Creepiness and Wikipedia: Like chocolate and peanut butter

April 13, 2010 10:59 AM

Wikipedia can be a time sink for sure, but often it's difficult to find the most bizarre, creepy, or disturbing articles. Thankfully, someone with lots of time on their hands has made a jaw-droppingly comprehensive list of creepy pages on Wikipedia (the list is in the second post on that page). [Previously]
posted by Frobenius Twist (56 comments total)

I forgot to add: [Via]
posted by Frobenius Twist at 10:59 AM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

Great. There goes another hour and a half.
posted by jquinby at 11:12 AM on April 13, 2010

Heh, Shadow People are my favorite modern creepy story. I worked with some folks on a modern fantasy RPG years and years ago that had as one of its features "generations" of fantastic creatures, with some stuff that we'd dredged up out of medieval bestiaries still clinging to their last shreds of relevance, more modern legends struggling to establish themselves and spread their stories, and vampires and werewolves standing tall as the big myths that everybody knows. The Shadow People were always my favorite of the up-and-comers.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:13 AM on April 13, 2010 [3 favorites]

Your creepy may not be my creepy. Why is an article about Thalidomide creepy? Many of those just seem offbeat, not creepy.
posted by beagle at 11:16 AM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

Nice list, though I fail to see how The Mahavishnu Orchestra is creepy.
posted by Eyebeams at 11:23 AM on April 13, 2010 [2 favorites]

The article on Thalidomide may be creepy due to the photo of that black eyed baby, captioned:

1962 photo of a baby born to a mother who had taken Thalidomide while pregnant; note the extra appendage connected to the foot and the malformation of the right arm.

Some people may find that sort of thing cute though, I mean, imagine that baby grown, with a nice little digit poking through the shoe, giving thumbs up at the oddest of times.
posted by past at 11:23 AM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

Thalidomide is creepy. But not as creepy as the Bunny Man Bridge.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:29 AM on April 13, 2010

And woo! I want to go the Super Power Building! I mean, read this, "With the world in such a state of degradation and dismay, the only hope to reverse the dwindling spiral on Earth is to speed the release of Super Power."

But man, can you come up with a worse name for the force that will reverse the degradation of the whole world? Something like Super Power can really only fubble around, with folks constantly chuckling behind it's back, reminiscences of Super Mario Bros with their jovial plump mustachios, L. Ron Hubbard seething in some constantly tipping orb of half-way omnipotence.
posted by past at 11:33 AM on April 13, 2010

My day just filled up. Thanks?
posted by Lutoslawski at 11:36 AM on April 13, 2010

Weird list. Most of it doesn't strike me as creepy at all.

It did lead me, via two clicks, back to this thing I had forgotten about (shudder).
posted by jbickers at 11:36 AM on April 13, 2010 [2 favorites]

Holy cow, Toynbee tiles. I've been walking by one for years without realizing what it was.
posted by oinopaponton at 11:41 AM on April 13, 2010 [4 favorites]

Nice list, though I fail to see how The Mahavishnu Orchestra is creepy.

Similarly, the inclusion of the Large Hadron Collider.
posted by never used baby shoes at 11:41 AM on April 13, 2010

I would say the most bizarre use of Wikipedia is its pornography portal. The porn articles on Wikipedia (as well as other articles about genitalia) pretty much represent what Wikipedia is all about.
posted by KokuRyu at 11:47 AM on April 13, 2010 [2 favorites]

Toynbee tiles, previously.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:51 AM on April 13, 2010

jbickers, I live near the gallery that ended up purchasing that painting. Maybe I should go check it out.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 11:54 AM on April 13, 2010

Shadow people are all over Coast to Coast AM. It's their stock in trade.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:58 AM on April 13, 2010

I'm in agreement with a number of the other posters here: serial killers aside, most of these strike me as more "interesting" than "creepy" or "disturbing." If I want to be disturbed, I tend to look at things like this. Works every time, and yet I can't stop looking.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:59 AM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

The Shadow People were always my favorite of the up-and-comers.

I'm sure you didn't mean to offend, but the proper term is "people who are shadows".
posted by Paid In Full at 11:59 AM on April 13, 2010 [11 favorites]

Collective unconscious, The Crying Boy, Ray Mabus, Phantom Social Workers, Richmond Vampire

One of these things is not like the others...
posted by 1f2frfbf at 12:00 PM on April 13, 2010

I've totally seen a shadow-person! It was scary as hell. I woke up in the dark in my bed. I had sleep paralysis (couldn't voluntarily move my body), and I saw a shadow person peeking through the crack in the doorway, and then I felt myself being pulled, somersaulting through the air toward it. I know it was all just an invention of my half-sleeping brain but, fuck, it was horrifying.
posted by contessa at 12:01 PM on April 13, 2010 [2 favorites]

A dermoid cyst is a cystic teratoma that contains developmentally mature skin complete with hair follicles and sweat glands, sometimes luxuriant clumps of long hair, and often pockets of sebum, blood, fat, bone, nails, teeth, eyes, cartilage, and thyroid tissue.

Surely not all at the same time...
posted by goethean at 12:03 PM on April 13, 2010

For the love of god, don't click on "encephalocele" in the Dermoid Cyst article. My eyeeees
posted by oinopaponton at 12:05 PM on April 13, 2010

Oh, come on - if you're going to have one historical Iowa murder with paranormal overtones on the list, you have to also add The Spirit Lake Massacre.
posted by Muddler at 12:07 PM on April 13, 2010

From "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" and the 1986 attack on Dan Rather:

In the December 2001 issue of Harper's Magazine, writer Paul Limbert Allman speculated that postmodern fiction writer Donald Barthelme (who died in 1989) had somehow orchestrated, or was otherwise connected to, the attack through other unnamed persons, citing unusual passages in Barthelme's writing, including the phrase "What is the frequency?", a recurring character named Kenneth, and a short story about a pompous editor named Lather.

That is creepy. Gonna read it right now.
posted by The Mouthchew at 12:07 PM on April 13, 2010 [3 favorites]

This is great. I hadn't heard of the Sednec Ossuary; that place is fantastic.
posted by painquale at 12:08 PM on April 13, 2010

Mrs. Bronzefist is the only person I've known to regularly experience hynapompic/hypnogogic hallucinations, so "shadow people" are regular visitors.

And frankly, they're an improvement over what she says she saw lurking behind the bed (menacing me) the other night: Sayid from Lost.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 12:13 PM on April 13, 2010

You don't need someone else to compile this list for you. Wikipedia in its infinite wisdom has an article for just this purpose: List of unusual articles.
posted by Idle Curiosity at 12:16 PM on April 13, 2010 [9 favorites]

JAW-DROPPING!
posted by Ratio at 12:36 PM on April 13, 2010

Sedlec, that is. Oops.
posted by painquale at 12:37 PM on April 13, 2010

Love that article on spite houses. Fascinating.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 12:47 PM on April 13, 2010

Heh, I had a dermoid cyst several years ago.

When it came time to remove it, the nurses who assisted me before the surgery were giddy with delight, because some of them hadn't seen one before.

Afterwards, they gave me a picture of the thing to take home. It was basically a big tooth, with tufts of auburn hair and I think a fingernail in there somewhere, too. It was pretty creepy, but also really fascinating. I kept the picture and anytime the subject comes up, I can't help but refer to it fondly as my "cyst-er."
posted by Squee at 1:01 PM on April 13, 2010 [10 favorites]

Gah. That list of unusual articles just keeps getting better and better. Friday. This is a Friday post.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 1:06 PM on April 13, 2010

That list takes me back to the Time-Life Mysteries of the Unknown adverts on TV in the 80's.

Is it so bad to be in the target demographic for Crystal Skull vodka?
posted by benzenedream at 1:08 PM on April 13, 2010

Wikipedia articles that are too technical.

My post about the list of unusual articles with selected favorites.

Holy bat-fucking shit-toads, I'm never going to unsee that hairy cyst, am I!?
posted by loquacious at 1:10 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

Squee, just reading that makes me want to throw up. I guess if you have one it's one of those creeptastic things you're better off embracing in order to freak other people out.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 1:17 PM on April 13, 2010

Forteana
posted by Smedleyman at 1:24 PM on April 13, 2010

The Licked Hand. Time to fill the space under my bed with razor wire and sell the dog.

I don't really have a dog. Ha ha ha ha.

How much does razor wire go for these days?</small?
posted by Splunge at 1:25 PM on April 13, 2010

It's interesting how people can differ so completely in what they find creepy. To me, any of those articles involving the paranormal are laughable, but now for weeks whenever I close my eyes I'll be seeing that dermoid cyst.
posted by IjonTichy at 1:26 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yeah, does anyone know what's creepy about Ray Mabus?
posted by rusty at 1:40 PM on April 13, 2010

Ah sorry Solon and Thanks, but yeah I guess "to each his own" on the creepiness factor. It's probably pretty silly, but I can't watch someone stick a needle in my arm. The sensation doesn't bother me at all, but actually seeing it being done creeps me out.

Maybe because I went through the whole rigmarole of having a dermoid cyst removed, it's lost some of its creepiness for me. Especially since the doctor and the nurses were all rather upbeat about it.
posted by Squee at 2:04 PM on April 13, 2010

Yeah, I was curious about Ray Mabus, too, and then I found this on his Discussion page:

Mabus in Prophecy

Evidently, the name "Mabus" is mentioned in Nostradamus' quattrains as the third and ultimate anti-christ. The first two were named Paunayloron(Napoleon) and Hister(Hitler). Many have suggested that Mabus could be interpreted as "Obama". However it would be easier to point to someone actually named Mabus. Its a big coincidence that Ray Mabus is a Cabinet member and a former ambassador to the Middle East. Ray Mabus has been mentioned as a possible anti-christ on a History Channel documentary on Nostradamus and the anti-christs mentioned in his quattrains. You can also find many articles and forum discussions on by Googling "Ray Mabus Anti Christ" or "Ray Mabus and Nostradamus." Kms00 (talk) 01:45, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

posted by Atom Eyes at 2:16 PM on April 13, 2010 [3 favorites]

I'm kind of surprised that nobody's mentioned all of the people who take pictures of their own genitals for Wikipedia articles on, e.g., the penis. The sheer number of Wikipedia exhibitionists is way more creepy (meta-creepy?) than most of the article topics discussed here.
posted by indubitable at 2:27 PM on April 13, 2010

Your creepy may not be my creepy.
Totally.
Ghosty shadow-people, killers under beds and that sort of thing don't faze me but that story a few years ago about the little boy in India who had flies hatching out of his penis made me want to run screaming from my house and keep running. I don't know if it's on this list because I have no desire to look for it.
posted by chococat at 2:29 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

The May Day Mystery article is gone. Does anyone know what it was about?
posted by Partario at 3:09 PM on April 13, 2010

posted by KokuRyu at 12:47 PM

!! Thanks for the link to the porn portal. I'm amused to see that "pr0n" is a short-cut also. I was instantly drawn in by intelligently written articles that I'd be fine sharing with my mother or my daughters. All the tee-hee and cheese is missing from talk about all aspects of sexuality! I wish this was around when my girls (and I) were younger.
posted by _paegan_ at 3:15 PM on April 13, 2010

I found the Albert Fish article by far the most unsettling. The letters he wrote to the families of his victims were terrifying.
posted by anoirmarie at 3:38 PM on April 13, 2010

The May Day Mystery article is gone. Does anyone know what it was about?

That is the creepy part...
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:52 PM on April 13, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm kind of surprised that nobody's mentioned all of the people who take pictures of their own genitals

The fact that the wiki page for "ejaculation" contains a video has somewhat soured me on user-generated content.
posted by painquale at 7:06 PM on April 13, 2010 [3 favorites]

"You would sooner find a tall talking broccoli stick to offer to mow your lawn for free."
posted by ovvl at 7:21 PM on April 13, 2010

Fuck, I just lost, like, an hour to that list and I'm now also thoroughly creeped out. Thanks a lot.

Damn.
posted by dubitable at 7:38 PM on April 13, 2010

I am a non-discriminating creeper and therefore am equally terrified by the shadow people and the dermoid cyst. Why am I home alone? More importantly, why can't I stop clicking?
posted by WidgetAlley at 8:04 PM on April 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

WidgetAlley, you might consider the helpful webpages provided by the SCP Foundation.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:20 PM on April 13, 2010

To me, any of those articles involving the paranormal are laughable...

I always find UFO and ghost pictures/stories both laughable and creepy, which is an odd sensation. The Shadow People thing was pretty good, but then I got to the "non-fiction" references.

• Eyewitness accounts of shadow people are depicted on the Discovery Channel's docudrama series A Haunting.
• Alleged shadow people are shown to be captured on video on the Travel Channel's series Ghost Adventures.
• Shadow people are investigated on the Discovery Channel's series Ghost Lab.
• Shadow people are also investigated on the Discovery Kids program Mystery Hunters.

Conclusion: The Ghost of William Randolph Hearst owns the Discovery Channel and is getting up some ectoplasmic journamalism to get the living to invade the realm of the dead.
posted by DU at 4:55 AM on April 14, 2010

I've totally seen a shadow-person!

Same! I was on a load of prescription medication for depression as well as being in the habit of popping a couple of Stilnox every night to get to sleep. Anyway, I woke up in my little room at about three in the morning and immediately noticed three things: a hairless cat sitting on the windowsill in the moonlight (I do not possess a hairless cat, nor could one get in) staring steadily at me; a wind-up cymbal-banging monkey toy with glowing red eyes, also staring steadily at me (don't know where the monkey bit came from, but it turned out that the glowing red eyes were caused by the laser from my mouse bouncing against the polished desk); and, finally, a "shadow person", approximately seven feet tall, with his back to me, looking through my bookshelves. I lay there in sheer paralysed terror for a good ten minutes until I finally slurred "Stop that!" and fell back asleep.
posted by turgid dahlia at 6:58 PM on April 14, 2010

To me the creepiest thing in Wikipedia, by far, is a Talk page full of lengthy arguments about some obscure detail in an article ... when there are so many articles that could easily benefit from 1/10th the energy expended on worthless miniature-turf-wars.

Mock my words: one day there will be a "Best of Talk" to elicit gales of laughter ... and it'll be saved in the LOC like the first few years of Twitter ... because they can.
posted by Twang at 11:17 PM on April 14, 2010

Shadow People Previously on Metafilter
posted by empath at 8:27 AM on April 17, 2010