Latest Posts by dvaowlot - Page 3

Tamara Samsonova, known as the “Granny Ripper,” defied the common stereotype of a serial killer, as she was a 68-year-old grandmother. Her arrest in 2015 shocked the world and launched one of the most bizarre true crime cases in history.

Authorities arrested Samsonova on suspicion of murdering 79-year-old Valentina Ulanova, whose dismembered body was found in a pond. Samsonova shared an apartment with Ulanova and was caught on CCTV disposing of her body, which led to her becoming a suspect. When police searched the apartment, they discovered a gruesome diary containing details of not just this murder, but several others.

The diary contained Samsonova’s confession to killing at least 13 people, including her husband, whom she murdered in 2005, and another tenant. She described how she dismembered their bodies with a knife in the bathroom and disposed of the remains in different locations. Shockingly, Samsonova also confessed to cannibalizing her victims and getting rid of unwanted body parts and organs.

The Disappearance of Mary Agnes Moroney

February 15, 2023

Mary Agnes Moroney was born on May 9, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois to parents Catherine and Michael Moroney. Catherine had married Michael when she was only 13 years old, and they had two daughters together, Mary and Anastasia. 

The Moroney’s lived at 5200 Wentworth Avenue and were extremely poor. Due to this, one of Catherines relatives had wrote to what was known as a needy-family service which was printed publicly. Usually this service did not print out the addresses of the families, however through this a woman had found the Moroney’s address. 

On May 14, 1930, Catherine was scrubbing the floor of the house when she heard a knock at the door. A woman stated that her name was Julia Otis and she had been sent by a social worker to deal with the Moroney’s case from the needy family service. The woman was described as being well-dressed, around 22 years old, with protruding teeth and a “cultured voice.” 

After listening to the Moroney’s problems, Julia asked Catherine if she could take then 2 year old Mary Agnes to California with her, adding that she would be “fat as a butterball.” Catherine said no, and the woman promised she would return and gave Catherine $2 before leaving. 

On May 15, 1930, Julia came back with baby clothes, as Catherine was actually pregnant with her third child at this time. Julia also claimed to have arranged for Michael to have a better job and offered to take Mary to the store to buy her new clothes and shoes. Catherine was reluctant to allow this but eventually gave her permission. 

Catherine later said that Mary Agnes was extremely upset to go off with the woman, and refused to do so through tears. The woman known as Julia took Mary with her and the two were never seen again. 

On May 16, 1930, Julia wrote a letter to the Moroney’s which read: 

“Please don’t be alarmed, I have taken your little girl to California with me. I have hired a special nurse to care for her. We’ll be back in two months. By that time you will be on your feet again and will be able to care for her. She didn’t even cry a bit. She is outfitted like a princess. In the meantime, I’ll help all I can to get you on your feet. Don’t worry about her or anything else. When you get this letter we’ll be on our way already. As ever, Julia Otis.”

This was the last time the Moroney’s ever heard from the woman claiming to be Julia Otis again. 

Two weeks after Mary’s kidnapping, a woman claiming to be called Alice Henderson, sent the Moroney’s a letter saying that Julia was her cousin and was “love hungry” as her own husband and baby had died the year before in 1929. 

However, Alice Henderson was never heard from again after this note and police determined that the letter written by Julia and the letter written by Alice were from the same person as the handwriting was the same. 

Over a year later, in July 1931, an elder Native woman named Martha Thompson was pushing a cart to join a circus. In the cart was a blonde, blue eyed 3 year old girl that looked similar to Mary Agnes Moroney. Martha claimed that the little girl had been abandoned by her mother, a woman named Florence Fuller and begged to be able to keep the girl. The Moroney’s did not identify the girl as being Mary Agnes. 

In 1952, 22 years after Mary was last seen, a 24 year old woman named Mary McClelland saw some photos of Mary Agnes’ siblings (Catherine and Michael had 6 more children after Mary disappeared) and believed she was Mary Agnes herself. 

Mary McClelland claimed she had been adopted within a year of Mary Agnes’ disappearance by a man and woman named Charles and Nora Beck. Her dental casts were compared and through that, plus her skull and blood showed she was a Moroney. 

However, a physician named Dr. E.W. Merrithew stated that he had delivered Mary McClelland to an unknown mother on November 17, 1927, and the mother had provided a baby picture of her from 1928. This proved that she had been adopted 2 years before Mary Agnes had been abducted. 

More evidence was discovered when McClelland did not have the same scar Mary Agnes had from a previous surgery. Further DNA testing proved she was not Mary Agnes. Mary McClelland died in 2005 and the abduction of Mary Agnes Moroney remains unsolved. 

 Further more, Mary Agnes underwent an operation for a ruptured navel, but McClelland did not have the scar Mary Agnes had at the time of her disappearance.[5] Further DNA testing proved she was not Mary Agnes. She died in 2005.[1] The Moroney kidnapping remains unsolved after almost 93 years. 

Teenage Drama Turns to Death: The Tragic Murder of Skylar Neese

June 26, 2022

Skylar Annette Neese was born on February 10, 1996 in West Virginia and was the only child of Mary and Dave Neese. At 16 years old Skylar was attending University High School, worked at Wendy’s, got excellent grades and wanted to be a criminal defense lawyer.

Skylar had two best friends, Shelia Eddy (born September 28, 1995) and Rachel Shoaf (born June 10, 1996). Skylar and Shelia had met when they were 8 years old and had been inseparable ever since. Rachel became friends with the two girls a few years later, but the three of them were best friends, you would rarely see one of them without the other two. 

On July 5, 2012, Skylar had returned to her home in Star City, West Virginia, after working her regular night shift at Wendy’s. The Neese family lived in an apartment building and later on surveillance video showed Skylar leaving her apartment from her bedroom window at 12:30 am on July 6, getting into a sedan. 

Skylar’s father Dave Neese later said that Skylar had clearly planned on coming back later that night, as she didn’t take her phone charger with her and she had left the window open. 

Skylar was at first considered a runaway by authorities and there was no Amber Alert issued for her disappearance because it was clear from the video footage that she had willingly left on her own accord. Skylar’s parents posted flyers about their missing daughter, hoping that someone would know her whereabouts. 

Police soon found out that the sedan that Skylar was seen getting into that night belonged to Shelia Eddy so they brought her in for an interview. Shelia did admit that she picked up Skylar that night, but they had only driven around for about an hour before she dropped her back off at her apartment. 

Rachel and Shelia were interviewed by the police several times, but their stories always remained the same. Shelia even helped the Neeses’ distribute missing persons flyers, and would come over to their house to cry with them about missing Skylar. 

As time went on, Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf began to become suspects to the police, as other schoolmates were claiming they had heard the girls talking about committing a murder at school. One of the girls’ teachers even contacted the police to tell them she had also heard of them talking about murder. 

About 6 months after Skylar had disappeared, Rachel Shoaf admitted that her and Shelia Eddy had been plotting to kill Skylar for 9 months. Rachel claimed that the reason the girls murdered Skylar was because they didn’t want to be friends with her anymore. 

The seemingly perfect friendship the trio shared was anything but, as Skylar would often tweet about how Shelia and Rachel would leave her out of things. It seemed the girls would fight a lot, and Skylar had even written in her diary that Shelia and Rachel had a sexual relationship with each other, and would make-out or have sex in front of Skylar, making her extremely uncomfortable. 

Skylar’s body was found on January 16, 2013, less than 30 miles away from her home. 

Rachel told the police the whole story, claiming that on the night of July 5, 2012, Sheila and her had invited Skylar to go drive around with them. Apparently, Skylar was hesitant of this, as she had recently had a falling out with them, but after the girls texted and called her a few times she eventually agreed to sneak out. 

Rachel told police that her and Shelia had prepared “a serial killer kit” which included kitchen knives, paper towels, bleach, clean clothes, cleaning cloths and a shovel. They had hid the knives in their hoodies. 

When Skylar got into the sedan with the girls, they headed northwest from Star City toward Blacksville, on U.S. Route 19. Rachel and Shelia had originally planned on travelling along W.V. Route 7, but they changed their route once they saw a state police car in that direction. 

They arrived across the Pennsylvania state border, where all three of the girls would occasionally smoke weed there. When they got out of the car, they told Skylar that they had forgotten to bring a lighter with them. Skylar then volunteered to go back to the sedan to get her own lighter, and once she turned her back, Rachel and Shelia both counted to three, which they agreed would be their signal, and began to stab Skylar.

Skylar had attempted to run away, but was only able to get a few feet before Rachel got her on the ground and continued to stab her. At one point during the attack, Skylar had managed to get the knife away from Rachel and stabbed her in the leg, which caused Rachel to back off and stop the attack, though Shelia kept going. 

It was admitted that Rachel and Shelia stopped counting how many times they stabbed Skylar once they got to 50, and Shelia had stabbed Skylar until there was silence and her neck stopped making gurgling sounds. 

The pair attempted to bury Skylar’s body, but the soil was too hard and rocky to dig a hole, so they decided to hide Skylar’s body with rocks, fallen branches and dirt. They then returned to the sedan, cleaned themselves up, changed into clothes, and left. 

On May 1, 2013, Rachel pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Rachel actually got a plea deal because authorities believed she had cooperated with them, so the recommended sentence for her would be 20 years of incarceration. 

On September 4, 2013, the prosecutors identified Shelia Eddy publicly as the second perpetrator in Skylar’s murder and stated that she would be tried as ana adult. Sheila was indicted on September 6, 2013, on one count of kidnapping, one count of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. She pleaded not guilty. 

The trial date was set for January 28, 2014. Shelia was facing additional charges from Pennsylvania authorities so she pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. During the trial, Shelia expressed no remorse and did not cry at all. She was sentenced to life in prison and is eligible for parole after 15 years. Because of her plea deal to plead guilty to first-degree murder, Pennsylvania did not file charges against her. 

On February 25, 2014, Rachel received a sentence of 30 years in prison and will be eligible for parole after 10 years. Both Shelia and Rachel are incarcerated at the Lakin Correctional Center in Mason County. 

Due to an Amber Alert not being issued in Skylar’s disappearance due to a waiting period of 48 hours before a teenager is considered missing and the fact that Skylar had left on her own accord and was not considered kidnapped, a new bill was introduced called “Skylar’s Law” which modifies West Virginia’s Amber Alert plan to issue immediate public announcements when any child is missing and in danger, regardless if the child is believed to be kidnapped.

Rachel Shoaf will be up for parole next year, with the hearing on May 1, 2023, though according to WV DOC she will likely be paroled on April 28, 2028. Shelia Eddy will be up for parole in 2028.

The Knife Angel, a haunting 27-foot-high sculpture made of 100,000 confiscated knives on display at Birkenhead Park, Merseyside. Highlighting the horrors of knife crime, the sculpture has been touring the UK to raise awareness of knife crime and how it affects communities, families and individuals. Surrender bins for the safe disposal of knives will be in place next to the sculpture.

Albert Fish

March 30, 2023

***Trigger Warning: Lots of graphic nature and abuse of children***

Albert Fish was born Hamilton Howard Albert Fish on May 19, 1870 in Washington, D.C. to Randall and Ellen Fish. Randall was 43 years older than Albert’s mother Ellen, and was 75 years old when Albert was born. The pair had multiple children together, with Albert being the youngest. 

Albert began using the name Albert as a child, named after his dead brother so that his peers would stop calling him “Ham & Eggs” a childhood nickname he despised. 

Many of Albert’s family members suffered from different mental illnesses. Albert’s mother, Ellen, had what was known as “aural and/or visual hallucinations.” Albert’s father, Randall, had a heart attack and on October 16,1875 he died when Albert was only 5 years old. 

Ellen, being overwhelmed with her husband now gone placed Albert in the Saint John’s Orphanage where Albert was abused regularly. Albert would later begin to enjoy the pain he endured at the orphanage, the beginning of him experiencing sexual pleasure during pain or inflicting pain. 

In 1880, Ellen got a better paying job and was able to get her son back from the orphanage. In 1882, Albert had begun a relationship with a boy who introduced Albert to drinking urine and eating feces. Albert also began visiting public baths where he could watch young boys undress. 

Albert also began to write obscene letters to women who he would see their names in classified ads in the papers. 

In 1890, at the age of 20, Albert moved to New York City where he was a male sex worker and began to rape and molest boys, most of whom were under the age of 6. In 1898, Albert married a woman named Anna Mary Hoffman, who was 9 years younger than him. This was an arranged marriage Albert’s mother had set up. Albert and Anna had 6 children together: Albert, Anna, Gertrude, Eugene, John and Henry. 

In 1903 Albert was arrested for grand larceny and incarcerated in Sing Sing. Albert later said he had gone to a wax museum with a male lover once and became fascinated by the bisection of the human penis, which led to an obsession with sexual mutilation. 

In 1910, Albert met a man named Thomas Kedden. It was said that Thomas was intellectually disabled. The two began a sadomasochistic relationship, it is unclear whether Albert forced Thomas to do any of the acts. After 10 days, Albert took Thomas to an old farm house where he tortured him for two weeks, tying him up and cutting off half of his penis. 

Albert’s original plan was the kill Thomas and cut up his body. Albert feared he would be noticed if he tried to bring Thomas’ body back to his house, so he poured peroxide over the wound, wrapped it in a Vaseline-covered handkerchief, and left him $10. 

Albert never contacted or tried to contact Thomas again and does not know what happened to him after that. 

In January 1917, Albert’s wife left him for another man who had been boarding with them. Albert was then left to raise his children on his own, saying that his wife had taken almost everything they owned with her. 

Albert often began having auditory hallucinations, once wrapping himself in a carpet saying he was following instructions from John the Apostle. 

Albert began to self harm by embedding needles into his groin and abdomen areas. After he was arrested, the X-rays showed that Albert had at least 29 needles in his pelvic area. He would also hit himself with a nail studded paddle and would put wool covered in lighter fluid into his anus and light it up. 

It was never reported that Albert ever abused his own children physically, however it is said that Albert would encourage his children and their friends to hit him in the buttocks with the nail studded paddle. 

Around 1919, Albert had stabbed an intellectually disabled boy in Georgetown. Fish claimed he would go over intellectually disabled or African-American people because he did not think they would be missed. 

On July 11, 1924, Albert saw 8 year old Beatrice Kiel playing alone on her parent’s farm in Staten Island, New York. Albert offered the little girl money to come help him look for rhubarb. Beatrice was about to leave the farm when her mother chased Albert away. Albert later returned to the Kiel farm where he tried to sleep in their barn, but was discovered by Beatrice’s father. 

During 1924, Albert was suffering from psychosis and claimed God was commanding him to torture and sexually mutilate children. Three days after the Kiel’s, Albert murdered Francis McDonnell on Staten Island. 

Francis McDonnell

On July 14, 1924, 9 year old Francis McDonnell was reported missing when he did not return home from playing with friends. A search began and his body was found, hanging by a tree in a wooden area near his home. 

Francis had been sexually assaulted and then strangled with his suspenders. His left hamstring had been almost entirely stripped of flesh. Albert denied responsibility for this but did say he planned to castrate the boy but heard someone approaching so he ran off. 

Francis’ friends told police Francis had been taken by an elderly man with a grey moustache. A neighbour also claimed to have seen Francis with a similar looking man walking towards the woods. 

Anna McDonnell, Francis’ mother, said she also saw that man earlier in the day, claiming he had been coming up the street mumbling to himself and making motions with his hands. Anna said the man appeared faded and grey, this description eventually leading to “The Grey Man” nickname Albert was dubbed. 

Francis McDonnell’s murder went unsolved until Grace Budd. Albert denied the charges until March 1935, after the trial of Grace Budd’s murder, where he admitted to killing Francis and another boy, Billy Gaffney. 

Billy Gaffney

On February 11, 1927, 4 year old Billy Gaffney was playing in their apartment hallway with two other boys, ages 4 and 12. When the 12 year old left, the two smaller boys disappeared. 

The 4 year old, a boy named Billy Beaton was found on the roof of the apartments. Beaton said that the “bogeyman” had taken Billy Gaffney. Gaffney’s body was never recovered. A man named Joseph Meehan, a motorman on the Brooklyn trolley eventually recognized a picture of Albert, claiming that was the man he saw on the day Billy went missing. 

Meehan claimed the man had been trying to quiet a little boy on the trolley. The boy was not wearing a jacket and was crying for his mother. It was found that Albert had been working a few miles from the location Billy was taken at the time. 

Albert later confessed he had taken the boy, tied his hands and feet, and gagged him. He burned his clothes and left. The next day he went back with his tools and whipped Billy, cut off his ears, nose and slit his mouth from ear to ear. Albert also gouged out his eyes, and drank his blood. Albert cut off the head, arms, hands, legs and feet, and threw them in sacks with stones, throwing them into water. 

The rest of the boy Albert took home with him and ate. Billy’s mother travelled to Sing Sing to ask Albert about her son’s death but he refused to speak with her. Albert began to weep and asked to be left alone. After two hours of asking questions through his lawyer, Billy’s mother gave up and was not convinced he had killed her son. 

Grace Budd

On May 25, 1928, Albert saw an ad in the paper by a young man who wanted work. The young man was 18 year old Edward Budd, who lived at 406 West 15th Street. 

On May 28, Albert went to see the Budd family in Manhattan, claiming he wanted to hire Edward but was really planning to tie him up and mutilate him. Albert introduced himself as Frank Howard, a farmer from Farmingdale, New York. Albert told Edward he would take on him and his friend Willie, and would come back for them in a few days. 

Albert never showed up a few days later, sending a telegram that apologized to the family, setting up a new date for when he would return. 

When Albert came back, he met Edward’s little sister Grace, who was 10 years old at the time. Albert knew he immediately wanted to take Grace instead of Edward, so made up a story about going to his niece’s birthday party, asking Delia and Albert Budd if Grace could come along with him. 

Albert took Grace to an abandoned house, a house he had previously picked out for his next victim, before his plans changed and he took Grace instead. Albert murdered Grace Budd and claimed he ate her after as well.  

The police arrested a man named Charles Edward Pope on September 5, 1930 for the murder of Grace Budd after his estranged wife accused him. He spent months in jail and was his trial began on December 22, 1930. He was found not guilty. 

In November 1934, an anonymous letter was sent to the Budd family, claiming that whoever wrote the letter had murdered Grace and detailed how they had tortured her and then taken 9 days to eat her body. The letter did say that Grace had fought back, and that the writer, who was obviously “Frank Howard” had let Grace die a virgin. 

The letter eventually led police back to Albert Fish, who did not deny the murder of Grace Budd. He actually told police his original plan was to kill her brother, Edward. Albert claimed he had no intention of raping Grace, but when he was strangling her he had two involuntary ejaculations. 

This was used in trial to determine Grace’s kidnapping was sexually motivated, and it avoided the cannibalism. 

Albert’s trial for the murder of Grace Budd started on March 11, 1935. The trial lasted 10 days, where Albert pleaded insanity, claiming he heard God telling him to kill children. It was said that Albert was a “psychiatric phenomenon” and that there was no other individual in medical records who had this many sexual abnormalities. 

The jurors all believed that Albert Fish was insane, but they believed he should be executed anyway. So they found him sane and guilty and he was sentenced to death by electrocution. 

Albert Fish was executed on January 16, 1936, in the electric chair in Sing Sing. It was said that Albert had actually helped the executioner position the electrodes on his body before he died. He last words were, “I don’t even know why I’m here.” 

According to a witness, it took two jolts before Albert died, and rumours circulated that it was due to the needles that he had inserted into his body for years. These rumours turned out to be untrue, as it was claimed that many individuals in the electric chair take more than just one jolt to die. 

After Albert’s execution, his lawyer, James Dempsey said he had Albert’s final statement, which was multiple pages of hand-written notes that Albert had written hours before his death. When journalists asked Dempsey to say what Albert had written, he replied, “I will never show it to anyone. It was the most filthy string of obscenities that I have ever read.” 

Pedro López aka “Monster of the Andes”

Pedro Alonso López, more commonly known as the Monster of Andes, was born 8th October the seventh of thirteen child of Benilda López De Casteneda in Colombia 1948. He commonly caught his mum committing acts of prostitution and this would lead his mother finding him fondling his younger sister’s breast in ‘57 when he was eight. As a result he was kicked out of the house. The supposedly a polite boy who wanted to be a teacher (according to his mother), ran away to Bogotá, Colombia. He then said he had been kidnapped and raped. He was later taken in, aged 12, by a US immigrant family and enrolled in a school for orphans. He ran away again after two years either with a teacher or because he was being molested by a teacher.

He was a serial killer and child rapist who murdered a minimum of 110 young girls from the year 1969 to 1980 but claims to have murdered over 300 across Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. The monster of Andes claimed that during his imprisonment for car theft, he was brutally gang raped and then, still incarcerated he hunted down and killed the most brutal of his rapists. When he was released he moved to Peru and started murdering young girls. He claimed that by ‘78 he had killed over 100 girls before he was caught and captured by an indigenous tribe. They were about to execute him, before a missionary from the US persuaded them to hand him over to the state police, after which he was quickly released.

López claimed he returned to Colombia and the moved to Ecuador, during which, he claimed he had killed about three girls a week. He stated: “I like the girls in Ecuador; they are more gentle and trusting. More innocent.”

The nonce was arrested when an attempted kidnapping failed and he was trapped by market traders. The Associated Press (AP) reported his arrest to been in march 1980 and that he had boasted about killing anywhere from 200 to 369 young girls. According to CNN, López “Was arrested in 1980 but was freed by the government in Ecuador at the end of [1998]”. During an interview from his prison cell, the pedophile described himself as “the man of the century” (obviously disregarding his rapes and murders of young girls) and said he was being released for “good behaviour”. An A&E biographical documentary reported that he was released from an Ecuadorian prison on 31/8/199, then rearrested as an illegal immigrant and tossed him to the Colombian authorities, who pinned a 20-year-old murder on him. He was declared insane and held in the psychiatric wing of everyone’s favourite Bogotá hospital. In 1998, he was declared sane and released on a $50 bail, subject to conditions. He later absconded. The earlier documentary says that Interpol released an advisory for his rearrest by Colombian authorities over a fresh murder in 2002, he is currently wanted and whereabouts are unknown.

Aside from uncited local accounts, López’s crimes first received international attention from an interview with Ron Laytner, a longtime freelance photojournalist in his Ambato prison cell in 1992. According to Laytner’s story, López got his nickname Monster of the Andes in ‘80, when he purposely led the police to the graves of 53 girls between the ages 9 to 12 in Ecuador.

Throughout the 18th and 19th century, grave-robbing was quite prevalent. Due to this, many cemeteries were protected with cemetery guns. The one above is from the Museum of Mourning Art. The gun sits on a turret, allowing it to move freely. It would be set up with a tripwire, meaning that when the unsuspecting grave robber got close to the grave that he intended to rob, he would trigger the weapon, killing him.

In December of 1927, 12-year-old Marion Parker, who was the young daughter of banker, Perry Parker, was abducted from her school by William Edward Hickman. Over the next few days, Hickman contacted Parker and sent multiple ransom notes. Parker agreed to pay the $1,500 and met the man in a parked car. When Parker paid to ransom, he was allowed to see his daughter who was sitting on the passenger seat. She appeared to be wrapped up in a blanket up to her neck, rendering her unable to walk. Or so Parker thought.. Hickman threw the little girl out of the car and sped off with the money. It was immediately discovered that the little girl was already dead. When she was unwrapped from the blanket, he was horrified to see that her arms and legs had been cut off and she had been disembowelled. Her eyes had also been wired open. Hickman later admitted to strangling and slitting the throat of Marion and confessed that she was still alive while he disembowelled her. Hickman was quickly apprehended and hanged in 1928.

Cattle thief hanged in effigy, Custer County, Montana, USA, 1939 - by Arthur Rothstein (1915 - 1985), American

"S'Accabadora" is a figure from Sardinian culture. Until a few decades ago, euthanasia was practiced in Sardinia. It was the task of the female "accabbadora" to bring death to people in agony. Detailed studies and analyses of documentation found in Sardinian curiae, dioceses, and museums have confirmed the existence of this figure.

The "s'accabadora" was a woman who, called upon by the relatives of a terminally ill patient, would provide a compassionate death, ending their suffering. It was an act of mercy towards the dying person and also a necessary act for the survival of the family, especially for the less privileged social classes. In the rural areas of Gallura and in small towns far from a doctor, it served to avoid prolonged and excruciating suffering for the patient.

The "s'accabadora" would arrive at the house of the dying person always at night. After the family members who had called her had left, she would enter the room of death. The door would open, and the dying person, from their bed of agony, would see the "s'accabadora" dressed in black, with her face covered, and understand that their suffering was about to end.

The patient would be suffocated with a pillow, or the woman would deliver a blow with "su mazzolu" causing death. The "s'accabadora" would then leave quietly, as if she had completed a mission. The family members of the patient would express deep gratitude for the service she had rendered to their loved one, often offering her agricultural products in return.

Usually, the blow was directed at the forehead, which likely gives rise to the term "accabbadora," from the Spanish word "acabar" meaning to finish, literally giving a blow to the head.

"Su mazzolu" was a kind of specially constructed stick that can be seen in the Gallura Ethnographic Museum. It is a 40-centimeter-long and 20-centimeter-wide piece of olive wood, with a handle that allows for a secure and precise grip. The "su mazzolu" found in the Gallura museum was discovered in 1981. The "s'accabadora" had hidden it in a dry stone wall near an old farmhouse that had once been her home. The Su Mazzolu in questione see here is made from a single piece of wood (probably a fig tree) and is manageable and robust at the same time. It bears three notches engraved in the upper part, probably referring to the number of victims.

The practice of the "s'accabadora" existed in Sardinia until a few decades ago, mainly in the central-northern part of the island. The last known cases of "accabbadura" occurred in Luras in 1929 and in Orgosolo in 1952. In addition to documented cases, there are numerous stories passed down through oral tradition and family memories. Many people remember a grandfather or great-grandfather who had some connection with the woman dressed in black.

In Luras, in Gallura, the "s'accabadora" killed a 70-year-old man. The woman was not condemned, and the case was closed. The Carabinieri, the Public Prosecutor of Tempio Pausania, and the Church all agreed that it was a humanitarian act. In fact, everyone knew, and everyone remained silent. No condemnation seems to have ever been carried out against this missionary woman who physically and morally took it upon herself to end the suffering of the sick.

Her existence was always considered a natural fact. Just as there were midwives who assisted in childbirth, there was the "s'accabadora" who helped in dying. It is even said that they were often the same person, distinguished by the color of their clothing (black if bringing death, white or light if bringing life into the world).

This figure, representing a socio-cultural and historical phenomenon, is the practice of euthanasia. In the small rural communities of Sardinia, it was linked to the Sardinian approach to death. In the Sardinian community's culture, there has never been a real fear when facing the final moments of a person's life. It can be said that Sardinians had their own personal management of death, considering it a natural cycle of life.

I know people on tumblr looove stories of underwater cave diving, but I haven't seen anyone talk about nitrogen narcosis aka "raptures of the deep"

basically when you want to get your advanced scuba certification (allowing you to go more than 60 feet deep) you have to undergo a very specific test: your instructor takes you down past the 60+ foot threshold, and she brings a little underwater white board with her.

she writes a very basic math problem on that board. 6 + 15. she shows it to you, and you have to solve it.

if you can solve it, you're good. that is the hardest part of the test.

because here's what happens: there is a subset of people, and we have no real idea why this happens only to them, who lose their minds at depth. they're not dying, they're not running out of oxygen, they just completely lose their sense of identity when deep in the sea.

a woman on a dive my instructor led once vanished during the course of the excursion. they were diving near this dropoff point, beyond which the depth exceeded 60 feet and he'd told them not to go down that way. the instructor made his way over to look for her and found a guy sitting at the edge of the dropoff (an underwater cliff situation) just staring down into the dark. the guy is okay, but he's at the threshold, spacing out, and mentally difficult to reach. they try to communicate, and finally the guy just points down into the dark, knowing he can't go down there, but he saw the woman go.

instructor is deep water certified and he goes down. he shines his light into the dark, down onto the seafloor which is at 90 feet below the surface. he sees the woman, her arms locked to her sides, moving like a fish, swimming furiously in circles in the pitch black.

she is hard to catch but he stops her and checks her remaining oxygen: she is almost out, on account of swimming a marathon for absolutely no reason. he is able to drag her back up, get her to a stable depth to decompress, and bring her to the surface safely.

when their masks are off and he finally asks her what happened, and why was she swimming like that, she says she fully, 100% believed she was a mermaid, had always been a mermaid, and something was hunting her in the dark 👍

Typical Website Frauds!

These are some of the most often asked about pictures floating around the Internet at this time. The images are either outright frauds or accidental double-exposure

The rest are other examples of fakery. Images are quite easy to insert using PhotoShop or imaging software.

Mikhail Kalashnikov, the man who created the AK-47 assault rifle, wrote a letter in which he professed his guilt and regret over his creation shortly before his death in 2013. He explained that he felt responsible for all of the deaths caused by his creation: “The pain in my soul is unbearable. I keep asking myself the same unsolvable question: If my assault rifle took people’s lives that means that I, Mikhail Kalashnikov, … am responsible for people’s deaths.” He expressed that he wished he would have created a tool to benefit farmers instead.

The Canonical Five: Mary Jane Kelly

April 02, 2023

Mary Jane Kelly is who is known as Jack the Ripper’s 5th and final canonical five victim, however, there is much less information known about her upbringing compared to the other four women. 

It is believed by many that the information we do know about Mary Kelly is embellished, with her having fabricated details that are known about her early life. 

The man Mary Kelly had most recently been living with before her murder was named Joseph Barnett, and he later claimed Mary had told him she was born in Limerick, Ireland around 1863 and her family had moved to Wales when she was a child. 

Supposedly Mary Kelly had told an acquaintance that she had been disowned by her parents, but she was close with her sister. It was said from Joseph and Mary’s landlady that she had come from a somewhat wealthy, good family. Joseph also claimed Mary confirmed she had seven brothers and at least one sister. 

Mary’s landlord, a man named John McCarthy claimed she had received mail from Ireland, but not regularly. It was also believed that Mary was illiterate, as Joseph claimed she would ask him to read her the newspaper reports of the Jack the Ripper killings. 

Though it’s been reported Mary had blonde or red hair, she went by the nickname of “Black Mary” suggesting she actually had quite dark hair. She also had blue eyes and some claimed to have known her as “Fair Emma.” It is estimated that Mary stood at about 5′7″ tall, and some said she was quite attractive. 

On November 10, 1888, the day after her murder,

the Daily Telegraph

described Mary as “tall, slim, fair of fresh complexion, and of attractive appearance.” 

In 1879, at around the age of 16, Mary married a coal miner named Davis or Davies who ended up getting killed 2-3 years later in a mining explosion. After this, Mary lived with a cousin in Cardiff, and this is where it is believed she started being involved in sex work. 

In 1884, Mary left Cardiff and moved to London, where she worked as a domestic servant while lodging in Crispin Street, Spitalfields. In 1885, it’s believed she moved to the district of Fitzrovia. 

Mary eventually began working in a high class brothel in the West End of London, becoming one of the most popular girls. She did quite well for herself and bought expensive clothes and hired a carriage at this time. Supposedly Mary had met a client named Francis Craig who took her to France, but she returned to London two weeks later, not having liked the France life. 

It is believed that in 1885 Mary Kelly began drinking heavily. She moved around quite a bit lodging with different women and different men around this time. 

It was on April 8, 1887, that Mary Kelly met Joseph Barnett, with the pair agreeing to live with each other after only knowing one another for a day. They lived in George Street, and soon a place called Little Paternoster Row, but were evicted for not paying rent and of drunk and disorderly conduct. 

In early 1888, the two moved into 13 Miller’s Court, a single room a the back of 26 Dorset Street, Spitalfields. Mary had lost her key to the door, so she would bolt and unbolt the door from outside, putting her hand through a broken window by the door. A neighbour claimed Mary had broken the window when she was drunk, and a man’s coat often was used to act as a curtain. 

It was said by Mary’s friend Lizzie Albrook, that Mary was sick of how she was living in 1888 and wanted to go back to Ireland. Her landlord said that she was a quiet woman when she was sober but very noisy when drunk. When Mary was drunk she often could be abusive to people, and was nicknamed “Dark Mary.” 

Joseph lost his job as a fish porter in July 1888 due to committing theft, and because of this, Mary turned back to sex work. Mary would often let other sex workers sleep in their room at night when it was really cold because she did not have it in her to refuse them shelter. 

It is believed that on October 30, 1888, Joseph moved out as him and Mary got into a fight about a sex worker named Julia sharing their room with them. Between November 1 and November 8, Joseph visited Mary almost everyday, sometimes giving her money. 

The last time Joseph visited Mary was between 7-8 pm on November 8, 1888. Joseph claimed Mary was with her friend, Maria Harvey and that he did not stay long. He also apologized to Mary for not having any money to give. It is reported that both Joseph and Maria left Miller’s Court at the same time. 

Joseph went back to his lodging house and played cards, falling asleep around 12:30 am. Before Joseph left Mary that night, her friend Lizzie Albrook also visited. Lizzie claimed Mary was sober. 

In the evening, Mary reportedly had one drink in the Ten Bells public house with a woman named Elizabeth Foster. Later on, Mary was seen drinking with two other people at the Horn of Plenty pub on Dorset Street. 

A sex worker named Mary Ann Cox, who also was a resident of Miller’s Court claimed to have seen Mary going home drunk with a stout, ginger haired man, around the age of 36 at 11:45 pm. The man was wearing a black bowler felt hat, had a thick moustache, had blotches on his face and was holding a can of beer.

Mary Ann actually had spoken to Mary Kelly, they both said goodnight. Mary Kelly then entered the room with the man. Mary Ann heard her singing the song, “A Violet from Mother’s Grave.” She was still singing when Mary Ann left her place at midnight, and when she returned an hour later around 1 am. 

Elizabeth Prater lived in the room directly above Mary Kelly. She reportedly went to bed at 1:30 am, and the singing had stopped. 

A man named George Hutchinson who knew Mary, claimed he had met up with her around 2 am on November 9, 1888 on Flower and Dean Street. Mary had asked George for a loan of sixpence, though he claimed to be broke. George said Mary Kelly walked toward the direction Thrawl Street when she was approached by a man of “Jewish appearance.” 

The man was looked to be about 34-35 years old and George said he was suspicious of him because while it did seem like Mary knew him, his appearance made him look suspicious in that particular part of town. It was also said that this man made an obvious effort to disguise his looks from George, having his hat covering over his eyes as he passed. 

George provided police with a very detailed description of said man, and told them he had overheard Mary talking with the man, complaining she had lost her handkerchief, and the mysterious man gave her a red one that he had. George heard Mary say to the man, “Alright my dear, come along. You will be comfortable.” And then the two walked into 13 Miller’s Court with George following them, though George never saw either one of them again. 

A laundress named Sarah Lewis also claimed she had been walking in the area to meet up with friends around 2:30 am, when she noticed two or three people standing near the Britannia pub, among the people was a nicely dressed young man with a dark moustache and he was talking to a woman. 

Both the man and woman appeared to be drunk and there was a poorly dressed woman standing near them. Opposite from Miller’s Court, Sarah said she saw a stout looking shorter man standing at the entrance to the courtyard. Sarah also saw an obviously drunk woman with a man further up the courtyard. 

Mary Ann returned to her room around 3 am that morning and claimed she did not hear or see any light coming from Mary Kelly’s room at the time. She did think she heard someone leaving at around 5:45 am. 

Elizabeth Prater who lived in the room above Mary Kelly and Sarah Lewis who was sleeping at 2 Miller’s Court that night both reported hearing a faint cry that said “Murder!” between 3:30 and 4 am, but didn’t do anything about it because this was common to hear cries in the area. Sarah Lewis said it was only one scream so she did not think much of it. She also claimed she did not sleep that night and heard people coming and going out of the court throughout the night. 

Elizabeth Prater said she left her room at 5:30 am to walk to the pub for a drink, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. 

On the morning of November 9, 1888, Mary’s landlord sent his assistant to collect the rent. Mary herself was 6 weeks behind, owing 29 shillings. Shortly after 10:45 am, the assistant knocked on her door but got no response. He tried to then turn the handle, but the door was locked. He looked through the keyhole but did not see anyone in the room. 

Using the broken window, he peered inside the room and found Mary Kelly, completely mutilated lying on the bed. She was estimated to have died 3-9 hours before she was discovered. 

The assistant ran to tell the landlord, and then went to inform the police. The assistant immediately told the police it was the work of Jack the Ripper. A surgeon came to look at the body, and police gave orders to prevent anyone from entering or exiting the yard (I know, impressive for 1888 police work.) 

Bloodhounds were sent in, but it appeared to be impractical. It appeared that women’s clothing had been burning, and authorities believed Mary Kelly’s clothes were burnt by the murderer to provide light so they could see what they were doing. 

Joseph Barnett identified Mary Kelly’s body, he could only identify her by the ear and her eyes due to the severe mutilation. 

The mutilation done to Mary Kelly was the most extensive of all of the Whitechapel murders, with many believing it’s due to the fact that the Ripper had more time to commit this one in a private setting. 

During the autopsy it was noted that it most likely took 2 hours to perform all of the mutilations on Mary’s body, the death was further estimated to have occurred between 2 to 8 am. 

Her body was found lying naked in the bed, her head turned on the left cheek. Her legs were left wide apart, the whole surface of the abdomen and thighs were removed and her abdominal cavity was emptied (but later said there was food found in it). Her breasts were cut off, her face was hacked beyond recognition, gashes occurring in all directions. Her ears were partly removed. 

Her neck was cut through the skin and her other tissues were cut down to the vertebrae. Her air passage was cut at the lower part of the larynx. Her heart was taken. There was also blood splatters on the wall, lining up with her cut throat.

She had a superficial cut on her thumb, which some believe was caused while she tried to defend herself from her attacker. 

It was believed during the autopsy that Mary Kelly had been killed from a slash to her throat, and the mutilations were performed after she had died. It was not believed that the murderer had any medical knowledge. 

The inquest into Mary’s death began on November 12, 1888. After testimony, the jury had a short deliberation and the verdict was that Mary Kelly had been murdered by a person or persons unknown. 

Police did house to house questioning trying to get answers as to who murdered Mary Kelly. A few people claimed to have seen Mary on the morning of November 9, after she had supposedly been murdered, though police could not find anyone to corroborate those sightings, as well as the descriptions of Mary didn’t match. 

On November 10, 1888, Mary’s murder was linked to four other murders: Mary Ann Nicholas, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, and Catherine Eddowes. There was also an offender profile made, which stated the killer was an eccentric person, who was in an extreme state of satyriasis while performing the mutilations on Mary and the four previous victims. 

There were no other similar murders after Mary Kelly’s and a lot of people believe she was the final victim of Jack the Ripper. Most believe these Whitechapel murders ended due to the killer dying or going to prison. 

Over 100 years after the Whitechapel murders, two authors named Paul Harrison and Bruce Paley theorized that Joseph Barnett, Mary’s partner, had actually murdered her during a jealous rage. They took the theory farther, stating that perhaps Joseph also murdered the other 4 canonical five, trying to scare Mary from engaging in sex work. 

Others believe Joseph did kill Mary, but only Mary and had tried to make it look like a Jack the Ripper killing to avoid being captured. The fact that Mary was found lying naked on her bed, with her clothes folded on a chair leads many to believe that her killer was someone she knew or who she thought was a client. 

Some people do not believe Mary Kelly was a victim of Jack the Ripper at all. Mary was assumed to be around 25 years old, much younger than the other victims who had all been in their 40′s. Also, her mutilations were more extensive than the other four, she was killed in a private location and her murder occurred 5 weeks from the previous killings which had all occurred within a month. 

In 1939, author William Stewart theorized that Mary might have been killed by a midwife, “Jill the Ripper” in which Mary was going to have an abortion. Stewart believed perhaps the midwife had burned her own clothes, putting on Mary’s and that’s why people the next morning believed they saw Mary after she had been killed. 

Mary Kelly was buried on November 19, 1888 in St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cemetery in Leytonstone. None of her family members could be found to attend her funeral. The inscription on her grave reads, “In loving memory of Marie Jeanette Kelly. None but the lonely hearts can know my sadness. Love lives forever.” 

In 1974, the mummy of pharaoh Ramesses II was issued a valid Egyptian passport (nearly three millennia after his death) so that he could fly to Paris. (Source)

Woman says she was kidnapped by gnomes and goblins for nearly a week

Speaking to a Nicaraguan TV station Canal 10, the woman, named as Jasmina, said that as a kid, she had been playing outside her family home in Monte Oscuro, west Nicaragua, when she was approached by gnomes.

Jasmina insists that they convinced her to go with them to a hillside cave where she was holed up by her captors for five days and six nights.

She said: "They appeared one day when I was playing and they took me away."

cdn.jwplayer.com

Mysterious 'evil goblins' capture woman and keep her in a cave for five days and six nights

Mysterious 'evil goblins' capture woman and keep her in a cave for five days and six nights

sorry for posting a bunch of shit on the wrong blog!!! im new to having a sideblog D-x

The Sixth Swimmer by Kim Davidson (2014)

The family in this photograph had a rest in Murphy’s Hole, which is in southeast Brisbane, Australia. There were only 3 kids there that day, but looking at the photo we can also clearly see another child.

This photo of ghost was posted on Facebook and a random viewer commented on it, explaining that a 13-year-old girl drowned there in 1915 and that’s probably her image was captured by a camera

Neighbor's motion camera caught this. She couldn't think of a natural explanation. She cried for four hours and waited outside her house for husband to return.

Carl Tanzler, a radiologist residing in Key West, Florida, developed an intense infatuation with Elena Milagro Hoyos, one of his patients. Tragically, Elena succumbed to tuberculosis in 1931. Consumed by his obsession, Tanzler took extraordinary measures to preserve her memory. With the consent of Elena's parents, he commissioned a mausoleum to house her remains, convinced that it was preferable to her decomposing underground.

Night after night, Tanzler would visit Elena's tomb, unable to let go of his fixation. Eventually, his obsession took a disturbing turn when he decided to bring her body home with him. In his bed, he kept Elena's corpse, attempting to restore her decaying form by replacing her deteriorating skin with plaster. He adorned her with a new wardrobe and perfumes, meticulously maintaining the illusion of her existence.

The disturbing truth came to light in 1940 when one of Elena's sisters grew suspicious and confronted Tanzler at his residence. To her horror, she discovered Elena's decaying corpse lying in bed, dressed in an elegant gown. Tanzler's grotesque act of necrophilia had been exposed. Subsequently, he was arrested and charged with crimes such as wanton destruction of a grave and unauthorized removal of a body. However, due to the expiration of the statute of limitations on the charges, he was eventually released.

Texarkana is a sleepy town that is split between both Texas and Arkansas. Over the spring of 1946, a ruthless serial killer held the citizens of Texarkana in a state of perpetual fear. Even to this day, even the thought of the “Texarkana Moonlight Murders” sends a chill down the spine of the residents. This elusive killer predominantly targeted young couples parked on lovers’ lanes; their final attack, however, was committed against a middle-aged couple in their own farmhouse. Despite an abundance of theories and suspects, the identity of the “Phantom Killer” still remains unknown.

It all began on the night of February 22, 1946, when Jimmy Hollis, 24, and his girlfriend, Mary Jeanne Larey, 19, were parked in a secluded corner on a lonely road just off Richmond Road in Texarkana. The young couple had spent the evening at the cinema and decided they would stop down the lovers’ lane for some alone time before Jimmy dropped Mary back home. Out of the darkness, a man wearing a white cloth mask – presumably a pillowcase with eye holes – appeared at the car window and shone a flashlight into their eyes.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞:

Morbidology

The Texarkana Moonlight Murders • Morbidology

Over the spring of 1946, a ruthless serial killer held the citizens of Texarkana in a state of perpetual fear. The identity of the so-called

Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme came from different worlds. Pauline’s father managed a fish shop while her mother, Honora Mary Parker, took in lodgers to make ends meet; Juliet’s father was a famous British physicist and her mother a marriage counsellor. Nevertheless, the two young girl were drawn to each other, perhaps due to their similarities in temperament.

Pauline’s education had not been of the highest of standard, but she was a gifted and imaginative writer, and Juliet was deeply sensitive to the point of being psychologically fragile. Over time, what started out as a friendhip became much, much more. The two adolescent girls - Pauline was 15, Juliet 16 - began to explore their sexuality with one another. As Juliet would later say, when they were together it was “better than heaven.”

Unfortunately events were conspiring to bring their relationship to an end. Juliet’s mother divorced her father, and the young girl was deeply traumatized when she caught her mother in bed with a new man. Soon after, her father announced that he was returning to Britain to take up a new post, and Juliet would be sent to live with relatives in South Africa where it was hoped her health would improve.

Both girls were devastated at the idea of being separated, but Honora Parker made no secret of her relief. She had grown suspicious of their friendship and the strange hold Juliet had over her daughter, so when Pauline begged to be allowed to go to South Africa too, she refused. In doing so she became the focus of the girls’ frustration and anger.

If Pauline was orphaned, they reasoned, there would be no-one to stop her joining Juliet in South Africa. As Pauline wrote in her diary on February 13, 1954, “Why could mother not die? Dozens of people are dying, thousands are dying every day. So why not mother and father too?” It would be one of the many diary entries that eventually helped convict her.

On June 22, not long before Juliet was due to leave, Honora Parker took the girls to Victoria Park for tea and cakes. After the treat, the three strolled in the park and when they reached a secluded spot, Mrs Parker bent over to pick up a stone that had attracted her attention. As she did, a stocking loaded with a brick crashed into her skull. Over and over, the teenage girls took it in turn to beat Pauline’s mother to death. And when they were sure that she was gone, they ran back to the tea kiosk, screaming for help and crying, “Mummy’s been hurt!”

Police found the stocking and brick close by Honora Parker’s body and the two girls were arrested. Both admitted that they had helped in the grisly task of killing Mrs. Parker and both were found equally responsible. After a sensational trial unlike any New Zealand had ever seen, the two girls were found guilty of murder on August 29, 1954, and - in view of their ages - sentenced to five years in prison each with the added condition that when they were released they could never see each other again.

Unique case of Fake Persian Princess Mummy - Unexplained Mysteries

A "mummy" that duped archaeologists and nearly sparked a diplomatic row between Pakistan and Iran is finally being laid to rest.

The Persian Princess or Persian Mummy is a mummy of an alleged Persian princess who surfaced in Pakistani Baluchistan in October 2000. After considerable attention and further investigation, the mummy proved to be an archaeological forgery and possibly a murder victim.

The Borley Rectory Haunting

Borley Rectory was a house that gained infamy as “the most haunted house in England”. It had been alleged to be haunted ever since it was built in 1862. These reports multiplied suddenly in 1929, after the Daily Mirror published an account of a visit by paranormal researcher Harry Price, who wrote two books supporting claims of paranormal activity.

One of the most interesting manifestations of the haunting were the writing on the wall. It is believed the writings had come from a young deceased catholic woman who wanted her body to be discovered and receive a proper christian burial ceremony. she was trying to communicate with Marianne, wife of the reverend Lionel Foyster, the couple living in the rectory in October 1930. 

The scribbled writing is allegedly from the ghost while the writing below is from Marianne’s attempt to communicate with it.

What I can read: -Marianne light mass prayers -Marianne please help get -

The house burned down in 1939 and was later demolished in 1944. LIFE photographer David Scherman was on hand to cover the event. While covering the demolition of England’s most haunted house, Scherman photographed a brick that rose from the ruins and floated in the air for several seconds.

Rokurokubi

Found in Japanese folklore, they appear to look like normal human beings during the day, but at night they gain the ability to stretch their necks to great lengths.

Some legends say that the rokurokubi were once Buddhist who broke various precepts of Buddhism and were transformed into these demons. They are often sinister and feed off the blood of others who broke the precepts or human men.

This painting known as “The Anguished Man” was kept in Sean Robinson’s grandmother’s attic for 20+ years before Sean Robinson inherited this painting from her. She warned him about the painting, and said it was “haunted.” She told him that the man who painted this, mixed his own blood with the paint and after he was finished, killed himself (why would you keep this).

After Robinson took this home with him, he started experiencing some strange things as well. His wife felt her hair being stroked from time to time, they would see this shadow figure walking around the house and crying, and Robinson was even pushed down the stairs by something. There is also a video you can watch.

Whether this is true or fake, this has to be one of the creepiest paintings I have ever seen.

Cursed Petrified Wood

The Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona has always attracted people with its beautiful fossilized logs of trees that existed over 200 million years ago. Even though it is prohibited to take specimens from the park, people nonetheless steal pieces of petrified wood all the time. But what has also been reported, as far back as the 1930′s, is that those who take anything from the park are equally cursed with bad luck. The museum at the park has an entire room dedicated to the confessions from these thieves, usually written as letters sent to the park along with the pieces of petrified wood that were stolen. There is also a “Conscience Pile” of fossils that sits at one of the entrances to the park, where countless thieves have quietly returned the fossils they stole. The rocks are not put back in the park, and merely sit as a monument to the curse of the petrified wood.

“The Hands Resist Him” - a haunted painting.

According to Stoneham this painting is of himself as a five year old boy. Those spooky hands on the door depict another world with other lives and possibilities. The glass panes represent the thin veil of separation between this world and the world of dreams. The doll is a guide who will take the boy through the veil to the other world.

In February 2000 the painting appeared for sale on eBay.com with a lengthy description detailing that the painting had been found abandoned, behind a building. The seller then went on to claim that whilst the painting was in their house, the family’s daughter started to see the boy and girl moving inside the painting, they soon took to leaving the painting, and appeared to be fighting. The owners then set up a motion detector camera, which happened to show the movement.

If the couple is to be believed, the characters in the painting became animated in the night, sometimes even left the canvas! The boy and the doll, however, didn’t disappear from the view. The painting doesn’t just affect the owners. Even those who saw the painting online reported that they started feeling sick and nauseated. Some claim that the children who saw the painting ran away screaming; while others were said to be touched by an invisible force. A person who tried to print the image had his printer malfunction.

Stoneham didn’t help the legends by adding that the gallery where the painting was originally displayed and sold at, and a Los Angeles Times critic, who reviewed the painting in an article both ended up dead within a year of the showing.

Many people report strange feelings and strange events after seeing the picture, some have reported children freaking out when seeing the painting or prints of it.

Follow @mecthology for more spooky lores and myths. DM for pic credit. https://www.instagram.com/p/CSha_bTImRg/?utm_medium=tumblr

The Martinez Dog Demon

is a paranormal entity (commonly believed to be a demon) captured in an infamous photograph from Joe and Patty Martinez during their friend's 50th wedding anniversary - it is a striking example of a phenomena in which unseen entities appear in photographs but have not been spotted by anyone during the time, what's even more striking in this particularly creepy case is that the subject the creature apparently stood behind and his trouble background. While many attempts have been made to figure out what the true cause of the phenomena may be it remains a largely mysterious and unsolved paranormal case.

In February of 1982 my folks and I went to helping my ailing uncle with his property that sat between Elmira NY and Ithaca. I was 14 at the time going on 15. Lots of wooded area at the time in the area. The small chicken farm we were on was encircled with woods. We were there for several months. One day my mom sent me to the store to get some milk and stuff. There was snow on the ground and the streets were just icy. It was bitter cold. That's kind of cold that bites at your bones and if you take in a deep breath it stung. The second way to get to the store outside of walking the winding roads was to cross through a wooded area and a couple of fields. I liked taking this route because I always saw deer and other wildlife.

I got all the way to the country store and was heading back. In the one field there was some old cut and abandoned trees scattered around and shattered limbs no one wanted to pick up. The ground was covered with snow and there were tracks about from deer, raccoons, rabbits and whatever else. Just animal tracks that cut cross the field. I stopped to lean against one fallen tree to warm my hands, blowing on them. The truck of this fallen pine was long, about 30' long. I was at the one end of it just leaning and doing all I could to warm up.

Just then the tree trunk started to rock and then roll. I jumped back and turned about. Thats when I saw. A hairy TALL, human figure. One ran was extended out and up, holding a thick limb of the tree and the creature was looking under where the trunk was.

I was scared so badly I started to urinate in my jeans which was rolling down my legs into my fleece lined boots. And I was tearing up for fear it was going to attack me. It was no more than 20 feet from me at the other end of the fallen tree trunk. It just kept that tree truck rolled back enough to see what was under there. I think he was looking for a rodent or something to eat. But he was holding it with one hand. Had he let go, the trunk would have moved back in place. I am not math wise when it comes to size and weight comparison but figure a trunk that was 20 foot long and about 4' in diameter. It was an old trunk and rotting but it was still heavy. I know I could not move it. If what I was looking at was a man in a suit looking to scaring me from crossing the field, he would have had to have sat for hours, if not days attaching hair to his skin. The wind was blowing and so I saw skin under the layers of hair. There were skin blemishes where there was no hair. I guess like pimples or warts or something like that. Its eyes were yellowish and pupils were dark, like brown. The hair varied in length around its body and head. On its face and neck it was very short and sparce. If this was someone in a suit, they did extensive research on how hair would lay throughout the body. Also his toes moved individually in the snow with tendons or veins that were moving under his skin. So, if this was someone in a suit, he was walking around barefoot with huge feet. Not wearing fake boots. I have seen people wearing monkey ape suits in movies and at Halloween. And this was NOTHING at all like that.

I am not sure if I made a noise or not but it looked at me. Then looked back under the tree. It was more curious what was under the tree. I have no idea how long I stood there just staring. Then there was a noise from across the field that startled me and when I looked there were two others along the tree line walking. They were much too far to make out details. Just two ash-brown hairy human figures walking along the tree line. Walking just like a person would but the snow was no hamperment at all for them. They never went down on all four and one even reached out and moved part of a branch that was in his/her way like a hunter or hiker would. Bears do not do that. The one close to me stopped looking under the tree, let it roll back in place and just walked off into the trees that was to the left of where I was facing. The two in the back of the field, I have no what happen to them. My focus was on the one near me. When I gain some courage (a good 2 minutes of not moving) I slowly walked up to where it was standing before, wiping the tears from my face and saw its footprints in the snow. And they were almost twice the size of mine, which at the time was size 8-9. I stood there shaking for a bit till I felt it was safe. I did not run but walked fast till I got close enough to home where I felt safe to run. Then I bolted like a bat out of hell. I remember the terror I had in my heart and praying "Please don't come back" over and over.

Mom was angry and not believing a word I said. I also got a butt tanning from my father later on. I lost my gloves and the groceries, and my pants and boots were "stained" That's all my folks cared about. I kept saying it was a "hairy caveman." No one would believe me. I lived in fear for two months after that, for fear of running into them again and I never crossed the woods and fields again. I never heard of bigfoot or sasquatch or anything like that before. Years later I learned what I saw when I was working at the library back on Long Island and found a book on Bigfoot (The Big Foot Casebook). To date I still get nightmares if I dwell on the topic too long. Being I am an artist, I have tried to draw it/them countless of times and yet my renderings never come close. The closest depiction I have ever seen to what I saw was the costumed actors on the documentary "Manbeast: Man or legend" with Peter Byrne. Just taller and a bit more wide. I remember the first time I saw the special and the whole encounter came flooding back to me and the nightmares increased. Today I volunteer at the Woodland Park Zoo here in Seattle. I spend some time with the gorillas, siamangs, colobus, patas monkeys, orangs and other simians but I can state that what I saw was none of these species.

You win. This was INSANE to read. First, I’m really sorry your parents reacted that way. If my kid came home sobbing with pissed pants, I’d at least think something happened. That’s pretty old for a spanking, too. And the nightmares that followed? Have you tried trauma therapy? If this is triggering I’m really sorry, but it sounds a lot like the most famous picture of Bigfoot, patty. The photo is still not explainable, for reasons I do not know because I haven’t looked them up… I believe in Bigfoot 100%. My mom saw it in the woods in Missouri (and ran the hell away) and sometimes when I’m out in the woods on my ranger, I hear things. The other night I heard a huge noise in the woods. It could have been a cougar or a black bear, but it sounded a lot bigger. There are Sasquatch sightings in Missouri, as well as all around America. Is working with primates kind of therapeutic for you? I hope, and I’m sorry you had that experience, though it’s very valuable to have and share with the Sasquatch community.