Bite-Sized History

Weird History: How a Dead Man Won the Race

6 days ago
2 min

Weird History: How a Dead Man Won the Race

This week's weird history lesson comes from a 1923 issue of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, when writer W.C. Vreeland covered a very unique...

16 views0 comments

Emily Ruth Verona

Sep 15
2 min

Weird History: Sacrilegious Forks

Forks are a practical utensil that helps us to eat all kinds of different foods. So, naturally, people used to think forks were the work...

13 views0 comments

Weird History: Your Cat Can Be the Mayor

Emily Ruth Verona

Sep 1
3 min

Weird History: Your Cat Can Be the Mayor

We are going to veer away from murder and mayhem and poisonous colors this week to look a more delightful side of history. Because even...

21 views0 comments

Emily Ruth Verona

Aug 25
2 min

Weird History: Crinoline Fires

We're heading back to the Victorian era for this week's history lesson, because Victorian history is just teeming with bizarre and...

15 views0 comments

Weird History: The Bleeding House on Fountain Drive

Emily Ruth Verona

Aug 18
2 min

Weird History: The Bleeding House on Fountain Drive

You know when you get home after a long day and your walls start to drip blood? No? Good. Because, apparently, this is an option. Today,...

18 views0 comments

Weird History: The Woman Who Froze to Death and Survived

Emily Ruth Verona

Aug 11
2 min

Weird History: The Woman Who Froze to Death and Survived

Jean Hillard was 19 years old on the night of December 20, 1980—when her car ran into a ditch in Lengby, Minnesota. What happened next...

28 views0 comments

Emily Ruth Verona

Aug 4
3 min

Weird History: 20th Century Axe Murders

Axe murders are horrifying enough, but the similarities between high profile axe murders seen across the world in the early 20th century...

29 views0 comments

Emily Ruth Verona

Jul 28
2 min

Weird History: Bog Bodies

I was a tragedy kid growing up in the sense that I read everything I could about macabre histories. The sinking of the Titanic. The...

14 views0 comments

Emily Ruth Verona

Jul 21
3 min

Weird History: The Safety Coffin

Ever wake up unground and realize you've been buried alive? No? Well, back in the day, it was a legitimate concern. In fact, it was such...

28 views0 comments

Emily Ruth Verona

Jul 14
1 min

Weird History Poll Results

The results are in and it looks like you want us to keep on providing weird little history lessons each week! Those lessons will resume...

20 views0 comments

Emily Ruth Verona

Jul 7
1 min

Tell Us What You Want to Read!

Hi all! We're still looking for more input on what you'd like to read from Frightful every Friday. We've gotten a few votes on our poll...

11 views0 comments

Emily Ruth Verona

Jun 30
1 min

Weird History Poll

Hello all! While we love history here at Frightful, there has been less interest in our history lessons than our interviews, essays, and...

57 views0 comments

Weird History: Rabbits Beating Up Napoléon

Emily Ruth Verona

Jun 23
2 min

Weird History: Rabbits Beating Up Napoléon

When you spend a vast amount of time researching the odder ends of history, you start to see Napoléon Bonaparte's name all over the...

20 views0 comments

Emily Ruth Verona

Jun 16
2 min

Weird History: Island of the Dolls

It sounds like a 1970s B-movie: Island of the Dolls. Only, this is a real place you can visit. Seriously. Just remember though that dolls...

16 views0 comments

Weird History: The Unexplainable Erdington Murders

Emily Ruth Verona

Jun 9
2 min

Weird History: The Unexplainable Erdington Murders

trigger warning: sexual assault Mary Ashford and Barbara Forrest were killed at the same age, on the same day, in the same UK suburb....

31 views0 comments

Emily Ruth Verona

Jun 2
2 min

Weird History: Dead Men's Teeth

If you know one thing about horror writers, it's that we all have this weird, inexplicable fascination with human teeth. You'd be...

16 views1 comment

Weird History: Were the Pollock Twins Reincarnated?

Emily Ruth Verona

May 26
3 min

Weird History: Were the Pollock Twins Reincarnated?

John and Florence Pollock had six children by the time they were living in Hexham, England during the 1950s. On May 5, 1957, tragedy...

22 views1 comment

Weird History: A Murderous Fluffle of Cauldrons

Emily Ruth Verona

May 19
3 min

Weird History: A Murderous Fluffle of Cauldrons

Historically speaking, words are weird. There are a lot of terms floating around out there, especially in the collective noun corner of...

25 views1 comment

Weird History: Shipping a Baby in the Mail

Emily Ruth Verona

May 12
2 min

Weird History: Shipping a Baby in the Mail

Have you ever considered slapping a stamp on your baby and dropping them in the mailbox? Because in the early 20th century, you could...

22 views0 comments

Weird History: That Time France Built a Fake Paris

Emily Ruth Verona

May 5
2 min

Weird History: That Time France Built a Fake Paris

During World War I, France was bombed significantly by German forces. It started around 1914 and was becoming increasingly dangerous for...

21 views1 comment