Mushroom burial suit

Mushroom Death Suit: Funerals Go Fungal

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The Infinity Burial Suit is the latest in green burial, using mushrooms to consume the body and remove toxins as it decomposes.

I’ve never particularly enjoyed the thought of spending eternity trapped in a box, floating in a gooey mass of embalming fluid and putrefaction. I mean, if I could afford an extravagant, pyramid-shaped crypt with an interactive tour of my mortal remains and/or a mysterious (but ultimately meaningless) undecipherable code to keep people guessing for centuries to come…I might consider it.

Otherwise, I would prefer to become a tree.

Or maybe some fungus.


Thanks to the growing movement toward green burial, there is hope. Jae Rhim Lee and Mike Ma, founders of the Coeio company, created the Infinity Death Suit to provide an eco-friendly alternative to standard burial that would remove the 200+ toxins from the body as it returned to the earth.

The Infinity Burial Suit uses mushrooms to aid decomposition

The fibers of the suit are woven with a strain of spores hand-picked for their voracious appetite for human flesh. The body is placed in the suit and buried within 24 hours, allowing early decomposition to activate the spores.

From the company’s website:

Unlike conventional burial and cremation, they do not use harsh/toxic chemicals, pollute the environment, or waste precious natural resources. The Infinity Burial products also go a step beyond other green burial options, by cleansing and purifying toxins that accumulate in the body. If left unabated, these toxins end up contaminating the surrounding environment.

A special strain of fungus removes toxins from the body as it decomposes

Learn more about the Infinity Burial Suit for you or your pet right here.

via Mysterious Universe

Abandoned Witherell House in Fond du Lac, WI

What is the Story Behind this Mysterious Abandoned House in Fond du Lac?

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What happened inside this abandoned house to give it such a sinister and bizarre reputation?

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Chapel of Skulls Made of Human Bones in Poland

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The Chapel of Skulls in Poland is adorned with the bones of 3,000 people who died from war, disease, and starvation.
The Chapel of Skulls in Czermna, Poland
The Chapel of Skulls in Poland

Inspired by the Capuchin crypt in Rome, Father Vaclav Tomaszek began building St. Bartholomew’s Church, or Kaplica Czaszek, in Czermna in 1776. He spent the next 18 years exhuming bones from mass graves left over from years of war, disease and famine. Skulls and bones of 3,000 people were meticulously cleaned and arranged in the chapel as memorial and memento mori to visitors.

A trap door opens to the basement where bone fragments of another 21,000 have been interred.

When Father Tomaszek died, his skull was placed on the altar beside a syphilis skull, a skull said to have belonged to a giant, and others he had found interesting.

Skulls on the altar of the Czermna chapel

An angel among the bones

Skulls and crossbones on the chapel's ceiling

A trap door into the basement of the chapel
Images: Wikimedia Commons

X-Ray Reveals John Dee Painting Originally Had Circle of Human Skulls

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A painting of 16th-century mathematician and occultist John Dee performing an experiment for Queen Elizabeth I has been hiding a dark secret.
This painting of occultist John Dee originally had a circle of skulls
Why was the circle of skulls covered up? Photo: Wellcome Library

In preparation for its exhibition at the Royal College of Physicians, an x-ray of a painting by Henry Gillard Glindoni has revealed a surprisingly dark secret. In the painting, John Dee, a man once known as “the Queen’s conjurer” performs an experiment for Queen Elizabeth I. What the x-ray revealed, however, is that Dee was originally standing in a circle of skulls.

For The Guardian, Mark Brown writes:

X-ray imaging of the stately Victorian artwork has revealed that Dee was originally surrounded by human skulls before the ghoulish image was painted over, probably because it was too odd for the buyer. But curators of an exhibition opening on Monday believe it sums up the conundrum of Dee: should we remember him as brilliant pioneering scientist, or as an occultist who thought he could talk to angels?

X-ray image reveals human skulls hidden in a painting of John Dee
X-ray image of the circle of skulls hidden in the painting of John Dee.

It is not known why the skulls were covered up, but exhibition curator Katie Birkwood concludes it was likely at the request of the person who commissioned the painting:

“Glindoni had to to make it look like what we now see, which is august and serious, from what it was, which was occult and spooky. That epitomises the two different impressions of Dee which people have and the fight between them.”

The exhibition Scholar, courtier, magician: the lost library of John Dee runs from January 18 to July 29 at the Royal College of Physicians. It includes a selection of Dee’s books with his personal notes scrawled in the margins, as well as his crystal ball and an obsidian magical mirror.

h/t Odd Things I’ve Seen

Wisconsin Urban Legends Panel at 2016 Milwaukee Paranormal Conference

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Panel on Wisconsin urban legends, as well as new guest speakers, announced for the 2016 Milwaukee Paranormal Conference happening this October 14-16.
Cult of Weird will present a panel on Wisconsin urban legends at the 2016 Milwaukee Paranormal Conference

The latest round of guests to appear at the 2016 Milwaukee Paranormal Conference have been announced. Besides an exciting list of speakers (below) to supplement an already great lineup, a new panel has been added to the schedule.

There’s no shortage of weird in Wisconsin. If you’re from here, you have likely followed one odd legend or another down a creepy back road with the hope of encountering something otherworldly. Ghosts, witches, goatman, reclusive circus folk…you know, the usual. That’s why this year’s Paracon will include a panel on Wisconsin’s Wildest Urban Legends.

Here’s what to expect:

This panel will talk about one of the more fun aspects of our folklore– the urban legend. We’ll be talking about Menomonee Fall’s Haunchyville, an alleged colony of angry little people, the bloody legend of Boy Scout Lane in Stevens Point, the break out star of the 2015 Milwaukee Para Con–Goatman!–and more. This panel includes J. Nathan Couch (Goatman: Flesh or Folklore?), Charlie Hintz and Christina Rickman(Cult of Weird), and Valerie Kedrowski (Stevens Point Paranormal). Moderator: Tea Krulos (Monster Hunters, Riverwest Ghost Stories).

Newly announced guest speakers include:

  • UFO researcher and MUFON member Chase Kloetske
  • Beyond Deep Black Radio host Nick Roesler
  • Kristan T. Harris on “The Hidden History of Giants”
  • Dark Star Ministry presents: “Ouija & Tarot: Occult Tools and the Paranormal”

More: MKE Paracon 2016 First Details Announced

Buy your tickets now right here.

For more info go to milwaukeeparacon.com