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Weird Food Fatalities: Stories of Unappetizing Deaths

Sign of Doom

In 2009, a 49-year-old Nebraska woman, Diana Durre, was visiting a Taco Bell when the most unpredictable accident occurred. While waiting under a massive 65-foot sign, the huge structure suddenly toppled, landing on the cab of Durre’s vehicle. The crushing weight killed Durre on impact.

Ice Cream Killer

Estibaliz Carranza, an Austrian woman known as the “ice cream killer”, had only one true goal in life. She desperately wanted a child. When the men in her life failed to provide this, she shot them in the back of the head, cut them up with a chain saw, and hid them in the cellar of her ice cream parlor disguised as a sweet treat. But, even an icy freezer cannot completely prevent the smell of decomposing human bodies from eventually hitting someone’s nostrils, and in the end, someone smelled something not-so-sweet in the basement of this parlor, leading to Estibaliz’s arrest.

A Hill of Beans

In 2012, Raymond Segura Jr., a 56-year-old man who worked for a bean company in Colorado, experienced an accident which resulted in his death. When an overhead conveyor belt malfunctioned, Mr. Segura became trapped under thousands of falling pinto beans. When workers were sent to investigate and saw that Mr. Segura had become trapped under a veritable hill of beans, emergency personnel came to his aid. It took over an hour to dig out Mr. Segura’s body from the 20 foot pile. Unfortunately, by the time they reached him, he had already passed away.

Maid For Murder

Julia Thomas, a widow in her 50s who lived in Richmond, London, was murdered by her maid, Kate Webster, in 1879. It’s rumored that Kate Webster boiled parts of her former employer and scooped the lard into jars, distributing it amoungst her aquaintances, who consumed it, thinking it was animal lard.

A Raw Deal

1993, over seven hundred people were affected by one of the most notorious and tragic cases of food poisoning in US history. Jack in the Box sold hamburgers with under-cooked beef patties that resulted in an E. coli outbreak. The outbreak involved 73 restaurants across the US. Unfortunately, the under-cooked patties caused the deaths of 4 children and severe injuries in 178 other victims, including permanent kidney and brain damage. After this terribly sad event, the US adopted stricter policies concerning E. coli, and infection rates have reportedly dropped.

Walk-in Freeze Her

There have been a ton of human fatalities caused by getting locked in a freezer. The “fail-safe” escape mechanisms, which are a standard feature on most freezers, are apparently NOT “fail safe”. Such was the case for Carolyn Robinson, a 61 year old culinary worker at a hotel in Atlanta, who was discovered 13 hours after becoming locked in the freezer with bleeding knuckles because she had been pounding on the doors trying to get out. Her head was frozen solid. Experts have commented on Carolyn’s death, saying every walk-in freezer should have motion detectors that trigger the door’s release, or emergency buttons, as seen in every elevator.

Stewing In A Bad Relationship

Katherine Knight is the first Australian woman to be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. She was convicted for the murder of her partner, John Charles Thomas Price, in February 2000. After stabbing her boyfriend 37 times, Knight skinned him and hung him from a meat hook. She then cut pieces of his body and cooked them in a pot with potato, pumpkin, beets, zucchini, cabbage, squash, and gravy, serving herself a dish. Yet, the half-discarded contents of that dish, later found at the crime scene, suggest that Katherine could not finish her meal. 🤮🤢

Poison Apple

British mathematician Alan Turing is considered the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, but his career came to a weird end in 1954, when he bit into an apple he’d dipped in cyanide. Many questioned why he had chosen such an end, until Turing’s friends pointed out his fascination with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Life had been no fairy tale, but in his last moments, Alan Tiring pretended it was.

The Duck Sauce Killer

A condiment-obsessed New York City man hoarded sweet-and-sour duck sauce in his refrigerator – but not enough to stop him from killing a Chinese food delivery worker in a feud over his wish for more. When police opened accused killer Glenn Hirsch’s refrigerator, they found it full of items to flavour up his food – including lots of duck sauce. Why, then, did he take an innocent man’s life? It’s impossible to understand, and extremely saddening that he managed to post bond and is currently walking free while awaiting trial.

Tea Cakes To Die For

Leonarda Cianciulli murdered three women in Italy between 1939 and 1940. She then turned her victims’ bodies into soap and tea cakes, which she served to her friends and ate herself. Leonarda later confessed to authorities that she had killed the women as sacrifices in order to protect her son during World War II. She was sentenced to 30 years and died while incarcerated.

The Forgotten Cannibal

Karl Denke was a German man who killed and cannibalized dozens of homeless vagrants. In 1924, Denke was arrested after he invited a man inside his home, then attacked him with an axe. While at the scene, police found human flesh in jars and a record of at least 12 people whom Denke had murdered and cannibalized.
He hanged himself in his jail cell just after his initial arrest.

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Well! That’s enough death for now, huh?

But… is it totally WEIRD that I’m suddenly hungry? I’m gonna go grab a bite to eat. Wish me luck, and until next time, stay safe out there, weirdos.

Top Twenty Twilight Zone Episodes

Everyone has their favorite TZ episodes, and we could argue all day about which ones are the best. But this is my blog, so here are mine. 😄

20) The New Exhibit (episode 115, fourth season, 1963)

Martin Senescu works at a wax museum, home to “Murderer’s Row” which features wax figures of famous murderers such as Jack The ripper Jack the Ripper, Albert Hicks, etc.

When Martin’s boss informs him that he is selling the museum, which will be torn down and replaced by a supermarket, Martin volunteers to keep the unsettling wax figures at his house until a buyer can be found for them. Shortly after moving them into his home, Martin discovers his wife dead and Jack’s knife covered in blood. Realizing no one will believe Emma was killed by a wax figure, he buries her under the basement floor. Hm. What could go possibly wrong from there?

19) The Little People (episode 93, third season, 1962)

On a distant planet, a shipwrecked astronaut discovers a civilization of tiny people, who regard him as a god as he towers over them. They worship him, erect a statue in his honor, and by the time his partner repairs the wrecked spaceship, he is drunk on power and out of his mind.

18) The Lateness of the Hour (episode 44, second season, 1961)

A well-to-do daughter is sick of her family’s easy life, surrounded by legions of servant robots built by her father. She feels like she is not really living life, being waited on hand and foot. The lifestyle has utterly consumed them. But will her father destroy his robots to prove his love for her?

17) The After Hours (episode 34, first season, 1959)

Marsha White is on a shopping trip to find a gift for her mother. She finds the perfect gift on the ninth floor of the department store, but when she mentions this, store employees inform her there is no ninth floor.

16) Nightmare As A Child (episode 29, first season, 1959)

A woman realizes that the little girl she’s been seeing around her apartment is her own self, at a much younger age, urging her to remember the details of her life’s most tragic event.

15) The Lonely (episode 7, first season, 1959

A convict, living alone on an asteroid, receives a realistic woman robot from the government back on earth. At first, this upsets him. He has been longing for human contact, not the programmed interactions of a machine. As time goes by, he warms up to her and teaches her to be more human. But in the end, he is forced to accept that a machine is just a machine.

14) The Masks (episode 145, fifth season, 1964)

A dying man is fully aware that his relatives are waiting to inherit his fortune. He coerces them into wearing grotesque masks that reflect their true personalities.

13) Mute (episode 107, fourth season, 1963)

The orphaned daughter of telepathic parents must learn to speak and deal with a world she cannot communicate in.

12) A Thing About Machines (episode 40, second season, 1960)

Bartlett Finchley is beginning to think technology has turned against him. All the electronic devices around him are set on driving him mad… Or worse. Killing him.

11) Nightmare At 20,000 Feet (episode 123, fifth season, 1963)

A man with a fear of flying sees something terrible on the wing of the plane. But can he convince anyone he’s not seeing things before the monster destroys the plane?

10) A Most Unusual Camera (episode 46, second season, 1961)

A petty thief steals a camera that can predict the future by the pictures it takes. He intends to use it’s power to win horse races, but possessing the camera only takes him down a dangerous path.

9) You Drive (episode 134, fifth season, 1964)

After being involved with a hit-and-run accident, which resulted in killing a child, Mr. Oliver Pope’s car seems to have a mind of its own.

8) What You Need (episode 12, first season 1960)

A small time crook plans to exploit an old street peddler who has the uncanny ability to give people exactly what they need before they need it. He gave the crook a pair of scissors that ended up saving the man’s life… but what will save the old peddler from the ruthless pursuit of this fortune-hungry criminal?

7) The Man In The Bottle (episode 38, second season, 1960)

A luckless couple stumbles upon fortune when a genie materializes from a bottle in their antique shop. The genie grants them four wishes but warns them, prophetically, to be careful what they wish for.

6) And When The Sky Was Opened (episode 11, first season, 1960)

Three astronauts return to Earth, hailed as heroes, but soon, nobody remembers them. Whatever they encountered in space is erasing them from existence, one by one.

5) Long Distance Call (episode 58, second season, 1961)

A toy telephone becomes the link between a young boy and his dead grandmother. His frightened mother wonders what length the deceased woman will go to to be reunited with him.

4) Eye of the Beholder (episode 42, second season, 1960)

A woman lays in a hospital bed, her face wrapped in bandages. She fears that the surgery she underwent hasn’t altered her appearance enough, and she’s eager to remove them. Will she still be a freak?

3) To Serve Man (episode 89, third season, 1962)

An alien race teaches humans to live peacefully with each other, but they have a sinister ulterior motive.

2) The Living Doll (episode 126, fifth season, 1963)

A vindictive doll takes revenge on a man who wants it destroyed.

1) Five Characters In Search Of An Exit (episode 79, third season, 1961)

A ballet dancer, a major, a clown, a tramp and a bagpipe player find themselves trapped together at the bottom of a tall enclosure and work together to try and escape. But things are not always what they seem.

So there you have it. My Top Twenty Twilight Zone episodes. What are yours?

Clearing Out the Cobwebs

Hey there, fellow weirdos. It’s been so long since I posted, the blog is collecting cobwebs. I promise there are tons of great posts to come, but for now–just to clear out those cobwebs–I’d like to share one of my all-time favorite YouTube videos.

SUCKABLOOD

It’s got gore, macabre scenery, and a Poesque narrative. What more could you want?

Thanks for stopping by my blog here at Weird Wide Web. I hope you enjoyed the video, and I hope you keep coming back for more! I appreciate all you nutty oddballs out there! Until next time, hold your weird heads high and say to the world:

Previous posts:

Book Review: Plank Children by Michael Schutz

I love the horror genre, but sometimes I’m desensitized to things that frighten the average person… because I’ve read and watched SO MUCH horror. That being said, Plank Children was a fun dose of fright, and it was not without its scares.

The story begins with broken-hearted Miles, who has recently suffered the loss of his 15-year-old nephew, Ian, whom he considers more of a son than a nephew. On top of that, he has just gone through a break-up with his long time boyfriend, Jeremy, and lost his job as well. Miles feels that his life and his mood can’t get any lower, but oh, if he only knew what was in store for him!

While scrolling social media, Miles comes across a picture of his sister, Minnie, her husband, and their dead son, but the picture does not appear to be old. Certain aspects of the photo suggest this shot was taken recently. But how?

When Miles confronts his sister, she suggests that Ian didn’t really die. They had wrongly identified the body. Minnie insists that Ian is now staying in an all-boys school called St. Hameline’s. And when Miles sets out on a mission to photograph the abandoned St. Hameline’s building and prove to Minnie it’s all in her head, he finds himself tangled in a mystery, one that stinks of rot, torture, and corruption.

This novels moves forward at a nice, steady pace. The amount of foreshadowing early on for events which occur later in the story show this author’s careful planning, slowly unfolding a layered plot. There are a few truly creepy scenes. See, the title “Plank Children” refers to the deceased children who were propped up by planks and photographed when post-mortem photograohy was common. That, alone, is enough to induce a good case of the willies.

Schutz’s skillful use of creative descriptors, his ability to build real tension in a dark and horrifying setting, and his attention to detail are what makes this novel shine. The reader gets to know each character and feel their pain. You can feel Miles’s utter panic and fear as he gets caught outside in the relentless blizzard that has snowed him in to this world of ghosts and secrets and considers just freezing to death rather than going back inside.

I recommend Plank Children to any horror fan. It was a good one. Read it and you won’t be disappointed.

www.michaelschutzfiction.com

Horror Comedy Films That Will Keep You Laughing Through 2021

I’m a huge horror fan, but 2020 was a rough year, and 2021 didn’t start off so hot, either. We need some FUN, something to lighten the mood. To remind us how to LAUGH again. So here is a list – in no particular order – of horror comedies I found amusing. The list is LONG because horror comedy is an under-appreciated genre that doesn’t get as much exposure as it should. I had trouble narrowing it down.

Bookmark this page and come back when you need a laugh in 2021. Better yet, challenge yourself to watch ALL of these titles. And feel free to comment with your personal favorites, or any I might have missed.

Cottage Country (2013)

100 Bloody Acres (2012)

Little Evil (2017)

Death Becomes Her (1992)

Idle Hands (1999)

The Dead Don’t Die (2019)

Deathgasm (2015)

Knights of Badassdom (2013)

What We Do In The Shadows (2014)

The Voices (2014)

Zombeavers (2014)

Trailer Park of Terror (2008)

The Perfect Host (2010)

Zombie Strippers (2008)

Let’s Kill Ward’s Wife (2014)

Hell Baby (2013)

Bubba Ho-tep (2002)

Little Monsters (2019)

Vampire In Brooklyn (1995)

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

Murder Party (2007)

Dead Before Dawn (2012)

Monster Man (2003)

Black Sheep (2006)

The Final Girls (2015)

Repossessed (1990)

Cooties (2014)

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)

This Is The End (2013)

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Zombieland (2009) & Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

Infestation (2009)

The Burbs (1989)

As always, thanks for visiting the Weird Wide Web. I hope this list keeps you… in stitches. Mwahaha!

The sheer awesomeness of the Cereal Killers trading cards.

I’ve seen images of the Cereal Killers trading card over the years – a few here and there. I took them as any other internet image: I liked them and moved on. I had no idea they were trading cards you can buy online and collect! I decided to Google it last night and came across so many awesome images!

Joe Simko, founder of Wax Eye LLC, is the man behind the Cereal Killers brand. Joe is a New York based cartoonist who has illustrated for Garbage Pail kids, and it shows! Check these out, and if you like them, embrace your inner child and inner weirdo and go buy some trading cards!

The good news is, this isn’t all of them. There are many more. If you love the quirkiness of these gorey cards as much as I do, give it a Google. They’re for sale through several online marketplaces.

Hello, my name is Lindsey, and I’m a taphophile

taphophile

Noun(plural taphophiles)

  1. A person who is interested in cemeteries and gravestones

OriginAncient Greek τάφος (taphos, “burial”, “tomb”, “grave”) + English -phile

 

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Among my many strange interests – clown collecting, horror writing, tattoos – is a hobby people tend to find even weirder than the aforementioned. I love cemeteries. I’m not alone; that much is true. We taphophiles are out there, blending in and not talking much about where we prefer to spend our leisure time… because most folks just plain don’t get it. There are varied reasons why people visit cemeteries as a hobby. Some enjoy gravestone rubbing; some are into genealogy and tracing their family ancestry. Me, I just like to take pictures.

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There can be awkward moments when I would love to snap a shot of a headstone, but across the way is another visitor, bent over the plot of a loved one, mourning. When that happens, I never whip out my camera or phone. Most people don’t understand a person who appreciates graveyards. Collecting tombstone photos could be misconstrued as exploitation or disrespect of the dead. I assure you, it is quite the opposite.

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Certain stones speak to me, touch me in a way that I find myself researching the deceased’s history, thus bringing me closer to generations before mine. And graveyards are such a peaceful, quiet place where the squirrels and birds can safely frolic, so they tend to make me feel one with nature. Mostly importantly, though, this interest of mine helps me appreciate my own time here on Earth. The silence, the stillness, the broken memorials… it all makes you cherish your own life.

“Cemeteries are full of unfulfilled dreams… countless echoes of ‘could have’ and ‘should have’, countless books unwritten, countless songs unsung. Don’t choose to walk the well-worn path to regret. Live your life in such a way that when your body is laid to rest, it will be a well needed rest from a life well lived, a song well sung, a book well written, opportunities well explored, and a love well expressed.” ― Steve Maraboli

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“Wherever you go in the next catastrophé

Be it sickroom, or prison, or cemet’ry

Do not fear that your stay will be solit’ry

Countless souls share your fate, you’ll have company!” ― Roman Payne

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When you think of the word “stone”, you think of something solid, sturdy, hard to destroy… something that perhaps can weather with the passage of years, but that takes a great deal of time to crumble and fall. That is part of what strikes a chord so deep in my heart about graveyards. Each stone tells a story, as it was intended to do, and it will stand for a very long time to tell it.

“It is upon such stones that men attempt to permanently etch history so they will not exist in a vacuum; it is the final statement after a lifetime of scratching out divisions upon the ground, over ephemeral time itself, merely to give their short journeys meaning, to tell others I was here – do not forget me, do not let my brief blast dissolve into nothingness.” ― Rob Bignell

Along with taphophilia comes an enormous respect for the dead. Most of my time among them is spent solemnly and peacefully admiring the sights. But, I will admit that on occasion I get up to some shenanigans…

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I think I will wrap up this blog by sharing the cemetery videos I made 11 years ago. Cemeteries don’t change much, so they’re still as relevant today as ever. That’s the beauty of it! Enjoy. And if you are a fellow taphophile, feel free to comment or get in touch. Happy grave hunting!

The Weird World of Resale Shopping

Junkers, bargain hunters, collectors and antique lovers spend a good amount of time browsing resale items. Sometimes, they come across weird things for sale. There are even online groups dedicated to resale discoveries that are too weird not to share.

With the recent health concerns, those of us who love to resale shop, who find it therapeutic on some level, cannot shop at the moment. So, if you are one of those people and need your fix of weird resale treasures, this blog entry’s for you! Here’s a handful of strange items I’ve seen posted online:

resale1

Shaunna’s husband found this clown at a garage sale. Shaunna is creeped out by it, and rightfully so. The clown currently resides in their garage.

resale2

Oh, man! The husbands are at it again! Joyce, a member of the Facebook group Weird Secondhand Finds That Just Need To Be Shared (where I found these pics) says that when her husband spotted this rabbit ventriloquist dummy, he just had to have it. Wow. My Heart goes out to you, Joyce.

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No, you’re not seeing double. These figures have four eyes. The photo was originally posted by Kristina, who says she learned the story behind them after posting the pic. These figures were a bar novelty. They have a normal face on the other side, and when everyone was good and drunk and it was time to stumble home, the bartender would flip the figures to show their blurred, double-eyed faces.

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Resale shopper, Jenai, was so taken by this panting that she tracked down the artist: Kaye Smillie

 

As for myself, I have a controversial hobby. I collect clowns. I’m looking to sell a bunch of them, but then again, I don’t know who wants them… besides me. Lol. I own at least 120 clowns, and that’s not counting the carnival-themed items such as carousel horses and carnival glass. I also collect music boxes and crystal glass, but those don’t deserve a spot on Weird Wide Web. Not weird enough.

In closing, I will say this: As we all struggle through a decidedly bad start to 2020, being shut indoors and practicing our “social distancing”, let’s turn to our hobbies, passions, and collections for comfort. Stay safe, readers, and wash those hands. I’m not clowning around!

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March Weirdness

Welcome to my new blog. My name is Lindsey Goddard. I’m an avid reader, writer, and horror movie buff. Though my roots are in the horror genre, weirdness is all around us and isn’t always horrific. I like that.

So, what will I post here? What qualifies as weird enough for a blog geared toward everything weird?

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I don’t know. It’s March. Certainly a weird month, if you know where to find the weirdness. Remember how people used to think St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland? We could discuss that!

paddy

Or… today is March 12th. Kerouac’s birthday. Jack Kerouac is credited as a pioneer of the Beat generation. His novel, On The Road, is chock-full of misadventures and strange substance use. We could talk about that.

madones

March is a great month to discuss ancient Rome. The Roman New Year was actually in March, as their ten month calendar ran from March to December. Also, March marks the month Julius Caesar was stabbed a ton of times in a conspiracy between like sixty of his own men! That’s intense history!

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We could switch topics to focus on weird cinema and discuss the recent release of A Quiet Place II in theaters. Does it really need a sequel? Is it worth the $20 popcorn and soda? Who knows? Some reviewers say it’s better than the first.

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Let’s see. What else is weird about March? Why, it’s Women’s History Month. We could discuss some of my favorite weird females in history. Like Maud Stevens Wagner, the first known female tattoo artist. Or Margaret Atwood, who wrote the dark and definitely weird, The Handmaid’s Tale.

Yes, we could discuss any of this. But we won’t. I just wanted to give you a feel for this blog.

I hereby extend an invitation to anyone out there who’s interested in being part of Weird Wide Web. Submit your ideas! Interact! Send me all the weirdness you’ve got hiding up those peculiar sleeves of yours! Contact info can be found on the main page at: www.weirdwideweb.org/Submit