20 Examples of When Wikipedia Was More Scary Than Stephen King Books

People consider Wikipedia the unsurpassed knowledge source, but sometimes it’s a compilation of horror stories as well. Yes, there many urban legends that are more funny than frightening, but some articles are really soul-chilling. Don’t read this post before going to sleep if you’re a sensitive person. You may lose sleep or have nightmares and then you’ll have to cure yourself with ice-cream, chatting on Facebook and watching romantic comedies. But even bearing that in mind, these Wiki articles are worth reading.

 

1. Axeman of New Orleans

He was a serial killer who struck fear and awe into New Orleans in the beginning of the 20th century. As you may guess, he killed his victims with an axe. And he obviously loved jazz, because in his statement he informed that he would spare anyone playing jazz music in their homes.

 

2. Spring-heeled Jack

An English ancestor of the Creeper. It had clawed hands and terrifying appearance and his eyes ‘resembled red balls of fire.’

 

 3. Jackalope

The Jackalope is a character of North American legends. It’s a hybrid of rabbit and antelope with antlers. There are even statues of Jackalopes in Wyoming and South Dakota.

 

4. Abraham De Moivre

This French mathematician lived in the 17th century. He noted that every day he needed 15 more minutes to sleep, so he calculated the exact date of his death. And he didn’t miss. He died on the exact day he predicted.

 

5. David Parker Ray

This serial killer was suspected in 14-60 murders, but he died during the trials. No bodies of his victims were found. He soundproofed his truck trailer and equipped it with $100,000 worth of torture implements and sex toys. He called it his ‘toy box.’

 

6. Murder of Junko Furuta

Junko Furuta was a 16-year-old Japanese schoolgirl who was tortured, raped and murdered in 1988 by four underage boys. They kept her in the house that was owned by the parents of one of the boys. They made Junko call her parents and tell them that she was staying at her friend’s. Then the boys killed her and hid her corpse in a 55-gallon drum filled with cement.

 

7. Kennedy curse

The news media called so the chain of the Kennedy family tragedies that has started in 1941.

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8. Bunny Man

This is an urban legend that describes a man wearing a rabbit costume and attacking people with an axe. The legend refers to the incidents in Washington D.C. in 1971.

 

9. Sedlec Ossuary

It’s located in a small Roman Catholic chapel in the Czech Republic. The ossuary is decorated with the skeletons of 20,000 to 40,000 people. It’s a very popular World Heritage Site.

 

10. Bélmez Faces

In 1971 in the private house in the city of Bélmez, Spain, residents noticed images of people on the concrete floor. These faces formed and disappeared and there was no probable explanation of this paranormal phenomenon.

 

11. Mad Gasser of Mattoon

This person or a group of people is believed to be responsible for series of gas attacks in Virginia in 1930-40s. The rumors about the Mad Gasser caused a mass hysteria, but there was never any proof of the premeditated gas attacks.

 

12. Belle Gunness

Belle Gunness is a Norwegian-American serial killer that murdered most of her boyfriends, two husbands and two daughters. Then she tried to fake her death. She is one of the most famous black widows in history.

 

13. Tanganyika laughter epidemic

It happened in Tanzania in 1962. The laughter epidemic started with the three schoolgirls from the local tribe and then the rest of the villagers were affected with uncontrolled laughing attacks.

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14. Alien hand syndrome

It’s a rare neurological disease that causes motion of the hand without the person having control of what his hand is doing.

 

15. Lina Medina

Lina Medina is the youngest confirmed mother in history. Now guess how old she was. Five years and seven months! She was born in Peru and circumstances of the conception were unclear.

 

16. Chandre Oram

This tea estate worker from India had a 13 inch tail. Many people worshiped him because they believed that Oram was a reincarnation of the local god Hanuman.

 

17. Scaphism

It was a Persian execution. The victim was smeared with honey and milk and then insects did their terrible business.

 

18. Mary (Elephant)

Mary was a circus elephant who killed her trainer. Supposedly he was extremely cruel. She was shot five times and then hung two times (she survived after first attempt).

 

19. Phantom time hypothesis

German scientist Heribert Illig proposed that the years from 613 to 911 didn’t really exist and they were fabricated by Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, Pope Sylvester II, and the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII.

 

20. Ed Gein

He was a nightmare of Wisconsin. He killed two women and dug some graves up to get some trophies. He made a belt lined with womens’ nipples and sewed a pair of leggings out of human skin.

There’s nothing wrong with being a Wiki geek and if you’re the one and you know some horror articles, please share the links below.