Recent Posts
Maine Man Locked in Tomb With a Coffin Full of Rum
There is something wonderfully gothic about an old family tomb hidden behind a grand mansion, especially when that tomb comes with instructions involving a lead-lined…
Smallpox Panic Stops a Philadelphia Train
At the height of the early twentieth century, a single word could bring a train, a hotel, a ship, or an entire neighborhood to a…
She Said There Was a Snake in the Bed — No One Believed Her
There are few things more frightening than a snake in the house, but a snake in the bed is the sort of horror that seems…
Pennsylvania “Corpse” Sat Up and Asked for Breakfast
In the early 1900s, death was not always as certain as it seemed. Doctors had fewer tools, homes often served as sickrooms, and the line…
Police Clubs Fell on Lawrence Textile Strikers
In the fall of 1912, the textile city of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was still raw from one of the most famous labor uprisings in American history:…
“Dead” Aberdeen Logger Returned to Work
Logging was never gentle work. In the early 1900s, a lumberjack’s day could mean felling massive trees, trimming branches with sharp axes, hauling timber over…
Amateur Photographer “Accidentally” Creates a Study of Women’s Feet
In 1889, one amateur photographer set out to capture the lively scene at St. Simon’s Island during encampment week. What he got instead was something…
San Rafael Powder Factory Explosion Kills Four
A thunderous blast rolled across Point San Pedro on June 17, 1899, so loud that some who heard it first mistook the sound for a…
She Risked Her Life to Rescue Old Glory
A crowd gathered beneath the old Chicago post office, staring upward in alarm as a young woman made her way across the icy, sloping roof….
Missouri Woman Dies of Fright After Corpse Sits Up
In Joplin, Missouri, word spread of a death so strange and gruesome that it seems almost impossible: a young woman reportedly died of fright while…
