Extremely Works of Body Art

Extremely bizarre works of modern art in which the human body is exploited. Some of the images are gruesome – you have been warned!

Rhythm O’
Marina Abra

Performed in 1974. In the piece, the audience was given instructions to use an array of 72 provided instruments of pain and pleasure, including knives, feathers, and a loaded pistol on Abramovic’s body. Audience members cut her, pressed thorns into her belly, put lipstick on her, and removed her clothes. The performance ended after six hours when someone held the loaded gun up to Abramovic’s head and a scuffle broke out.

Trans-Fixed
Chris Burden

Burden was so influential in the realm of body art that I just had to include another of his pieces in this list. Trans-Fixed took place in 1974 at Speedway Avenue in Venice, California. For this performance, Burden lay face up on a Volkswagen Beetle and had nails hammered into both of his hands, as if he were being crucified on the car. The car was pushed out of the garage and the engine revved for two minutes before being pushed back into the garage.

Martyrs and Saints
Ron Athey

In this 1993 performance Athey hung nude strung up to a column with long needles inserted into his head in such a manner as to represent a crown of thorns. His stated artistic intention is to achieve redemption through self-mutilation. The image above is the best one that could be found.

Shoot
Chris Burden

This is one of Burden’s most well known acts. On November 19, 1971 in Santa Ana, California, he walked into F Space gallery for a pre-arranged exhibition. The crowd in the empty gallery watched as Burden’s friend stepped about 15 feet away from Burden, pulled out a loaded .22 rifle and shot him in his left arm. Although the bullet was only intended to graze Burden, he flinched at the last moment and thereby endured a more serious injury then intended.

3 Aktion Vienna 1965
Rudolf Schwarzkogler

A piece that was recorded by a photographer where he appeared to cut off his own penis. Chris Burden, a fellow body artists misreported in a 1970s Newsweek Magazine that died by slicing off his penis during this performance. However, the photos had been misinterpreted. The photographs were actually of Hans Cibulka, a model and friend of Schwarzkogler. He posed with a sliced open fish covering his groin. This is what is believed to of caused the myth. Schwarkogler actually died on June 20th, 1969. He was found without any evidence for more than an accident under a window from which he fell. This generated several myths about him committing suicide and other speculations about his life.

Seedbed
Vito Acconci

This was first performed by Vito Acconci on January 15-29 1972 at Sonnabend Gallery in New York. In this piece, Acconci lay hidden underneath a ramp installed at the Sonnabend Gallery, masturbating. The artist’s spoken fantasies about the visitors walking above him were heard through loudspeakers in the gallery.

Levitation
Terry Fox

On September 17, 1970, he performed this piece at the Richmond Art Center in California. The equipment he used included a white paper that covered the floor and an eleven-foot-square mound of earth in the center of the room. He stuck plastic tubes in it, each being fifty feet long and filled with them with blood, urine, water, and milk. Fox then proceeded to lie on the earth and for six hours, attempted to levitate into the space above him. He described it with this, “I was trying to think about leaving the ground, until I realized I should be thinking about entering the air. For me that changed everything, made it work.” After he tried this he said that it left him with, “The feeling for awhile that I was out of my body.” Again no image could be found so the work above is another example of Terry Fox’s work.

Velocity Piece
Barry LeVa




Performed both at the University Museum at Columbus, Ohio, in 1969 and in La Jolla in 1970. He ran back and forth, crashing into opposite walls fifty feet apart until he collapsed from exhaustion. The sounds of his movements were taped so that viewers were able to hear the sounds of his crashing after the event, as well as see the blood-spattered walls he had left. As on reviewer described the effect of this residue, “LeVa had truly become a ghostly presence, a body haunting space.” No images or videos are available for this item, so the clip above shows some of LeVa’s other art.

Hand Catching Lead
Richard Serra

It was Serra’s first film and features a single shot of a hand in an attempt to repeatedly catch chunks of material dropped from the top of the frame. In Boomerang (1974), Serra taped Nancy Holt as she talks and hears her words played back to her after they have been delayed electronically. Serra has made a number of films concerning the manufacture and use of his favorite material, steel.

Portrait of the artist as a fountain
Bruce Nauman

Nauman was educated at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the University of California, Davis, and became part of the burgeoning California art scene in the late 1960s. His Self Portrait as a Fountain showed him spouting a stream of water from his mouth. Nauman tested the idea of art as a stable vehicle of communication and the role of the artist as revelatory communicator.

Incredibly Sexual Practices

This list contains really unnerving text, and some swearing! The only way this could EVER be work-safe, is if you work at a side-show in a circus! The items on this list are in no particular order.

[WARNING: contains adult material which is not safe for work.]

Teratophilia

Teratophilia is the sexual attraction to deformed or monstrous people. One version of Teratophilia is acrotomophilia, sexual attraction to amputees. Considerable commercial and amateur erotica is published apparently targeting people with such a sexual attraction. Persons attracted to amputees in particular are said to be engaging in amputee fetishism.

Emetophilia
Also known as Erotic Vomiting

Talk about blowing chunks! Obviously, the words “erotic” and “vomiting” are not often used together. However, they do have similarities: Both trigger the release of hormones that make you feel better; both are caused by stimulus; and, for men at least, both involving having fluids get forced through a tube and out of an orifice. The primary dissimilarity is that most people do not associate throwing-up with a pleasurable experience. Dr. Robert J. Stoller, a renowned sexologist and psychiatrist, begs to differ; Here he discusses the cases of three women: The first woman doesn’t do the Technicolor-yawn herself, instead, “…I can reach a sure orgasm by imagining someone vomiting in a hard, humiliating fashion…”; The second woman actually experiences an orgasm every time she throws up; The third and final woman describes it like this: “…Vomiting for me is like…an orgasm in that I’m tensed, I feel the…intense flood of good feelings almost continually throughout the vomiting and experience relief and quiet warmth in my body when I’m finished. It is not identical to an orgasm. I do not feel it intensely in my genitals alone, but I do feel it there as well as the rest of my body and…in my mouth…”. NOTE: There is also a practice known as “Roman-showers”, which is to become aroused by being vomited upon.

Autopederasty

Autopederasty is the near-impossible act of sticking one’s own fully-erect penis in one’s own rectum. Yes. Only a small percentage of people can do it, but it’s possible! There is a porno called “Go Fuck Yourself” that is devoted to the act, even going so far as to instruct people on how to do it!

NOTE: There are two other, more familiar variants: Autofellatio is when a man gives himself oral sex; Then, there is Autocunnilingus, where a woman gives herself oral sex.

Mummification

Mummification as a BDSM bondage practice involves restraining a living person’s body in a non-damaging way by wrapping it head to toe, or neck to toe, in materials like saran wrap, clingfilm, cloth, bandages, rubber strips, duct tape, plaster bandages, bodybags, or straitjackets. The end result is a person completely immobilized and looking like an Egyptian mummy. They may then either be left bound in a state of effective sensory deprivation for a period of time, or sensually stimulated in their state of bondage, before being released from their wrappings.

Salirophilia

Salirophilia is a sexual fetish or paraphilia that involves deriving erotic pleasure from soiling or disheveling the object of one’s desire, usually an attractive person. It may involve tearing or damaging their clothing, covering them in mud or filth, or messing their hair or makeup. The fetish does not involve harming or injuring the subject, only their appearance. The fetish sometimes manifests itself in the defacing of statues or pictures of attractive people, especially celebrities. The fetishist finds this sexually exciting, rather than mere vandalism. They sometimes form collections of defaced art for future enjoyment.

Pseudonecrophilia

Unlike real necrophilia, this is actually legal (not that that’s a good thing)! It’s quite simple, actually: One partner remains quiet (something we all wish we could have) and still, while the other has sex with him/her. For added realism, the “pseudo-dead” partner can lay in cold water for a while before the act! This particular practice met some notoriety, thanks to its appearance in the show, “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit”.

Cannibal Fantasies

These fantasies are obviously pretty explanatory. On the Deviant Desires website (based on the book of the same name), Katharine Gates explains that some people actually bring these fantasies to life in consensual role-playing! One of her friends, “…painted the woman’s nude body with dotted lines to represent cuts of meat.” One very tasteful website, Muki’s Kitchen, features photographs of female models trussed up in pans filled with vegetables, and stuffed with apples and carrots in every possible orifice. Thus, erotic feeding, messy fun, bondage, gags and vaginal or anal penetration may be incorporated into this practice.

Ponyplay

Ponyplay is a form of bondage that involves a “pony” and a rider. The pony is often outfitted with straps, a leather saddle, blinders, reins, and a bit in the mouth. The rider, sometimes utilizing either a riding crop or a whip, either gets pulled in a cart or rides the pony directly. The principal theme of animal roleplay is usually the voluntary or involuntary reduction (or transformation) of a human being to animal status, and focus on the altered mind-space created. The most common examples are probably canids (pup, dog, wolf), felines (cat, kitten, lion) or equines (pony, horse).

Nyotaimori

Nyotaimori (female body presentation), often referred to as “body sushi,” is the practice of eating sashimi or sushi from the body of a woman, typically naked. Nantaimori refers to the same practice using a male model. This sexual fetish is a subdivision of food play. As a result of being served on a human body, the temperature of the sushi or sashimi comes closer to body temperature. Before becoming a living sushi platter, the person is trained to lie down for hours without moving. She or he must also be able to withstand the prolonged exposure to the cold food. Body hair, including pubic hair, would also be shaved, as a display of pubic hair may be seen as a sexual act. Before service, the individual would take a bath using a special fragrance-free soap and then finish off with a splash of cold water to cool the body down somewhat for the sushi.

Agalmatophilia

Agalmatophilia is a paraphilia concerned with the sexual attraction to a statue, doll, mannequin or other similar figurative object. The attraction may include the desire for actual sexual contact with the objects, a fantasy of having sexual (or non-sexual) encounters with the animate or inanimate instances of the preferred objects, the act of watching encounters between the objects themselves, or sexual pleasure gained from thoughts of being transformed or transforming another into the preferred object. Agalmatophilia may also encompass Pygmalionism which describes a state of love for an object of one’s own creation.

Amazing Ad Campaigns

From a commercial encouraging you to rent your wife to robots selling fried chicken (or attempting to do so), we look at ten commercials which are known for the notoriety rather than the products they are attempting to promote.

Arnold’s Vitamin Drink



A greater absurdity in the annals of television commercial history has not been recorded. By comparison, it is the toffee apple surrounded by candy floss, the benchmark against which all things bizarre are judged. Takeda Chemical Industries roped in the ‘Terminator’, Arnold Schwarzenegger to market a seemingly energy boosting substance and the result has been a pyrotechnic display beyond human reasoning. The jejune background score, Arnold’s attempt to speak Japanese, and the metamorphosis in the end make this a classic. Maybe this is what he had in mind when he said he’ll be back.

Of Monsters, transvestites and Light



While this commercial may not seem weird in the end, a second look will expound to you the theory of relativity. Unearthly, grotesque creatures create the suspense but the producers misjudged the addition of the transvestite as somewhat of an unfamiliar, foreign object. Now, this would be perfectly acceptable anywhere in the world but Thailand.

Hulk Hogan and the air conditioner



Hulk Hogan was the undisputed master of the ring who could possibly do anything and everything. Well, that’s what the makers of this advert for air conditioners thought. Because it is otherwise inexplicable why you would rope in a wrestling star to sing a lullaby to an infant to market a device from which cool air emanates into the room. And the song which is simply a tune of the days of the week does not make up for the faux pas. The only thing that could have made it worse is a video cassette of Hulk Hogan’s singing as a free gift. Simply excruciating.

Pufuleti Gusto



What do Romanians turn to when they need to inject optimism into life? After years of communist rule, high rates of unemployment, the defection of Nadia Comaneci and the retirement of Dan Petrescu and Gheorghe Hagi, they seem to have come up with the answer. Or that’s what this commercial claims. Because when you have just accidentally chopped off your head when peeling an orange, but still have the strength to ask for the Pufuleti snack, there must be something to it.

Ice Cream at the Bar



And now to some edification on the art of being illogical. Set an animated lass to cavort in a bar and then at the end of it all, tell the prospective customer to buy your brand of ice-cream. To make it more interesting use a blackboard somewhere along the way to feign erudition and make sure the girl carries the ice-cream with her so that the sensual waves trigger off pleasure which will become readily apparent. Essentially, make sure that your customer is made to believe that consuming ice-cream has the same effects as alcohol.

Sheila’s Wheels



‘For bonzer car insurance deals, girls get onto Sheila’s wheels’. If you are a girl in the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland), you wont have to keep your hands on the steering wheel while you drive because ‘women make the safest drivers’. Coquettish crooning accompanied by a band which follows their tune as the convertible waltzes past the countryside is hardly the way to sell car insurance and just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, a mouse appears to be driving the car.

Sumo Wrestling and Sprite



Sumo wrestling being a rather obscure sport to most people outside of Japan, it seems only natural that those who conjured up this idea were aiming for the bizarre. And that’s exactly where they got. Iridescent sumo wrestlers bumping into each other to create orgasmic pleasure? Naa. The event is far more likely to produce an earthquake. And all this to simply relate the idea of ‘LYMON’? Utterly disturbing.

Do not Murder



Of all the things that the Church of Scientology preaches ‘Do not murder’ is perhaps the least controversial. However, because it cannot end there, they went ahead and made an advertisement about it. The advert was supposedly an informational one which would act as a ‘roadmap to a happier life through values of compassion and caring that every member of a civilized society holds dear’. The content of the ad is simply a bullet which has just left a revolver while desperate voices cry out in the background and ends with the message ‘Do not murder’. Very obfuscating, indeed.

Robocop trying to sell fried chicken



You’ve goto hand it to the Koreans for coming up with something like this. The person who conjured up this idea must have been on something while coming up with this, because he or she has made a very absurd assumption that a robocop devours and relishes the same kind of food that humans eat. The entrance of this friendly monster through the television and the whisking away of the whole fridge at the end of the advert make it all the more unreal. What’s more, he wants ‘frieda chicken’. 



Rent a Wife



A Belgian video rental service used a twisted metaphor for this commercial, leading to controversy. It depicts a couple in the mood for love making when the man suddenly packs her off in a box for disposal. Seconds later, the doorbell rings with another woman at his disposal. There was no mention of the video rental service anywhere in the advertisement and the unsuspecting viewer might just have thought the rent-a-wife scheme to be true, only to have checked the website to find an innocuous rental store. Perhaps the creators of the advert should let the poets make use of the metaphors.

Weird Cat Tales

There are stories of cats crossing state borders to find their owners, cat survival tales and claims of talking cats.

Piano-Playing Cat

Nora, a gray tabby, who was adopted from an animal shelter by music teacher Betsy Alexander, became a media sensation after a video of her playing the piano went on to YouTube. Named after painter Leonora Carrington, she learned how to play by watching her owner’s students practice while she sits under the piano. Then one night, she went up the bench herself and started pawing the keys. With the encouragement of the owner, Nora’s playing became a daily routine, and her performances were soon posted on YouTube, and found its way to the media, where it called the attention of animal behaviorists, who find Nora an incredible case of animal intelligence. Her popularity made her an instant sensation, and she now has her own CD, DVD and website.

The Cat With Etiquette

When Faye Murrell’s children left home, dining time became a lonely affair. So to have company at the table, she began giving her cat Tessa some table manners. The cat, a very quick learner, soon learned how to use a fork in no time flat. Not only that, but when noodles are served, Tessa can eat them with chopsticks, and when ice cream’s on the table, she uses a spoon.

The Moscow Cats Theater

Yuri Kuklachev, a former member of the Moscow State Circus, is the founder of the Moscow Cats Theater, a performing troupe that has 120 feline members. The idea for the troupe came to Kuklachev in 1971, when he saw a stray cat that begs for food by standing on her hind legs. Realizing the potential of the cat, he adopted it and soon incorporated it in his act at the State Circus. 17 years later Kuklachev left the State Circus and started the Moscow Cats Theater 2 years after. The various acts that the troupe performs include tightrope walking, ball balancing and riding a rocking horse. Maruska, one of the troupe’s stars, can even do a handstand on Kuklachev’s palm.

Feline Cutaneous Asthenia

Feline Cutaneous Asthenia (FCA)is a rare hereditary disease found in cats. The disorder (which is like a feline equivalent to the human disease Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) affects the way an afflicted cat’s body produces collagen, an important component in skin tissue and tendons. The disorder has two forms: one caused by a dominant gene and another one caused by a recessive gene. Both produce similar symptoms: abnormally soft and velvety skin that can easily tear. One common result of this is the formation of wing-like folds or flaps on a cat’s shoulders or back. FCA is said to be the cause of ‘winged’ cats, like a cat owned by Granny Feng of Xianyang City, China, who has 4-inch long wing-like appendages sprouting in its back.

Glow-in-The-Dark Cats

In 2007, scientists at Gyeongsang National University in South Korea have successfully created cloned cats that glow in the dark. The three white Turkish Angora cats, weighing around 7 pounds each, were capable of glowing red under UV light. Here is a quotation from a report written by Alan Boyle, the science editor at msnbc.com explaining the procedure: ‘They took skin cells from Turkish Angora female cats and used a virus to insert the genetic instructions for making red fluorescent protein. Then they put the gene-altered nuclei into eggs for cloning. The cloned embryos were implanted back into the donor cats, which effectively became the surrogate mothers for their own clones. Four kittens were born by Caesarian section, but one of them died during the procedure, according to the Korea Times. The fact that the kittens’ skin cells glowed under ultraviolet light served as evidence that they were really gene-altered clones.’

Project Acoustic Kitty

Acoustic Kitty was a CIA project initiated by the Directorate of Science & Technology in the 1960’s. It attempted to use cats in spy missions, particularly to bug secret conversations. It involved inserting a microphone and transmitter with battery to the body of the cat, and wiring an antenna to its tail. The expenses used for the surgery and training were said to amount to 20 million dollars. However, when the project went on a trial run (a trial mission where the cat was assigned to listen on two men in a park in Washington, D.C.), the project came to a halt when the test cat was ran over by a taxi and killed. Due to the incident, not mentioning the various cons of the project, Acoustic Kitty was declared a failure.

The Meow Mix House

Meow Mix, a popular cat food brand, launched the Meow Mix House, a reality TV series that followed a ‘Survivor’ format. Ten cats chosen from various animal shelters across the country were pitted against each other in a battle of wits, brawn and brain in a luxurious mansion on Madison Avenue in New York City. What’s the first prize? A job as the feline Vice president of Research and Development in the Meow Mix Company. The reality series were shown on Animal Planet for ten straight weeks beginning June 16, 2006. Aside from the top prize, a second position in the company was awarded to the cat voted most popular by the viewers. The losers, however, gets a year’s supply of cat food, plus a new home and family, just like the two top winners. Oh, the top prize was given to Cisco from Miami, while Ellis from Portland won the popular vote.

Brumas, The Pink Cat

Brumas, a 9-yr. old cat from Devon, England, was taking her usual stroll on Sept. 3, 2005, but when he returned later, his owners were surprised to see their pet’s usual snow-white coat has turned a bright pink. “He was pink – Barbie pink. His head, ears and right down his body, although not underneath, had gone a quite brilliant pink,” said Joan Worth, the cat’s owner. Worried, Joan and her husband Philip immediately went to the vet to examine Brumas. The vet said that Brumas is in good health, but they couldn’t find an explanation for the cat’s strange color. “They couldn’t find any reason for it, although they decided it wasn’t toxic, which was what I was worried about,” said Mrs. Worth. Mr Worth added, “We have thought about everything as to how this happened, from him being covered in some form of cow treatment to children’s poster paints. We have no clue where he was that could have caused this to happen.” However, paint is not believed to be the reason because Brumas’ fur was not matted. As for Brumas, he seemed to be unaffected by the color change.

Radio Station for Felines

Nohl Rosen of Scottsdale, Arizona, is the proud owner of Cat Galaxy, an Internet radio and TV station catered specially for cats (and their owners too). Running for a strong nine years, the station has radio shows like Morning Meows, Meow Mixing Monday and Friday Night Feline Frenzy. Most of the music from this station is ‘feline-approved’, ranging from Jazz to R’n’B .Plus, the station features interviews with various veterinarians and pet-owners as well. Oh, and the station’s manager is none other than Rosen’s own pet cat, Isis. Even the assistant manager and the program director are cats.

The Litter Kwitter

Cleaning kitty litter is no walk in the park. According to statistics, it represents half of the expenses of keeping a cat. An interesting solution would be to train your cat to use the toilet. But how do you train your cat to do this? Enter the Litter Kwitter, a cat-friendly training system that teaches cats how to use a human toilet. The system consists of a special universal toilet seat (meaning it fits all toilets) and three toilet rings. The training is done in three stages. The first is the red stage, where your cat is trained to associate the toilet with the litter box using a red ring fitted above the toilet, filled with kitty litter. The amber stage follows, where your cat is trained to balance him/herself on the toilet seat while using it, using this time an amber ring with a small hole, surrounded with a little kitty litter. The final stage is the green stage, where your cat learns to use the toilet by balancing him/herself on the green ring, which has a larger hole this time. Voila! A potty-trained cat!

Identity Theft Bizarre Cases

Identity theft is not a new problem, and like any crime, there are always some cases that make you scratch your head in astonishment, and ask the obvious questions: “Why would someone even try this? How did they think they were going to get away with it?” And sometimes simply, “What the heck?”

Catch Him if You Can

Arguably the most famous story of identity theft is that of Frank Abagnale, who was depicted by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2002 movie, “Catch Me if You Can.” In the 1960′s, Abagnale eluded authorities by posing as characters such as an airline pilot, doctor, assistant attorney general, and history professor, all the while racking up $4 million in bad checks. Eventually, Abagnale was caught and convicted, but now serves as one of the preeminent authorities on privacy law and owns a business fighting the same crimes that made him famous.

Stealing from... Himself

It’s usually safe to assume that anyone who steals another person’s identity to obtain money or services is a pretty desperate individual. But how desperate do you have to be to steal your own identity? That’s exactly what Li Ming, a graduate student at West Chester University of Pennsylvania did. Li, feeling he had no way out from under staggering credit card debt, faked his own death, complete with a forged obituary in his local paper. Nine months later, Li attempted to obtain a new driver’s license with the intention of applying for new credit cards eventually. However, the DMV he visited, unaccustomed to issuing driving privileges to dead people, called authorities. Subsequently, Li was arrested for stealing the identity of.. Ming Li.

Brooklyn Busboy

It’s easy to imagine: A young man in Brooklyn New York borrows a much-needed ten bucks from his father, and then heads off to his demeaning job as a restaurant busboy, all the while dreaming of having the financial stability of famous figures like Ross Perot and Warren Buffett. In this story, however, the busboy is Abraham Abdallah, who decided to take this dream into his own hands. In this massive case of identity theft, Abdallah used the Internet to obtain access to the private finances of hundreds the richest people in America. Armed with Steven Spielberg’s credit card and Oprah Winfrey’s financial information, Abdallah was finally caught after trying to make a $10 million transfer on behalf of a software giant. So, for now, Oprah’s identity is safe.. Or is it?

You’re How Old?

A woman in the Czech Republic is imprisoned now for stealing the identities of several 13-year-old children, both male and female. In this strange case, Barbora Skrlova went the full mile and even attended school as a young boy, duping teachers and administrators with a shaved head and taped breasts. Other children impersonated by Skrlova included a missing girl named Anna and a sickly boy named Adam. Although Skrlova’s motives for identity theft are unclear, authorities speculate that she may have a mental disorder.

Dead Sea Scrolls

Generally, when you think of identity theft, you assume the thief has committed the crime for monetary gain. However, Raphael Golb had more familial motives in mind when he embarked on his holy quest. Golb’s father, a professor at the University of Chicago, had come up with a controversial theory regarding the long-studied Dead Sea Scrolls. His idea was not widely accepted by fellow scholars, but his son sought to change that. Golb took on the identities of several colleagues to forge online statements in support of his father’s theories, particularly from researchers that publicly opposed them. Unfortunately for Golb, those scholars did not appreciate Golb’s family loyalty, and have had him arrested on charges of identity theft, criminal impersonation, and aggravated harassment.

Dr. No

Gerald Barnes was incredibly passionate about becoming a doctor, and was willing to do anything he could to practice medicine. Everything, of course, except going to medical school. Instead, Barnes made a career of stealing the identities of actual MD’s, and establishing himself based on their hard work. He has been convicted several times through this sham, but every time he was released, Barnes would do it again. As a “doctor,” Barnes would paint a picture of goodwill through community clinic work and volunteer medical missions, all the while swindling his identity theft victims through mail fraud, grand theft and even involuntary manslaughter. With his authentic-looking diplomas on the wall and gentle bedside manner, his patients trusted that he was a trained practitioner. Wouldn’t you?

Ivy League Imposter

High school seniors all of the country would do anything to attend a school like Harvard or Columbia. The application process is intense, and every answer to every question is heavily scrutinized. However, Elizabeth Esther Reed was able to get into both schools by providing the wrong answer on the very first line: “Please fill in your name.” Better known as Brooke Henson to her classmates, Reed used the identity of a missing woman from South Carolina to take classes and eventually obtain employment. Reed was featured on America’s Most Wanted and most recently plead guilty to charges of fraud and identity theft.

Neighbors from Hell

Characterized by a judge as the “neighbors from hell,” a California couple was recently convicted for victimizing dozens of their friends and neighbors in a massive identity theft operation. Lara Love and David Jackson took up residence in a close-knit community, and quickly worked their way into the hearts – and homes – of their trusting neighbors. By hacking into non-secured Internet connections, pirating mail, and even lifting wallets out of cars, Love and Jackson obtained and utilized the personal information of 30 different people. Unfortunately, the “Neighbors from Hell” story, a form of “friendly theft,” is probably the least bizarre story on this list. All too often, it’s the people we love that take advantage of us. According to a Javelin Strategy and Research study released in 2009, 13% of victims had their identities stolen from someone they knew.

Todd Davis

As the CEO of an identity theft protection company, Lifelock, Todd Davis was 100% confident in the services provided by his company. So confident, in fact, that he starred in an advertising campaign based on sharing his actual social security number with the world. In this high-budget marketing ploy, Davis plastered his most important identifying number on billboards, the sides of trucks, all over the Internet and on television commercials. Davis dared the world to just try and steal his identity. And guess what? They did. As exposed by Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today Show, Davis’ identity was used to obtain a $500 cash advance loan, and 87 other people have used Davis’ SSN under names like Joe Blow and Jabba T. Hutt. Davis is still paying the price for breaking the cardinal rule of personal identity protection: Do not share your social security number unless absolutely necessary. Sharing it with the whole world? Now, that’s just bizarre.

The Cheerleader

A 33-year-old woman stole her daughter’s identity to attend high school and join the cheerleading squad, according to a criminal complaint filed against the woman. Wendy Brown, of Green Bay, faces a felony identity theft charge after enrolling in Ashwaubenon High School as her 15-year-old daughter, who lives in Nevada with Brown’s mother. According to the complaint, Brown wanted to get her high school degree and become a cheerleader because she didn’t have a childhood and wanted to regain a part of her life that she’d missed. Brown allegedly attended cheerleading practices before school started, received a cheerleader’s locker and went to a pool party at the cheerleading coach’s house.

Bizarre Accidents

Here are just a few of those strange accidents in history. We see these accidents on the news and all over the internet, but some of the strangest accidents that have ever happened can be found in history books.

Sidoarjo Mud Flow

In May, 2006, while drilling for gas in East Java, Indonesia, company PT Lapindo Brantas caused a mud volcano to erupt. By September, 2006, the hot mudflow had inundated rice paddies and villages, resulting in the displacement of more than 11,000 people from eight villages. Twenty-five factories had to be abandoned, and fish and shrimp ponds were destroyed. Transportation and power transmission infrastructure has been damaged extensively in the area. The mud flow is still ongoing at a rate of 100,000 m3 per day, at time of writing. A study has found that the mud volcano is collapsing under its own weight, possibly beginning caldera formation. It is expected that the flow will continue for at least another 30 years.

Boston Molasses Disaster

On January 15, 1919, a tank of molasses exploded in Boston’s North End. The explosion caused a huge shockwave that was sufficient to knock houses off their foundations. Shards of metal from the tank were found up to 200 ft. away. Right after the explosion this accident took a very strange turn.

The tank was filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses. When the tank exploded, the molasses formed a 25-30 ft. wave, that went through the streets of Boston at speeds of around 35 mph. People caught in the wave were either smashed against large objects, or they drowned in the molasses. This strange accident caused 21 deaths and 150 injuries. Rumor has it that, on a hot day in the North End, the air still smells sweet.

The Ball of Burning Men

On January 28, 1393, King Charles VI of France hosted a ball to celebrate the marriage of Queen Isabeau’s maid of honor. Charles had the brilliant idea to have himself and five of his friends disguise themselves as savages. The idea took a strange turn when the men decided to cover themselves with pitch and feathers. Remember, pitch is very flammable and the primary sources of light indoors at the time were torches.

The men entered the ball disguised this way and chained together. A horrible accident occurred when a man approached them with a torch so that he could get a better look. The men went up in flames immediately. The king was saved by Jeanne de Boulogne, who threw her petticoats over him to put out the blaze. One other of the men was able to throw himself into a vat of water. The other victims of this strange accident were not so lucky. Two burned alive that night at the ball. The other two died within days from their injuries.

London Beer Flood

On October 16, 1814, a vat of beer at London’s Meux and Company Brewery cracked open. Beer gushed out, causing yet another vat to open. The result was 550,000 gallons (or 4.4 million pints) of beer pouring through the streets of London. The wave of beer destroyed two homes and crumbled the wall of the Tavistock Arms Pub, trapping teenaged employee Eleanor Cooper under the rubble. The brewery was located among the poor houses and tenements of the St Giles Rookery, where whole families lived in basement rooms that quickly filled with beer. Eight people drowned in the flood. The disaster was ruled to be an act of God.

Goiânia Accident

The Goiânia accident was a radioactive contamination accident that occurred on 13 September, 1987, at Goiânia, Brazil. Considered one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, it took place after an old nuclear medicine source was scavenged from an abandoned hospital site in the city, which serves as capital of the central Brazilian state of Goiás. It was subsequently handled by many people, resulting in four deaths and the serious radioactive contamination of 249 other people.

The dispersal of radiation was equivalent to a medium-size dirty bomb. About 130,000 people overwhelmed hospitals. Of those, 250 people, some with radioactive residue still on their skin, were found to be contaminated through the use of Geiger counters. Topsoil had to be removed from several sites, and several houses were demolished. All the objects from within those houses were removed and examined. Those that were found to be free of radioactivity were wrapped in plastic bags, while those that were contaminated were either decontaminated or disposed of as waste.

Lake Peigneur Accident

The Lake Peigneur accident was caused by drilling in a salt mine beneath the shallow (10 feet deep) lake. The drill accidentally pierced the third level of the mine causing the lake to drain into the hole. This resulted in the expanding of the hole as soil and salt were washed into the mine by the rushing water, filling the enormous caverns left by the removal of salt over the years. The resultant whirlpool sucked in the drilling platform, eleven barges, many trees and 65 acres (260,000 m2) of the surrounding terrain.

So much water drained into the caverns that the flow of the Delcambre Canal that usually empties the lake into Vermilion Bay was reversed, making the canal a temporary inlet. This backflow created, for a few days, the tallest waterfall ever in the state of Louisiana, at 164 feet (50 m), as the lake refilled with salt water from the Delcambre Canal and Vermilion Bay. The water downflowing into the mine caverns displaced air which erupted as compressed air and then later as 400-foot (120 m) geysers up through the mineshafts.

Napoleon’s Cough

Rumor has it that while Napoleon was suffering from a bad cough he accidentally ordered the execution of 1,200 prisoners. His officers had been awaiting orders from the emperor when he was seized by a coughing fit. The emperor exclaimed “Ma sacre toux,” meaning “My damn cough,” (or literally “My sacred cough,” but I think we know what he meant). His men took his words to be “Massacre-tous,” meaning “Massacre all.” This strange accident would top the list if it were proven. However, accounts of the incident vary greatly and many doubt whether this ever happened.

Death of Lady Coventry

Lady Coventry, or Maria Gunning, was a celebrated beauty of her time. She devoted herself to applying pasty white makeup and red rouge every day. This was the style of the time. Her husband hated this practice and tried to stop her from doing it, but her vanity prevailed. She probably should have listened to him. Lady Coventry died at the age of 27 from over use of lead-based makeup.

Bouncy Castle Disaster

In July, 2006, a bouncy castle, with 30 people inside it, broke free from its moorings and took off into the air in a freak gust of wind. It flew 50 feet into the air, turned over, and travelled 150 feet before landing on the ground. The castle seriously injured 13 people and killed two. An eye-witness described the event thus: “I heard the snapping of tent pegs and a lot of screaming, then the inflatable flew up into the air and bodies were dropping from it. It was just carnage. There were people everywhere lying on the ground. Some had been on the inflatable when it took off, others were hit on the ground.”

Philadelphia Boiler Explosion

On 31 July, 1815, in Philadelphia, County Durham, England, an early experimental railway locomotive, Brunton’s Mechanical Traveller, blew up. This engine, also known as the Steam Horse, ran on four wheels but was pushed by mechanical feet. This was both the first recorded boiler explosion and the first railway accident causing major loss of life, as 16 people were killed. The accident is not included in many texts because it was on an industrial waggonway or plateway, rather than a public railway. Most boiler explosions caused severe mechanical damage but often only the locomotive crew suffered physically; however, Brunton’s locomotive was surrounded, at the time, by a crowd of curious sightseers, who formed the majority of the victims.

Scary Museums That Will Scare Your Socks Off

Some of the most famous museums which can make you feel the part of that world. The setups of museums are fascinating, scary and sometimes horrifying. Let me tell you about some of the museums which can make you scare.

The Purgatory Museum

According to Catholic doctrine, a person who dies with only slight sins on their soul goes to purgatory to be cleansed by fire before floating off to heaven. At the Church of the Sacred Heart in the Prati district of Rome, there is a small museum tucked away behind a side altar. It is the Purgatory museum. This truly scary place has exhibits which document cases of souls in purgatory coming back to earth to haunt the living.

Some of the items on display are a table with scorch marks and lines carved out of it by an otherworldly hand, as well as burnt fingerprints on clothing and bedlinen. But perhaps the scariest item of all is a book with an entire human handprint scorched deeply into the pages – the handprint of a long dead monk suffering in the fires for some unknown sin.

Mutter Museum

The Mutter Museum is best known for its large collection of skulls and anatomical specimens including a wax model of a woman with a human horn growing out of her forehead, the tallest skeleton on display in North America, a 5 foot-long human colon that contained over 40 pounds of poop, and the petrified body of the mysterious Soap Lady whose entire corpse was turned into soap after she died. The museum also houses a malignant tumor removed from President Grover Cleveland’s hard palate, the conjoined liver from the famous Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker, and a growth removed from President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. It may not terrify you – but I guarantee that it will end up haunting your dreams.

Museum of Anatomy

Honoré Fragonard was a professor of anatomy – at least he was until he got canned for showing the symptoms of insanity! Twenty years later he began the work that would be his life’s crowning achievement. In 1794 he began gathering dead bodies for what would become his museum of anatomy. His museum was designed to house a gigantic collection of corpses that he personally stripped of their skin and embalmed with a secret recipe – a recipe that remains a mystery to this day. The collection contains the preserved flayed bodies of animals, children, and executed criminals as well as a collection of skulls from asylums for the mentally disturbed. This museum in Paris is so horrifying that entry is available by appointment only.

Madame Tussauds

Madame Tussauds in London is best known for its enormous collection of wax figures – mostly of famous people. But the museum had a more grisly start. Madame Tussaud herself started the collection during the French revolution. She would run up to the guillotine after people had been executed and make wax imprints of their severed heads. The most famous is probably that of the last King of France. These heads are all on display at the museum along with a horrifying collection of monstrous historical displays in the chamber of horrors. When you see the life-sized reproduction of one of Jack the Ripper’s victims, you will never be quite the same again. Oh – and to make matters worse, the chamber of horrors now employs actors to jump out and terrify visitors. Take along a change of underwear.

Lombrosp’s Museum of Criminal Anthropology

Cesare Lombroso founded the Italian school of criminology. It is no wonder then that this museum – filled with objects from his work is a terrifying place indeed. Combined with the macabre collectibles are images of crimes, weapons used to slaughter humans, and even Lombroso’s own head perfectly preserved in a bottle of formaldehyde. If you are interested in crime – or just want to spend a day gazing at skulls, human remains, and other horrifying objects, this is the place to go.

London Dungeon

The London dungeon is really famous. So you may wonder why it isn’t in the top five of this list. Mainly because it is scary in a different way from the rest of the items here. It is scary in the sense that no one wants a random stranger dressed as the grim reaper to jump at them while screaming. That aside, the dungeon does present a great selection of macabre torture devices from the middle ages. Mind you, your local army base probably has an equally terrifying array of torture devices from the last decade! If you go to the Dungeon take your heart medication with you – those actors can certain put the frights up you. Oh – and be prepared to queue for a long time – it is a popular attraction. The only place you will have seen queues longer is at a bakery in Soviet Russia.

Catacombs of Palermo

Not intending to be a museum, that is exactly what the Catacombs of Palermo have become – a museum of death. Deep in the bowels of the Capuchin monastery you can view hundreds of corpses – both monks and local members of the community. The bodies are lined up along the walls in the clothes in which they were buried. Bodies were put in the catacombs from the end of the 16th century to the last interment – little Rosalia Lombardo in the 1920s. The cool air and dry environment mean that the bodies are extremely well preserved – so well preserved in fact that some look like they are just sleeping. But most look like hideous corpses ready to wake up at any moment to attack the visitors. A must see holiday spot.

New Haven Ventriloquist Museum

In New Haven connecticut there is a museum that contains nothing but row upon row of old ventriloquist’s dummies. Every seat in the theatre has a dummy in it – in fact, when you visit you have to stand on the stage because there is no room anywhere else. Now most people don’t suffer from Autonomatonophobia (the fear of artificial humanoid figures – yes it’s real) but even the staunchest of the staunch will be horrified by this awful display. Just think “Chuckie” times one thousand.

Glore Psychiatric Museum

Who wouldn’t want to check out a museum dedicated to the history of such wonderful things as electroshock treatment and lobotomies? Well – most people probably. But for those who have a taste for the downright shocking, the Glore Psychiatric museum is for you. And if you find the horrifying parts of the museum too much to cope with, you can relax in the “awful things people have swallowed” exhibition. Don’t forget to check out the ancient treatments area where you can see instruments for bleeding patients and the fascinating dioramas taking you step by step through a psychosurgical operation.

House on the Rock

Originally designed to house a collection of basically anything, the House on the Rock in Deer Shelter Rock, Wisconsin first opened in 1959. The house contains fascinating exhibits such as a re-creation of an early twentieth century American Town and a 200 foot model of a sea monster. Now this doesn’t sound too scary but only because I forgot to mention that the entire collection is basically left to rot in dark, dusty rooms. Now imagine such a room room filled with the stench of rot in which you can just make out a scattering of decayed mannequins sawing at old broken musical instruments – playing what sounds like a symphony written in hell! Having seen it, I can assure you that the real thing is far worse than the description!