Seasonal Treasures
More Than a Monster – 9 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Boris Karloff
by Maledicta | Feb 7, 2019 | Categories: Interesting People and Maledicta's Movie Corner. Tags: Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, cricket, frankenstein, Imhotep, karloff, and the Mummy.
Last week marked the 50th anniversary (February 2, 1969) of the passing of Boris Karloff, one of the most significant figures in horror film history. But despite his menacing demeanor, vaguely Eastern-European-sounding name, and penchant for playing monsters,...
Unsolved Mysteries: Pittsburgh’s “Ghost Bomber”
by Maledicta | Feb 7, 2019 | Categories: Oddities and Curiosities. Tags: B-25 Mitchell, conspiracy theories, ghost bomber, monongahela river, mystery bomber, and Pittsburgh.
It was at the height of the Cold War, 63 years ago last week, when a military plane went down into the icy Monongahela River… and the “Ghost Bomber” went down in history as one of the great Mysteries of Pittsburgh. On January 31, 1956, Major...
Macabre Magical Treasures of the Ashmolean Museum
by Maledicta | Jan 20, 2019 | Categories: Books, Macabre Amusements, and Video. Tags: Ashmolean, Deborah Harkness, demons, Discovery of Witches, Oxford, and vampires.
As seen in the new Sundance Now/Shudder series, A Discovery of Witches. The expected snowstorm this weekend pretty much fizzled out, but I was prepared nonetheless… I had planned ahead and was ready to ride it out with the help of comfort food, adult...
A (Really) Grim Fairy Tale: The Real Story of Snow White
by Maledicta | Jan 8, 2019 | Categories: Macabre Amusements. Tags: Brothers Grimm, Snow White, and Walt Disney.
Who doesn’t love the story of Snow White, that classic (though perhaps a little retro) fairy tale where good triumphs over evil? The story we’re all familiar with is that of an innocent young beauty who is banished by a vain, cruel, and jealous...
Tomb with a View
by Maledicta | Jan 8, 2019 | Categories: Interesting People and Oddities and Curiosities. Tags: crypt, premature burial, and window.
You might say things are looking up for the late Dr. Smith… The fear of being buried alive was not uncommon in the 19th Century. Though it’s the stuff of horror novels, most of those tales are nothing more than urban legends. Yet sometimes truth...
Bring Back the Christmas Ghost Story Tradition
by Maledicta | Dec 9, 2018 | Categories: Halloween 365. Tags: a christmas carol, christmas, dickens, England, ghost stories, and tradition.
For the last hundred years, Americans have kept ghosts in their place, letting them out only in October, in the run-up to our only real haunted holiday, Halloween. But it wasn’t always this way, and it’s no coincidence that the most famous ghost story is a...
Unique Graves Have Haunting Tales to Tell
by Maledicta | Dec 3, 2018 | Categories: Halloween 365 and Uncategorized. Tags: cemetery, coffins, graves, tombstones, and unusual graves.
Have you heard about the mysterious Black Angel, the crypt with moving coffins, or Lilly Gray, “Victim of the Beast?” Every grave tells a story… And some are more “strange and unusual” than others. Most of these stories are prosaic enough,...
Would You Confess Your Crimes to a Skeleton?
by Maledicta | Nov 25, 2018 | Categories: Oddities and Curiosities. Tags: criminal justice, Helene A Shelby, interrogation, invention, patent, and skeleton.
Back in the 1920s, inventor Helene Adelaide Shelby was pretty sure you would. Criminal justice might be a whole different ballgame if law enforcement officials had heeded the advice of one Helene Adelaide Shelby of Oakland, California. Savor the genius of...
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Halloween Movie or Christmas Movie?
by Maledicta | Nov 25, 2018 | Categories: Macabre Amusements, Maledicta's Movie Corner, and Video. Tags: Halloween, Jack Skellington, Nightmare Before Christmas, Sandy Claws, and Santa.
Pick a side! Arguing about the minutiae of pop culture is a proud tradition among nerds the world over, but there are a few subjects that seemingly shouldn’t be up for debate. Yet one of these subjects manages to rear its head every year, tearing the Internet...
Book Review: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes… And Other Lessons from the Crematory
by Maledicta | Nov 19, 2018 | Categories: Books and Macabre Amusements. Tags: Caitlin Doughty, corpse, crematorium, death, embalming, funeral, and smoke gets in your eyes.
“A girl always remembers the first corpse she shaves.” – author Caitlin Doughty What if I told you that you don’t think enough about your own death? Or the deaths of the people you care about? You’d probably be shocked, or maybe even offended. The...