The Science of Scary

An analytical look at the creepy, unsettling, and just plain scary.

[sixpenceee]

Another oddity museum for all the bizarre lovers!

The Musée Fragonard d’Alfort is a museum of anatomical oddities.

It opened to the public in 1991, and today consists of three rooms containing a large collection of anatomical oddities and dissections, most of which date from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In addition to animal skeleton and dissections such as a piglet displayed in cross-section, the museum contains a substantial collection of monstrosities Siamese twin lambs, a two-headed calf, a 10-legged sheep, and a colt with one huge eye.

The museum’s most astonishing items are the famous “écorchés” (flayed figures) prepared by Honoré Fragonard.

His speciality was the preparation and preservation of skinned cadavers, of which he prepared some 700 examples. Only 21 remain; all are on display in the museum’s final room

MORE INFORMATION

ANOTHER ODDITY MUESEUM

[scienceofscary]

A random Spotlight Sunday.

[rhamphotheca]

Crickets and Pillbugs Feed on Human Remains

by Nadia Whitehead

Insects love dead bodies. Blow flies, beetles, and other bugs flock to decomposing remains to feed, lay eggs, or prey on others at the scene. But entomologists were recently surprised to find two new creepy-crawlers nibbling on human flesh.

While observing how carrion insects naturally assemble on a decaying human body, scientists witnessed the bush cricket - Pediodectes haldemani (pictured above) and pillbug - Armadillidium cf. vulgare munching on the corpse. The behavior had not been seen in either species before and left small marks that could be misinterpreted as drug abuse, defense wounds, or torture in forensic investigations, the researchers warn.

The study, published in the current issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology, describes in gory detail how the two arthropods fed on the cadaver.

(via: Science News/AAAS)

[unexplained-events]

[scienceofscary]

Anthropomorphic Tree

Anthropomorphism which is the recognition of human-like characteristics or form in animals, plants or non-living things. This tree, which can be found in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, has roots which have taken a human-like form.

[scienceofscary]

Just a note that today's unexpected post was a matter of whim. I do not know when or if I will be returning to regular posts. However, do expect the urge to hit me again. ;)

[villainsandvictims]

Killer Turns Abandoned Home Into Haunted House, Uses Real Corpses As Props

There is a serial killer in Gary, Indiana that is finally off the streets. But not before he could murder 11 people, hang their bodies on the walls and open his insanity to the public as a “Haunted House” attraction.

The serial killer in custody is 34 year old Donald Vann, and police have been looking for him since 2005. According to police, 25 bodies had been found between 2005 – 2012 – all of the murders with one thing in common.

All of the victims showed wounds with ‘crucifixion’ style markings in the hands and feet. They knew they had a serial killer on their hands. However, according to police, the killer seemed to have vanished. No bodies had been found for 2 years…. Until now.

Gary, Indiana is known for their surplus of abandoned homes, 10,000 to be exact. Most of them too run down to give away. Vann decided to find an abandoned home to occupy and make his own.

Authorities say Vann turned the basement of this abandoned house into a make shift morgue, collecting the bodies of his victims. In a video taped confession, Vann admitted he wanted to get caught. “I wanted to end this. But I wanted to make sure I’d be remembered.”

Vann said he had planned the ‘Haunted House’ for the last 8 months. Prepping the bodies for display. He opened the home on October 18 and police were called immediately by terrified attendees.

“When we entered the home, the smell was putrid. At first I thought the odor was like a stink bomb or something, ” said one attendee. “Then as we went through, he had bodies hanging up on crosses on the wall. It looked way too real. My husband went up close and touched it and said ‘Let’s get out of here! I think that’s real!’ At that point, the other people that were in there with us all ran out of the house screaming. It was absolute chaos!”

Another eyewitness said that Vann just sat there in a chair at the door entrance while people ran out. “As we were all running out and screaming, he sat to the left of the door with a psychotic smirk on his face. He just had this blank stare, an emptiness in his eyes. I don’t know which was scarier, him or the dead people.”

The police department reported receiving over 50 911 calls reporting the incident. Police showed up within minutes, and arrested Vann.

The District Attorney’s office is hoping to charge Vann with the 11 murders in the home, as well as the 25 murders that occurred since 2005. According to police, he has already confessed to 17 out of those first 25.

[lipstickstainedlove-deactivated]

holy shit

[kitsuneverse]

FALSE

While Vann is a real person, they are 43 years old and none of the reports on this from reputable sources mention a haunted house at all.

The bodies were in different houses and buildings around Gary, Indiana.

Here’s a few links to the actual stories and not the made up bullshit above:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/indiana-serial-killer-suspect-spree-dates-back-decades/story?id=26323371

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/22/us/indiana-serial-killer-suspect/

http://abc7chicago.com/news/suspected-serial-killer-charged-in-2nd-death/360666/

[scienceofscary]

Thank you for this information.

[scienceofscary]

Is a difficult thing to say goodbye before its time. Unfortunately today we have to do just that. Effective immediately Science of Scary is no longer posting daily content. This blog will remain online for archive purposes, but until further notice the will be no new posts. Have a wonderful halloween season. Never stop scaring.

[scienceofscary]

Scene Saturday

While it may seem cliche or unoriginal, incorporating pop culture references into your haunt is actually a good way to go. Guests who have scene a popular horror movie have standing associations with these cinematic references. By playing on these pre-existing emotions, you can increase the level of fear and drama in your haunt. While originality is crucial to an entertaining haunt experience, references to well known movies or urban legends are a great building block to a successful haunt.

[scienceofscary]

Phobia Phriday

Just another reason not to trust a mall Santa....

This week we look at Pogonophobia: the fear of facial hair. Yeah. Seriously.

Beards, although not immediately associated with terror, actually have proven to be scary in a historical context. A history lecturer by the name of Christopher Oldstone-Moore has written an entire book, The Beard Movement in Victorian Britain. In a university lecture in 2013, Oldstone-Moore explained, "Facial hair for the past century has been thought to reflect a suspicious streak of individuality and defiance... Politicians, public servants and businessmen – and apparently journalists – risk their reputations if they abandon the razor."

Bottom line: our mental picture of the dastardly villain with the mustache and goatee, or many other incarnations of this image in human history, corrupts our perception of anyone with whiskers.

In different cultures facial hair has different connotations. It can range in meaning from freedom to wisdom to wealth. However, in the modern western-dominated cultures, that subconscious association exists, however subtle it may be.

Moral of the story: Santa needs a shave! He's scaring the children!

[scienceofscary]

Happy Thylacine Thursday!!!

[scienceofscary]

Weird Wednesday: Hey, Wanna Buy An Amputated Leg In A Lamp?

A Dutch man who lost his leg after an accident had the amputated limb preserved and turned into lamp, and then tried to sell the unusual object on eBay. But don't start bidding just yet, because the online auctioneer has already pulled the listing, s...

The gods of the bizarre must have been shining on me this week. Check out this dude who turned his amputated leg into a lamp and tried to sell it on eBay!!!

[scienceofscary]

Technique Tuesday: Know Your Target

Haunted house season is upon us. My home haunt, The Fear PDX (shameless advertising, deal with it), opens its doors to the public this Friday, October 3rd. We've been scrambling to get everything ready for the big night, and we can really feel the nerves and excitement bubbling up from the cast members, veterans and new bloods alike.

While we add the finishing touches to our scares and characters, now is the perfect time to look at the bigger picture. Let's take a minute to cast our gaze outward, on to the general types of people you will have walking through the haunt doors, and the different methods with which you should approach each one.

According to HauntedHouse.com Magazine, there are four categories of haunted house patrons: Teenage/College Girls, College/Middle Aged Males, Families, and Intoxicated Guests. However, I would like to adapt this list to include two more: Professionals and "Mammoths". (We'll use this term because I can't think of a polite way say "Bigass Dudes".) For the next few weeks, as we approach Halloween, (and pass it because I can't do math) we'll tackle each of these profiles in turn.

Teenage/College Girls:

CODENAME: PERMANENT EAR DAMAGE

Profile: These patrons are the ideal victims for beginning performers. Traditionally, they are not just easily startled, but have "contagious" fear. One girl's shriek and jump will radiate throughout the group and spread the fear down the line, perhaps even to the group behind them. Finally, girls like this are ideal because they will almost always accompany their screams with laughter. They provide a great feedback for the other guests in line, and make the event that much better.

Goals: Scare teenage girls and young women from any angle you like. They will tend to huddle together in close ranks or a "conga line" formation. They will make a lot of noise and move slowly, which is ideal for hiding, pop out scares. Interaction might fall flat, but definitely try a theatrical performance if you feel like it.

Avoid: There is very little risk of injury from this demographic. The biggest risk is a girl falling back on you. (This has happened multiple times to actors) While they may be an easy scare, their guard will be up throughout the entire haunt, so you can't half-ass your efforts.

[scienceofscary]

Bad news and good news

Hello all Scareologists. This is a formal note apologizing for the absence of yesterday's Thylacine Thursday, and the notification today's Phobia Phriday has been cancelled. However, starting next week, a new posting format will be implemented, allowing for a major reduction in missed posts. Thank you for your patience, and Scare On!

[scienceofscary]

Weird Wednesday So many questions accompany this picture. Most of them are along the lines of "What the hell?!"

[scienceofscary]

Technique Tuesday

First off, I'd like to apologize, Scareologists. Fall term is now in session, and haunt training has picked up, which means my time available to devote to this blog has been drastically cut. I will still try to update with daily posts, but expect a few glitches in the coming weeks.

On the bright side, the increased time spent in the haunt has kickstarted my ideas. Additionally, my fellow haunters might be making guest appearances on the blog. We'll just have to wait and see...

Now, on to the business at hand. The business of Technique Tuesday. The Fear PDX has been completely overhauled this year. Our themes are different, our floor plan has changed, and our scares are new and improved for an awesome Halloween season. One of the changes is brilliantly simple: running water.

It may seem like a small thing, but sound is crazy effective in scaring, and running water is one of those noises that just throw you off guard. A patron is expecting screams, roars, creaking metal, animal calls, and so on. But when you think "scary sounds," running water is not likely to top the list, or even be on the list at all.

We always look for ways to deter or misdirect, to throw the patron off while walking through. Honestly, the sound of running water can be really confusing. During my first walk through of the new design, I heard one of the water features long before I saw it, and I was stumped. I thought something was broken. When I turned around the corner and found the source, I spent so much time looking at the water that I nearly didn't see the sensor that operated an effect.

The water did its job, and it did it well. I was so enthralled with the surprise of running water in a haunted house that I forgot to look for the things that are to be expected, and I was left open for a scare.

If you'd like an idea for a good starting point for adding running water to your haunted house, here's a link to a tutorial that shows you how to make a scary, gorey blood fountain, like this one:

Once you learn the basic mechanics, it becomes an artistic endeavor to customize your own fountain to suit your specific haunt theme. Get demented. Get creative.

We'll see you tomorrow for Weird Wednesday! Scare on, my friends!

[scienceofscary]

Is there a Halloween haunted house attraction so scary that no one has ever finished it?

Spotlight Sunday

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Scene Saturday

I’m really digging the red lights in this image. Red lights are ingrained into our society as a symbol of hazards and dangers. One of the basic lessons we learn as children is “red means stop”. So seeing this eerie red glow in the recesses of this ghoulish morgue is a top notch level of creepy.

In a haunt you can use this as a center point scare for a particular room. It can be done fairly simply with the addition of a drop-down animatronic or even a spry actor.

However, I would recommend using this design for misdirection. Plant a speaker in there playing creaking, metallic banging, maybe even a voice recording. Maybe close a door or two so the patron is preparing for it to fly open. Then just plant your true scare in another part of the room and catch EM with their pants down! Genius. (Evil genius, but still genius)

Until next time, my lovely monsters.

[scienceofscary]

Phobia Phriday

Quassophobia is a particularly obscure fear. There’s not much information readily available in regards to its specifics. All we have to offer is its definition and a fairly transparent commentary with regards to it.

According to our fearful friend Figaro Pho, quassophobia is the fear of vibrating so violently you shatter to pieces. However, other definitions describe it more broadly as a fear of fierce and violent shaking.

This could be a blanket term used to describe a fear of seizures but encompasses other shaking-related examples. Seizures are indeed a terrifying prospect, worthy of its own phobia. The idea of your brain malfunctioning in such a way that your own muscle movements are not under your own control is a very real anxiety, especially for individuals afflicted with a condition or have a family history of this illness that causes chronic seizures.

Haunt applications for this fear might include spasming victims, vibrating floor plates, or maybe even a porcelain doll makeup on the verge of shattering. Be sure to think out the box with these bizarre phobias. Even the most out there fear can be fuel for the creative fire.