March, 2007
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March 3, 2007 Today's Notorious Yet Truly Morbid Fact! Bull Run (also known as Hell’s Kitchen and Dance Hall) was a notorious Barbary Coast (San Francisco) dive which opened its doors in the fall of 1868. Its owner, Ned Allen, often said that the motto of his place was “Anything goes here.” He employed between forty and fifty girls during the Bull Run’s period of greatest prosperity, and they were notorious as the most brazen, hopeless, and abandoned women on the Barbary Coast. In most of the dives the drinks served to the pretty waiter girls and the female performers were innoxious, and it was considered right and proper for them to dispose of unwanted beverages by dumping them into the big brass spittoons which were scattered about the floors. At the Bull Run, however, the girls were given real liquor and were compelled to drink it, as their antics when drunk were considered an amusing feature of the resort, the more so since Allen was very liberal in the use of cantharides to stimulate those of his employees whom he considered sluggish. Practically all of the Bull Run women drank beer by choice, having full knowledge of the dynamitic effect of the dive’s whisky and brandy. But regardless of the number of glasses which they poured down their throats, they were not permitted to leave the dance-floor or the stage often enough to obtain the relief which the consumption of large quantities necessitated. Consequently they wore diapers instead of the frilly undergarments which the prostitute, even more than her virtuous sister, prefers. If one of Bull Run Allen’s pretty waiter girls or performers became unconscious from liquor, as frequently happened, she was carried upstairs and laid on a bed, and sexual privileges were sold to all comers while she lay helpless in a drunken stupor. The price ranged from twenty-five cents to one dollar, depending upon the age and beauty of the girl. For an additional quarter a man might watch his predecessor, an extraordinary procedure which was supposed to give an additional fillip to the senses. It was not unusual for a girl to be abused by as many as thirty or forty men in the course of a single night. She was supposed to receive half the revenue from this sort of prostitution, but she was invariably cheated. Culled
from: San
Francisco History ********************************************************************** In
case you're wondering where The Comtesse has been the last few days,
here's an illustration that my good friend Claude whipped up while visiting
me the other day: http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/art/19th/painting/monet_death.jpg Yes,
I've been a bit under the weather (ie. knocking loudly on Death's Door)
with a vile stomach ailment since Tuesday night, but I seem to be settling
back into the routine misery that is my daily existence. Thank badness! ******* Ruthless Rhyme Du Jour! I've been reading "Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes and More Ruthless Rhymes" by Harry Graham, a collection of hysterical poems originally published in 1899, and I thought I'd share with you some of my favorites. PRESENCE OF MIND When,
with my little daughter Blanche, I
must confess I'm glad I did, Ruthless
Rhymes For Heartless Homes ******* Morbid Cartoon Du Jour! TJ has a cartoon recommendation for us: The
Amazing Screw-On Head "This is a pretty badass cartoon from the creator of Hellboy. Really old women that turn into werewolves, a zombie super villain, Abe Lincoln, and Paul Giamatti (spelled it wrong, but you know who I am talking about.) It's really funny and just the kind of thing you look for." ******* Wretched Recommendations! .b has some comic book recommendations: "In a recent MFDJ, you posted a recommendation for Johnny The Homicidal Maniac. In addition to those comics, Johnen Vasquez also produced Squee, I Feel Sick (both of which use some of the same characters as JTHM, and tell parts of the same storyline), and of course, the Nickelodeon cartoon Invader Zim, which is darkly hilarious and available on DVD." |
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March 4, 2007 Today's Distraught Yet Truly Morbid Fact! Before cops threw the book at him, Jakub Fik threw something unusual at them -- his penis. Fik, 33, cut off his own penis during a Northwest Side rampage Wednesday morning, March 15, 2006. When confronted by police, Fik hurled several knives and his severed organ at the officers. Officers stunned him with a Taser and took him into custody. "We took him out without any serious injury, with the exception of his own," said Chicago Police Sgt. Edward Dolan of the 16th District. Doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital reattached Fik's penis. He was listed in good condition Thursday. Fik, who lives in the 5400 block of W. Berenice, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of criminal damage to property. He told paramedics he was distraught over problems with his girlfriend in Poland. Police arrived on Fik's block at 8:20 a.m. Wednesday after receiving reports he was smashing car windows. Fik then broke into a house down the block. A group of six or seven officers assembled in front of the house. The occupants were not home. Fik was bleeding when the officers arrived and may have already cut off his organ. "At that point, this guy came running out, naked, with a handful of knives . . . and started throwing knives at the police officers that were 10, 20, 30 feet away," Dolan said. Fik threw his penis during the confrontation, too. He then went back into the house and re-emerged with "another handful of knives". Dolan sneaked to the side of the bungalow's front steps and stunned Fik with the Taser. Fik fought back when officers went to restrain him. "About 10 feet from the front porch, right on the sidewalk, was his penis," Dolan said. Dr. Greg Bales, associate professor of urology at the University of Chicago, said severed penises are uncommon but surgery usually works. "As long as the penis is placed on ice and reattached within a few hours, the success is usually pretty good," Bales said. Culled
from: The Chicago Sun-Times ********************************************************************** How upset do you have to be to cut off your own penis and hurl it at the police? I mean, I just about went postal at Washington Mutual the other day when they put a ridiculous 11 day hold on the money I just deposited to my checking account (hate that bank... HATE.THAT.F-ING.BANK!!!!!), but even as unmedicated as I was, I would never think to chop off a breast and hurl it at the clerk. Maybe
it's a guy thing? ******* Ruthless Rhyme Du Jour! I've been reading "Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes and More Ruthless Rhymes" by Harry Graham, a collection of hysterical poems originally published in 1899, and I thought I'd share with you some of my favorites. L'ENFANT GLACE When
Baby's cries grew hard to bear Ruthless
Rhymes For Heartless Homes ******* Follow-Up Du Jour! Back on February 20th I featured a fact about the munitions ship explosion in Halifax, Nova Scotia on December 6, 1917, which resulted in 2,000 deaths and 9,000 injuries, many of which were caused by people watching the burning ships through plate glass windows that fragmented in the explosion. Peter has a personal connection to this gruesome incident: "My grandfather was a physician in the Canadian Army during the First World War. He was in Halifax on the day of the explosion, and spent the next three days working with an eye surgeon, doing anaesthesia while the other doc picked glass out of the faces of people who had watched the ships burn. He didn't like to talk about it much." Ah, that stoic older generation of men. Think of all the great stories we've missed out on because these guys didn't like to talk! ******* Morbid Trinket Du Jour! Okay, I meant to run this one before the new year but forgot. But if you're still looking for the perfect 2007 calendar, why not take the Men of Mortuaries calendar into consideration? http://www.menofmortuaries.com/ Thanks to Alan for the link. ******* Wretched Recommendations! Wilf has a book recommendation: "I just thought you might like to know about another book on London's strange history (and there's plenty of it). It's by a guy called James Clark, who I will not deny is a friend of mine but it's well put together, called 'Haunted Wandsworth' (a borough of London) and has a range of old stories and new. He is actually a qualified paranormal investigator which, if you like Call of Cthulu, the Lovecraft roleplaying game, will know are the ones who go mad first, if they survive that long.... He is also writing another one on London ghost/paranormal stories in general though it's likely to feature much new it has to be said." Haunted
Wandsworth
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March 5, 2007 Today's Criminal Yet Truly Morbid Fact! In San Francisco in 1868, a criminal youth gang emerged that specialized in public riots against the Chinese. These vicious criminals were called Hoodlums, from their habit of warning "Huddle 'em!" when in danger. Their attacks led to indiscriminate violence against the immigrants. The memberships of many of the early hoodlum gangs included girls, and several were captained by maladjusted representatives of the so-called gentler sex. Curiously enough, or perhaps not so curiously, these girls were almost invariably more ferocious than their male companions, and their fertile minds devised most of the unpleasant methods of torture which the hoodlums employed upon their victims. One feminine rowdy who flourished during the latter part of 1878 was a thirteen-year-old girl known as Little Dick, who led a gang of more than twenty boys of about the same age. She was finally sent to a corrective institution, after she had stolen a hundred revolvers from a gun-shop, distributed some among her followers, and sold the remainder on the Barbary Coast. She said frankly that she found her greatest delight in throwing red pepper into a Chinaman’s eyes or in hanging him up by his queue. A typical exploit of the hoodlums occurred during the summer of 1868, when a score of youthful rowdies captured a Chinese crab-catcher and dragged him beneath a wharf. There they robbed him, beat him with a hickory club, branded him in a dozen places with hot irons, and then slit his ears and tongue. “There was apparently no other motive for this atrocity,” said the San Francisco Times of July 30, 1868, “than the brutal instincts of the young ruffians who perpetrated it. Such boys are constantly hanging about our wharves eager to glut their cruelty upon any Chinaman who may pass.” Culled
from: San
Francisco History ********************************************************************** Ruthless Rhyme Du Jour! I've been reading "Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes and More Ruthless Rhymes" by Harry Graham, a collection of hysterical poems originally published in 1899, and I thought I'd share with you some of my favorites. WINTER SPORTS The
ice upon our pond's so thin Ruthless
Rhymes For Heartless Homes ******* Morbid Merchandise! You'll no doubt be captivated to hear that the Comtesse has designed another MFDJ t-shirt - this one with the ageless theme of "Desensitize Yourself!" As always, the shirt is available from Jen at Juror2.Net and all of the Comtesse's profits will be used to support the website and mailing list. So, if you'd like a stylish way to show your support for the MFDJ, why not take a gander? ******* Morbid Mirth Du Jour! Ken sends me a great clip of a "European Candid Camera type show where they use a video editor to make it look like the Grim Reaper is standing right behind people. When they look back there's an old man with a scythe who winks at them. The expressions on their faces is priceless." Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so4K-bUtVHM ******* Ghastly! St. Sepulchre's Belle sent me a link to an absolutely appalling story of "honor" killing in rural Turkey, complete with a photograph of a woman being buried in preparation for a stoning execution. Furious doesn't even begin to describe my reaction. |
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March 6, 2007 Today's Jobless Yet Truly Morbid Fact! A jobless alcoholic burned himself to death after his wife refused to serve him meat for dinner. Sixty-year-old Mithailal Ram Sanjivan doused his body with an inflammable liquid and set himself ablaze outside his one-room house in Ahmedabad, the main city of western Gujarat state, India. Police said the victim, who had been without a job for years, and his wife, Geeta Sanjivan, 54, had a scuffle over the dinner menu. The wife refused to cook meat as they could not afford it. Irritated by this, Sanjivan locked her in the house before setting himself on fire outside. Culled
from: Reuters ********************************************************************** For once, a story of an Indian man who set *himself* on fire instead of his wife. There is hope for this world after all! ******* Ruthless Rhyme Du Jour! I've been reading "Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes and More Ruthless Rhymes" by Harry Graham, a collection of hysterical poems originally published in 1899, and I thought I'd share with you some of my favorites. QUIET FUN My
son Augustus, in the street, one day, Whatever
people say about my son, Ruthless
Rhymes For Heartless Homes ******* Obituaries Du Jour! Vickie stumbled across a page filled with death notices from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan circa 1887. I think by reading a few of them you can see why I have such incredible enthusiasm for 19th century newspapers! Thursday,
May 19, 1887 Page 3 Thursday,
May 12, 1887 Page 4 Thursday,
May 12, 1887 Page 4 Thursday,
May 12, 1887 Page 4 Thursday,
June 23, 1887 Page 7 And on and on... positively gripping! http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wjmartin/dem-deth.htm ******* Morbid Music! -kokoro shiki- heart mode has some morbid music recommendations for us: Rasputina
- A cello rock band with dark Victorian influences. With songs such
as "Momma Was an Opium Smoker", "Yellow Fever",
and "Howard Hughes" how can you go wrong? They dress in Victorian-style
undergarments during live performances and Melora, the vocalist, makes
some hilarious and morbid comments. the
gazettE/Gazette - A Japanese rock band with a delicious sound and a
slightly screetchy, feminine vocalist. Dir
en grey - A darker version of Gazette. They have songs such as 'egnirys
cimredopyh ----+ an injection' (Hypodermic syringe spelled backwards,
it's a song about a drug addict), -saku-, FILTH, and raison d'etre.
All are morbid, depressing, and their music videos are amazingly gory!
I recommend -saku- and rasion d'etre. MALICE
MIZER - A classic Japanese rock band, now disbanded. Not so morbid as
gothic but their music video ILLUMINATI has lovely S&M scenes and
some fun with a severed head. And eyeballs. And neck snapping during
sex. And, what the hell, a sexy cross dressing guitarist being kissed
and groped by a woman in chains. |
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March 7, 2007 Today's Lopsided Yet Truly Morbid Fact! The Battle of Cold Harbor, the final battle of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign during the American Civil War, is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most lopsided battles. Thousands of Union soldiers were slaughtered in a hopeless frontal assault against the fortified troops of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, the majority of them in the first eight minutes of the battle. Northen commanders simply refused to send any more of their soldiers to the slaughter, and for three days and three nights, the two armies just sat there, neither commander willing to ask for a truce to collect the wounded or bury the dead. Nearly
five acres were piled thick with the dead and the dying. A lucky few
crawled to safety. At least one wounded soldier, unable to do so, slit
his throat in plain sight of his fellow combatants. By the time litter
bearers were finally let onto the battleground, *two* of the thousands
of Union wounded were still alive. Grant himself said of the battle
in his memoirs, "I have always regretted that the last assault
at Cold Harbor was ever made. At Cold Harbor no advantage whatever was
gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained." Culled
from: Portraits
of the Civil War **********************************************************************
Ruthless Rhyme Du Jour! I've been reading "Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes and More Ruthless Rhymes" by Harry Graham, a collection of hysterical poems originally published in 1899, and I thought I'd share with you some of my favorites. PATIENCE When
skiing in the Engadine Ruthless
Rhymes For Heartless Homes ******* Wretched Recommendations! -kokoro shiki- heart mode has a film recommendation: Ginger
Snaps (2000) "It's the only werewolf movie I like. Ginger Snaps is an odd and unique interpretation of getting your first period and lycanthropy. If for nothing else, see it for some truly amazing staged death photography shots in the beginning and some stunning gore effects." ******* Morbid Trinket Du Jour! How cool are the miniature bile dolls that Ugly Shyla creates? Pretty damned cool! http://www.uglyart.net/bile_dolls.html And the baby doll necklaces? Creepy as hell! http://www.uglyart.net/babydollheads.html The rest of her stuff is cool too, but a bit too expensive for a Comtesse. Thanks to Virginia for the link. |
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March 8, 2007 Today's Nude Yet Truly Morbid Fact! A relative discovered a 23-year-old man dead in the front seat of a car Friday, February 24 still embracing a dead 17-year-old girl. Their nude bodies were inside a closed garage in the front seat of a 1978 Cutlass. They had apparently been having sex when they were overcome by carbon monoxide. The medical examiner said the deaths appear accidental. The two were not found for nearly a day. The man's mother became worried because she could not reach him on his cell phone Friday morning. "She called his cousin, who lived nearby, to help her track him down. He's the one who looked inside the garage and found the bodies," WISN 12 News reporter Nick Bohr said. "Carbon monoxide can accumulate very rapidly. It's just something you don't want to take a chance with," said Dr. Ken Schellhase, of the Medical College of Wisconsin. Schellhase said warming up a car in a closed garage is one of the most dangerous things you can do, much less staying in the car as it idles. He said the symptoms can be hard to recognize. "The symptoms are pretty non-specific. It can include things like headache, dizziness, a general sense of ill ease," Schellhase said. Sleepiness is also a symptom. "Those are often the most tragic circumstances where people fall asleep, and there's a carbon monoxide leak of some sort. The dose is overwhelming," Schellhase said. Schellhase said it is unusual for someone to be overcome so quickly, but it's not clear how long they may have been in the car prior to having sex. According to the medical examiner's report, the carbon monoxide levels the garage got so intense at some point that the car itself choked off for lack of oxygen. The car still had one-quarter of a tank of gas. Culled
from: The
Milwaukee Channel ********************************************************************** I suspect it says something rather ominous about the state of my mind to admit to you that the song "Wake Up, Little Susie" started playing in my mind as I read this... "I
told your mama that you'd be in by ten And how! ******* March Contest - Ruthless Rhymes! For the last few days, I've been sharing some of my favorite little morbid poems from Ruthless Rhymes For Heartless Homes. I thought that it might be fun to do a creative writing contest this month, where I invite you to write your own "Ruthless Rhyme". I will do some googling to make sure that the poem is truly yours, so no plagiarism! The poem should be short (10 -14 lines maximum) and morbid - but other than that, feel free to use your creative license. The winner, as chosen by the Comtesse, will receive a MFDJ "Desensitize Yourself" t-shirt as shown on A Plethora Of Viscera (http://plethoraofviscera.com). Send
your entries to ruthless@asylumeclectica.com.
Contest closes March 23rd. Good luck! ******* Morbid Mirth Du Jour! What crawls and goes 'clank clank clank'? . A baby in a bear trap. Thanks to gsteinma for this one. ******* Ghastly! Here's a nice collection of vintage post-mortem photographs: http://community.livejournal.com/vintagephoto/612116.html Thanks to newfers for the link. |
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March 9, 2007 Today's Buzzing Yet Truly Morbid Fact! A teacher who kept a 40 mm shell on his desk as a paperweight blew off part of his hand when he apparently used the object to try to squash a bug. The 5-inch-long shell exploded Monday while Robert Colla was teaching 20 to 25 students at an adult education class. Part of Colla's right hand was severed and he suffered severe burns and minor shrapnel wounds to his forearms and torso. No one else was injured. He was reported in stable condition at a hospital. The teacher slammed the shell down in an attempt to kill something that was buzzing or crawling across the desk. Colla found the 40 mm round while hunting years ago and "obviously he didn't think the round was live," said Dennis Huston, who teaches computer design. Culled
from: Unspecified Source ********************************************************************** Well, that's one way to make your students pay attention in class! ******* Morbid Auction Du Jour! Another marvelous Autopsy Baby is up for auction on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140094766605 ******* Morbid Lyric Du Jour! Kirstin has a morbid lyric for us: "I got a song for ya. "Timothy" by The Buoys. They eat Timothy." Timothy Timothy,
Timothy, where on earth did you go? Hungry
as hell no food to eat Timothy,
Timothy, Joe was looking at you I
must have blacked out just around then ******* Ghastly! Now, here's a fisherman who understands how the fish feel! Warning: Very high squeam factor - especially regarding eyeballs. http://asylumeclectica.com/asylum/morbid/archives/hooked/hook001.jpg Thanks to Jason for the link. ******* March Contest - Ruthless Rhymes! For the last few days, I've been sharing some of my favorite little morbid poems from Ruthless Rhymes For Heartless Homes. I thought that it might be fun to do a creative writing contest this month, where I invite you to write your own "Ruthless Rhyme". I will do some googling to make sure that the poem is truly yours, so no plagiarism! The poem should be short (10 -14 lines maximum) and morbid - but other than that, feel free to use your creative license. The winner, as chosen by the Comtesse, will receive a MFDJ "Desensitize Yourself" t-shirt as shown on A Plethora Of Viscera (http://plethoraofviscera.com). Send
your entries to ruthless@asylumeclectica.com.
Contest closes March 23rd. Good luck! |
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March 10, 2007 Today's Assassinated Yet Truly Morbid Fact! On the evening of March 16, 1792, King Gustavus III, wearing a cloak and mask, moved among the dancers attending a masquerade ball at the Grand Opera House in Stockholm. Earlier that evening, an anonymous note had been slipped to him, detailing an assassination plot by dissatisfied nobles that was to take place in that very ballroom, and imploring him not to attend. Undaunted, he stepped into the brilliant glow of the chandeliers, admiring the stage scenery and the costumes of the dancing masqueraders; yet he surely must have wondered which of them might be planning to attack him at any moment. Suddenly five men in dark cloaks and masks surrounded him. One of them produced a pistol wrapped in raw wool to silence it, and fired. Panic broke out as the king, bleeding but still alive, was carried off by friends, and doors and exits were sealed. The ringleader, Count Ankarstrom, escaped but was arrested the next day. Gustavus III died on March 29. Culled
from: The
Pessimist's Guide To History ********************************************************************** The Comtesse Reviews... I just finished reading a book entitled "Ascending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey On Edward Gorey" which is a collection of interviews with the late, sorely missed Master of the Macabre. Although some of the articles are a bit redundant, they all serve to shed light on this mysterious and reclusive character, and made me appreciate the distinctive individual that he was. I wish I'd had the chance to meet him - he seemed like a great guy. Ascending
Peculiarity: Edward Gorey On Edward Gorey ******* Epitaph Du Jour! Culled
from: Thanks to Miyuki for the contribution. ******* Wretched Recommendations! Riley sent me a link to a splendid article about a woman named Frances Glessner Lee who created detailed crime models for police training back in the 1940's. Better still, a book of photographs of the crime scenes has been released! As Riley said, these delightful morbid doll houses are "just what every little morbid girl and boy needs!" Here's
the article: And here's the Amazon description of the book. It's definitely on my wish list! "This fascinating and macabre volume offers readers an extraordinary glimpse into the mind of a master criminal investigator. Frances Glessner Lee, a wealthy grandmother, founded the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard in 1936 and was later appointed captain in the New Hampshire police. In the 1940s she built dollhouse crime scenes based on real cases in order to train detectives to assess visual evidence. Still used in forensic training today, the eighteen Nutshell dioramas, on a scale of 1:12, display an astounding level of detail: tiny pencils write, window shades move, whistles blow, and clues to the crime scene are revealed to those who study them carefully. Corrine Botz's lush color photographs lure viewers into every crevice of Frances Lee's models and breathe life into these deadly miniatures, which represent the dark side of domestic life, unveiling tales of prostitution, alcoholism and adultry. Botz's introductory essay, which draws on archival research and interviews with Lee's family and police colleagues, present a captivating portrait of the creator of these amazing miniatures." The
Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death ******* March Contest - Ruthless Rhymes! For the last few days, I've been sharing some of my favorite little morbid poems from Ruthless Rhymes For Heartless Homes. I thought that it might be fun to do a creative writing contest this month, where I invite you to write your own "Ruthless Rhyme". I will do some googling to make sure that the poem is truly yours, so no plagiarism! The poem should be short (10 -14 lines maximum) and morbid - but other than that, feel free to use your creative license. The winner, as chosen by the Comtesse, will receive a MFDJ "Desensitize Yourself" t-shirt as shown on A Plethora Of Viscera (http://plethoraofviscera.com). Send
your entries to ruthless@asylumeclectica.com.
Contest closes March 23rd. Good luck! |
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March 11, 2007 Today's Prostituted Yet Truly Morbid Fact! The system of Chinese prostitution in 19th century San Francisco was based in slave ownership. Girls were bought in China for around eighty dollars, from parents who considered female children a nuisance and were more than willing to sell them. Once brought into San Francisco, such a girl was worth $400 to $1,000 depending on her youth and beauty. The girls were literally auctioned off in Chinatown. Once the price was established, it was paid (usually in gold) into the girl's hands, and she turned the money over to the man who had sold her, while signing a contract that read: "For the consideration of [whatever sum] paid into my hands this day, I [name] promise to prostitute my body for the term of [number of] years. If, in that time, I am sick one day, two weeks shall be added to my time; and if more than one day, my term of prostitution shall continue an additional month. But if I run away or escape from the custody of my keeper, then I am to be held as a slave for life. [Signed.]" Of course the point of the "sick day" provision was that every month the girl would have a menstrual period, which would render her ineligible for prostitution and also extend her slavery a month. Many of these poor creatures never lived to see their freedom. Culled
from: San Francisco Confidential ********************************************************************** Yesterday I mentioned that I had read "Ascending Peculiarity" - a compilation of interviews with Edward Gorey. It never occurred to me that anyone did not know who Edward Gorey is, but apparently I was wrong as I had a couple of questions about him. Therefore, I thought I'd feature a few links to the works of Edward Gorey for those of you who haven't discovered his genius yet. Edward Gorey was an eccentric American illustrator and writer who specialized in drawing morose, Edwardian people who tended to suffer rather grim existences and even grimmer demises. He is best known for designing the opening credits for the PBS show Mystery. He created a number of treasurable little books in his lifetime - a few of which are linked below. Enjoy! The
Gashlycrumb Tinies (his masterpiece) ******* Morbid Mirth Du Jour! Stephen sends a morbid game recommendation: "Dark Cut is a flash-animation based game that plays in your browser. There's a zillion of the things about, these days, but this is the most morbid I've yet seen. You are a surgeon who must take on a small series of cases, with each case including some morbid tasks. For example, you need to remove an arrow from a soldiers leg, so you start by cutting the fletching off, sawing the shaft, pounding the remainder through, and then using tongs to pull the rest free. The second level includes fun like lancing boils and the third level is a scream - but I'll leave that as a surprise." "Anyway, if you've got 10 to 15 minutes and are in need of a little morbid fun, this'll fill that need nicely." ******* Wretched Recommendations! -kokoro shiki- heart mode recommended the movie Ginger Snaps a few days ago. Now, Katchaya turns the spotlight on the sequel: Ginger
Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004) "I saw an awesome movie on IFC last night called 'Ginger Snaps 2'... Now I want to see 1 and 3... Not only is the story great (about teenage girls turning into werewolves) But the one I saw last night takes place in an old state hospital." http://www.ginger-snaps.com/unleashed/home.htm ******* March Contest - Ruthless Rhymes! For the last few days, I've been sharing some of my favorite little morbid poems from Ruthless Rhymes For Heartless Homes. I thought that it might be fun to do a creative writing contest this month, where I invite you to write your own "Ruthless Rhyme". I will do some googling to make sure that the poem is truly yours, so no plagiarism! The poem should be short (10 -14 lines maximum) and morbid - but other than that, feel free to use your creative license. The winner, as chosen by the Comtesse, will receive a MFDJ "Desensitize Yourself" t-shirt as shown on A Plethora Of Viscera (http://plethoraofviscera.com). Send
your entries to ruthless@asylumeclectica.com.
Contest closes March 23rd. Good luck! |
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March 12, 2007 Today's Mummified Yet Truly Morbid Fact! A family heirloom is not going over well with police. The mummified body of a baby kept by a Concord, N.H., family has drawn attention from investigators. The current keeper of the baby, Charles Peavey, said the tiny mummy has been passed down in his family for many years. Concord police recently got word of the remains and they took them in for testing. A forensic anthropologist will examine the tiny corpse. Peavey said the mummy belonged to his great-great uncle, who was born in Ashland in 1850. The family estimated that the mummy is 90 years old. It was discovered among the uncle's possessions in 1947 in Manchester, N.H. Police said the testing on the corpse could take a month or more. Culled
from: Click
2 Houston ********************************************************************** Click on the link below to see a picture of the adorable little heirloom. Lucky family! http://www.click2houston.com/2006/0424/8956892.jpg
******* The Comtesse Recommends... A
Treasury of Victorian Murder Rick
Geary compiles and illustrates true crime stories from the 19th century.
This is his first book, originally released in 1987, and it's a fun-filled
(if all-too-short) read. My favorite story is "The Ryan Mystery"
which concerns an unsolved double-murder of a pious brother and sister
who shared an apartment in 1873. (It's like something from an Edward
Gorey book.) This volume also includes "The Crimes of Dr. E.W.
Pritchard" and "The Abominable Mrs. Pearcey" - two additional
high-profile murder stories from the 19th century. Highly recommended
for enthusiasts of Victorian drama. ******* Epitaph Du Jour! Culled
from: Mary
Fowler, 1792, age 24, Milford, Conn. Thanks to Miyuki for the contribution. ******* Wretched Recommendations! Awhile back, B recommended the documentary "The Iceman Interviews," about Richard Kuklinski, a former mob hitman who claims to have killed over 200 people. Stephen sent me some additional information, plus an additional book recommendation: Regarding The Iceman Interviews: "It's not a gore-fest. It's Kulklinski sitting across from the interviewer, intermittently popping his chewing gum, while telling about how he killed 20 of his victims. He's ice-cold, yes... ...he's descriptive, yes... ...he's un-remorseful, yes... ...but, I've seen more brutal killers, that just never got the chance to 1-up him on their score-cards." The
Iceman Interviews (1991) "Maybe, you should read 'A Sniper's Sin', by 'David Alan Soprano' (a fake name). He's a former Vietnam / CIA sniper-turned-Mob hitman, and his stories'll make you ill, knowing that a man could be such an animal. His job was to kill VC, but he slowly started to turn evil, and the book is all about his turn. If you're not sure, read the last paragraph of the book first... ...I promise you that'll be enough to make you buy the book." A
Sniper's Sin ******* March Contest - Ruthless Rhymes! For the last few days, I've been sharing some of my favorite little morbid poems from Ruthless Rhymes For Heartless Homes. I thought that it might be fun to do a creative writing contest this month, where I invite you to write your own "Ruthless Rhyme". I will do some googling to make sure that the poem is truly yours, so no plagiarism! The poem should be short (10 -14 lines maximum) and morbid - but other than that, feel free to use your creative license. The winner, as chosen by the Comtesse, will receive a MFDJ "Desensitize Yourself" t-shirt as shown on A Plethora Of Viscera (http://plethoraofviscera.com). Send
your entries to ruthless@asylumeclectica.com.
Contest closes March 23rd. Good luck! |
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March 13, 2007 Today's Straight Through The Middle Yet Truly Morbid Fact! A Tillamook man died Friday, March 2, 2007 after he drove a car into the back of farm equipment on Highway 6 near Tillamook. Oregon State Police identified the man as Ramiro Diaz-Mendoza, 28. According to police, Diaz-Mendoza was driving a 1990 Toyota two-door west on the highway about 6:45 a.m. when it crashed into the back of a 1992 Oregon Road Runner hay squeeze going the same direction. The farm machinery appeared to go straight through the middle of the car. Diaz-Mendoza was initially taken to Tillamook County General Hospital before being transferred to Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland, where he died. The operator of the farm equipment, Jason M. Sagar, 37, of Tillamook, was not injured. Sagar estimated he was going 40 mph to 45 mph when Diaz-Mendoza rear-ended the machine. Authorities said speed and alcohol appeared to contribute to the crash. Culled
from: KATU.Com ********************************************************************** You have to click on the above link to see the picture of the wreckage. The guy had NO chance! ******* For Those Who May Be Interested... I've started posting the Morbid Fact Du Jour on the Comtesse's My Space blog. I figure this may help to gain some new converts, and we need all the desensitized sickos we can get. So if you'd rather receive the MFDJ on My Space, feel free to unsub from the e-mail list - I won't take it personally. Of course, the MFDJ newsletter will still be available via e-mail and on the web (at http://morbidfactdujour.com) as well. http://www.myspace.com/comtessedespair ******* Morbid Link Du Jour! It may be propaganda, but it's damned morbid propaganda! Here's a U.S.-funded anti-suicide bombing commercial: http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2765412 Thanks
to Rob for the link. ******* Hilton has a book recommendation for us: Necropolis:
London and Its Dead "I just came across this book at lunchtime, and have had a quick flick through. It is very well written, and not as turgid as some of these things are, and offers a history of pretty much everything to do with death and London over the years." Peter
Ackroyd, The Times Synopsis:
"From Roman burial rites to the horrors of the plague, from the
founding of the great Victorian cemeteries to the development of cremation
and the current approach of metropolitan society towards death and bereavement
-- including more recent trends to displays of collective grief and
the cult of mourning, such as that surrounding the death of Diana, Princess
of Wales -- NECROPOLIS: LONDON AND ITS DEAD offers a vivid historical
narrative of this great city's attitude to going the way of all flesh.
As layer upon layer of London soil reveals burials from pre-historic
and medieval times, the city is revealed as one giant grave, filled
with the remains of previous eras -- pagan, Roman, medieval, Victorian.
This fascinating blend of archaeology, architecture and anecdote includes
such phenomena as the rise of the undertaking trade and the pageantry
of state funerals; public executions and bodysnatching. Ghoulishly entertaining
and full of fascinating nuggets of information, Necropolis leaves no
headstone unturned in its exploration of our changing attitudes to the
deceased among us. Both anecdotal history and cultural commentary, Necropolis
will take its place alongside classics of the city such as Peter Ackroyd's
LONDON." ******* March Contest - Ruthless Rhymes! For the last few days, I've been sharing some of my favorite little morbid poems from Ruthless Rhymes For Heartless Homes. I thought that it might be fun to do a creative writing contest this month, where I invite you to write your own "Ruthless Rhyme". I will do some googling to make sure that the poem is truly yours, so no plagiarism! The poem should be short (10 -14 lines maximum) and morbid - but other than that, feel free to use your creative license. The winner, as chosen by the Comtesse, will receive a MFDJ "Desensitize Yourself" t-shirt as shown on A Plethora Of Viscera (http://plethoraofviscera.com). Send
your entries to ruthless@asylumeclectica.com.
Contest closes March 23rd. Good luck! |
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March 14, 2007 Today's Special Tasting Yet Truly Morbid Fact! Hungarian builders who drank their way to the bottom of a huge barrel of rum while renovating a house got a nasty surprise when a pickled corpse tumbled out of the empty barrel. According to online magazine www.zsaru.hu, workers in Szeged in the south of Hungary tried to move the barrel after they had drained it, only to find it was surprisingly heavy and were shocked when the body of a naked man fell out. The website said that the body of the man had been shipped back from Jamaica 20 years ago by his wife in the barrel of rum in order to avoid the cost and paperwork of an official return. According to the website, workers said the rum in the 300-litre barrel had a "special taste" so they even decanted a few bottles of the liquor to take home. The wife has since died and the man was buried in a proper grave. Culled
from: Reuters ********************************************************************** I guess we know what "Dead Man's Rum" is now, eh?
******* Wretched Recommendations! fiona has a film recommendation: Wolf
Creek (2005) "A good film to watch is Wolf Creek. It's an Aussie movie but fantastic." Here's the synopsis: "Just
when you thought it was safe to go hiking in the bushes again...along
comes Mick Taylor. Kristy, Ben and Liz are three pals in their twenties
who set out to hike through the scenic Wolf Creek National Park in the
Australian Outback. The trouble begins when they get back only to find
that their car won't start. The trio think they have a way out when
they run into a local bushman named Mick Taylor. Wait until you get
a load of what Mick has in store for them. Their troubles have just
begun." ******* "My Brush With Morbidity" by Rafid "I
was 19 when I was in a drug rehab for a heroin addiction. We had this
guy O.D. in the bathroom, and although the nurses tried to revive him,
he died at the scene. ******* March Contest - Ruthless Rhymes! For the last few days, I've been sharing some of my favorite little morbid poems from Ruthless Rhymes For Heartless Homes. I thought that it might be fun to do a creative writing contest this month, where I invite you to write your own "Ruthless Rhyme". I will do some googling to make sure that the poem is truly yours, so no plagiarism! The poem should be short (10 -14 lines maximum) and morbid - but other than that, feel free to use your creative license. The winner, as chosen by the Comtesse, will receive a MFDJ "Desensitize Yourself" t-shirt as shown on A Plethora Of Viscera (http://plethoraofviscera.com). Send
your entries to ruthless@asylumeclectica.com.
Contest closes March 23rd. Good luck! |
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March 15, 2007 Today's Barbarous Yet Truly Morbid Fact! In most cultures a man's status at death can be measured by the ostentatiousness of his funeral and the magnificence of his tomb. In India, before the early 19th century, the status of Hindu men might be gauged by the number of wives who accompanied them to the funeral pyre. In British India, in 1829, suttee, the name given to the barbarous practice of the immolation of wives, was decreed to be only 'culpable homicide', punishable by fine or imprisonment. Nothing so eloquently testified to the lowly social status of women than an expectation that they should not outlive their husbands. After death, to be forgotten in one's own right may be a painful prospect, but to be remembered only as the wife of one's husband is infinitely more ignominious. Culled
from: Death:
A History of Man's Obsessions and Fears **********************************************************************
Okay, okay, okay - you got me. It turns out that yesterday's Morbid Fact - the 'Yo Ho Ho and a Body In Rum' edition - was too good to be true. Several of you pointed out that Reuters later rescinded their story and Snopes has the scoop on their site: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/cannibal/tapping.asp Thank you to everyone who caught this one. ******* Wretched Recommendations! Einstein Shrugged recommends one of my favorite morbid books - and a proud inhabitant of The Library Eclectica: Without
Sanctuary "I picked up a copy of this one night in a fit of drunken Amazon shopping so when it turned up it was a bit of a surprise but morbid surprises are always the best kind. There's not much in the way of text (though what they have is pretty intense) and it mostly lets the photography speak for itself. I've had it for a little over a week and have already read and looked through it twice. The lynchings are bad enough, but the crowd shots of happy, smiling people make it one of the most disturbing books I've read in a long time. "A sample: "'After learning of the lynching of her husband, Mary Turner - in her eighth month of pregnancy - vowed to find those responsible, swear out warrants against them, and have them punished in the courts. For making such a threat, a mob of several hundred men and women determined to 'teach her a lesson'. After tying her ankles together, they hung her from a tree, head downward. Dousing her clothes with gasoline, they burned them from her body. While she was still alive, someone used a knife ordinarily reserved for splitting hogs to cut open the woman's abdomen. The infant fell from her womb to the ground and cried briefly, whereupon a member of this Valdosta, Georgia, mob crushed the baby's head beneath his heel. Hundreds of bullets were then fired into Mary Turner's body, completing the work of the mob. The Associated Press, in its notice of the affair, observed that Mary Turner had made 'unwise remarks' about the execution of her husband, 'and the people, in their indignant mood, took exceptions to her remarks, as well as her attitude.'" "Figured your list would love it." As a matter of fact, some of you may recall the excerpt above formed the basis of the January 3, 2003 Morbid Fact Du Jour. And interestingly enough, my review of the book sounds a lot like Einstein's: "Without Sanctuary" is an amazing, but very upsetting, collection of lynching photographs and some of the stories that go with them. Although the images of the beaten, burned, mutilated, and hung victims are horrible enough on their own, the thing that truly disturbs me about these photographs are the spectators - men, women, and children - smiling, goofing off, and proudly posing in front of the corpses, just as if they were at a Fourth of July picnic or something. It's really frightening to think how cruel and vicious "good god-fearing citizens" behaved not so very long ago (the majority of the pictures date from the 1890's-1930's, though the most recent comes from 1960). I think this book is performing a great service by refusing to allow this country to forget its own barbarities of the not-so-distant past. Highly
recommended! (5/5 skulls) ******* Putrid Poetry! Riley contributes this understated gem: "Darwin Effect" Crikey!
Them stingrays is spikey! ******* March Contest - Ruthless Rhymes! For the last few days, I've been sharing some of my favorite little morbid poems from Ruthless Rhymes For Heartless Homes. I thought that it might be fun to do a creative writing contest this month, where I invite you to write your own "Ruthless Rhyme". I will do some googling to make sure that the poem is truly yours, so no plagiarism! The poem should be short (10 -14 lines maximum) and morbid - but other than that, feel free to use your creative license. The winner, as chosen by the Comtesse, will receive a MFDJ "Desensitize Yourself" t-shirt as shown on A Plethora Of Viscera (http://plethoraofviscera.com). Send
your entries to ruthless@asylumeclectica.com.
Contest closes March 23rd. Good luck! |
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March 16, 2007 Today's Legendary Yet Truly Morbid Fact! The Knights Templar was one of the most famous of the Christian military orders. It existed for about two centuries in the Middle Ages, created in the aftermath of the First Crusade of 1096 to ensure the safety of the large numbers of European pilgrims who flowed toward Jerusalem after its conquest. The skull and cross-bones, are long known to have Templar and latterly Masonic connections and were commonly used as a symbol on Templar and Masonic grave sites in the past. The Skull and Cross-bones, Masonic or not, point out to us all, our own mortality and eventual death. This image of mortality was believed to figure in Templar ritual. Now while this claim in and of itself seems quite believable, one of the legends of how it came to be is not. It is well known that the order of the Templars was monastic in nature and therefore forbidden to have involvement with women as shown in the Templar Rule of Order. The legend of the "Skull of Sidon" claims that one Templar knight had a relationship with a woman who died. He dug up the woman's corpse and consummated their relationship resulting in a most grisly birth nine months later. "A great lady of Maraclea was loved by a Templar, A Lord of Sidon; but she died in her youth, and on the night of her burial, this wicked lover crept to the grave, dug up her body and violated it. Then a voice from the void bade him return in nine months time for he would find a son. He obeyed the injunction and at the appointed time he opened the grave again and found a head on the leg bones of the skeleton (skull and crossbones). The same voice bade him 'guard it well, for it would be the giver of all good things', and so he carried it away with him. It became his protecting genius, and he was able to defeat his enemies by merely showing them the magic head. In due course, it passed to the possession of the order." Culled
from: Templar History **********************************************************************
This reminds me of a masonic grave carving that I stumbled across in Rosehill Cemetery here in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. What a sweet little story I now have to go along with it!
By the way, the words around the image - "In Hoc Signo Vinces" - apparently means, "By this sign thou shalt conquer". Creepy little buggers, those masons. ******* Wretched Recommendations! William recommendat that we, "check out Marie Tatar's delightful 'Lustmord: Sexual Murder in Weimar Germany'. Though it is a bit academic and approaches the subject from a feminist/gender politics/sociological perspective, the book still provides an excellent overview of the subject and will provide hours of enjoyment - if Lustmord is your kind of thing, that is...." And if you're subscribed to this list, chances are, it is! Lustmord:
Sexual Murder in Weimar Germany ******* Morbid Art Du Jour! Margaux Lange really takes jewelry to another level with her delightful Plastic Body Series. Barbie (or Ken) lovers may want to avert their eyes... Thanks to Elizabeth for the link. ******* March Contest - Ruthless Rhymes! For the last few days, I've been sharing some of my favorite little morbid poems from Ruthless Rhymes For Heartless Homes. I thought that it might be fun to do a creative writing contest this month, where I invite you to write your own "Ruthless Rhyme". I will do some googling to make sure that the poem is truly yours, so no plagiarism! The poem should be short (10 -14 lines maximum) and morbid - but other than that, feel free to use your creative license. The winner, as chosen by the Comtesse, will receive a MFDJ "Desensitize Yourself" t-shirt as shown on A Plethora Of Viscera (http://plethoraofviscera.com). Send
your entries to ruthless@asylumeclectica.com.
Contest closes March 23rd. Good luck! |
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March 17, 2007 Top o' the Morbid to ya! In honor of St. Patrick's Day, let's celebrate the exploits of a deranged Irishman with... Today's
Inhuman Yet Truly Morbid Fact! Culled
from: The
New Zealand Herald ********************************************************************** Morbid Choreography! If you live in the New York area, you may be interested in a dance production of Edward Scissorhands that is currently running at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It's only playing through the end of March, so if you're interested, grab your opera glasses and run! http://www.bam.org/events/07EDWA/07EDWA.aspx For those of us who can't make the trip, here's a nice video to give us an idea of what we're missing: http://www.bam.org/events/07EDWA/07EDWA_video.aspx Thanks to Steve O' for the link. |