40 Wikipedia Articles That Prove Real Life Is Way More Terrifying Than Movies

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, also called Münchmeyer disease, was first discovered in 1692. It’s a condition characterized by connective tissue turning into bone over time, severely restricting movement and bodily function. Caused by a mutation of the gene ACVR1, it’s reportedly the only medical condition where tissue changes into another, and unfortunately, it has no cure.

Locked-in syndrome is a condition where every part of the body except the eyes is paralyzed. People affected by the condition are forced to communicate through blinking or moving their eyes. Despite not being able to move, their brain function isn’t affected, so they are conscious and fully aware of their surroundings all the time.

Joyce Vincent was a 38-year-old British woman who was found deceased in her apartment in January 2006. Her body was discovered, “mostly skeletal,” almost three years after she passed away in 2003. Shockingly, her TV remained on all that time, and most of her bills were automatically paid, so nobody noticed she was no longer alive—until bailiffs forced entry into her apartment due to unpaid rent.

It turns out the Smile horror movie franchise wasn’t entirely based on fiction. Smile mask syndrome is described as a mental disorder that causes physical illness and depression because of prolonged and unnatural smiling. Professor Makoto Natsume theorized that Japanese women, particularly in the service industry, were forced to smile even when under immense stress. As a result, they developed repetitive strain injuries and depression.

Thought to be the oldest man in Tokyo, Sogen Kato’s mummified corpse was discovered in his bedroom in July 2010. Kato actually passed away in November 1978, but his family never reported it because they wanted to continue cashing his pension checks.

While the process is not fully understood and occurs very rarely, coffin birth, also known as postmortem fetal extrusion, happens when gases inside a decomposing woman’s body push out a deceased fetus. The gases responsible are carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen sulfide, which develop within two to five days after passing.

The Euthanasia Coaster is a hypothetical coaster that was designed as a euthanasia device. In 2010, the design was turned into a scale model by a Lithuanian artist named Julijonas Urbonas. Reportedly, the goal of the coaster was to k**l all its passengers through cerebral hypoxia, giving them an elegant and euphoric passing.

The Goiânia accident in 1982 has been identified as one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters. It started when two men stole a radioactive machine from an abandoned hospital, took it apart, and exposed the radioactive substance inside it. Hundreds of people eventually came into contact with the substance, with some falling violently ill and others even losing their lives.

The diving bell spider is the only spider that spends almost all its life underwater. It occasionally comes up to the surface to replenish its oxygen or to eat its prey. When it’s underwater, it uses an air bubble trapped by the hair on its stomach and legs to breathe. Allegedly, its bite is excruciating to humans and causes symptoms like vomiting and inflammation for about five to ten days.

The Hinterkaifeck Murders are reportedly the most gruesome unsolved crimes in Germany. In 1922, on a Bavarian farmstead, six members of a family were fatally struck with a pickaxe by an unknown perpetrator. For three days, the assailant lived and ate in the house with the corpses. When the bodies were eventually found, four of them had been stacked up in the barn with the pickaxe left above them in the loft.

In 1518, a woman named Frau Troffea started a dancing mania that led to about 400 people dancing nonstop for a whole month. Allegedly, at least 15 people passed away per day due to heart attacks, strokes, and exhaustion from all the dancing. While the exact cause of the dancing hysteria is unknown, several theories have been brought forward on Wikipedia, such as food poisoning, stress, and even demonic possession.

It’s a strange phenomenon where several rats become entangled by their tails. The first occurrence can be traced back to 1564, and the most recent to 2021. In 2021, a Rat King of 13 live rats was found in Estonia. Scientists eventually had to euthanize the rats because they couldn’t get free.

Being buried alive is a frightening thing to imagine, and is reportedly one of the most common phobias in the world. People throughout history have been buried alive unintentionally through accidents and natural disasters, and as a method of execution in wars. In recent years, escape artists and even YouTubers like Mr Beast have voluntarily buried themselves alive.

Asha Degree vanished at 9 years old after leaving home in the middle of the night during a storm. She left with only her book bag and was last spotted running into a wooded area along a roadway. A year after she went missing, her book bag was found at a construction site in a black trash bag. She still has not been found.

While this entry doesn’t initially seem all that scary, what happened behind the scenes of the famous movie might change your mind. Judy Garland, who played Dorothy Gale in the film, was allegedly the victim of a ton of abuse on-set. The abuse was just the tip of the iceberg. Other cast members faced gruesome conditions and even a near-fatality due to their crazy costumes.

Blanche Monnier was a woman from Poitiers, France, who was held prisoner in her mother’s home for about 25 years. Her mother allegedly locked her up as a drastic measure to keep her from marrying a “penniless lawyer.” She was eventually found naked in a dark room by law enforcement in a severely emaciated state, surrounded by feces and vermin. After her release, she was sent to a psychiatric facility, where she passed away 12 years later.

A meat shower probably isn’t on anyone’s list of enjoyable things to experience. It’s said that in 1876, a small town in Kentucky witnessed chunks of meat raining from the sky. While the exact cause of the shower remains a mystery, some theorize it was a vulture’s spilled lunch.

From a tortoise being dropped on someone’s head to being eaten alive by piranhas, the passings listed on this Wikipedia page are nothing short of unbelievable. The list dates back to ancient times and is shockingly extensive.

Because of the lack of gravity, going to space really takes its toll on the human body both short and long term. When exposed to weightlessness over a long period, the muscles may start to atrophy, and the skeleton may deteriorate. Other possible adverse effects include balance issues, visual impairment, and a weakened immune system.

Roopkund, also known as Skeleton Lake, has hundreds of human skeletons on its edge that can be seen when the snow melts. Initial investigations carried out by researchers tied the remains to a group k****d in a hailstorm in the 9th century. However, later scientific research proved the remains were actually from three different groups that lost their lives in two separate events around 800 CE and 1800 CE.

This Wikipedia page lists all the people who have vanished at sea since the 2nd century, along with personal details, such as their names, ages, and the harrowing circumstances surrounding their disappearances.

Over 240 aircraft have disappeared since the 19th century. The list of missing aircraft is categorized into three groups: lost civilian flights, military flights, and flights where some wreckage was found, but the aircraft was never declared “recovered.” Included on the list, and also the flight with the most missing passengers, is the infamous Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Israel Keyes is one of America’s most infamous serial killers. He allegedly took the lives of at least three people and committed multiple other crimes from the late ‘90s to 2012. Keyes hid “murder kits” throughout the country to use when an opportunity presented itself. During police interrogation, he admitted to preferring strangulation over using guns to take people’s lives.

June and Jennifer Gibbons were twins born in Wales. They were inseparable and only spoke to each other, and even had their own secret language. When they turned 18, they committed several crimes that landed them in a mental hospital. While there, they made a pact that if one of them lost their life, the other would go on to live normally. After agreeing to sacrifice herself, Jennifer mysteriously passed away, and June went on to live a quiet life.

Brian Shaffer, a medical student from Ohio, has been missing since a night out with friends in 2006. His disappearance garnered a lot of public attention because of the mysterious circumstances surrounding it. Several security cameras captured him outside the bar the night he went missing, but he hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Some suspect foul play, while others speculate he may have left town and started a new life under a different identity.

2208 people were aboard the ill-fated Titanic in 1912, and over 1500 of them lost their lives when the ship sank. Wikipedia lists all their names and other personal information, as well as who survived and who didn’t. The page also details what happened to the survivors after the disaster.

The Wikipedia page on Roch Theriault describes him as a self-proclaimed prophet and the founder of a cult called the Ant Hill Kids. In the ‘80s, the cult had about 40 members, with over 20 of them being children he fathered with 9 female members. He started off as a motivational leader, but became an abusive tyrant because of a drinking problem. When cult members strayed, they would be punished in extreme and violent ways, like having their toes cut off by other members. In 1989, he was arrested and charged with the gruesome murder of a female member.

Helle Craft, a 39-year-old flight attendant, was murdered by her husband, Richard Craft. A private investigator she had hired to uncover her husband’s infidelity eventually alerted law enforcement to Richard’s likely involvement. Fragments of Helle’s body, like a tooth, bone chips, tissue, and hair, were found near a lake where Richard had been spotted using a woodchipper. Richard was sentenced to 50 years in prison for her murder in 1989, but was eventually released on good behavior in 2020.

In 1952, three boys in Braxton County, West Virginia, reportedly sighted the Flatwoods Monster fly across the sky and land in a neighbor’s yard. When they went over to check out what it was, they spotted a “tall man-like figure with a round red face, a large spade-shaped head, bright orange eyes, claw-like hands, and a dark body.” They also claimed that the monster made a hissing sound and emitted a pungent smell that left them nauseated for weeks.

György Dózsa was a Székely man-at-arms from Transylvania who passed away in the worst way possible. As punishment for his political transgressions, he was forced to sit on a smouldering throne, wear a heated iron crown, and hold an iron sceptre. To top it all off, he was made to watch his brother get cut into three pieces before being eaten alive by starving rebels.

Scaphism is an ancient Persian method of execution that was first given as punishment by King Artaxerxes II. It involved confining the victim between two boats, with only their arms and head sticking out. The victim would then be force-fed milk and honey, while having it smeared all over them. Thereafter, they'd be left out in the scorching sun to fester and be devoured by insects and rodents.

The Disneyland Resort is one of the most popular entertainment resorts in California. The resort is generally a safe place to have fun, but there are times when unpleasant and sometimes tragic incidents occur. From power outages to major ride accidents and even fatalities, the list of incidents at the resort seems to increase every year, allegedly leading to hundreds of lawsuits.

Apparently, rabies isn’t the only disease to worry about after a dog bite. In remote regions of India, people fear they can contract puppy pregnancy syndrome. This is a condition that makes one believe they can conceive puppies after being bitten by a dog. Victims of the disease reportedly bark like dogs and can hear the puppies growling inside their abdomens. Local witch doctors supposedly have an oral cure for the disease, which they claim allows the patient to “excrete” the puppies.

George Lusk, the official chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, who was looking into the Jack the Ripper murders in 1988, received a letter that was supposedly written by Jack the Ripper himself. It read: "From hell. Mr. Lusk, I send you half the kidne I took from one woman I fried and ate it was very nise. I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer. Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk." According to researchers, out of the hundreds of letters claiming to be written by the k****r, the “From Hell” letter is one of a few possibly authentic ones.

Project Artichoke was a mind control program developed by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) in 1951. It was used to determine whether a person could be forced into attempting an assassination after being drugged and hypnotized. The CIA would run experiments on human test subjects and sometimes, even their own agents. One agent was allegedly kept on LSD for seventy-seven days without their knowledge or consent, and probably developed amnesia like the other test subjects in the program.

Will humans become extinct, or will the expansion of the sun destroy the Earth? According to Wikipedia, scientists have a predicted timeline of far-future events that addresses these questions, and many others. The timeline details what they believe might happen to the Earth, the Solar system, humanity, and the universe millions of years into the future.

Surprisingly, Annabelle isn’t the only terrifying doll around. Robert is reportedly another haunted doll just like her. Robert was given to a boy named Robert Otto as a birthday gift after his grandfather returned from a trip to Germany. While this origin story is generally accepted as accurate, there are many other legends, like the claim that the doll was given to Otto by a Bahamian girl in an act of revenge. It’s said that the doll has supernatural abilities and can cause a ton of misfortunes.

The UVB-76 is a Russian shortwave radio station that broadcasts a short buzz tone 24 hours per day. Sometimes, the buzz sounds are replaced by Russian voice transmissions, and on rare occasions, transmissions are hijacked by pirates. What’s quite eerie about the radio station is, no one knows its exact purpose.

An unidentified man was found deceased on a beach in Adelaide, Australia, in 1948. With no signs of foul play and him not having any form of identification, investigators believed he most likely committed s*****e by consuming some sort of poison. The only things found on him were a bus ticket, a pack of cigarettes and matches, some gum, and an aluminum comb. Adding to the mystery, months after his discovery, a piece of paper was found in his pocket that said “tamám shud”, a Persian term meaning “it is over.” 

The Zodiac K****r is one of the most infamous serial killers in the world. He terrorized people in Northern California from the late ‘60s to the late ‘70s and mailed ciphers and taunting messages to law enforcement. Police confirmed four attacks and at least 6 victims, but he could’ve been responsible for many other unsolved cases. The Wikipedia page details the lengthy investigation, specifics about the attacks, a list of all suspected victims, and possible suspects. His identity remains a mystery.

Bog bodies are human corpses that have been naturally mummified in peat bogs. They’ve been dated to between 8000 BC and WWII and vary in their levels of preservation. Unlike ancient remains, the skin and internal organs of the bodies found in bogs are often found intact due to the combination of acidic water, low temperature, and lack of oxygen.

Cara Knott was an American student at San Diego State University. She disappeared in 1986 after visiting her boyfriend in California. Her car was found on a no-through road, and her body was in a ravine not far from it. The person responsible for her murder turned out to be a police officer who was using traffic stops to target vulnerable women.

In 2008, Jamie Fraley disappeared after a trip to the hospital to treat stomach flu. Her fiancé's father, a convicted murderer, was the main suspect in her disappearance. In an unfortunate turn of events, he was found deceased in the trunk of his ex-girlfriend’s car before his involvement in Jamie’s disappearance could be established. According to Wikipedia, she has been missing for about 17 years, and not much else is known about her whereabouts.

In the ‘70s, the Church of the Firstborn of the Lamb of God was formed by Ervil LeBaron in Mexico. Ervil broke away from the Church of the Latter Day Saints so he could practice polygamy freely. He often fought with his brother Joel over principles such as the blood atonement policy, which required that a sinner must have their blood shed so they can earn a place in heaven. Ervil reportedly used this blood atonement policy to take Joel’s life, along with other followers who opposed him.

Cotard’s Delusion, also known as Cotard’s Syndrome, is a rare mental disorder first observed in 1880. It’s characterized by a patient’s denial of their own existence or belief that they are deceased. The syndrome occurs in three stages: the germination stage, where symptoms of psychotic depression appear, the blooming stage, where the delusions fully develop, and the chronic stage, where the symptoms continue and the patient develops chronic psychotic depression.

Tarrare was a French man from the 18th century who had an insatiable appetite. He could devour enough food to feed at least 15 people in one sitting, swallow whole eels, and even eat live animals like puppies. When he was hospitalized so that doctors could run some tests, Tarrare allegedly ate the corpses in the morgue. He even went as far as eating a one-year-old toddler.

A 13-year-old boy documented under the pseudonym Roland Doe was allegedly possessed by a demon after playing with a Ouija board. His family reported things flying across the room in his presence and a demonic voice coming from his mouth. He underwent multiple exorcisms carried out by different priests, and his case was so chilling that it inspired the 1971 film The Exorcist.

Since 2007, at least 20 detached human feet have been found on the shore of the Salish Sea. The owners of some of the feet have been identified over the years, and surprisingly, no other body parts have been recovered. While the phenomenon has no definitive explanation, a few fictional explanations have come up since 2011.

In 1955, all 25 crew and passengers on the MV Joyita ship vanished into thin air. The empty ship was found partially submerged in the South Pacific in terrible condition. There are many theories about what could’ve happened to those on board, but they are still declared as missing.

In 2016, there were multiple reports of evil clown sightings and attacks across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. What started as a marketing stunt for a horror film turned into an unexpected phenomenon of clowns popping up in the strangest places, like forests and schools. Even businesses selling clown merchandise were adversely affected by the reports.

Nine hikers in Dyatlov Pass, Russia, lost their lives under mysterious circumstances. They fled their tents in the middle of the night in freezing temperatures without an explanation. Six of the hikers passed away from hypothermia. The other three had signs of physical trauma, with one missing a tongue and the other two missing eyes. Many theories have been put forward as possible explanations for their passings, but ultimately, Russian authorities settled on some type of avalanche as the cause.

In 1912, in Villisca, Iowa, six members of the Moore family and two of their guests fell victim to an axe-wielding murderer. Only one victim was awake when the attack occurred; everyone else was bludgeoned in their sleep. Bizarrely, investigators found all the mirrors in the house covered. Even though there were several suspects, the case was never solved, and today, the house is a tourist attraction.

Also known as the Devil’s Triangle, the Bermuda Triangle is a region in the North Atlantic Ocean between Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. It also lies at the center of an urban legend due to a long list of mysterious disappearances involving planes, ships, and people since the early 1800s. At least 24 incidents with hundreds of fatalities are listed.

This page lists the reported UFO sightings from ancient times, all the way to the 21st century. Although quite abnormal, you’d be surprised just how common the sightings are, especially in the United States. Most sightings have a logical explanation, while others remain unexplained.

Allegedly, the Pope Lick Monster, also known as the Goat Man, is a creature that lives under a railroad bridge in Kentucky. Described as a human-goat hybrid, urban legends claim the creature uses hypnosis or voice mimicry to lure people to the railway trestle, then murders them with a blood-stained axe. Several people have lost their lives on or near the trestle, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Pope Lick Monster.

This triple murder happened at Little Lava Lake in Oregon over 100 years ago and is reportedly one of the oldest unsolved murder cases in the city’s history. The three friends who were murdered were working as fur trappers at the lake when they suffered gunshot wounds and blunt force trauma. Their bodies were discovered under the surface of the ice, and although police had one possible suspect, no one was ever convicted of the crime. 

Shadow people have been described as paranormal black figures that resemble human shadows. Some paranormal investigators and authors cannot agree on whether shadow people are harmless or evil, or if they’re actually extra-dimensional beings from another universe.