Top Weird Posts of 2013

The 2013 weird news was filled with flesh-eating drugs, t******e-biting fish, sinkholes swallowing cars and buildings and people having intimate relations with inanimate objects in public.

Here are the top Cult of Weird posts, weird news and media for 2013:

15. Mound Builders and the Giants of Ancient America

Mound builders and the giants of ancient America
Did giants once roam the Earth? Has the Smithsonian conspired to cover up the existence of numerous archeological discoveries of bizarre giant skeletons throughout the US? Unfortunately the video is no longer available.

14. Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Haunted Waverly Hills sanatorium
J. Nathan Couch, author of Washington County Paranormal and the upcoming Goatman: Flesh or Folklore? takes us on a tour the infamous Waverly Hills, widely regarded as the most haunted place in America.

13. Futuro House

Futuro house
History and photos of the UFO-shaped Futuro houses.

12. Hand of the Mysteries

Hand of the Mysteries
Occult symbol for the alchemical transformation of man into god.

11. Fred Johnson Sideshow Banners

Fred G. Johnson sideshow banners
The highly sought after sideshow banner art of Fred G. Johnson.

10. Vintage Halloween Costumes

Weird and funny vintage Halloween costumes
A collection of vintage photos of funny and weird Halloween costumes.

9. Time Travel and Project Pegasus

Andrew Basagio appears in a photo of Gettysburg due to time travel and Project Pegasus
Did a Government-run time travel program send Andrew Basiago into the past where he was photographed at Gettysburg? The video is no longer available.

8. Forehead Grenade X-ray

X-ray of a hand grenade lodged in a solider's skull
From the disturbing x-rays file, a man with a grenade lodged in his skull.

7. Harry Flavel House in Astoria, OR

The abandoned house of Harry Flavel in Astoria, Oregon
The history of “Hatchet” Harry Flavel and his abandoned, decaying mansion in Astoria.

6. Oddities for Sale: Weird Things You Can Buy Right Now

Oddities for sale
The Cult of Weird 2013 holiday gift guide to strange and disturbing things for that person on your Christmas list who prefers weird antiques, skulls and taxidermy over more…traditional gifts.

5. Terrifying Vintage Surgical Tools

Terrifying vintage surgical tools
That was used for what? Terrifying vintage surgical tools from an era before anesthesia….

4. Krokodile: Flesh-Eating Drug

krokodile flesh-eating drug from Russia
The flesh-eating drug Krokodil from Russia has caused quite the stir this year as cases are being discovered for the first time in the US.

3. Mike the Headless Chicken

Mike the Headless Chicken
The true story of a chicken who survived a beheading and lived happily for 18 months until finally succumbing to death by choking on his dinner.

2. Las Vegas Underground House

Underground house in Las Vegas
Luxurious underground home and fallout shelter for sale in Las Vegas!

1. Necropants

Necropants
2013 was the year of Necropants. During Halloween the disturbing Icelandic witchcraft tradition of wearing a dead man’s skin to collect coins in his nether regions spread across the internet. At one point the hashtag #necropants was even trending on Twitter.

What else happened in 2013?

Addams Family in Color

Addams Family set color photo
The Cult of Weird Tumblr blog saw some unexpected madness with a color photo of the Addams Family set from the original black and white television series. The post currently has 68,686 notes.

What was your favorite weird news or media from 2013? Share it in the comments below!

How to Taxidermy a Mouse

If you are looking to embark on your first taxidermy adventure, you should not begin without Mouse: A Taxidermy Workshop Manual at your side.

Taxidermist and workshop instructor Margot Magpie assembled this 70-page step-by-step photo tutorial to guide you through the entire process, from ethically sourcing your dead critter, through the process of preserving and stuffing, into the final positioning of your completed anthropomorphic mouse.

The book is also available in a kit that includes the surgical gloves, tanning solution, scalpel, and other supplies you will need for your project. Except for the frozen mouse, of course, as that probably wouldn’t fare well in the shipping process. A list of ethical suppliers is provided to aid you in obtaining your mouse.

Get your copy of the Mouse taxidermy manual right here. Get the book and the taxidermy starter kit together here.

How to taxidermy a mouse book by Margot Magpie

Margot teaches sold-out taxidermy classes at the London curio shop The Last Tuesday Society, as well as other locations in London. Her blog is here, and you can find her taxidermy-related work for sale in her Etsy shop.

Walter Potter’s Taxidermy Book for Christmas

Walter Potter's Curious World of Taxidermy book

I found Walter Potter’s Curious World of Taxidermy under the Cult of Weird Christmas tree this year from Slasher Betty!

A Very Merry Cult Christmas

Cult of Weird Christmas Camel skull

Cult of Weird Christmas challenge: Put a Christmas hat, bow or ribbon on something odd and tag it #CultOfWeird on Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr!

The Porcelain Sculptures of Kate MacDowell

Dead rabbit with human bones porcelain sculpture by Kate MacDowell

Portland artist Kate Macdowell sculpts these porcelain figures of humanity and nature intersecting to create beautiful and surreal hybrid forms that have been dissected to expose the bizarre anatomical details within, such as human skeletons inside animals and organs with plants growing from them or insects crawling on them.

Dead bat with human bones porcelain sculpture by Kate Macdowell

Canaries inhabited human lungs porcelain sculpture by Kate Macdowell

Human fetus inside a dissected frog porcelain sculpture by Kate Macdowell

Invasive flora porcelain sculpture by Kate MacDowell

Uprooted porcelain sculpture by Kate MacDowell

Daphne shattered porcelain sculpture by Kate MacDowell

Fish with breasts porcelain sculpture by Kate MacDowell

Man covered in bees porcelain sculpture by Kate MacDowell

Goblin Market severed hands porcelain sculpture by Kate MacDowell

Root Bound brain porcelain sculpture by Kate MacDowell

Bad seed plant with human skull porcelain sculpture by Kate MacDowell

Cross-polination porcelain sculpture by Kate MacDowell

Icarus porcelain sculpture by Kate MacDowell

See more of Kate’s work on her website: www.katemacdowell.com