Real life is full of strange moments that can be more unsettling than a ghost story. The Instagram account 'Halloween' shares everything from evil historical events to unexplained phenomena and shocking discoveries about the natural world, and there seems to be no shortage of such material. Whether you love trivia or are naturally drawn to the eerie and unusual, each post highlights that any day of the year can contain something spooky, not just the 31st of October.
More info: Instagram
#1
Men convicted of r**e will face surgical castration and anyone who r*pes a child under 14 will face the death penalty, under a new law introduced in Nigeria. The governor of the country’s Kaduna state, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, said the “drastic penalties are required to help further protect children from a serious crime”.
Report
141points
#2
On March 6, 1981, Marianne Bachmeier opened fire in a crowded courthouse in what was then known as West Germany. Her target was a 35-year-old s*x offender on trial for her daughter’s m****r, and he died after taking six of her bullets.
Immediately, Bachmeier became an infamous figure. Her subsequent trial, which was followed closely by the German public, begged the question: was her effort to avenge her slain child justified?
Is this justified?
Report
93points
While comedy can be pretty divisive in the sense that not everyone agrees on what's funny and what's not, there's usually less variance in the things that scare us.
"When you see the stock market fall 1,000 points, that's the same as seeing a snake," says Joseph LeDoux, professor of neuroscience and psychology at the Center for the Neuroscience of Fear and Anxiety based at New York University. "Fear is the response to the immediate stimuli. The empty feeling in your gut, the racing of your heart, palms sweating, the nervousness—that's your brain responding in a preprogrammed way to a very specific threat."
LeDoux adds, "Since our brains are programmed to be similar in structure, we can assume that what I experience when I'm threatened is something similar to what you experience."
#3
In Syria, 17 hours after the earthquake devastated the region, this 7-year-old girl was found under the rubble with her hand over her little brother’s head to protect him. Both made it out safely.
Report
88points
#5
A victim of childhood s*xual and physical abuse, Jason Vukovich decided to get revenge on s*x offenders by becoming a ped*phile hunter known as the “Alaskan Avenger.”
Report
85points
Fear even transcends species. "We come into the world knowing how to be afraid, because our brains have evolved to deal with nature," LeDoux says, noting that the brains of rats and humans respond in similar ways to threats, even though the threat itself might be completely different.
However, even though the feeling is as natural to us as breathing, science still doesn't fully understand it: despite more than 100 studies into how the body reacts to fear, there still is no reliable way to quantify it.
#7
The photo of four-year-old Hudea has quickly become a symbol of the terrible human toll of the war in Syria.
The image was captured by photographer Osman Sagirli, who told the BBC Tuesday that Hudea thought his telephoto lens was a weapon and raised her hands.
“I realized she was terrified after I took it, and looked at the picture, because she bit her lips and raised her hands. Normally kids run away, hide their faces or smile when they see a #camera,” Sagirli said.
Report
63points
#8
Addison Bethea, 17, was engaged in scalloping water activities in #Florida, 5 feet deep near Grassy Island, close to Keaton Beach, when a shark suddenly bit her.
Addison remembered from watching Animal Planet that you’re supposed to punch sharks in the nose in case of an attack, but she couldn’t get around to the beast’s nose the way it bit her.
Her brother, Rhett Willingham, jumped in the water to help her. Rhett, 22, a Taylor County emergency medical technician and firefighter, beat and kicked the shark nonstop to pry his sister loose. Once she was free, he grabbed her and placed her on his boat.
Addison suffered severe injuries and had to be airlifted some 80 miles away to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, which listed her in critical condition. Despite the terror she just went through, Addison is staying positive and her friends came to visit her in the ICU.
Report
62points
#9
In August 2015, Hardison underwent the most extensive face transplant to date, with a survival chance estimated at 50/50. Despite the odds, Hardison survived.
Report
56points
#11
Nothing beats a mother’s love ❤️
This is the story of Miriam Rodriguez, she hunted down 10 members of the cartel that kidnapped and m******d her 20-year-old daughter. She stalked the cartel members one by one across Mexico. Unfortunately, her daughter’s remains were found in 2014.
Miriam was assassinated in 2017 on mother’s day by being shot 12 times in her home.
Report
47points
#12
Two climate activists in their early 20s were sentenced to prison by a London court for throwing soup over Vincent Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting during a protest against fossil fuels.
Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, from the protest group Just Stop Oil were imprisoned for two years, and 20 months, respectively.
“Sunflowers” — worth more than $84 million - was preserved under protective glass but the protesters were accused of causing £10,000 (over $13,000) worth of damage to its golden frame.
Report
46points
#13
A bat fetus in the womb displays some remarkable features as it develops, reflecting the distinctive adaptations of adult bats. Like other mammals, bat fetuses have tiny limbs, and at an early stage, they develop elongated fingers that will support the wing membrane as they grow.
The body appears compact, with large developing eyes, though some species of bats are born blind. As they mature, the delicate skin between the fingers begins forming the wing structure that will eventually allow for flight.
Additionally, the bat’s ears, which are crucial for echolocation in many species, start to form distinct shapes early on in development.
Bats usually have short gestation periods, and the mothers typically give birth to well-developed pups ready to cling to them or the roost, as they require significant maternal care right after birth.
Report
46points
#14
Eddie Justice was one of the 49 lives lost in the Pulse nightclub sh*oting in 2016. Trapped in a bathroom during the attack, he texted his mom: “Mommy I love you… In club they sh*oting.” As chaos unfolded, he told her he was scared and hiding. His final messages were full of fear, but also love—a son reaching out to his mother in his last moments.
Report
45points
#15
In 2007, Interpol made headlines when it successfully identified a p*dophile who had been sharing abusive images online while obscuring his face with a digital swirl effect. The man, later revealed as Christopher Paul Neil, a Canadian national living in Thailand at the time, believed the swirl would protect his identity. However, Interpol’s digital forensics team managed to reverse the swirl effect, revealing his face and sparking an international manhunt. Neil was tracked down and arrested in Thailand, where he was convicted and served time for his crimes. After completing his sentence, he returned to Canada, where he has since drawn public and legal scrutiny under close monitoring by authorities.
Report
45points
#16
This bizarre event actually occurred a few years ago, it was reported that a feral pig stole 18 cans of beer left out by campers in Australia. After getting nice and drunk, the feral pig went through the garbage cans, looking for a bite to soak up all that booze.
The pig then attempted to pick a fight with a cow.
“There was some other people camped right on the river and they saw him running around their vehicle being chased by a cow.” - witnesses revealed.
Report
42points
#18
The Ovitz family was a family of Hungarian Jewish actors/traveling musicians originating from present Romania, who survived imprisonment at the Auschwitz c****************p during World War II. Most of them were dwarfs.
Report
42points
#19
According to reports, a cyclist in Oregon was hit by an ambulance, breaking his nose and damaging his bike, and then received a bill of over $1,800 for the hospital ride, according to a lawsuit.
William Hoesch, 71, is suing Columbia River Fire & Rescue for nearly $1 million, citing permanent injuries and about $100,000 in medical costs, as reported by oregonlive.com. Hoesch is seeking $997,000 for pain, suffering, and medical expenses.
Report
40points
#20
Judy Melinek is an American forensic pathologist and writer. She is a pathologist at the Wellington District Health Board and Chief Executive Officer of PathologyExpert Inc.
Report
39points