Torture
Tortured by Ants
This isn't a type of crime one hears about very often:the boys were strapped to the tree for more than an hour, suffering the painful bites of thousands of ants.
On this subject, the Fossil Hunters site has an interesting article about forms of insect torture throughout history, including the gruesome ancient Persian practice of "scaphism," and the "Bug Pit" of Nasrullah Bahadur-Khan.
Alexandria Daily Town Talk - Aug 8, 1978
Posted By: Alex - Mon May 15, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Insects and Spiders, Torture, Sadism, Cruelty, Punishment, and Torture, 1970s
Tool or Weapon
And we made fun of the TSA for confiscating nail clippers as weapons, look what they can accomplish in the right hands.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 11, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Little People, Success & Failure, Tools, Torture, Weapons
Menstruation Machine
MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) brings us the Menstruation Machine, created by the artist Sputniko!:
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 24, 2013 -
Comments (6)
Category: Art, Body, Torture
Muzzles for Ladies
Back in the day (between the 16th and 19th century) women who were deemed troublesome were sometimes made to wear a muzzle. The device was called a scold's bridle, or "the branks." More info here and here.I think this device would be useful today, but instead of making women wear them, we should make them mandatory for politicians. As soon as someone declares their candidacy for public office, they'd have to strap on a muzzle. It would make life much more pleasant for everyone.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 05, 2012 -
Comments (9)
Category: Torture, Headgear
The Cobweb Hotel
If this cartoon were a movie with a human cast, it would be more gruesome than the whole Saw franchise.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 29, 2010 -
Comments (9)
Category: Insects and Spiders, Torture, Cartoons, 1930s
Follies of the Mad Men #11
[From Good Housekeeping for December 1958.]
Just one comment on this ad: why is this woman trying to scorch her own eyeball? Is this a hairdryer aimed at masochists?
Posted By: Paul - Wed Aug 13, 2008 -
Comments (10)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Domestic, Fashion, Hair Styling, Torture, 1950s, Women
Follies of the Mad Men #10
Here's part of the reason why we're a nation of fatties today. "Lose weight the hard way? No thanks! I'll just compress my flab and strap it in with manmade materials!"
And why is it that the only women ever shown in girdle ads are already so trim and underweight that they aren't the real customers?
Posted By: Paul - Mon Aug 11, 2008 -
Comments (10)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Fashion, Food, Torture, Fetishes, 1950s, Women
Ho, Ho, Ho, Hangman!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 24, 2008 -
Comments (0)
Category: Celebrities, Crime, Stupid Criminals, Eccentrics, History, Historical Figure, Military, Movies, Cartoons, Prisons, Torture, 1990s
Obscene Torture
Cruel, sadistic prison guards subjecting inmates to horrible excruciations. It's a sad practice as old as history. But seldom before today has the vile ritual reached such depths as reported in this story.What exactly is the new nadir of torture? Here's the quote:
"Houghton also said that Botas and Viveiros forced him to watch a Burger King cartoon on his office computer and sing along to a jingle that accompanied the commercial. He said that all three officers laughed and 'were getting a kick out of it … that they could take advantage of me.'”
Oh, the humanity!
Recovering my senses, and getting over the evident confusion on the prisoner's part between "cartoon" and "commercial" (his mind is obviously shattered, after all), I had to ask, "Which Burger King commercial?" Not watching much TV, I'm unsure what's currently on the airwaves that might have registered on the radar of the abusive guards. But they were after all using a computer, presumably to visit YouTube. So I found five possible torture jingles.
Which one do you find most excruciating? Or do you have another candidate?
See them after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 17, 2008 -
Comments (3)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Crime, Stupid Criminals, Food, Government, Officials, Prisons, Torture
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |