Shain Erin’s morbid art dolls are absolutely beautiful! I wish I could have some for my collection. Maybe one day…
Fine Sculpture and Art Dolls by Shain Erin
Thanks to Elizabeth for the link.
On April 6, 2008, at the start of a marathon in Colombo, Sri Lanka, a bomb went off, killing 11 people instantly and wounding at least 50. Chela sent me photographs of the aftermath – and they are NOT for the squeamish.
Nikki writes to tell us about visiting the site of the Great Boston Molasses Flood:
“After reading about this flood on my MFDJ email a long time back I’ve been nearly obsessed with this event. Read everything I could on it. Telling everyone I meet about it.
“So finally the day came that my Significant Other and I were taking a trip to that area. I demanded we find the site of the great flood!! I swear we looked friggin’ everywhere for this. Found a really awesome cemetery, but nothing on the flood. We scavenged the entire area on the map that was the location to no avail. Finally as we were giving up and leaving I passed by a teeny tiny little sign on a wall, about 2 feet high. The sign was at knee level where anyone could miss it. Needless to say I was not pleased, but at least glad there was something there. Personally I’d love to see a giant bronze statue depicting the wave and people drowning in it, but alas. At least some kind of monument would have been nice.”
More Bay State morbid sightseeing suggestions can be found at The Morbid Sightseer‘s Massachusetts page.
Today’s Extraordinary And Bizarre Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
A 41-year-old Melvindale man, whose body was discovered Monday, September 10, 2007, went to extraordinary and bizarre lengths to kill himself by constructing a 7-foot-tall guillotine in a wooded area near Fairlane Green shopping center. “It was the most deliberate suicide I’ve seen in my 28 years (as a police officer),” said Dale Covert, deputy chief of Allen Park Police. “It was one of those things where when you saw it, you couldn’t help asking yourself, ‘What the heck?’” Groundskeepers from the shopping center, at Outer and Fairlane drives, discovered the device and the body in a thickly wooded area shortly after 11 a.m. Monday. About a third of the 243 acre former Ford Motor Company landfill is being developed for retail shopping while the remainder is undeveloped green space crisscrossed with trails. Police, who believe the man had been dead two days, declined to release his name. Covert said the man had lived within walking distance of the spot where he died. Investigators believe the man made numerous trips to carry the wooden and metal parts of his contraption into the woods where he assembled it. Covert said the man didn’t leave a note. “He spent some time doing this,” Covert said. “This wasn’t a spur of the moment plan.” The machine utilized a “swing arm-type blade,” according to police, instead of the more famous falling blade of guillotines used by executioners in France from that nation’s revolution in 1792, until the death penalty was outlawed there in 1981. The device had a lever that allowed the man to trigger it himself, Covert said. Allen Park police and firefighters disassembled the machine after photographing it at the scene. Some of the metal parts, including the blade, were kept as evidence while the wooden parts were to be disposed of because they were soaked in blood and considered a biohazard, Covert said. Although the device didn’t completely decapitate the victim, Covert said he believes the man died instantly from his injuries. “It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Covert said. “It probably didn’t quite work the way he planned, but it succeeded in taking his life, probably instantly. I don’t believe he suffered.”
Culled from: Detnews.Com
Generously submitted by: Jacqui
Katchaya sent me a link to the website for a fascinating exhibit entitled Inside Terrorism: The X-Ray Project. This exhibit consists of actual x-rays and CT scans from victims of terrorist attacks who were treated at the two largest hospitals in Jerusalem, along with brief notes telling you the circumstances of the injuries. Although I don’t see any 2010 dates for the show (I am a bit late in mentioning it, unfortunately), the website itself is fascinating enough, as it contains pop-up versions of the images along with the explanations of the injuries. Highly recommended.
Inside Terrorism: The X-Ray Project
Elizabeth has a book recommendation for us:
Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales
By William Bass, Jon Jefferson
Elizabeth’s review:
“You probably already have this, but if not I can highly recommend it. Bill Bass explains the hows and whys of the creation of the Body Farm (yes – I WOULD like to go). One reason being his wife couldn’t use her kitchen after he’d been boiling body parts up on her stove! Mr Bass has a great sense of humour and is a great storyteller.”
Amazingly enough, I do NOT have this book in my collection yet, but I just put it in the ol’ wish list.
More Fascinating Forensic delights can be found at the Library Eclectica’s Forensic aisle.
(This was originally sent on January 30, 2008 – but the slow, senile Comtesse didn’t post it until today.)
“I had a brush with morbidity last week… I watched my grandfather die at the age of 82. It was a very surreal experience.
“He was originally diagnosed with cancer in his lungs (of the bowel cancer variety), which eventually spread into his brain and spinal cord. He fought it for four years, but rapidly deteriorated in the ten days before his death.
“When I arrived at the house to see him, it was three days beforehand. He was sleeping pretty much all the time, but could mumble a little bit in recognition that he was being spoken to. That night he was given morphine, and after that he didn’t open his eyes again – until about 3 minutes before he died.
“The family had gathered in the room, as we realised the time was drawing near. His breathing was heavy, laboured and very rapid and his jaw seemed locked open. It continued like that for about 10-15 mins. After which, his breaths were still sharp and heavy, but growing further and further apart. The death rattle wasn’t very intense, which made the experience a lot less creepy.
“Then his breathing stopped… and everyone burst into tears thinking it was over. Then, all of a sudden, his body strenuously gasped, which scared the living daylights out of everyone — at that moment, he turned his head to where most people in the room were, closed his mouth, and opened his eyes – which were all clouded over. (Apparently this isn’t uncommon, as a few of my friends said they had similar experiences.)
“I know he was probably brain dead by that time, but I still wonder if he knew it was happening, or if he could hear us?
“Over the next couple of minutes, his breath became gentle, slowed down, and eventually just stopped.
“He died at 6:42PM on January 22nd, 2008.”
What an intense experience. He was lucky to have you all there with him.
More brushes with morbidity are available to peruse using the archive links at the bottom of the My Brush With Morbidity page on The Asylum Eclectica.
Here’s a marvelous morbid trinket: The Serial Killer Trivia Board Game!
“Have you ever wanted to kill someone? Now you can and be a winner! From Seattle, the motherland of serial killers, Culture Heroes, Inc. brings you a fun family-style board game. The goal is to claim five victims before the other serial killers in town beat you to the guts (and glory)! Break into houses and pick a scenario card to reveal your murderous fate.”
Sounds like my kind of game! It’s a bit on the spendy side ($49.95), but the illustration looks marvelous. I will have to pick this up one of these days…
Thanks to Nick for the link.
Today’s Slamming Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
On August 24, 1987, during the final moments of a pro wrestling match, Shirley “Big Daddy” Crabtree delivered his signature “Belly-Splash” move (basically jumping up and down, slamming his belly onto his opponent) on Mal “King Kong” Kirk, who suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 50. Crabtree was cleared after it was revealed that Kirk had a serious heart condition prior to the match. However, Crabtree blamed himself for Kirk’s death and retired from pro wrestling. Before the match, Kirk had prophetically told his friends: “If I have to go, I hope it is in the ring.”
Culled from: Neatorama
Generously submitted by: Bex
Today’s Petty Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
The ultimate torment, slow death by burning at the stake, was practiced in England and Scotland for several centuries, not only for heresy or witchcraft, but for the ‘petty treason’ of murdering a husband. Sometimes a degree of mercy was allowed: the victim was strangled as the flames took hold. In Lincoln in 1722, Eleanor Elsom was convicted of killing her husband, and sentenced to be burned. Her clothes and limbs were smeared with pitch, and she was dragged on a hurdle to the place of execution. She was made to stand on a barrel of pitch surrounded by faggots, and chained to the stake. A noose was placed about her neck, the rope running through a pulley at the top of the stake and into the executioner’s hands. The fire was lit, and the rope was pulled; but whether Eleanor was dead before the flames finally consumed her body half an hour later, nobody knew.
Culled from: The History Of Torture