Decidedly Grim

Here’s a wonderful blog for morbid sightseers like us!

Curious Expeditions

Thanks to Eleanor for the link.

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Today’s Low and Guttural Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Taylorism is an old name for an ear condition, now called pressure-bonded tinnitus, which leads sufferers to hear sudden sounds which are not real. These noises are low and guttural and can sound like waves, cars or growling creatures. The condition is notable since the sounds sometimes trigger phantom sight phenomena – sufferers can momentarily see a wave or car lunge towards them. Although the condition is not named after him, its most prominent victim was James Taylor Markham, an explorer and financier who travelled extensively in Southern Africa in the late 19th century. Markham had come to terms with his disability and had conditioned himself not to jolt or run when he heard or saw something unexpected. In 1902, he was charged and gored to death by a rhino in what is now Botswana.

Culled from: Infowisps
Generously submitted by: Aimee

Facts

Today’s Godly Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

For mass public execution with the most pomp and circumstance, the Inquisitions of Spain and Portugal are difficult to top. An enormous crowd of 20,000 dressed in their finest clothes jammed the main square of Lisbon to witness the burning of 21 heretics on June 30, 1682, among them noblemen and Church dignitaries. Here is an eyewitness account:

“At the place of execution… there are so many stakes set up as there are prisoners to be burned, with a good quantity of dry furze about them. The stakes of the Professed, as the inquisitors call them, are about four yards high and have a small board, whereon the prisoner is to be seated within a half yard of the top… The Professed go up a ladder betwixt two Jesuits, who have attended them the whole day of execution.

“When they come even with the aforesaid board, they turn to the people and the Jesuits spend near a quarter of an hour in exhorting them to be reconciled to the Church of Rome. If they refuse, the priests come down and the executioner ascends and turns the professed from off the ladder and puts them upon the seat, chains their bodies to the stake and leaves them.

“Then the Jesuits go up a second time to renew their exhortations and if they find them ineffectual usually tell them at parting, that they ‘leave them to the Devil, who is standing at their elbow to receive their souls and carry them with him into the flames of hell fire, as soon as they are out of their bodies.’

“Upon this, a great shout is then raised, and as soon as the Jesuits are off the ladder, the cry is ‘Let the Dogs’ beards be made, Let the Dogs’ beards be made!’ This is done by thrusting flaming furzes against their faces with long poles. This barbarity repeated until their faces are burnt coal black, and is accompanied with such loud acclamations of joy as are not heard even at a Bull-Feast or a farce.

“Fire is then set to the furzes, which are at the bottom of the stake, but the flames seldom reach as high as the seat they sit upon… If the day is windy, then they do not die even after an hour and a half or two hours, and so are really roasted and not burnt to death… The sufferers as long as they are able to speak, cry out: ‘Misericordia por Amor de Dios’ (‘Mercy for the love of God’).”

Culled from: An Underground Education

“Let the dogs’ beards be made” is my new favorite expression. For the love of God, of course.

Facts

Trey Brandt has a fascinating hobby: he tracks down the wreckage from military plane crashes, photographs his findings, and shares them with us on his website. In addition to captivating photos of the wreckage, he provides archival photographs of the victims and details of the circumstances behind the crashes. Completely entrancing! I am jealous… I want to track down some old crash sites now!

Aircraft Wrecks In Arizona and the Southwest

More websites dedicated to crashes can be found at the Asylum’s All Things Dark & Gruesome – Catastrophic Crashes page.

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Today’s Crushing Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

In 1982, 27-year-old David Grundman and a roommate decided to do a little “cactus plugging,” by shooting the desert plant with a shotgun. The first one, a small cactus, went off without a hitch and Grundman was encouraged to try a larger prey: a 26-foot-tall Saguaro cactus, probably a 100-year-old plant. Unfortunately, Grundman blasted off a large chuck of the cactus that fell on him and crushed him to death! To date, this was probably the only known instance of revenge killing by a plant.

Culled from: Neatorama
Generously submitted by: Bex

Facts