Episode 184: Falling to Pieces

History is filled with people who gathered unusual collections, often following a curiosity or passion to the extreme. But among those collectors, there have been those who have taken things too far. And the objects of their obsession have become the stuff of nightmares.

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Further Reading

1. Associated Press. “20,000 Noses Will Be Laid to Rest at Last.” Deseret News. 11/17/1993. https://www.deseret.com/1993/11/17/19076756/20-000-noses-will-be-laid-to-rest-at-last.
2. Begg, Paul, and John Bennet. Jack the Ripper: The Forgotten Victims. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.
3. Bonser, Wilfrid. “The Cult of Relics in the Middle Ages.” Folklore 73, n. 4 (Winter, 1962), 234-56)
4. “A Brief, Gross History of Taxidermy”. Museum of Idaho. https://museumofidaho.org/idaho-ology/a-brief-gross-history-of-taxidermy.
5. Brown, Peter. The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.
6. “The Corpse: Ralph Westropp Brereton.” History Ireland. https://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/the-corpse-ralph-westropp-brereton.
7. Cortesi, Max. “Crocodile at the Santuario Madonna delle Lacrime Immacolate.” Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/crocodile-at-the-santuario-madonna-delle-lacrime-immacolate.
8. Eacháin, Conchúr Mag. “‘Gather Far, Gather Near, Gather all the Milk and Butter Here!’ Some May Day Traditions from Ireland.” Folklore Thursday. 5/7/2020. https://folklorethursday.com/folklife/gather-far-gather-near-gather-all-the-milk-and-butter-here-some-may-day-traditions-from-ireland.
9. Ellis, Bill. “Why is a Lucky Rabbit’s Foot Lucky? Body Parts as Fetishes.” Journal of Folklore Research. Volume 39, n. 1 (Jan. - Apr. 2002), pp. 52-84.
10. Flynn, Meagan. “The Bones of an 18th Century ‘Witch’ Vanished Decades Ago. Now Scotis Officials are Hunting for Them.” Washington Post. 9/3/2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/09/03/lilias-adie-th-century-witch-remains.
11. “The Folklore of May-Day/Bealtaine.” Ireland’s Folklore and Traditions. 4/30/2017. https://irishfolklore.wordpress.com/2017/04/30/the-folklore-of-may-day-bealtaine.
12. “H.H. Holmes.” Biography. 10/16/2017. Updated 6/12/2020. https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/hh-holmes.
13. History.com Editors. “May Day.” History. 5/1/2017. Updated 4/26/2021. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-may-day.
14. Hurren, Elizabeth. “Dissecting Jack-the-Ripper: An Anatomy of Murder in the Metropolis.” Crime, Histoire & Sociétés 20, n. 2 (2016): 5-30.
15. Katz, Brigit. “Wanted: The Missing Bones of a Scottish ‘Witch’”. Smithsonian Magazine. 9/3/2019. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wanted-missing-bones-scottish-witch-180973033.
16. Leemans, Johan, et al. ‘Let us Die that We may Live’: Greek Homilies on Christian Martyrs from Asia Minor, Palestine and Syria (c. AD 350-AD 450). London: Routledge, 2003.
17. Mac Suibhne, Breandán, and Alun Evans. “Forensics and Folklore: The Theft of ‘Human Lard’ in Nineteenth-Century Clare.” History Ireland 20, n. 6 (Nov/Dec 2012): 26-29.
18. Margaritoff, Marco. “Scotland’s Quest for the Missing Remains of Lilias Adie, an Accused Witch Who Killed Herself.” All That is Interesting. 9/3/2019. https://allthatsinteresting.com/lilias-adie.
19. Mayer, Wendy. St John Chrysostom: The Cult of the Saints. Crestwood: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2006.
20. McDaniel, June. Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
21. McGarry, Marion. Irish Customs and Rituals: How our Ancestors Celebrated Life and the Seasons. Dublin: Orpen Press, 2020.
22. “Mimizuka.” Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mimizuka.
23. O’Brien, Barbara. “Sri Lanka’s Festival of the Sacred Tooth.” Learn Religions. 7/3/2019. https://www.learnreligions.com/the-buddhas-tooth-449905.
24. Patowary, Kaushik. “Mimizuka: The Burial Site of Thousands of Noses.” Amusing Planet. 3/28/2019. https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/03/mimizuka-burial-site-of-thousands-of.html.
25. Quigley, Christine. The Corpse: A History. Jefferson: McFarland & Co., 1996.
26. Spowart, Nan. “Bid to Find Missing Bones of Scottish ‘Witch’ Feared to Rise from Dead.” The National. 8/25/2019. https://www.thenational.scot/news/17859215.bid-find-missing-bones-scottish-witch-feared-rise-dead.
27. “The Story of Ed Gein--The Killer WHo Used Human Body Parts in Strange Ways.” All That Is Interesting. 11/9/2017. Updated 5/17/2020. https://allthatsinteresting.com/edward-gein.
28. Turnbull, Stephen R. Samurai Invasion: Japan’s Korean War, 1592-98. London: Cassel and Co., 2002.
29. Webster, David. A Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts on Witchcraft and the Second Sight; with an Original Essay on Witchcraft. Edinburgh, 1820. Accessed via archive.org. https://archive.org/details/acollectionrare00websgoog/page/n8/mode/2up.
30. “The Whitechapel Murder.” The London Times. 9/27/288. Accessed via https://www.casebook.org/press_reports/times/18880927.html.
31. Younger, Dominic. “Face of 313-Year-Old Witch Reconstructed.” University of Dundee. Published 11/31/2017. https://www.dundee.ac.uk/news/2017/face-of-313-year-old-witch-reconstructed.php.