits-all approaches promise to make it easy for you, without any need to tailor them to your own needs. Unfortunately, most of these tips are rubbish, and the diets don’t work. The truth behind most of these myths is that you need to find a balanced approach that works for you instead of following fads. 

10. Myth: Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity is a controversial issue among both doctors and the public. Some doctors are now diagnosing people with it in certain situations, but many medical researchers are still openly skeptical and think that we are going in the wrong direction. Now, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything going on, but medical researchers have long felt that the gluten itself being the cause may be nothing more than a gigantic red herring. 

See, in the medical world, doctors are told that when you hear hooves, you should think of horses, not zebras. This means you go for the most obvious answer first, instead of the more arcane one. There’s no biological reason to think that non-celiac gluten sensitivity would exist, so the likely answer is that it’s some additive in gluten products causing the problem. Researchers have studied something called FODMAPS, a group of four fermentable sugars often found in gluten products, and only 8% of people who kept using gluten but stopped using FODMAPs still had a problem. As for the other 8%? Many gluten products contain something called Amalyse Tripsin Inhibitors, which are also known to cause gut and bowel issues for some people. 

9. Myth: Carbohydrates And Fats Are Bad For You, But Protein Is Good 

We’ve all heard the claims many times: You should avoid carbohydrates as much as possible because they make you fat. Fat makes you fat, and protein is good because it makes you strong and gives you energy. Many of these beliefs are so widespread that people base entire fad diets around them, and millions then follow those diets. These diets have become so extreme that they often restrict or almost entirely remove one or more of these categories, which is not advisable. 

The truth is that all three are essential macronutrients, and all are an important part of a well-balanced diet. While it’s true some processed carbs aren’t very good for you, that doesn’t mean they are all bad or that you should toss out a macronutrient. As for fat, there is no proven link between the consumption of fat in and of itself and more health problems. Fat is also an essential macronutrient, you should just focus on eating healthy fats such as fish, natural peanut butter, coconut oil, and so on. And finally, there’s protein, which almost every diet will tell you is fine to just go to town on every day. The truth is protein’s main purpose is for muscle growth and repair, so if you aren’t being particularly active, you probably don’t need as much. Too much protein can cause kidney damage, and it should be treated with respect. 

8. Myth: People Who Are Extremely Overweight Can Lose Weight As Easily As The Next Guy 

It is quite common for people to look at those who are extremely overweight, and wonder why they don’t just lose some weight. Some people think that they don’t really try to lose weight at all, or only half-heartedly try on rare occasions. However, the truth is that many obese people are struggling hard to lose weight and have it harder than normal-sized people. Once you start to reach a certain level of overweight, hormonal changes can take place in your body which make it hard to get the weight back off. 

First, those who are extremely overweight can develop a resistance to an important hormone called Leptin. This hormone is very important for regulating how much fat your body creates and stores. When this hormone is not working properly your body will resist shedding fat, even when you are taking the right steps to lose weight. Secondly, the more weight you gain, the more likely you are to gain insulin resistance, making it harder to convince your body that it is okay to shed that extra fat. This doesn’t mean someone who has a lot of extra weight can’t achieve their goals, but it may be harder for them. 

7. Myth: Sodas With Sugar Substitutes Will Help You Lose Weight 

Sugar-free sodas are insanely popular and have become such a diet trend over the years that the versions of sodas like Coca-Cola that don’t have sugar have become more popular than their regular versions. People think of them as a great way to control their sugar cravings and lose weight, keeping that sweet tooth in check with none of the guilt. For a lot of people, it is an easy step and the first transition they take when trying to be a little bit healthier. 

However, the unfortunate reality is that the evidence doesn’t bear out that sugar-free sodas with sugar substitutes have any benefit when it comes to weight loss or controlling our sugar cravings. Now, this doesn’t mean that diabetics should go drinking sugared sodas, as they have a very good medical reason for using sugar substitutes. For everyone else, a review of 283 studies found no evidence at all that sugar-free sodas help with weight loss. You might think that getting rid of sugared sodas would help, but the problem is that the substitutes do not satisfy our cravings, and we just end up getting as much or more sugar from somewhere else. 

6. Myth: It’s Okay To Burn Lots Of Fat In A Short Time 

Crash diets will offer you a chance to lose all that extra weight that you’ve been wanting to get rid of in just a few months, or even weeks. What they claim seems like magic, and burns all that fat right off. Now, while the efficacy of these diets is also in question, the bigger problem is that even if the diets did work, they wouldn’t be safe for you to do. It is simply not medically advisable to lose lots of weight in a short amount of time. 

According to experts, you should not be losing more than one to two pounds of weight per week. This is a normal and healthy amount of weight loss if you have a good fitness plan. If you try to go faster than this, you can put yourself at risk of health complications. The issue is that to lose more than a couple of pounds a week, you are going to have to go extremely hard on the calorie deficit. This can lead to various problems including gallstones, a slowed metabolic rate, malnutrition, fatigue, and more. 

5. Myth: Preworkout Powder Is Important For Getting Massive Gains 

Pre-workout powder has been a big thing in the world of bodybuilding for a while, and top bodybuilders are often sponsored by particular brands. It’s become a heavily promoted product, and many now cannot imagine going without it. These powders are a mix of various things that vary from brand to brand including amino acids, vitamins, and the random stimulants you find in energy drinks. However, the one thing that they all contain in very large amounts, which is the most important part of all formulations, is caffeine. 

These powdered workout blends have so much caffeine that they have more than the average cup of coffee. And to make matters worse, like everything in the supplement category, there is no standardization and you do not know what you are getting when it comes to the rest of the blend from brand to brand. This doesn’t mean that pre-workout powder is not safe if you use it according to package instructions, and don’t mix it with too many other stimulant products, but it is not necessary and is not a replacement for a balanced diet. 

4. Myth: Need Potassium? Reach For A Banana 

Now, we want to be clear that we aren’t saying that bananas are low in potassium. They have a pretty large amount. However, most people think of bananas as the thing to reach for if you need a potassium boost but would be hard-pressed to tell you about other items that contain this essential electrolyte. This myth is so pervasive it has appeared in movies like Honey We Shrunk Ourselves, where a kid with a potassium problem who couldn’t find his medication saves his life with a banana. 

It is true that if you cannot find anything else with potassium on hand and you really need some a banana will help, but there are tons of options with higher amounts of it. Legumes, especially white beans, leafy greens, yams, many melons, and a plethora of other fruits and vegetables have significantly more potassium than a banana. While you may not have a lot of these on hand or know how to cook with them if you are not a big vegetable lover, you probably like at least a food item or two that is heavily tomato-based, These are another produce item with significantly more potassium than a banana and less sugar. 

3. Myth: Brown Rice Is Better For You Than White Rice 

Many people prefer white rice but wish they could tolerate brown rice more, as they know it is better for them. It has more vitamins, without the need to be enriched, and it has more fiber as well. On top of this, it is lower on the glycemic index. This makes it sound, on paper, like the far healthier option to consume regularly. However, there are some issues with brown rice that make it far more than a cut-and-dried decision. 

Now, since white rice is still a processed, enriched grain, it is not necessarily a good idea to eat it as your only or main source of carbohydrates, but brown rice may not necessarily be a great replacement either. Because it is processed less, brown rice has 80% more inorganic arsenic than white rice, which has caused concern among some public health experts. Even if we could get a handle on the arsenic problem, brown rice contains phytic acid, which many people have trouble digesting, and can stop your body from properly absorbing iron and zinc. 

2. Myth: Fad Dieting Will Help You Achieve Your Long-Term Weight Loss Goals 

This might sound like common sense, but statistics show that at any given time one in five Americans report being on some fad diet. These diets often involve severe caloric restriction, severe restrictions of various food groups, and other one-size-fits-all features that promise to make you shed those extra pounds and have the body you always dreamed of. Unfortunately, while one in five Americans are regularly on a diet of some type, these diets have been proven by scientific studies not to be effective for long-term weight loss — in fact, many people gain back more than they lose. 

That’s because most of these diets are either crash diets or too restrictive for the average person to stick with them long-term. They lose some weight temporarily, but rebound once they quit the diet, which they barely manage to keep up. These diets are designed in a way that, scientifically, they are very hard to sustain. The answer to long-term weight loss is finding a balanced, nutritious diet that works for your body, and also has tastes and textures that you can look forward to and not feel restricted by. 

1. Myth: Trying To Lose Weight Or Gain Muscle? Keep Your Eyes On The Scale 

When you’re trying to either lose weight, gain muscle, or both, it can be easy to slip into the (pretty unhealthy) habit of obsessing over what your scale says. Understandably, people want to see benchmarks of their success to keep them motivated, and the scale seems like an easy way to do so. Reality shows like The Biggest Loser have made losing just a handful of pounds a really big deal and left contestants feeling bad when they didn’t reach the artificial goal. 

However, the problem is that going by scale alone, especially looking at it regularly, can make things more frustrating than motivating. The issue is that your weight can vary from five to eight pounds every week, and sometimes every day based on a host of factors. This weight is mainly due to how much food and water is in your body (and yes, that includes your pee and poop). This weight can also be higher at certain times of the week. Studies have shown that Sunday is our highest weight point and that it goes down from there throughout the week, slowly creeping its way back up again nearer to Sunday.

Humankind hasn’t always understood the basic design of nature and the world around him. We know now that lightning is caused by static electricity generated through friction from the innumerable water and ice particles in a thundercloud. But that understanding took hundreds, even thousands of years to be fully realized. Before we had this answer, we still had the question, “What makes lightning?” Before the introduction of scientific reasoning the answers to that question and those like it were only found in mythology and legends. Here are ten examples from all around the world of mythologies devised to explain destructive natural forces.

SEE ALSO: 10 Historical Events With Hilarious Forgotten Details

10 Tsunami From A Sea Spirit

The Moken, a people living on a few scattered islands near the coasts of Myanmar and Thailand, have a legend hundreds of years old. In the legend the sea spirit Katoy Oken sends forth “monster waves” (Tsunamis to us, Laboons in their language) to purify the people spiritually and physically. The people felt the earth shake, knocking coconuts from the trees. They knew this was the ‘wave that eats people’, awoken and sent by Katoy Oken. They collected the fallen coconuts and went out to sea, hopeful that the man eating wave would go to the island and ignore the boats. Shortly thereafter the boats are slightly jostled and a village elder calls out to his people to look to shore. The water had retreated from the beach. What followed was a wave that reached as high up as the tops of the coconut trees. Katoy Oken’s wave had purified the island, but no Moken were consumed.

The legend survived in Moken storytelling for hundreds of years. In 2004 a magnitude 8.9 earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that reached across multiple countries. The waves killed 175,000 people in the region and another 125,000 went missing, presumed dead. One island of about 200 Moken was right in the wave’s path. When they saw the water recede from the beach all of them fled to higher ground immediately, because they remembered Katoy Oken and his people eating wave. Of the 200 Moken there, only a single one perished in the 2004 Tsunami.^[1]

9 Namazu Shakes The Earth

In Japanese mythology the Namazu is a catfish so giant he causes earthquakes with his tail. Originally he acted as a premonition of danger, warning people before a flood or heavy rains or other damaging event. But as time went on the Namazu became one of the Yo-kai, a creature of misfortune and disaster. Namazu is usually said to be contained by the god Kashima under a colossal capstone, but Kashima isn’t always diligent about his duties or grows tired and Namazu is said to be able to shake his tail despite Kashima. His uncontrolled tail causes earthquakes and tsunami.

Overtime Namazu became known as a punishment for human greed. His earthquakes destroyed the properties of the rich, forcing a redistribution of wealth. In more modern twist of the legend, Namazu is shown less as a force of nature and more of a symbol of cowardly civil servants who would rather hide than fulfill their responsibility to help in disaster relief.^[2]

8 A God’s Baby Trapped Underground

In the Maori creation myth the Sky Father Ranginui and the Earth Mother Papatuanuku were separated to create the earth and the sky and allow the light to enter the world. Still, their separation grieved them greatly and their children, on seeing this, decided to turn their mother over so she wouldn’t have to look at her partner who she could never again be with. However the youngest of her children, Ruaumoko, was still suckling on his mother’s breast when his older siblings turned their mother to face the earth and he was trapped underneath her.

Now in the dark and the cold, Ruaumoko was given fire to stay warm and became the patron deity of volcanoes and earthquakes. When he wakes, he causes terrible eruptions and must be soothed back to sleep by the lullaby of his mother. In another version of the myth Ruaumoko was never even born and its his twisting and stirring in his mother’s womb that causes earthquakes.^[3]

7 Battling Aztec Gods End The World

In the Aztec creation myth the duel god Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl created itself from nothing and because it was both male and female it was able to produce children. These children represented the four cardinal directions: Huizilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca and Xipe Totec. These children then created the world. They realized that the world would need an energy source to sustain it, a sun, but a sun was too powerful for them to create. Instead one of them would have to become the sun. Which of them was the sun changed from era to era, but each time one of these four children became the sun, a natural disaster would strike the world and a new era would begin. This is known as the Myth of the Five Suns.

The first sun was Tezcatlipoca, but he was knocked from his place by Quetzalcoatl and in retaliation Jaguars were sent to eat the inhabitants of the world. During the second sun their bickering continued and Tezcatlipoca turned the newly created humans into monkeys, but Quetzalcoatl sent hurricanes and floods to wipe them out. The third sun was the younger god Tialoc and when Tezcatlipoca again caused trouble (stealing Tialoc’s wife) Tialoc caused humanity to turn into turkeys, dogs, and butterflies. Quetzalcoatl tried to eliminate these new lifeforms by raining fire and ash down on them. The forth’s sun was Tialoc’s sister, but Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatipoca were jealous of her. This time they turned the population of earth to fish and caused a great flood. The fifth and current sun, the god Nanahuatzin, is our age and it is said it will end in an earthquake.^[4]

6 A Vengeful Earth Mother

Across the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia live an indigenous people who revere The Earth Mother or Pachamama. In ancient Incan mythology she is a fertility god, a personification of nature, that helps to nourish and protect animals and plants. In the past, offerings to her included animal and even human sacrifices, but present day offerings are usually limited to dried Llama fetuses, rice, or peanuts buried.

Though known as a fairly gentle and easygoing personage, Pachamama is also said to be responsible for earthquakes, landslides, and lightning which she employs in her anger. These are directed at those who fail to care for the earth or its creatures in a kind way. This vengeful side of hers is reinforced by her frequent depiction as a dragon or a serpent.^[5]

5 Freedom Fighter Trapped Between Mountains

Bernardo Carpio is a mythological figure from the Philippines that is sometimes represented as a giant, but other times is a normal human with abnormal strength. In the tale Bernardo is a kindhearted and courageous person who joins the resistance movement. Which resistance and when depends on the time period the tale is being told, which is mostly remembered through oral tradition, but the common version has him joining against the Spanish. His joining the resistance is a huge boon to their cause, because Bernardo posses superhuman strength. As a child he pulled nails from the floorboard with his bare hands and felled trees with his father while hunting.

Eventually a local shaman used his powers to trap Bernardo between Mt. Pamitinan and Mt. Binacayan. The shaman’s powers and the weight of the earth were too much even for Bernardo’s immense strength, but he refuses to give up. Still trapped to this day, Bernardo keeps trying to free himself and every time he does it causes an Earthquake in the region.^[6]

4 Kagutsuchi’s Corpse Made Volcanoes

A Shinto god or Kami, Kagutsuchi was born from the creator gods Izanami and Izanagi.However as a fire kami, Kagutsuchi’s birth killed his mother in overwhelming flame and heat and she was sent to Yomi, the land of darkness. Izanagi was grief stricken and went to Yomi to retrieve his dead wife, but Izanami could never leave. She had already eaten food in Yomi, which trapped her there. When Izanagi lit a fire it was revealed to him that Izanami was rotting and riddled with maggots. She lashed out at her former husband and he fled Yomi. Once outside he took revenge on his child that had robbed him of his wife and sliced Kagutsuchi to pieces.

From Kagutshchi’s body and the blood dripping from his father’s sword other gods came into existence. Among them Takemikazuchi-no-kami and Futsunushi-no-kami, famous swordsmen and Kuraokami-no-kami a rain god. From his body parts also arose mountain gods, namely volcanoes. From eight pieces of his corpse rose eight volcanoes, which spew flame and heat just like Kagutsuchi did in life.^[7]

3 Plagues from “The Crouching Darkness”

In Ireland, before the introduction of Christianity, worship of a pantheon of gods was more widespread. One powerful deity worshiped was a god named Crom Cruach which means “crouching darkness” or “bent gloom”. One description of his worship paints the picture of a terrible and feared god who required human sacrifices. The Metrical Dindshenchas, a series of ancient oral stories put onto page by medieval monks included these verses about Crom Cruach:

He was their god, the wizened Bent One with many glooms; the people who believed in him over every harbour, the eternal Kingdom shall not be theirs.
For him ingloriously they slew their wretched firstborn with much weeping and distress, to pour out their blood around the Bent One of the hill.
Milk and corn they used to ask of him speedily in return for a third of their whole progeny: great was the horror and outcry about him.
The stirred evil, they beat palms, they bruised bodies: wailing to the demon who had enslaved them they shed showers of tears, prostrate their pouring.

Though morbid in his worship rites, Crom Cruach is sometimes considered a fertility god. If his worshipers failed to please him or failed to offer the sacrifices to him he was thought of as the source of poor harvests, blights, and plagues. In one story, the worshipers of Crom Cruach brought along an idol of him and insisted on sacrifices from the Gael people, namely their firstborns who Crom Cruach’s worshipers insisted must be bashed against the idol as a sacrifice otherwise Crom Cruach would put a pestilence on their harvest and blight their livestock.^[8]

2 Storms Stirred Up By The Thunderbird

The Thunderbird is a reoccurring mythological figure in multiple Native American cultures. In general this giant bird was empowered with the ability to control the weather and its beating wings produced thunderstorms, rain, and gales, but each tribe had their own variations of the myth. Usually rather than the cause of disaster, it used natural forces like thunder and lightning to defend and aid people.

To the Winnebago people the Thunderbird wasn’t singular, but a species and many could be found soaring the skies in their legends, but this species also had the ability to shape shift into human warriors. The Passamaquoddy people likewise believed it was a shapeshifter who could control lightning, but would never use those powers against humans, only villains. The Quillayute people believed it was a benevolent helper sent by The Great Spirit to help after natural disasters. One of their stories depict the Thunderbird arriving at a time when the Quillayute were desperate for food. It arrived from out of a thunderstorm of its own creation carrying a whale. It gave the people the whale as food, before disappearing again into the rolling storm-clouds.^[9]

1 Senseless Cause Of Disease and Pestilence

In Ancient Mesopotamia many gods were worshiped. They believed that the gods and humans were co-workers in maintaining the balance and harmony of the world, but if both men and gods valued peace than why did humans suffer? As a way to explain the senseless death and suffering that humans faced, the people of the Babylonian city of Kutha invented a god that had an uncontrolled temper. His name was Nergal or Erra. Originally those names represented two different gods, but over time they became so closely linked that they began to both refer to the same mythological figure.

Nergal is a god of calamity who senselessly lashes out, not to punish a sin or correct an injustice, but only because of his ill temper. In his wrath he was blamed for of diseases, plagues, and pestilence, but would also inflict senseless death on the battlefield as well.

In one story Nergal, for no reason in particular, decides to attack Babylon, but the city is defended by another god named Marduk. Nergal arrives, pretending to just be visiting the city casually, and expresses feigned shock over how Marduk is dressed. Marduk is embarrassed and says he just doesn’t have the time to get new clothes. Nergal offers to protect the city for him so that Marduk has the time to better outfit himself. When Marduk leaves, Nergal inflicts his wrath on the city—killing people indiscriminately in the streets.

Nergal is called before the other gods to explain his actions and in his defense he simply states the kind of god he is, “When I get angry, I break things.”^[10]

As quarantines and self-isolation are now the order of the day, there is a lot of time for binge-watching TV series and movies—and analyzing them, of course. Although some series and movies are purely for entertainment, others try to educate the viewer as the episodes roll by.

On this list are 10 myths about people on the autism spectrum that are continuously debunked by TV and movie character portrayals. Some of those characters can be found in Rain Man, Atypical, and The Good Doctor.

Top 10 Alleged Autistics in History

10 Autistic People Don’t Want Friends

Right off the bat, this is not true. Most people just assume that those with autism have no desire for friends or close bonds because they are unable to express themselves as freely as those who are not autistic. It also takes autistic individuals longer to develop the necessary social skills to interact with other people.

This makes early social engagement very important. As with anyone who has close friendships, those on the autism spectrum benefit from a shared bond, especially if they are subjected to bullying at school or work.^[1]

In the series Atypical, the character of 18-year-old Sam Gardner suffers from autism spectrum disorder. Zahid, another teenage boy who works with Sam at Techtropolis, sees past his oddities, and the two become best friends.

They talk about girls, go shopping for clothes to attract girls, and talk to each other about their individual relationships with girls they like. Although it might sound shallow because of the constant girl talk, the two boys have a strong bond. Each accepts the other for who he is.

9 They Lack Empathy

Fans of The Big Bang Theory have a long-standing theory that Sheldon Cooper is autistic because of his lack of empathy toward other people. In real life, many people also assume that autistic people don’t have any empathy. Some even call autism the “empathy disorder.”^[2]

However, as Sheldon often exclaims in the show, it is simply harder for him to pick up on social cues and react accordingly. This does not necessarily mean that he has no empathy.

In The Good Doctor, Dr. Shaun Murphy has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and savant syndrome. Although he may have trouble expressing his feelings, it is clear that he feels empathy toward his patients when he goes the extra mile to care for them and diagnose their ailments.

A quote from author Kerry Magro, who’s on the autism spectrum, sums up the message that the show is trying to get across: “Shaun and I are not defined by our diagnosis.”

8 They Don’t Feel Emotion

Being diagnosed as a person with autism or being on the autism spectrum doesn’t make a person unable to feel or recognize emotions. Autistic people simply react differently to the emotions expressed by others and express their own emotions differently as well.^[3]

In Rain Man, Dustin Hoffman portrayed an “autistic savant” character with so much heart that the movie is still viewed as the Hollywood shining star of autism depictions more than 30 years later. Hoffman plays Raymond, who has excellent mathematical and memory skills. But he lacks the ability to pick up on social cues and has difficulty with sensory processing.

Hoffman prepared for the role by reading scientific papers about autism and watching hours of footage about savants and the autism spectrum. He also consulted psychiatrists for their personal opinions.

The result was a character who displayed much emotion, though differently than other people usually do. For instance, when Raymond is in distress, he reacts like a child because he has very little understanding of the subject matter even though he has an excellent memory. But the emotion is there, as strong as it would be in anyone else.

7 They Can’t Learn

Persistent misconceptions have given rise to the myth that those on the autism spectrum are unable to learn anything. However, ongoing studies have consistently shown that there is no difference between the learning abilities of those with autism and those without. Individuals on the spectrum simply have a different way of learning.^[4]

In Atypical, Sam Gardner learns how to deal with the real world differently than other kids would, but he learns nonetheless. In the episode “Sam Takes A Walk,” Sam’s mother reminisces about a board game she invented for the family so they could help Sam learn about coping in the real world. These included ordinary situations such as what to do when a dog barks at you or how to board a bus.

6 They Are All Intellectually Disabled

Although all people on the autism spectrum may not be Rain Man and have unbelievable memories and math skills, it is simply not true that they are all intellectually disabled. Around half of those on the spectrum have some form of intellectual disability, but many excel in music or other pursuits and have high IQs.^[5]

Dr. Shaun Murphy is portrayed as highly skilled and capable despite his social awkwardness and “perceived lack of empathy,” which we discussed earlier. This is indicative of real life as well.

Hans Christian Andersen was on the autism spectrum and is still one of the most beloved fairy tale authors in history. Susan Boyle is autistic, yet she made history when auditioning for Britain’s Got Talent. She blew away the judges with her rendition of “I Dreamed A Dream.” Similarly, Tim Burton is a massive success as a film director. But he is also on the autism spectrum.

10 Crazy Syndromes That Change The Way You See The World

5 They Are All Savants

This is the opposite side of the previous myth but also untrue. As mentioned above, many on the autism spectrum are highly intelligent. Yet few are true savants like Raymond in Rain Man.^[6]

In Atypical, Sam Gardner is highly intelligent but he is not a savant. This is true of most intelligent autistic people. They become doctors, lawyers, directors, actors, and more, but they never develop savant characteristics. Once again, not all autistic people are the same. Their abilities vary.

4 They Cannot Be Gainfully Employed

This should not even be a myth in the first place because it shouldn’t take a TV show to debunk something like this. As mentioned above, both Sam from Atypical and Shaun from The Good Doctor are employed.^[7]

What does make employment more difficult for those on the autism spectrum is the fact that they often have to undergo several more tests and evaluations than the average employee. Employment agencies are still learning how to find suitable employment options for their autistic clients and how to prepare them for success.

Steve Jobs was autistic and yet one of the most successful people on the planet. Autism should never be used by employers as a reason to reject an applicant if the job specifications fall within the scope of that person’s talents and abilities.

3 Autism Is Caused By Vaccinations

Another terrible misconception that just won’t disappear is that vaccines cause autism. To date, the cause of autism remains unknown, but researchers believe that genetics, toxic substances, and differences in brain anatomy might contribute to children being diagnosed with the condition.^[8]

The rumor that vaccines may play a role in children developing autism comes largely from a 1998 study that suggested the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine or the measles virus itself might be to blame. Although it was established soon afterward that the research used in the study was falsified—and the doctor who conducted the study lost his medical license—the rumor just won’t die.

The medical journal that published the study retracted the paper, but even this didn’t help. Despite ongoing assurances that vaccines remain safe and that there is no link between vaccinations and autism, some parents still blatantly refuse to have their children immunized.

Rain Man, Atypical, and The Good Doctor do not in any way, shape, or form contain the notion that their autistic characters had vaccinations gone wrong.

2 Bad Parenting Causes Autism

If ever a character could single-handedly bust a myth like this, it would be Elsa from Atypical. Elsa is Sam Gardner’s mom, and she couldn’t be a better parent if she tried.

She is closer to her son than her husband, Doug, is. When Doug and Sam start to get along, this leads to Elsa having an extramarital affair. But it doesn’t affect the bond with her son and the love she has for him.^[9]

After being kicked out of the house by her husband, she restlessly tosses and turns while spending her first night away from Sam since he was born. Among other things, Elsa attends a weekly autism support group and is more accepting and understanding of her son’s diagnosis than anyone else.

Although some children and teenagers on the autism spectrum may have bad parents, it is not the bad parents who caused the diagnosis.

1 Autism Is Rare

Some people refer to autism as outlandish and rare, as though it’s something to be wary of. However, it is estimated that 1 in 54 eight-year-old children are on the autism spectrum. Some children shed their diagnosis and no longer display any symptoms as they grow older. Basically, they outgrow the condition.^[10]

Shows like Atypical and The Good Doctor make a point of informing the public about all aspects of autism, including the fact that it is nowhere near as rare as some believe it to be. People with autism don’t deserve to be stigmatized, and children do not deserve to be bullied because of it.

10 Fascinating People With Savant Syndrome

The music industry is filled with larger-than-life figures and tales of debauchery and eccentricity, and the public is usually ready to lap up every juicy detail that they can find in tabloid magazines, interviews, autobiographies, and, more recently, social media. 

It’s not really surprising, then, that the secretive and scandalous nature of the music world has given rise to loads of outlandish myths and urban legends. And today, we’re taking a look at ten of them.

10. John Denver the Sniper

John Denver built an image for himself as a friendly, lovable, and harmless folk musician who cared about nature and his fellow man. But was it all a lie? Was John Denver actually a cold-blooded killer who once served as a sniper for the US Army?

Well, no, but that hasn’t stopped the story from spreading online. It’s true that he came from a military family and his father was an officer with the US Air Force. Denver might have wanted to follow in his footsteps, but that was never in the cards – his eyesight was too poor for him to become a pilot. He was also missing two toes, having lost them in a lawnmower accident when he was a teenager. So even though John Denver did receive an Army induction notice in 1964, his health problems got him classified as 1-Y, meaning that he was only qualified for service in times of war or national emergency. So John Denver never served in any branch of the military. And even if he had, the fact that he was blind as a bat meant that the one position he would never, ever fill was that of a sniper.

9. In the Air Tonight

Fans often argue over the true meaning behind some of their favorite songs, especially when that meaning is not made apparent either by the lyrics or by the artist. Take that overenthusiasm and uncertainty, mix them together, and you get a foolproof recipe for rumors to appear. Take, for example, the song In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins. It was his first single as a solo artist and became one of his signature songs, but some of his fans are still unclear on what the song is actually about.

There are a few variations on the story, but the most common version claims that Collins once witnessed a man drown while a third man watched on impassively, refusing to help the dying person. Phil himself was either too far away, too drunk, or too young to help, depending on which version you prefer. But that’s not all, because the most outlandish retellings go a step further and claim that Collins hired a detective to track down the mysterious man who callously let another person drown. The musician then sent him tickets to one of his shows and, during the concert, put the spotlight on him and exposed him to the world at large.

All of this is nonsense, of course, as made clear by Phil Collins himself years ago. He wrote the song following the collapse of his first marriage, but here is what Phil had to say:

“When I was writing this I was going through a divorce. And the only thing I can say about it is that it’s obviously in anger. It’s the angry side or the bitter side of a separation. So what makes it even more comical is when I hear these stories which started many years ago, particularly in America, of someone come up to me and say, ‘Did you really see someone drowning?’ I said, ‘No, wrong’.”

8. Avril Is Dead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAKrBCFYTh0

You’ve probably heard of the “Paul Is Dead” myth – the idea that the real Paul McCartney died decades ago and was replaced by a lookalike and, for whatever reason, the Beatles decided to leave clues to their little switcheroo in the album cover for Abbey Road. That urban legend is too well-known, so we decided to focus on a different celebrity doppelgänger story – that of Canadian pop rocker Avril Lavigne.

According to this particular conspiracy theory, the real Avril died all the way back in 2003, not long after she struck it big with her debut album Let Go. But even before her demise, Lavigne wasn’t a fan of her newfound fame, so she sometimes used a body double named Melissa Vandella for various events. Then, after the singer died, her record company didn’t want to let go of a good thing, so they “upgraded” Melissa to a full-time Avril Lavigne. And, of course, the new Avril started leaving clues to her true identity in her songs and even wrote the word “Melissa” on her hand once in a publicity shot.

Confronted with this “irrefutable proof,” the singer had no choice but to come clean and admit that she was not the real Avril Lavigne…Just kidding. No, for the most part, she ignored the story, although she has acknowledged it more in recent years, dismissing it as a “dumb internet rumor” made up by bored people needing something new to talk about.

7. Jim Is Alive

This one is pretty much the exact opposite of the previous entry – a rumor that claims that a dead musician is, in fact, still alive after faking their own death. Undoubtedly, Elvis is the king of this particular urban legend, with dozens, possibly even hundreds of sightings over the years. Once again, we are not going to focus on the most obvious choice and, instead, examine the idea that Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, faked his death and started a new life.

The unclear circumstances surrounding Morrison’s death made it ripe for rumors and conspiracies. The musician died unexpectedly in his apartment in Paris in 1971, joining the dreaded 27 Club, but more on that later. The likely cause of death was a drug overdose, but his partner, Pamela Courson, fearing that she might be arrested and charged, gave a false statement to the French police, telling them that Morrison died of a heart attack. With no signs of foul play, the authorities dismissed the need for an autopsy, and Jim Morrison was hastily buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery, with his fans informed of the singer’s death after the funeral.

Over the years, conspiracy theories claimed that Morrison had been the victim of various assassination plots, or that he actually OD’d in a trendy Parisian nightclub and his body was brought home to avoid unwanted publicity. And then, of course, there was the idea that Jim faked the whole thing and started fresh, leaving his old life behind. Oddly enough, some of his close friends also believed this, including Ray Manzarek, the keyboard player of The Doors who co-founded the band alongside Morrison.

6. Monkees > Beatles & Stones

If you ever dare to besmirch the good name of the Monkees, you will probably find at least one fan who will huffily inform you that actually, in 1967 the Monkees sold more records than the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined. So there… what do you have to say to that? Well, you could tell them that, although their passion is commendable, they are slightly misinformed. Although this “fact” has often been repeated over the decades, it was completely made up by Monkees member Mike Nesmith, who later referred to it as a “complete fabrication, totally bogus, class-A mendacity lie.

It wasn’t until 2015 that Nesmith set the record straight in a podcast, and then again in his own autobiography. It all went back to 1977, to an interview in Australia. Bored with media appearances and a bit weary of the press, Nesmith flat-out warned his interviewer that he would tell him lies and that he would have to do some research to separate the fact from the fiction. But here it is in Nesmith’s own words:

“Then came a point where he asked me about the sales of the Monkees records, and I saw the chance. It isn’t too well known, I said flatly, that we sold over thirty-five million records in 1967. More than the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined … he diligently wrote all this down, and I wondered for a moment if I had chosen too outrageous a lie to tell, but it turned out it had been just right.

The next day in the paper, there it was, printed as fact.”

5. Jimi’s Parakeets

You might not be aware of this, but Great Britain has a feral parakeet problem, particularly the ring-necked variety. They are a non-native species and they’re also a non-migratory species. This means that they didn’t just fly from Africa or India on their own. Someone brought them to Britain and released them into the wild where they thrived and multiplied. And if the story is to be believed, then the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of one man… Jimi Hendrix.

Why was it his fault? Because, apparently, in 1968, while on a trip to London, he released a pair in Carnaby Street. This may or may not have happened, nobody knows for sure, but even if it did, Hendrix would still not be responsible for their introduction as a non-native species. Occasional parakeet sightings in Britain date back to the 19th century, and the first large-scale release of these birds might have occurred in the early 1930s, during an outbreak of “parrot fever” which prompted many parrot owners to release their feathered friends into the wild. 

Experts believe there were several such instances where parakeets were released in large numbers that ultimately led to them becoming a feral species in Britain, with the most significant one possibly being the Great Storm of 1987, which saw birdhouses being damaged throughout the country.

4. Getting High at Buckingham Palace

The Beatles were a quintessential part of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and, according to legend, they enacted one of their most infamous acts of rebellion in 1965 when they got high at Buckingham Palace.

Like the aforementioned claim made by Mike Nesmith, this was a rumor started by one of the band members. In 1965, the Beatles went to Buckingham Palace where Queen Elizabeth II presented them all with MBEs, which stands for Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. However, according to John Lennon, the Fab Four got ready to meet the queen by sneaking into the bathroom and smoking a joint to steady their nerves.

So were the Beatles high when they met the queen? The other bandmates dismissed Lennon’s claim, with both McCartney and Harrison pointing out that they just smoked regular cigarettes. And, eventually, Lennon himself walked back his statement, so it seems that this controversial moment in their careers was only a fanciful story.

3. The Rollercoaster Scream

It all started with a scream. There are innumerable songs that have screams in them but, for whatever reason, the Ohio Players’ 1975 hit Love Rollercoaster proved to be different. A rumor started going around that the funk band had unwittingly captured the last cry of a woman being murdered.

How could this even happen? Well, apparently, the woman was killed just outside the studio, or maybe in a different room, or even in the neighboring apartment, just as the band was recording Love Rollercoaster. The scream appears around the halfway point of the song and it is barely audible and quite easy to miss, which further convinced people that it had been recorded accidentally. 

In other variations on the urban legend, the woman wasn’t killed, just badly scalded by hot honey. In this instance, the scream belonged to model Ester Cordet who posed for the album cover naked while dripping honey over herself. It’s a bit unclear how it ended up on the recording, though.

The truth was far more obvious and mundane. The scream wasn’t unintentional and it didn’t even belong to a woman. It was made by Ohio Players keyboardist Billy Beck who just wanted to add a little something extra to the track. And, to give him credit, he did, just not what he intended.

2. Let Him Bleed

Even in a world filled with excesses, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is in a league of his own as his decades of drug abuse have been well-documented. But how come Keith Richards is still alive and kicking while so many of his contemporaries are long gone after partaking in the exact same lifestyle? Is he simply immortal or does he have a different ace up his sleeve? Well, if rumors are to be believed, then Keith Richards’ secret to long-lasting life is replacing all the blood in his body with fresh blood.

Yes, the claim is that the musician went to one of those super expensive, super secret medical clinics somewhere in the Swiss Alps and had a full-body blood transfusion to help him kick his heroin addiction. This is a weird situation because several people close to Richards confirmed the veracity of the rumor, only for Richards himself to eventually admit that he made up the whole thing out of boredom. Here’s what he said:

“Someone asked me how I cleaned up, so I told them I went to Switzerland and had my blood completely changed…I was just fooling around. I opened my jacket and said, ‘How do you like my blood change?

That’s all it was, a joke. I was f***ing sick of answering that question. So I gave them a story.”

1. The 27 Club

What do Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse have in common? They are all part of the accursed 27 Club, the mysterious “statistical spike” that has claimed the lives of famous musicians at the tender age of 27 in far greater numbers than any other age. 

Jimi, Janis, and Jim all died within two years of each other. They were all highly successful and influential, and they were all 27 years old so people did notice the eerie similarities between them, but it wasn’t really until the 90s when Kurt Cobain died that the idea of the 27 Club became a well-defined concept, and people were reminded of it again in 2011 when Amy Winehouse died. These are just the biggest names mentioned whenever the 27 Club is brought up, but there are others such as Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones, blues pioneer Robert Johnson, Canned Heat singer Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson, Grateful Dead member Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, and scores of others.

So is there any truth to the idea that musicians are more likely to die when they are 27? Not according to science. One study examined the deaths of over 11,000 musicians over 60 years and only 1.3 percent of them died at that age. More died at 28, in fact, and, unsurprisingly, the percentage went up with age, with the 55-to-65 range proving to be the highest risk. The deadliest year of all was 56, which claimed 2.3 percent of lives. Even so, it was only slightly higher than its neighboring years, not enough to constitute a spike of any significance.

Like urban legends, health myths have a peculiar knack for sticking around. Whether it’s an old wives’ tale or misinterpreted advice, these myths often persist despite contrary evidence. In this article, we’ll embark on a myth-busting journey, debunking ten of the most persistent health myths. So, let’s roll up our sleeves and dive into the world of health misconceptions.

Related: Top 10 Failed Fad Diets

10 The Myth: “You Can’t ‘Sweat Out’ Toxins During Exercise”

The age-old belief is that a good workout can magically release toxins like a sweaty sponge. I hate to burst your detox bubble, but you can’t sweat out all those weekend indulgences. While sweating does help cool your body and shed a few pounds of water weight, it’s not a detox superhero.

Here’s the science: Sweat mainly consists of water, salt, and other minerals. Toxins? Not so much. Your liver and kidneys are the true MVPs for detoxification, breaking down and eliminating waste from your body.

So, while that hot yoga class might leave you feeling Zen, it’s not purging your system of toxins. If only life were that simple! Hydrating, eating well, and supporting your body’s natural detox processes with a balanced lifestyle are the real keys to a toxin-free existence.

Next time someone insists that a brutal spin class is a spa day for your insides, just smile and remember: your liver is the real star of the detox show. Cheers to keeping it real and letting the sweat do what it does best—cool you down and make you feel like a fitness champ!

9 The Myth: “Eating Carbs at Night Makes You Gain Weight”

Forget the midnight snack guilt trip! The notion that eating carbs at night is a one-way ticket to packing on pounds is nothing more than a myth waiting to be debunked. So, dim the lights, grab your favorite comfort food, and let’s unravel this bedtime story.

Contrary to popular belief, your body doesn’t turn into a carb-hoarding gremlin after sunset. The key to weight management isn’t the clock but total caloric intake throughout the day. Your body doesn’t have a built-in sundial, signaling fat storage after 6 pm.

In fact, consuming carbs at night might actually be a smart move. Carbohydrates promote the release of serotonin, the “feel-good” neurotransmitter that could double as your sleep fairy godmother. A happy tummy equals a happy snooze. Sweet dreams, carb enthusiasts!

8 The Myth: “Cracking Your Knuckles Causes Arthritis”

Oh, the sweet symphony of knuckle cracking—the urban legend that suggests it’s a one-way ticket to arthritis. Well, fear not, fellow knuckle enthusiasts, because this myth is as cracked as the joints themselves!

Contrary to popular belief, no scientific evidence links the delightful pop-pop-pop of knuckle cracking to the development of arthritis. In fact, studies have shown that the habit is more like a harmless percussion ensemble than a sinister precursor to joint doom.

When you crack your knuckles, you’re releasing gas bubbles that build up in the synovial fluid—a lubricant that helps your joints move smoothly. It’s like giving your fingers a tiny round of applause for a job well done, not a secret handshake with arthritis.

7 The Myth: “Eight Glasses of Water a Day for Everyone”

We’ve all heard the advice of guzzling down eight glasses of water a day. Some of us might even be carrying around a water jug the size of a small swimming pool to meet the quota. But let’s splash some truth on this hydration myth.

Firstly, our hydration needs are as unique as our taste in Netflix shows. The one-size-fits-all eight-glass rule is as accurate as predicting the weather with a crystal ball. Our bodies are smart—they tell us when they’re thirsty, and it’s not always a strict eight-glass memo.

Moreover, did our ancestors carry water bottles around as they roamed the savannah? Probably not. The idea that our bodies need a daily water chugathon has about as much scientific support as a conspiracy theory from a distant uncle.

So sip skeptically, my friends. Hydration is essential, but there’s no need to drown yourself in water like you’re auditioning for a mermaid role. Pay attention to your body’s signals, and remember, it’s okay to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea—they count toward your fluid intake, too!

6 The Myth: “Being Cold Gives You a Cold”

The belief that being cold gives you a cold is like blaming the rain for making your hair frizzy. But fear not, my chilly comrades, because this myth is as frosty as an ice cream cone in Antarctica.

Contrary to popular belief, catching a cold isn’t a game of tag with the winter breeze. Colds are caused by viruses, not by shivering in the cold like a penguin caught in a snowstorm. So, the next time someone insists that your runny nose is the direct result of that chilly wind, politely inform them that viruses, not temperature, are the real party crashers.

Sure, being cold might make you uncomfortable, but it won’t summon the common cold virus like a frosty magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. So, bundle up in that cozy sweater, embrace the winter wonderland, and let the viruses know they’re not invited to your cold-weather fiesta.

5 The Myth: “No Pain, No Gain”

This one’s a classic gym mantra that has been taken a bit too literally: “No Pain, No Gain.” It sounds like the battle cry of the fitness gods, urging you to push through the burn and embrace the agony for the sake of those gains. But let’s debunk this myth with a sprinkle of wisdom and a dash of humor.

First off, pain is your body’s way of saying, “Hey, buddy, something might be wrong here!” It’s not a VIP pass to the gain train. It’s more like a red flag waving in the breeze. While a little discomfort is expected in any workout, treating pain as a badge of honor is like saying you enjoy stubbing your toe just for the thrill.

Contrary to popular belief, gains don’t exclusively come from punishing your body into submission. The key is finding the sweet spot between challenge and self-care. Think of it as a spa day for your muscles, minus the soothing music and fluffy robes.

4 The Myth: “Eggs Raise Your Cholesterol and Are Bad for Your Heart”

The myth that eggs are little cholesterol grenades ready to explode your heart health has been cracked wide open! Contrary to popular belief, eggs are not the villain in the heart health saga. In fact, they’re the heroes of breakfast.

Let’s scramble the facts: Eggs do contain cholesterol, but they also boast high-quality protein and essential nutrients that make them “eggstraordinary” for your overall well-being. Studies have shown that the cholesterol in eggs doesn’t necessarily translate to an increase in blood cholesterol levels for most people.

The incredible edible egg is a powerhouse of nutrients, from brain-boosting choline to eye-loving lutein. In the grand breakfast buffet of life, eggs have rightfully earned their spot. So crack open those shells, embrace the yolks, and let the cholesterol myth be a sunny-side-down story of the past.

3 The Myth: “Detox Diets Cleanse Your Body”

Detox diets promising to cleanse your body like a superhero fighting off toxins might sound tempting, but let’s unravel the truth behind this health myth. Contrary to popular belief, your liver and kidneys aren’t slacking off on the job—they’re the real deal for detoxifying your system.

Detox diets often boast about magical elixirs and exclusive blends that claim to purge your body of impurities. However, science doesn’t quite sing the same tune. The human body is a well-oiled detox machine, breaking down and eliminating waste products without needing a trendy juice to cleanse.

Instead of sipping on pricey concoctions that promise miracles in a bottle, focus on giving your body what it craves: a balanced diet rich in fruits, veggies, and water. Your organs will thank you for nourishing them with the good stuff.

2 The Myth: “More Sweat Equals More Calories Burned”

Have you ever looked at someone drenched in sweat at the gym and thought they must be torching calories like a furnace? Well, sorry to burst your sweaty bubble, but this notion is as false as claiming chocolate makes for a nutritious breakfast.

Sure, sweating feels like a workout victory lap, but it’s not a reliable measure of calorie-burning prowess. Sweating is your body’s way of cooling down, not a sign that you’ve turned into a human calorie-burning furnace.

Think about it this way: A summer stroll in the scorching heat might leave you drenched, but it won’t magically transform your walk into an Olympic-level calorie burn. It’s the exercise itself—not the sweat—that makes the real difference.

So the next time you see someone sweating buckets on the treadmill, give them a nod for their commitment. Remember, the effort they’re putting in, not the amount of sweat, torches those calories. Keep calm, carry a water bottle, and let the sweat flow naturally without expecting it to be a calorie-burning magic potion.

1 The Myth: “Fat-Free Means Healthy”

The notorious “Fat-Free Means Healthy” myth—it’s like the unicorn of dieting, too good to be true. In reality, the absence of fat doesn’t automatically transform a snack into a nutritional superhero.

Sure, fat has a bad rap, but not all fats are created equal. Some fats, like the ones hanging out in avocados and nuts, are part of a balanced diet. The problem with the fat-free frenzy is that it often leads to a sneak attack of added sugars and mysterious chemicals that sound like they belong in a science lab, not your snack drawer.

Think about it: When they take the fat out, something’s gotta give in the taste department. And that something is usually replaced with sugar or artificial flavorings, doing a tap dance on your health goals. So you’re left with a snack like a sugar-coated mirage of healthiness.

The truth? Embrace the good fats, avoid the sugar-loaded impostors, and remember, balance is the real name of the game. Because let’s face it, life’s too short to deprive yourself of the delightfully creamy wonders that healthy fats bring to the table.

Sailing the open ocean is a dangerous endeavor. Of course, when the weather is perfect, and the wind is at your back, riding along the waves can be exhilarating. But more often than not, the weather is poor, or the wind is wrong. Even worse, storms pop up suddenly, and the calm ocean turns into a scary series of endless deadly waves.

Throughout history, countless sailors have lost their lives in finicky and vicious seas. Even today, there are no real guarantees that tragedy won’t strike on the open ocean. So imagine how dangerous sailing was 100, 500, or 1,000 years ago!

By necessity and with little else to help assuage fears, sailors have clung to superstition to get by throughout history. Of course, all superstitions tend to be a little bit bizarre. The number 13 isn’t inherently unlucky. Black cats aren’t more dangerous than felines of any other color. But for whatever reason, when a superstition takes hold, it tends to captivate almost everyone around.

In the sailing world, those trends toward the superstitious have only been magnified because of how dangerous the job can be. Even today, sailors with all the modern technology and tools at their disposal still swear by ancient nautical customs and myths for good luck. In this list, we’ll go over the real stories behind ten of those fascinating and unique superstitions.

Related: 10 Times Old Superstitions Became Deadly

10 Red Sky at Night

Surely you’ve heard this phrase before, or a variation of it: “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning.” As the saying suggests, sailors seeing red skies off to the west at sunset was supposedly a good luck charm. But red skies to the east in the early morning at sunrise were said to portend doom.

The saying itself has been around for a very long time. None other than William Shakespeare mentions a variation of it in his narrative poem “Venus and Adonis.” Even the Bible references the so-called “red sky rule,” although it’s not in the context of sailing. But as it turns out, this superstition is actually very specifically and simply backed by science! Maybe those sailors of olden days really knew what they were getting at with this one.

When light has to pass through air particles, it gives off color. The more particles it has to pass through, the more it starts to appear red. Blue light gets scattered much more easily than hues of yellows, oranges, and reds. When the reds are seen in the atmosphere, they correspond with a high-pressure weather system.

High-pressure systems are good for sailors, as they often lead to light winds and calm weather. And since air currents around the globe generally blow west to east, the location of those red skies matters greatly. Thus, “red sky at night” means a high-pressure system will likely come in from the west, and the next day or two will bring good weather. “Red sky at morning” means a high-pressure system has just come through, and low-pressure storms may soon be coming.^[1]

9 The Name Game

Perhaps more than anything else, there is one thing you must never do to a ship: rename it. For centuries, sailors across the globe have felt that renaming a ship opens it up to bad luck and future misfortune. It’s not just a random rule, either.

Long, long ago, sailors believed all ships’ names were kept in a book known as the “Ledger of the Deep.” That book was said to be edited and managed by Poseidon, the Ancient Greek God of the sea (or Neptune, we suppose, if you prefer the Roman take on it). Anyway, Poseidon was said to track and protect every ship on the water. The “Ledger” allowed him to follow and carefully account for every ship and every crew until they were back in port.

However, if you changed a boat’s name, it was seen as being disrespectful to the higher power. Who would really choose to go against Poseidon, after all? And then captains who were forced by some legal or social requirement to even think about a name change had to go through a meandering and complicated ceremonial process to square things up with Poseidon. Things can never be simple and easy on the high seas, can they?

Interestingly, it appears the “no name change” rule has been in popular worldwide use for a very long time. In the 1880s, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote of the custom in Treasure Island. “What a ship was christened, so let her stay,” he famously exclaimed. Even long before that, sailors working on the ocean during the “Golden Age of Sail” beginning in the early 16th century documented the same requirement. Now, historians are almost certain that myth extends back even further into ancient times.^[2]

8 Albatross Antics

There aren’t many birds way out in the open ocean, but at least one tends to be a common sight: the albatross. Historical sailors took early notice of the albatross’s grateful flight patterns and smooth gliding in the air. Their free-flying ways led sailors to think the birds were somehow animal incarnations of long-lost wandering spirits.

Over the centuries, that myth hardened into a tall tale: Every albatross represented the ghost of a dead sailor. Seeing one was thought to be good luck. These long-dead sailors were supposedly watching over the ship and ensuring its safe passage.

It makes logical sense that sailors always refused to kill albatrosses whenever they would land on ships then. But the custom actually has its history in literature too! In 1834, the poet and author Samuel Taylor Coleridge solidified the albatross habit for all time in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”

In the poem, Coleridge claimed the eponymous mariner shot and killed an albatross at sea. Then, their ship ran out of fresh drinking water and ran aground on a spit of land. The crew was then attacked while the ship was stuck, with nearly all of them dying in the tragedy. Sailors believed Coleridge based that poem on an actual 1719 incident in which a sailor killed an albatross before his ship experienced terrible luck. And thus, the point was made crystal clear: never kill an albatross while out on the open ocean.^[3]

7 All Ears!

It’s a common stereotype of pirates that they wore gold hoop earrings. The gold ring is as well-known a part of the pirate get-up as an eye patch and a peg leg. But as it turns out, gold earrings actually were very common among pirates ages ago. And there was a good reason for them, too—or at least, those swashbucklers sure thought so at the time.

Centuries ago, pirates believed gold jewelry cured a number of ocean-going issues, including scurvy, blindness, and seasickness. Some even said the gold supposedly magically kept pirates from falling overboard and drowning.

Pirates weren’t alone in thinking gold had magical powers, either. In the Middle Ages, medical pioneers all over Europe thought gold itself was a magical cure. They prescribed gold for a host of common and not-so-common ailments. That included ordering patients to ingest little bits of gold to cure everything from leprosy to heart disease. Some doctors even had patients drink liquid gold as a way to slow down the aging process. Vanity isn’t unique to the modern era, it would seem.

Of course, we now know gold doesn’t do any of that stuff. And even back then, they were starting to get the hint. By the early 18th century, pirates (and others) using gold for any medicinal purpose were very much on the way out. But there was still a practical reason to keep the earrings around: funeral costs.

Should a sailor die at sea, the gold plucked from his ear was often used to pay for funeral expenses. Some pirates even engraved their hometowns into the earrings. Should the worst happen, their bodies could theoretically be sent home to worried family members seeking closure.^[4]

6 The Caul of a Newborn

Fair warning: this next superstition is a little bit gross. And a little bit rare! If you’ve never heard the term “caul” before, well, here you go: Newborn babies are (sometimes) born with part of their birth membrane called a “caul” shrouding their face. Many babies don’t have the membrane upon birth, though. And it’s not like there’s anything wrong with those that do. Doctors simply remove the piece of membrane, and the baby goes back to momma.

But old-school sailors held that caul in very high regard. It was thought that any baby born with a caul upon its face was to be guaranteed good luck for the rest of its life. Thus, any caul available in various seaports became a highly desirable good luck charm to have near a ship! Strange, right?

Sailors believed a newborn’s caul on board meant their vessel would be protected from storms and bad shipwrecks. Never had a sailor gone overboard and drowned with a caul on the ship, legend held. Cauls became such important parts of sailing that captains would put ads in newspapers around seaside towns asking for them.

It’s not exactly clear how this custom would have arisen in the first place. Aside from the baby said to be born with good luck from the caul, how did it transfer over to the sea? We suppose it goes back to the extremely superstitious nature of sailors! Regardless of the caul’s crossover into ocean lore, this custom has been around for a long time. Historians have documented caul want-ads in seaside newspapers from as early as the mid-1600s.^[5]

5 Got a Loaf?

Interestingly, there are actually several sea-faring superstitions centered on baked bread. Who knew? For one, English sailors adhered to their nation’s custom of any bread baked on Good Friday being lucky. So, when Good Friday rolled around, sailors jammed bakeries to get a loaf or two (or three or four) for their voyage.

That bread was said to ensure safe passage across the sea. And just to be doubly sure about that, as a ship was leaving port, sailors would toss pieces of bread directly into the sea. That, legend claimed, helped guarantee good weather for the voyage ahead. Something tells us the seagulls in each port city didn’t mind that superstition one bit.

The English and their French frenemies also had a thing about upside-down bread on board boats. This legend actually began on land. In France, during the Middle Ages, bakers were supposedly forced to bake bread for executioners. Protesting the grisly gig, the French bakers were said to put “hatred” in the bread they made for the professional killers. But executioners obviously didn’t eat every loaf bakers made.

So, in the bakeries across France, breadmakers would turn executioner-made loaves upside down. Other customers thus knew which loaves they should avoid while buying bread. Soon, that upside-down habit extended to the sea. English sailors in the 16th century and beyond believed upside-down bread directly led to shipwrecks and strandings.^[6]

4 No Women, No Gingers

Sorry, women—and, uh, sorry, redheads of all genders. Historical customs dictated that women were not allowed on board a ship after it had set sail. Women on merchant ships and military crafts were supposedly guaranteed to bring the boats bad luck. Their mere presence was said to make the seas angry.

Plus, they were supposedly such a distraction to sailors that the maritime men were said to make bad navigational choices and weather decisions in the presence of the fairer sex. Actually, considering how touch-starved sailors would have been after months alone at sea, perhaps there really is something to that last part. But it’s absurd to blame shipwrecks on women, right?

It’s doubly ironic to note the no-women superstition if only because boats have (virtually) always been named after women. In ancient history, all ships were dedicated to goddesses. In more modern times, female figureheads were sculpted to the bow of boats. The presence of those goddess-like forms up front was thought to guarantee calm storms and easy seas. So how did sailors go from sculpted women being very good to real women being very bad? However they got there, that’s how it was for centuries.

And women weren’t the only ones left out of luck on the ocean. One bizarre superstition held that redheaded people were never meant to sail. People with red hair were sometimes banned from boarding boats. More commonly, sailors themselves who knew of the traditional myth would refuse to go close to them once on the ship.

And if a sailor did see a redheaded person—whether on board or in port before setting sail—the ocean-goer had to speak first before the innocent redhead could get a word in. If that happened, the sailor was said to have overridden whatever bad luck red hair would bring. It just makes us wonder one thing: What would they do with all the Irish sailors?^[7]

3 Broken Eggshells

If you thought sailors didn’t want women aboard their ships, you likely can’t even imagine how badly they tried to avoid witches. In one of the oldest sailing superstitions of them all, captains and their crews have been said to be dead-set on avoiding witchcraft while on board.

This one actually goes back all the way to the first century AD. During that era, Pliny the Elder noted how sailors were already breaking eggshells on board ships to keep witches away. The ancient world was rife with superstition, so maybe it’s not surprising to learn that. But what is interesting is how long that custom kept up.

By the Middle Ages, witches were said to be able to sail the high seas using just a hollowed-out eggshell as a boat. Those must have been some tiny witches, of course. But sailors (and land lovers) were horrified at the idea of witches having free reign to traipse all over the world’s waterways. So sailors began taking used-up eggshells and cracking them into little tiny pieces on board. If there were no eggshell shards fit for sailing, then no witches could come on board, commandeer one, and curse the boat, right?

This custom continued on well into the early 20th century, too! While these more recent sailors likely (um, hopefully) didn’t still think witches were sailing across the ocean in eggshells, the broken shell custom remained commonplace.

In 1936, the Scottish poet Elizabeth Fleming wrote about how important it was for sailors to crack eggshells into teeny, tiny pieces on board: “Oh, never leave your egg-shells unbroken in the cup; Think of us poor sailor-men and always smash them up, For witches come and find them and sail away to sea, And make a lot of misery for mariners like me.”^[8]

2 Cat’s Got Your Boat

We’ve learned by now that sailors spent much of their lives trying desperately to avoid things, from women to witches, redheads, albatrosses, and (some) red skies. But there was one thing they loved having on board: cats! Cats were said to be good luck for seagoing ships. For one, they served a very practical purpose.

For centuries, leaky wooden ships filled with all kinds of cargo were magnets for rat infestations down below deck. Having a cat (or two or three) on board helped solve those problems. As cats became loyal companions—or at least loyal rat killers—for sailors away at sea, they became extremely prized and valued for how much they helped solve rat issues.

In time, cat behavior became part of sailing lore. If a cat ever approached a sailor and stayed around him for a moment or two, that was said to bring the man good luck. But if the cat turned his back on a sailor, the feline was supposedly warning the man of bad luck ahead. To game this system a bit, sailors across the centuries were known to feed onboard cats very well. After all, with food in hand, those felines weren’t likely to turn their backs too often.

Some cat superstitions got downright crazy, though. Over the years, sailors imbued cats with nearly magical powers. Some felt felines controlled the weather. Others held that a ship would have bad luck for nine years if the vessel’s cat ever went overboard.

Still, other myths centered on the unpredictable nature of cat behavior. A cat’s sneeze while at sea meant rain was coming. Any frisky feline behavior meant there was to be a windy day ahead. And if a cat licked its fur for too long, hail was surely just hours away.

These superstitions are pretty crazy, of course. But today, vets wonder if those sailors were on to something. After all, cats have very good eyesight and hearing, and their senses across the board are significantly heightened compared to humans. Plus, cats have very sensitive inner ears that pick up on wind changes and pressure adjustments.

For that reason, vets believe cats read the weather far better than other animals. And thus, sailors observing cats for days on end at sea could have picked up on their ensuing behavioral changes!^[9]

1 Don’t Dare Whistle!

It turns out that “whistle while you work” is very much a dryland phenomenon. Whistling on board a ship is said to be a great (read: not great) way to tempt fate. Sailors believed whistling would alert the ocean’s gods to kick up storms. So, anyone whistling while out at sea was supposedly just asking for high winds and bad rain.

Some sailing outposts even held that the simple sound summoned Satan himself! Work was expected to be done in silence, or at the very least while chanting, calling out, or even singing work songs. Repetitive though it may be, singing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” was said to tempt fate in a far less significant way than mindlessly whistling while on deck. Of course, that song’s endless refrain may wind up tempting sanity a bit, but that’s a separate issue.

Anyway, there actually seems to be a legitimate reason for the no-whistling superstition, too. Through history, ships have mostly been filled to the brim with crew members. Depending on the purpose of the voyage, men sleep in shifts while others work above deck. And in all cases, lookouts stay up in the crow’s nest or elsewhere, even at night, while other men rest down below.

Should something happen on deck, or a storm kicks up with little warning, it’s imperative the captain be able to use whistling as a means of quick communication. Nothing rouses sleepy sailors quite like a shrill whistle and a barked command, right? So no lowly crewmen ought to whistle their way through work lest they interrupt the captain from giving potentially life-saving orders.^[10]

Stories and folklore have enchanted and horrified people of all cultures for centuries. These stories turn into legends when they’re widely circulated, slowly evolving into truths. Many myths have been the inspiration for Hollywood’s “based on a true story” tagline. And while you may doubt the authenticity of some of those claims, there are urban legends that genuinely hold some kernel of truth. Keep reading to find out 10 of the most intriguing myths that actually happened. 

10 The Man Who Flew Away on a Balloon Lawn Chair

The classic trope in cartoons where a man is lifted into the air by balloons tied to a chair does have a real-life story behind it. In San Pedro, California, Larry Walters was the first man to become airborne using nothing but a lawn chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons. Walters hoped to fly across the mountain range to reach the Mojave Desert.

A friend filmed the attempt, which you can watch online. The flight was only semi-successful. Walters managed to reach 16,000 feet and flew for 45 minutes before getting entangled in power lines. Fortunately, Walters managed to climb down to safety unharmed, but law enforcement arrested him immediately for violating U.S Federal Aviation Regulations. He gained worldwide recognition for the outlandish stunt.

Since the pioneering flight in 1982, a surprising number of people have attempted to recreate the homemade aircraft. It also inspired the 2003 film Danny Deckchair and the extreme sport of cluster ballooning.

9 Rat Kings

A very weird myth indeed. People have been reporting rat kings since the mid-16th century, and we’re not talking about crowned rodents. The name rat king refers to the supposed phenomenon where rats’ tails become tangled together. It was believed to be mythical, yet there is evidence of this really happening. The greatest rat king found and preserved in 1828 had as many as 32 rats bound together in this way. We used to think that people only fabricated these kinds of specimens—zoologists were skeptical that it could occur naturally.

As recently as 2005, An Estonian farmer discovered a rat king consisting of 16 rats. The tails were tangled together by frozen sand, with nine of the rats still alive. It is preserved at the Natural History Museum at the University of Tartu.

It seems nature can be this creepy—the phenomenon was deemed possible but rare.

8 A Dress to Die For

Folklore worldwide recounts the tale of the poisoned dress. In the ancient Greek story of Medea, Medea enacts revenge on her ex-lover’s new younger wife with death-by-dress. Medea removes the dress from a corpse and sends it to Glauce, who wears it to a ball (other times, it’s her own wedding). She succumbs to the embalming fluid that has seeped into the garment. 

The myth of the embalming fluid, or formaldehyde, being a cause of death has persisted, although it’s been disproven. It turns out formaldehyde smells so bad that it would be impossible not to notice it.

There is an unfortunate period in history, though, where manufacturers used arsenic-laced dyes in many clothing items during the 19th century. The exuberantly green dresses that were all the rage in high society ended up causing all those who came in contact with the fabric to endure painful blisters and, worse still, horribly painful deaths.  

7 Alligators in the Sewers of New York

The urban legend of giant, often albino, alligators living in the sewer system of New York has been passed down the generations, permeated pop culture, and is even commemorated with an unofficial holiday (February 9th is Alligators in the Sewers Day).

Legend has it that rich families in the 1930s began keeping alligators as pets, but once they grew bored of them or found the grown gators too difficult to manage, they flushed them down the toilet. It’s believed that a large colony of sewer alligators has been terrorizing the sewers ever since.

The truth is alligators were once sold as pets and have been found in storm drains and surrounding rivers. The multiple tales of sightings and captures have been fanning the flame of this legend over the years. As for the reptiles living and thriving in the sewers? It turns out it’s not possible. The environment is too cold and toxic for alligators to survive very long. 

6 Cropsey Killer

Cropsey is a boogeyman legend that circulated Staten Island towards the end of the 20th century. The story goes that an escaped mental patient living in the abandoned Willowbrook Mental Institution’s old tunnels kidnapped and murdered children. The legendary figure would sometimes have a hook for a hand, other times a butcher’s knife, but the story of a murderous maniac struck fear in the kids who grew up there. The true story is just as haunting.

After a spate of child disappearances, Andre Rand, who had previously worked at the Willowbrook Institution and was then living on the abandoned grounds, was arrested and charged with Holly Ann Hughes’s kidnapping. This led many Staten Island residents to believe that Rand was the crazed killer responsible for several other disappeared children. Although there has been no physical evidence linking Rand to the crimes, newspapers and Staten Islanders drew parallels between Rand and Cropsey. 

A documentary called Cropsey investigates the myth and the man supposed to be the real-life Cropsey. One thing’s for sure—it’s difficult to tell the difference between the facts and the folklore.

5 A Giant Sea Creature That Terrorizes Sailors

Norse sailors would often recount tales of a giant tentacled creature that rose from the depths of the ocean and attacked their ships. The reports stated that this ferocious sea monster would rock the ship and even knock men overboard with a tentacle. They believed the creature was hunting them and feasting on their crew one by one. The Kraken myth has been an old seafaring legend for centuries, but is there any truth to this myth? 

Well, yes. These harrowing ordeals’ culprit is the colossal squid, the largest of the squid species (even bigger than the giant squid). Sure the sailors’ stories were exaggerations, but who doesn’t exaggerate adventures at sea. In 2003, researchers discovered a complete specimen in Antarctic waters. These rare deep ocean lurkers grow up to 14 meters long and weigh at least 500kg. They also have rotating hooks on the tentacles’ club-shaped ends, which make them even more terrifying.

4 Real-Life Beauty and the Beast

Many tales describe mythical hybrids from centaurs to mermaids. But less glamorous are the stories about beasts that resemble a human man in some ways, like the beast from Beauty and the Beast. There are many more accounts of a wild ape-like man from bigfoot to werewolves.

In the 1500s, a man named Petrus Gonsalves, a native of the Canary Islands, was born with a rare condition that we now know as hypertrichosis (or werewolf syndrome). The condition produces excessive hair growth all over the body, including the face. Hair completely covered Petrus and people treated him like an animal. They even kept him in a cage and fed him raw meat.

At ten years old, he was presented as a gift to the new King of France, Henri II. The King wanted to tame the ‘savage’ and decided to give the boy a proper education. Seeing that Petrus was intelligent, he became very fond of the boy and stopped treating him like an animal, making him a noble.

Petrus married a beautiful woman at the court, and they had children together, some of whom shared the genetic condition. Could this remarkable tale be the real-life inspiration for beauty and the beast?  

3 Premature Burial

You may have heard of a few cases where people, being mistaken for dead, were accidentally buried alive. Stories of supposed corpses heard screaming from underground and excavations that revealed scratch marks on the inside of coffins had haunted us for centuries. The terror of being buried alive was so strong in Victorian times that bells were set up and attached to dead bodies in case they ever awoke.

Some historians even believe the phrase ‘saved by the bell’ comes from this practice. Yet, despite the popularity of these ‘safety coffins,’ there are no records of anyone actually being saved this way.

This doesn’t mean the myth of being buried alive is untrue, but it’s definitely not as common as we once believed. Even scarier is that people have reported similar instances in modern times. The most recent case of a mistaken death happened in 2020.

Peter Kigen, a 32-year-old Kenyan man who was declared dead, woke up in a morgue to staff preparing to embalm and drain the blood from his body. Kigen regained consciousness and began screaming after someone had sliced his leg open. Hospital negligence is assumed to be responsible for this shocking incident.

2 A Real Corpse as a Halloween Decoration

A very dark urban legend, used repeatedly as the plot for murder mysteries in film and television, is the dead body in a Halloween display that ends up being a genuine corpse. People walk by commenting on how realistic it looks, and nobody knows something horrendous has occurred.

This one may be hard to believe. After all, no amount of makeup and special effects could convince that many people a decomposing body is fake, right?

Unfortunately, this isn’t just a dramatic scene played out in Hollywood. It really did happen. In 2015, a woman in Ohio was left for dead on a fence by a roadside after being attacked. She was initially mistaken for a Halloween decoration by several people who noticed the woman’s body hanging off the chain-link fence. No one thought to report it since they believed it to be a prank. Only when a construction worker, who also thought it was a decoration, went to remove it realized it was a real body.

1 A Haunted Doll

If you watch enough horror movies, you would have come across a couple of spooky dolls like Chucky or Annabelle. The creepy legend of a beloved toy becoming possessed is enough to give you nightmares. This next story is definitely too weird to be true, and yet here it is. 

In 1918, in Hokkaido, Japan, a young boy bought a doll for his little sister, Okiku. Both the doll and the Okiku looked similar, having an okappa haircut, a bowl cut with straight hair down to the chin. The doll went everywhere, the little girl went, and so, when Okiku tragically died a couple of months later, her family kept the doll as a shrine. They named the doll after her and prayed to it every day.

Then something bizarre happened. The family noticed that the doll’s hair was getting longer. It was growing just as an ordinary person’s hair might grow. Knowing something was very wrong, they gave the doll to Mannen-Ji Temple in Iwamizawa City. Scientists have analyzed the doll’s hair and concluded that it is, in fact, real human hair, human hair belonging to a child. You can still visit this freaky paranormal phenomenon as the doll is on display in the same temple.