Of all the torture methods we’ve written about so far, this one is definitely one of my top worst ways to go. It takes a special kind of person to think this shit up, pun intended. ..

Have you heard of the Catacombe dei Cappuccini in Sicily? There are over eight hundred people in the Catacombs. Their bodies are mummified and are display

In 2002, over three hundred bodies were found dumped around the property of the Tri-State Crematory…

Since it’s time for  Valentine’s Day,  I decided it was a good time to watch a love story. So of course, I chose the 1992 version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. On its face, it’s a horror story about a bloodthirsty vampire. But it’s also a love story…

Elmer McCurdy was born back in the time of gunslingers and train robbers. McCurdy led a typical gunslinger life. And as with many of them back in those days – died in a shootout. What nobody expected was what happened to him afterward…

You’ve all heard about the Salem Witch Trials, but how much do you know about the European Werewolf Trials?  Before the witch hysteria started to spread, the fear of werewolves took hold of Europe – fueled by superstition and rumor…

Häxan (Witch) is such a fascinating film! And very much underappreciated. The 1922 silent film is part documentary and part fiction with a little comedy mixed in about the evolution of witchcraft. ..

Everyone knows about the Salem Witch Trials. Salem may be the most talked about, but it wasn’t the first or the worst….

Witches don’t fly around on brooms, eat babies, or worship Satan. They are healers and caretakers. They always have been. So where did it all go wrong? To answer that we have to take a look at the history of the witch. 

Get ready my friends – Shark Week 2022 is coming! The Discovery Channel has been hard at work preparing an entire menu to satisfy its viewers. They’re ready to satisfy our every shark-related craving. 

The village of Nagoro, Japan is populated by some unusual residents: dolls. Tsukimi Ayano began populating the town with dolls. Over time, the village’s “population” grew…

Why are dolls always possessed by evil angry spirits? The more real a doll looks, the creepier it seems. Why do some people find them so creepy, you ask?

The Judas Cradle is yet another torture device invented by some fucked up guy back in medieval times.  (Although there is always speculation as to when these things were really invented.) . It seems that devices for torturing a person’s sexual organs were a particular favorite…

I got a lot of responses to the article about torture devices aimed at men.  ESPECIALLY from the guys! So I figured I’d make the guys happy and discuss the ladies for a bit…

Artist, musician, madman, recreational psychopath”. This is how my friend Michael describes himself. But he forgot to add “really sweet guy”. When we spun the Scary Matter globe and landed in Australia, I immediately thought of him. Who better to get ideas from than a native Aussie?

Hey, horror fans!  Let’s face it, horror entertainment is practically a lifestyle.  Ever wonder where the first horror stories came from? In my opinion, the answer is simple, religion!

Everyone is afraid of something – Whether they admit it or not. Spiders, snakes, heights, and clowns. Things like that. But those things don’t interfere with their lives. When they see something that they’re afraid of, they react for maybe a couple of minutes – then they move along. But that isn’t always the case.

Have you picked out costumes yet? If you’re like me, you want to be as scary as possible. But if you’re a couple looking to do a theme – a lot of the costumes are either played out or incredibly stupid.

I’m kidding…go ahead and do it all you want. But according to history, you guys have some serious control issues! So something had to be done…

Now I’m sure some people might’ve read the name of this article and rolled their eyes, but just hear me out on this. Before we get started, I just want to say that I’m in no way an expert astrologer and I don’t know everything about the topic. I’m not asking you to believe in or understand astrology, but I think I’ve found a connection between the astrological signs of killers.

Have you ever heard about the Museum of the Mummies in Guanajuato, Mexico? If you’re easily upset or disturbed by death, please move on to the next article. It’s not often I see something that makes me stop for a minute. These are not the type of mummies you think they are…

Do you know what a trope is? Of course you do, you just don’t realize it. Have you ever been watching a movie and thought to yourself “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this somewhere before”? Chances are, you’re not wrong. A trope is a plot device. They’re used in every movie you watch…

You screwed up, my friend. What were you thinking? Someone heard you speaking blasphemously against the church. And you over there…the one with the herbs hanging in the window. And you…are those freckles on your face? Is that red hair sticking you’re trying to hide? Nice try my friends, but not good enough!  

BOO!! Did I scare you? Did you like it? Of course you did. That’s why you’re reading this in the first place. Some people love it and some people hate it. I love it! That’s what inspired this evil labor of love. But what is it about it that we love so much? What drives us to search out the scariest things we can find? Why do we love having the crap scared out of us??

I.HATE.CLOWNS. I have said this before, and I will say it again – I. HATE. CLOWNS. I don’t have a good reason. I just do. There’s no traumatizing clown experience in my past or anything like that. Feel free to make fun of me, you won’t be the first or the last…

The more I write about torture methods, the happier I am that I wasn’t alive when they were used. Today’s device is the Iron Maiden a/k/a the Nuremberg Virgin. The most famous version of it was built in Nuremberg, Germany, hence the name…

Look out horror fans, we’re being studied! Apparently, scientists and psychologists have decided to try and determine the types of people that enjoy being scared. I’m no genius or anything (if you could see all of my spelling errors as I write this, you’d totally agree), but as far as I’m concerned, you either like to be scared or you don’t. It’s as simple as that! But…

Writing can be hard sometimes. Though we mostly write personal opinions here at Scary Matter, we do put in quite a bit of research to get our facts straight. I can only imagine how hard it is to write an entire novel or screenplay!..

I know that everyone has their own idea of scary. But let’s face it, we’ve all been there. You sit down with a “horror novel” and a few chapters later you’re ripping it up to use in the fireplace. The story is too slow and the plot has been done a thousand times. Does anyone want another story about the tortured vampire falling in love with a mortal, and then turning them (even though they swore they never would) after a zillion chapters so they can “be together for eternity”? …

We’ve all seen pictures with ghosts in them. They’re the original photobomb. The ones people claim are evidence of a haunting. Did you know that after the Civil War, people would pay to have their picture taken in the hopes of the spirit of a loved one showing up?

Here’s a lovely piece of furniture that is sure to look good on anyone’s deck or patio. It’s a great conversation starter or designated seat for an in-law. It was used in Medieval Times until around the late 1800s…

As much as the thought of a solid 8 hours of sleep sounds beautiful, it hasn’t happened for me in quite some time. I’ve always bounced between having insomnia or nightmares. Oh well…that’s what coffee is for. But the more horror movies I watch, the more I think that sleep isn’t all it’s cracked up to be…

When Scary Matter was born, following horror artists was natural.  Some show their love of horror movies, and others use it as a way to express emotion. Whichever kind you’re into, here are some that the Scarymatter crew highly recommends following:

If you’ve read my article about the Youtube series “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared,” you’ll know how much I adore the combination of horror and musicals. I’m back again to tell you about another one of my personal favorites: the 1983 short film “Possibly in Michigan.”…

Truth be told, if I could get away with trick or treating, I would still go. Granted, I’m a grown-ass woman who is perfectly capable of going to the store and getting the candy myself, but it’s not as much fun. The question is, where does trick or treating come from?…

Everything we associate with Halloween was brought here over the years by European immigrants and evolved into the symbols we have today…

Only a few more weeks til Halloween! Not every country celebrates Halloween, but many of them have celebrations that resemble Halloween in one aspect or another.  So let’s take a trip and check them out…

Halloween as we know it is a bastardized version of the ancient Celtic holiday Samhain (but pronounce it “sow-en”).  Samhain means “summer’s end”. It is the end of the harvest and the beginning of the long, dark time of year…

How many times have you watched the Saw movies?  Or The Pit and the Pendulum?  What about Hostel?  If your answer is more than once, and you’re now making a mental list of similar movies that you love…then you’e a lover of torture porn! …

I do.  When it’s actually scary. Don’t get me wrong, a really crappy B-movie absolutely has its place, but who doesn’t love an actually scary movie? (unless you’re a chicken!)…

Although we still wear black and dark colors today, we are pretty lucky that the rest of the customs faded away over time.  Though these customs were tradition back then, today we would consider them morbid AF and be totally freaked out if anyone suggested we do the same…..

Ok, let me start by saying that I love Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  I always have and I always will.  HOWEVER, that being said, I’m pretty sure that it’s a horror movie in disguise.  And he and his Oompa Loompas may or may not be murderers.  What the hell is an Oompa Loompa anyway?????

Picture this: you’re laying in bed and you hear a sound. Is it just the house settling? Or is it a ghost? A demon? Ax murderer, zombie, serial killer, vampire… a CLOWN? Relax… it was just the cat coming up the stairs. The human mind is so creative that it can create a sense of impending doom out of an ordinary sound. But most times, the truth is, there’s nothing there.

If you’re looking to read about all things related to horror and true crime…..you’re in the right place.

I’ve seen all kinds of videos from every corner of the world wide web. But there’s one series of Youtube videos that stuck with me from the first time I saw it many years ago: the “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared” series.