Category Archives: Art

Morbid Fact Du Jour for November 30, 2014

Today’s Very Hot Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
In 1929, a hot spring death resulted in the giving of a Yellowstone National Park place name. That year Georges Landoy, age 42, the editor of the French newspaper La Matinat Antwerp, Belgium, was visiting the Old Faithful area with a party of European journalists. On July 3, at 3:45 p.m., Landoy had been watching Grand Geyser erupt when he saw Castle Geyser begin its eruption. He ran toward Castle, not watching where he was going, and fell into a “very hot” spring, apparently present Belgian Pool. About fifty percent of his body was severely burned – “both legs to the hips,” the left buttock, and left hand. Landoy was taken to Old Faithful Lodge for first aid and then to the Mammoth hospital. He died on July 5, 1929 at 5:30 p.m.

Culled from: Death In Yellowstone

Walk – Don’t Run – to Castle Geyser

And Beware Belgian Pool!  Damn, it’s pretty. I really need to get to Yellowstone one of these days…

Disclaimer Du Jour!
 

I’m the first to admit that in order to fulfill the morbid fact quota, I frequently use online resources, and sometimes those resources turn out to be faulty. I try to verify information on more than one source before I post it, and I try to avoid any disreputable sites, but occasionally misinformation will seep through the blotting paper. When this happens, I will gladly admit to my error and send out a follow-up.

What really irks me, though, is when people write me to tell me that my latest fact is “filled with misinformation” without providing any clue as to what, precisely, is wrong. Or without providing an additional resource that might “set me straight”. Such is the case with a recent comment on the blog regarding my post about evil Nazi doctor Rascher:

“I do not know, what you intend with your article about Rascher but is full of mistakes. Obviously you just took over the contents and mistakes of other articles in the net. What sense does this make? What profit for the reader? Why do you not read a decent biography of the SS-Doctor?
The Marquis DeSpair”

Since I used Nova as one of my resources, and read through some of the Nuremburg trial notes, I felt pretty confident with the information so I asked Hubert Rehm (the critic) to let me know what was wrong. Thus far, no reply.

So… if and when he replies, I’ll be sure to let you know what was incorrect about the two facts I posted on Rascher. Until then, if anyone knows what he might be referring to, please let me know so I can pass it on.

Horrible Suicide
Sometimes Kate wrote to tell me of a fabulous Tumblr page created by a “librarian in Cincinnati” who is obviously a kindred spirit of The Comtesse. Hours of entertainment can be had reading about the most horrible of 19th century mishaps!  I invite you to partake in:

Horrible Suicide

Morbid Jewelry
I admit, I don’t have much use for jewelry.  Unless, of course, it’s antique jewelry, and specifically, CREEPY antique jewelry!  Check out these beauties, which include a few Memento Mori specimens!  (Thanks to Lady Morgana for the link.)

Early Jewelry Pre-18th Century

Morbid Fact Du Jour for November 29, 2014

Today’s Photographic Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
On September 7, 1993, Lori Newcomb, age 31, walked far out on a ledge of Kaibab Limestone at Cape Royal, Grand Canyon National Park, to capture the perfect photo.  The ledge itself crumbled under Newcomb’s weight. She slipped and fell 20 feet, rolled and slid down a terrace, then plunged 60 more feet to her death.  The activities of posing for and taking photographs account for 20%  (6 and 4 victims each) of the 50 total victims of accidental lethal falls from the rim of the Grand Canyon.

Culled from: Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon

In other words, when you’re at Grand Canyon, watch the people taking photographs along the ledge carefully, lest you miss the perfect photo op!

Plastination Vacation!
Okay, the next time I go to Germany, I am taking a Plastination Vacation in Guben to go to the Body Worlds headquarters. According to this documentary, you can actually help dissect some of the bodies that are in progress! Be still my morbid heart!  And there are fabulous examples of plastination on display in the gallery (like this doozy below!) And – may all towns be so lucky as to have an employer like this move in! (Thanks to The Dickeys for the link.)

(Sad to see that Gunther, the founder of Body Worlds, is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease though.)

Inside Body World’s Headquarters

Malformed Morbidity!
Steve Finn sent me a link to what looks to be an absolutely compelling collection of photographs of brains forgotten in a Texas asylum.  I’ve seen similar brains at the Central State Hospital forensic museum (Indiana Medical History Museum – go there if you can, it’s wonderful!), but who can’t use more brains in their lives?  And these are beautifully photographed.  Obviously, I’ve pre-ordered (it is released on Tuesday, Dec. 2nd).

There are nice excerpts here:
These Forgotten Brains From a Mental Hospital Are Oddly Fascinating

(Oddly?  Okay, Huffington Post hack – what is “odd” about finding brains fascinating?  Especially malformed brains. I think you’d be odd if you didn’t!)

And you can purchase the book from the conglomerate here to save a few bucks (or if you want to assist the Comtesse with her rewards program):
Malformed: Forgotten Brains of the Texas Mental Hospital

Morbid Fact Du Jour for November 21, 2014

Today’s Barely-Hanging-On Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

On December 6, 1917 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a munitions ship (the Mont Blanc) collided with a vessel in the Narrows of the harbor, triggering a catastrophic fire and explosion that destroyed much of the city, killed over 1,600 people and injured over 9,000. Many of the injured had been staring out the window at the burning vessel when it exploded, resulting in horrifying facial injuries from broken glass. Dr. George Cox, a local eye surgeon, operated for more than three straight days. Here is an excerpt about his efforts:At Camp Hill, Cox was still standing over the operating table. He had been at the hospital for forty-five hours, operating straight for over thirty. He was rationing the chloroform for use on the worst cases. On Saturday afternoon alone he removed twenty-five eyes and threw them into a medical surgical bucket on the floor. By mid-afternoon it was full. The medical student in charge of gathering information, who had served beside Cox since his arrival, gently put down his tags, smiled at Cox, and fainted. Cox leaned over the table and saw the young student lying in a heap on the floor, looking like the patients he had worked on since Thursday night. It seemed like weeks had passed since then. He requested a replacement.When Jack MacKeen, a soldier, returned to the hospital Saturday morning after sleeping several hours at home, he was summoned to Cox’s side. He made his way to the “busy eye ward,” where he walked between the rows of patients with gauze over their eyes and linen tags pinned to their chests. He had heard the rumors about eyes being removed without anesthetic, which made him apprehensive. At the end of the ward, two soldiers picked up a man on a stretcher and carried him through the makeshift door. MacKeen followed them behind the screen, where he got his first look at Cox, who was standing over a patient on the table. His wavy hair, which he tried so hard to keep neatly combed and parted, had fallen into loose curls. His smooth broad face looked as haggard as soldiers returning from the front. Next to him on a chair was the man who had been carried in on the stretcher. Half of his face was chopped open. A nurse administered chloroform at the end of the table. One of the original five nurses, she also looked exhausted. Cox caught the teenager’s glance at the surgical bucket and asked him to empty it. When MacKeen returned with a clean bucket, Cox ordered him to take charge of the tags, gathering the name and address of the patient, “the type of operations, etc.,” and they continued this way until sometime after supper when the nurse put down the chloroform cone. Her eyes looked heavy, as if she were having trouble making sense of the scene before her.  She could not go on. Cox looked over to MacKeen and told him to take over.

The nurse showed him how to place a metal-framed cone strung with ribbed-cotton gauze over the patient’s nose and mouth and then slowly drip the sweet-smelling chloroform onto the fabric until the patient slipped into unconsciousness. She monitored the patient’s pulse and his eyes carefully. Administering chloroform was no simple matter. Only trained doctors were supposed to administer it, and in America they were already switching to ether which was easier to control. The nurse left the teenage MacKeen and the soldiers lifted the man with a severely lacerated face onto the table. His nose hung upside down over his mouth and chin. Cox looked at him with curiosity. “Remarkable… the face had been cloven down slantwise from the bridge of the nose as if with a hatchet, going through the nasal cavities and antra, and the whole flap hanging forward.” He examined it from every angle, perplexed. What was left of the nose was swollen and inflated. The wound itself was clean. He picked up the flap and fit it perfectly onto the wound, but the man gasped for air. Cox pulled it back, fascinated. He had never seen anything like it, but he had an idea how to fix it.  Cox fed a tube through each nostril into the cavity and sewed the whole nose back onto the face. It was the only thing that he could think would work.  When he checked the patient several days later, he was pleased to find that it was healing.  “As if nothing had happened.” The man could breathe.

Culled from: Curse of the Narrows

I highly recommend this book, by the way. It’s fascinating and ghastly from start to finish!

Fifty Cents Of Death!
Jack sent me some photographs from the “good old days” before we knew that asbestos was bad for us! I’ll let Jack tell the story himself:

Death Before Duct Tape

One cannot watch late night cable TV without seeing the attorneys hocking their services to anyone who has come into contact with asbestos through their work or other activities.

Well, “back in the day” powdered asbestos was a common item at any hardware store. Before we had duct tape, asbestos was used to seal the ducts of home heating systems as well as other pipes that carried heated air.

You simply mixed your raw asbestos dust with a little water to create a paste, applied the paste to the joint you wished to seal and heated the paste until it hardened.

Imagine a mixing bowl of the dust, a large spoon and some water.

Who knew back then?

Note on the label the other toxic goodies this company sold AND the price. Only fifty cents for a whole container of death.


Just add water!


Let me guess that their former factory is now a major EPA clean-up site?


Death for Sale… only fifty cents!


Yay!  Powder to play with!

Joel-Peter Witkin: An Objective Eye
When I featured “The Kiss” by Joel-Peter Witkin the other day, I meant to mention that there is a documentary about Witkin that was released in 2013. I haven’t seen it yet, but plan to do so soon.  I did watch the trailer and it looks like an interesting view into the mind and spirit of one our greatest photographers.

Joel-Peter Witkin: An Objective Eye

Thanks to Katchaya for the reminder!

Morbid Fact Du Jour for November 20, 2014

So Charlie Manson is getting married…  which leads me to this embarrassing realization:

And it also leads me to reflect on the crimes that got Charlie locked up in the first place.  So let’s look back on the first of those crimes, the murder of Gary Hinman, with…

Today’s Blood-Stained Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
On July 27, 1969, Gary Hinman, a 34-year-old music teacher, became the first victim of the Mansion Family.  Three Family members, Bobby Beusoleil, Mary Brunner and Sadie Mae Glutz, had been sent round to his house to collect some money that was owed.  They knew he had it – he ran a very profitable illegal drugs operation and the rumor was that he had just inherited $20,000 and had hidden it in his house on the Old Topanga Canyon Road, Los Angeles.

The three visitors argued with Hinman for two hours. Finally, Bobby Beausoleil lost patience, and pulled a gun – a 9mm Radom pistol. He handed it over to Sadie while he went to search the house. At that moment, Gary tried to escape and began struggling with Sadie. The gun went off, and the bullet ricocheted through the kitchen, embedding itself under the sink. Bobby ran back into the room, grabbed the gun, and hit Gary around the head with it.

They telephoned Charles Manson who came to the house himself, with Bruce Davis. Manson took a sword, which he used to cut Hinman’s ear, leaving a 5 in wound.  [5 inches? I think Charlie assaulted Dumbo! – DeSpair] He told Beausoleil to find out where the money was and then bring Hinman out to the ranch. He instructed the two girls to clean up his wounds.

Bobby, Mary and Sadie Mae tied Gary up and left him on the hearth rug while they ransacked the house. Mary Brunner then stitched up Hinman’s cuts with dental floss, wrapped his wounds in bandages and gave him something to drink. All they got out of him were the pink slips signing his two cars over to them.

At dawn, Gary Hinman ran for the window and began to scream for help., Bobby Beausoleil panicked and, seizing a knife, stabbed Hinman twice through the chest, leaving him to bleed to death. The three wiped away all their fingerprints (except one) and bundled up incriminating blood-stained clothes and bandages. Somebody stuck a finger in Gary Hinman’s blood and scrawled the words “Political Piggy” on the wall above his head, another daubed a crude version of a cat’s paw, the sign of the militant Black Panthers.

They had locked all the doors and were on their way out via the side window when they decided to climb back in and smother Hinman.

Hot-wiring Hinman’s VW minibus, they all drove home to Spahn Ranch, stopping off on the way at the Topanga Kitchen for coffee and cherry cake.

Culled from: Crimes and Punishment: The Illustrated Crime Encyclopedia, Volume 3

“Coffee and Cherry Cake.” Working title of “Helter Skelter”.  😉

Morbid Trinket Du Jour!
Well, it sold before I could get my hands on it…  but I couldn’t afford it anyway, so it’s not like it matters.  But still…  wouldn’t it be nifty to own an Original Victorian Era Cased Vampire Defense Set of Dr. W.M. Ramsey, St. John’s College Oxford – Circa 1886?   I think so too!  (Thanks to Woods Monkey for the link.)

Morbid Art!
Let’s reflect on the genius of Joel-Peter Witkin for a moment.


“The Kiss” – 1982

Who else would take a severed head, cut it in half, turn it so that it appeared to be kissing itself, photograph it and call it art? Well, I probably would, if I had a severed head handy. But those things aren’t readily available. At least not without getting in “trouble”. And come to think of it… he ruined a perfectly good severed head for art!  And a really creepy one at that. This is a morbid dilemma.  But… hey, cool pic, huh?

Morbid Fact Du Jour for November 13, 2014

Today’s Looted Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
The Lauda Air company, based in Austria, was set up by the former world motor racing champion Niki Lauda.  It operated regular services to the Far East, and on Sunday, May 26, 1991 one of its Boeing 767s took off from Hong Kong bound for Vienna.  The aircraft made a routine stop in Bangkok, the Thai capital, and took to the air again carrying 213 passengers and ten crew.The 767, Flight NG004, headed northwest but when it had gone only about 120 miles, about 15 minutes after take-off, all contact with it was lost.  There was no emergency call or other indication of trouble from the aircraft.  Shortly afterwards reports were received of a blazing aircraft crashing into an area of bamboo jungle 1500 feet up on a hillside.

All on board were killed.  The passengers were of mixed nationality, and included 74 Austrians, 52 Hong Kong Chinese and 39 Thais.  Also on board was Don McIntosh, a 43-year-old British drug control agent working for the United Nations.  He was based in Bangkok, working on the eradication of heroin trafficking in the area, and it was suggested that he might have been the target for a bomb attack.

Debris from the crash was spread over a large area, and police and rescue services reported that their efforts were hampered by large numbers of people who went to the crash site to loot the wreckage for clothing, valuables, and anything else they could find.  The search for bodies was also made difficult by the terrain.  The fact that debris was so widespread is further indication that an explosion occurred, and that the aircraft was crippled instantly.   However flight data recorder evidence revealed that the thrust reverser was deployed during the flight, which resulted in the plane taking an immediate left diving turn.  The unsuspecting flight crew were unable to compensate, and the plane went into a diving speed of .99 mach, which may have broken the sound barrier, and which caused the plane to break-up during its descent.

This was the worst disaster recorded in Thai air space and the worst loss of life for a 767.

Culled from: Catastrophes and Disasters

Dreams and Hallucinations
I have some exciting news to share with you all!  For the first time, the Comtesse has had a photograph accepted into a juried show!  The show is entitled Dreams and Hallucinations and will be held at the Darkroom Gallery in Essex Junction, Vermont from December 4-28, 2014.  I won’t be able to attend, but if you live nearby perhaps you can stop in?  The photo was submitted under the nom de mundane “Angela Larson” but pay that no mind!Here’s the image – it’s entitled “Running for Shelter”.  (Note: I am thinking of selling limited edition, signed prints of this image to help fund the running of the newsletter.  I’ll keep you posted.)

Check out the other submissions – they’re all pretty awesome.
Dreams and Hallucinations

Morbid Art Du Jour!
Okay, this is actually an old link, and there are more recent examples of Altered Barbies, but I still think these 2009 examples are among the best entries of the Altered Barbie exhibit I’ve yet seen.  Barbiturate Barbie just seems so right.

7th Annual Altered Barbie Competition

Thanks to Robert for the link!

Morbid Fact Du Jour for November 4, 2014

Today’s Wild Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
Wild Bill HickockJames Butler “Wild Bill” Hickock left this world in a way destined to become part of folklore. Wild Bill always sat with his back to the wall. On the final day of his life, a friend jokingly took Wild Bill’s usual seat and Wild Bill was left with his back to the door. While holding two pairs (aces and eights), he was shot through the head. Not surprisingly, aces and eights is known as the “dead man’s hand” among avid poker players. Take a lesson.  Always sit with your back to the wall.

Culled from: The Big Sleep: True Tales and Twisted Trivia about Death

I was all set to recommend that the next time you’re passing through Deadwood, South Dakota (which happens frequently, as you know), you should stop at the Old Style Saloon #10 where you can see the original Wild Bill Death Chair… but a quick read of Roadside America clarifies that it’s not the original saloon (that burned down long ago) and it’s not even the original chair (just a similar looking one).  Things like that break the Comtesse’s shriveled black heart.  However, you can visit the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane at the Mount Moriah Cemetery which is fun in a low-key sort of way.  And if you were a fan of the HBO show, you’ll probably find the place interesting for your own baffling reasons.

 Deadwood on Roadside America

Morbid Artwork

There’s a sculpture garden near me and whenever I pass through it I think to myself, “Wow, most sculptures are really quite horrid”. And they really are… except when they’re not. And many of the sculptures featured here are not.

Grotesquely Surreal Sculptures

Arcane Excerpts

Excerpt from Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by George M. Gould, M.D. and Walter L. Pyle, M.D., 1896:

“The anomalies of menstruation must naturally have attracted much attention, and we find medical literature of all times replete with examples.  While some are simply examples of vicarious or compensatory menstruation and were so explained even by the older writers, there are many that are physiologic curiosities of considerable interest.  Lhéritier furnishes the oft-quoted history of the case of a young girl who suffered from suppression of menses, which, instead of flowing through the natural channels, issued periodically from vesicles on the leg for a period of six months, when the seat of the discharge changed to an eruption on the left arm, and continued in this location for one year; then the discharge shifted to a sore on the thumb, and at the end of another six months again changed, the next location being on the upper eyelid; here it continued for a period of two years.”

A likely story…

A Few Announcements

I have a few announcements and requests and I thought I’d just pool them in one post.

First of all, I added a new entry to Forlorn Photography highlighting one of the things I hate most in this world: arsonists!
Factory Arson
Melted Away

Secondly, I am trying to raise money for a trip to Europe this summer.  I’m planning to do some incredible Morbid Sightseeing including Auschwitz, Chernobyl and Sedlec Ossuary.  However, it’s very expensive to go to all these places (and also fit in some abandoned locations in Berlin that require payment to access).  So I’m trying to come up with some inventive ways to make money – including designing some shirts for a contest at Threadless.  If my shirt is printed, I get a cash reward and royalties from the sale.  So, what I’d like to ask you to do, if you can spare a minute, is go to my shirts and vote a ‘5’ for them.  I would be immensely appreciative.  Thank you!

Here are the links to the three shirts:

Scary Gary
Scary Gary

The Spindle
The Spindle

Lips-final
Lips

The Promise Breaker

Mike Marano sent me a link to a fabulous painting, with an interesting legend (courtesy the blog 1910):
Burgfraeulein-von-Strechau

Burgfräulein von Strechau, by an unknown artist from the 17th century. The painting hangs in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

“The legend tells that in the late Middle Ages a damsel waited for her lover who left to the Holy Land to fight the infidels. The lady promised that if he did not return she would enter a monastery. Despite her promise, she married another man and when the bride came to the festival her face changed to a skull and devilish figures appeared and pulled her down to hell in front of all the guests.”