Unspeakable Times

Many look back on their high school years fondly, remembering them as the best time of their life. For others, the thought of&nbsp;high school brings back <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/elementary-school-teachers-discuss-gross-students/alexfurlin" target="_blank">painful memories</a>&nbsp;of being bullied. No matter what type of school someone attended, they likely know all about bullies - whether through personal experience or stories.Some students <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/kids-standing-up-to-bullying/anabel-conner" target="_blank">stand up to bullies</a> and put a stop to the mistreatment. Others, meanwhile,&nbsp;suffer from the life-long effects of being beaten up, called names, or having their school days made a living hell. For&nbsp;those who dealt with bullying in high school, however, sharing stories of their harassment on Reddit&nbsp;can prove cathartic.

People Share Their Stories Of Sadistic High School Bullying

General

Real People Share Their Heartbreaking High School Bully Stories

Jessika M. Thomas 

Lists about punishments, penalties, systemic harm, and execution methods used then, now, here, and all around the world.

Crime & Punishment

Torture

Capital punishment: the age-old way for humans to&nbsp;dispose of one another for crimes perceived to be the most egregious in a particular moment and place. As an ancient practice carried out countless times <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/state-sanctioned-execution-methods/shonna-wright" target="_blank">throughout history</a>,&nbsp;there have predictably been some horrifically failed&nbsp;attempts. These failed executions have resulted in sheer agony for the condemned, adding insult, injury, and intense suffering to their final moments.

This list serves as a lowlight reel for history&#39;s most brutally botched executions - some from as recent as 2015. What follows goes to show that the process of capital punishment still seems to be working out a few bugs, even after hundreds of years of testing. In fact, some of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/horrible-executions-still-used/harrison-tenpas" target="_blank">these methods are still used</a>&nbsp;around the world.

Botched Execution Attempts That Went Horribly Wrong

Harrison Tenpas

Strange True Stories

Most people would agree that the Internet has improved daily life. But the web has a dark side, too - the rise of social media has led&nbsp;to a rise in creepy online stalkers. These real-life creepy stalker stories are absolutely chilling, and it’s telling that so many of them begin with a seemingly innocent online meeting.If you’re looking for an excuse to limit your Internet time, these Reddit stalking tales&nbsp;will give you plenty of reasons to log off. They contain some of the most skin-crawling&nbsp;descriptions of stalking that you'll ever read.&nbsp;From ex boyfriends who just can't take a hint to strangers who lovingly pen poems to the objects of their obsessions, this list has them all.

14 People Describe Their Terrifying Encounters With Creepy Stalkers

14 People Describe Their Scary Stories About Creepy Stalkers

Jacob Shelton

Police & Law Enforcement

Private investigators don't just exist in movies and books. The occupation is a legitimate one, and almost as sordid&nbsp;as fictional detectives make it appear in <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-most-bizarre-true-crime-stories-in-history/justin-andress" target="_blank">true crime</a>&nbsp;shows. Reddit&nbsp;investigators might not encounter as many bizarre cases as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-happened-to-richard-lancelyn-green/melissa-sartore" target="_blank">Sherlock&nbsp;Holmes</a>&nbsp;or Jessica Jones, but their tales can still be pretty sensational.&nbsp;Real PI work requires intense preparation and lots of training; you can't solve a mystery without a certain skill set. It's impossible to plan for everything private investigators see, though. Most of these professionals treat their work&nbsp;with respect, but they're still shocked when cases go off the rails. A detective's day is full of surprises.&nbsp;

Private Investigators Describe The Most Bizarre Things They've Seen On The Job

15 Real Private Investigators Tell Their Craziest Stories

Lowe Saddler

Mysteries

Nicknamed &quot;Shelby&#39;s Sweetheart&quot;&nbsp;by her community, Asha Jaquilla Degree was last seen walking down a foggy highway in the early hours of Valentine&#39;s Day&nbsp;2000. She was only 9 years old. Over the past two decades, there have been multiple theories explaining why Asha left her Shelby, NC, home in the middle of the night, and as of 2016,&nbsp;there were&nbsp;350 leads on the case.

Despite these leads, one fact remains clear: No one has seen, heard from, or been able to find Asha Degree in over 20 years. Even after two decades of searching, Asha&#39;s family still believes she is alive; while this may strike some as wishful thinking, there are numerous <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/missing-people-who-were-found-alive/rydavis" target="_blank">missing persons</a> who have been found, sometimes years after they disappeared.

The Asha Degree case is still considered an open investigation; here&#39;s everything we know.

Everything We Know About The Mysterious Disappearance Of Asha Degree

Patrick Thornton

Lists of confessions from real people who should probably find a good therapist and talk this out.

That's Messed Up

As people grew more and more comfortable with sharing their <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/creepy-secret-stories/lea-rose-emery" target="_blank">deepest darkest secrets</a> online, it opens the door for more and more instances of blackmail. Awful blackmail stories, especially today, often happen over a person's computer, where email chains, private photographs, and personal information all become ammunition for a persistent blackmailer. <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/people-share-marriage-ending-secrets/nathan-gibson" target="_blank">Marriage-destroying secrets</a> and sex-shaming photographs emerge as a common thread among the worst blackmail stories. Thankfully, not all of these outrageous blackmail stories take such a negative turn. For all the awful blackmail stories out there, there are also&nbsp;funny blackmail stories between siblings and friends that just show tough love takes on many different forms.On Reddit&nbsp;where people recall times they got blackmailed, each of these stories usually involves a similar theme such as a scorned lover, but they all turn out mighty different from case to case. These outrageous blackmail stories, in addition to be wildly engrossing, remind you why it's always good to keep your receipts in order.

People Share The Craziest Blackmail Story They've Ever Heard (Or Experienced)

Mick Jacobs

True Crime

There has been a recent&nbsp;increasing fascination with true crime in media and entertainment. Recounting unspeakable&nbsp;stories usually feels more like a work of fiction than something that actually happened. Few people have literally been on the wrong side of a gun, a knife, or a deranged person and lived to tell the tale. There are some, though, who have been attacked by someone with an intent to kill and are still here to share their story.

There are plenty of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/crazy-survival-stories/lea-rose-emery" target="_blank">survival stories</a>&nbsp;that have been sensationalized by popular culture, and rightfully so, but these <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/bojhpr/serious_people_who_have_survived_a_murder_attempt/" target="_blank">Redditors</a>&nbsp;aren&#39;t likely to show up on any screen, big or small.

People Who Survived An Attempted Murder Tell Their Stories

Samantha Dillinger

Weird

While it&#39;s now considered history to younger students, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, are moments permanently etched in Americans&#39; minds. Most everyone can tell you exactly what they were doing when they heard about the events, and many&nbsp;who lost loved ones can recall the day in excruciating detail. 2,753 people lost their lives at the World Trade Center alone, and tens of thousands&nbsp;of survivors still live with physical and psychological health problems. The idea that someone would pretend to be involved in such a horrifying event is both shocking and distasteful - but one woman did exactly that.

Alicia Esteve Head - known primarily by her alias, Tania Head - was a graduate student in Barcelona during the events of 9/11. Despite not even being in New York City at the time, she joined the World Trade Center Survivors&#39; Network and told a dramatic story of being severely injured and losing her fianc&eacute;. Although this tale won her sympathy and friendship, those close to her - and reporters - started to sense something wasn&#39;t right. Her narrative wasn&#39;t always consistent, and after&nbsp;The New York Times&nbsp;opened up an investigation, people learned Tania Head&#39;s story was completely fabricated.

Her ruse was conveyed&nbsp;in the&nbsp;documentary&nbsp;<a href="http://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?TSID=5036&amp;GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FWoman-Who-Wasnt-There%2Fdp%2FB00AHGXIE2%2F&amp;amazon-ids-by-cc=US%3Drankercom2758741-20" target="_blank">The Woman Who Wasn&#39;t There</a>. Head&#39;s then-friend Angelo J. Guglielmo&nbsp;Jr.&nbsp;directed and produced the movie, and he originally intended to showcase the lives of survivors. He had to change tactics when Head&#39;s true story came out.

Like the documentary&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/worst-moments-from-mommy-dead-and-dearest-documentary/stefanie-hammond" target="_blank">Mommy Dead And Dearest</a>,&nbsp;the movie delves into a web of intricate lies and speculates about the motivation behind such harmful deceit. Trauma - especially collective grief - can make people act out in a strange manner, and Tania Head appears to be no exception.

'The Woman Who Wasn't There' Tells The Shocking Story Of A 9/11 Survivor Who Wasn't All She Seemed

The True Story Behind 'The Woman Who Wasn't There'

Anna Lindwasser

Lists about some of the worst people to ever live and the very bad ways things they did when they let their power go to their heads.

Real Historical Villains

Madame LaLaurie holds a special place in the mythology of the South, and New Orleans in particular. If&nbsp;there ever was a house that was haunted, it would be her mansion, a collection of rooms used for grotesquely&nbsp;harming and ending the lives of&nbsp;slaves in the most violent ways possible. Born Marie Delphine Macarty, Madame LaLaurie was a&nbsp;wealthy socialite and slave owner who had a body count that rumored to be somewhere near 100. Other accounts believe she owned closer to <a href="https://deepsouthmag.com/2014/01/15/real-madame-lalaurie-legends-american-horror-story-coven/" target="_blank">50 slaves</a>.

Many people believe that it was after she married her third husband that <a href="https://historydaily.org/delphine-lalaurie-new-orleans-famously-sadistic-slave-owner" target="_blank">LaLaurie&#39;s&nbsp;virulent instincts</a> kicked in. Whatever the reason, she was known to openly flog her slaves for even the most trivial of perceived slights. Even given the abhorrent standards of behavior towards slaves in her time and place, this was considered extreme, and her behavior got her <a href="http://www.vice.com/read/a-portrait-of-cruelty-madame-marie-delphine-lalaurie-982" target="_blank">investigated for&nbsp;cruelty</a> in&nbsp;1828, 1829, and 1832.

Some historians believe her worst actions&nbsp;may have been exaggerated over time as her tale became a legend, but even contemporary news reports of the area paint a terrifying picture. With this collection of gruesome facts,&nbsp;you&#39;ll come to meet one of the most disturbing people who ever walked the face of the earth, and one who never faced any recrimination for the brutality she doled out.

Actress Kathy Bates depicted a fictionalized version of LaLaurie in the third season of American Horror Story. And in October 2019, The Conjuring writers&nbsp;Chad&nbsp;and&nbsp;Carey Hayes announced their plans to begin a new horror film franchise based on&nbsp;LaLaurie&#39;s home. <a href="https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3591518/conjuring-writers-announce-new-horror-franchise-based-haunted-lalaurie-mansion/?fbclid=IwAR2MSdGYv6U6njr4whfyzdLgbipVoKq0M_5JaEzzFJHFSB77FGjan7srWm4" target="_blank">They describe their intention</a> saying, &quot;The stories will unfold in multiple installments covering the history of the house from recent horrific events of modern day all the way back to the terrifying origins of the house&#39;s history and its owner,&nbsp;<a href="https://historydaily.org/delphine-lalaurie-new-orleans-famously-sadistic-slave-owner" target="_blank">Madame Delphine LaLaurie</a>.&quot;

Madame LaLaurie has become a part of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/axeman-of-new-orleans-facts/amandasedlakhevener" target="_blank">New Orleans legend</a>, and her house, as it stands now, is said to be haunted by the ghosts of the slaves who met their demise at her hands. Even if you don&#39;t <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-who-believe-in-ghosts/celebrity-lists" target="_blank">believe in ghosts</a>, the story is so disturbing that a haunting feels likely.

19 Facts About Madame LaLaurie, Socialite, Slave Torturer, & Serial Killer

19 Horrifying Facts About Madame Lalaurie, Socialite & Serial Killer

Prison

When a criminal is deemed to be the &quot;worst of the worst,&quot;&nbsp;they&#39;re sent to the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado, otherwise known as ADX. This high-security prison in the middle of nowhere is meant to keep hardened offenders&nbsp;as far away from the general population&nbsp;as possible. It&#39;s unlikely anyone could escape, and for many of its residents, ADX will be the last place they ever see.&nbsp;

ADX has been operating since 1994 and it&#39;s the only prison in America that offers no real means of rehabilitation. Most of the people who end up there have either committed enough terrible acts that the system doesn&#39;t know what to do with them, or they&#39;ve committed crimes against&nbsp;the American Government.&nbsp;

The institution has come under fire for its lack of medical facilities and treatment of its patients, and in the mid-2010s, after a significant amount of legal pressure, ADX reevaluated its practices. Still, the day-to-day life for an inmate at&nbsp;ADX isn&rsquo;t a cakewalk, and most of them spend their time in solitary confinement.

Realities Of Daily Life In Florence ADX Supermax Prison

What Is Life In Florence ADX Supermax Prison Like?

Lists of unsettling and grisly details about what happened to kidnapping victims who were held against their will. 

While They Were Held Hostage

On November 4, 1970, Los Angeles child services discovered an unprecedented case of child neglect. At 13, Susan Wiley had the demeanor and appearance of a 6 or 7-year-old girl. When the authorities began investigating parents Irene and Clark Wiley, they found that two of the four Wiley children passed within months of their births. A third child lived with Clark&rsquo;s mother until her unexpected passing, and the fourth was Susan, also known as &ldquo;Genie.&rdquo; Genie, despite her age, was unable to speak, feed herself, or use the toilet. At less than 60 pounds, the girl walked with an unusual gait, the result of years of confinement.&nbsp;

After child services rescued Genie, child psychologists devoted themselves to the girl&rsquo;s recovery. Known as a &ldquo;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-feral-children/justin-andress" target="_blank">feral child</a>,&rdquo; Genie&rsquo;s isolation from society in her formative years caused her to have stunted cognitive and behavioral abilities. She never developed the ability to communicate with language, although her behavioral and social skills improved with years of positive reinforcement and therapy. Since Genie, other cases of feral children have come to light, such as <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/dani-girl-in-the-window-florida-feral-child/nathan-gibson" target="_blank">Danielle Crockett</a>, known as &ldquo;The Girl in the Window,&rdquo; and Ukraine&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/oxana-malaya-feral-child-facts/erin-wisti" target="_blank">Oxana Malaya</a>.

The courts arrested Genie&rsquo;s parents, but Clark took his own life&nbsp;before the trial. The judge subsequently dismissed the charges against Irene. In 1994, Nova - a PBS series - released an Emmy-winning documentary about Genie called Secret of the Wild Child. As of 2016, Genie lives in a Los Angeles facility as a permanent ward of the state.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

A Little Girl Was Locked In A Basement By Her Own Parents For More Than A Decade

Laura Allan

A look at the happenings and goings-on in and around America's wang.

Meanwhile, in Florida...

Though Florida may seem warm and sunny, there&#39;s a dark side to the Sunshine State. The crimes on this list are sinister and mysterious, and they all have one thing in common - they remain unsolved. There are no easy answers when it comes to these unsolved murders, disappearances, and unidentified victims discovered in the state of Florida.

Creepy Unsolved Crimes And Mysteries From Florida

Creepy Florida Unsolved Mysteries

Jodi Smith

Lists about what's going on on Capitol Hill and in your own backyard.

US Government & Politics

Explainer

Laws named after victims remain a source of debate. While plenty of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/crimes-by-rich-white-women/elle-tharp" target="_blank">brutal crimes</a> occur within any given year, only a very small percentage&nbsp;lead to changes to our legal system. When it comes to US laws created because of crimes, public outrage is key. Particularly <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/crimes-by-rich-white-women/elle-tharp" target="_blank">horrifying kidnappings</a>, murders, and suicides receive&nbsp;an unusual amount of press coverage, often resulting in&nbsp;the widespread backlash needed to pressure politicians into reforming the legal system.&nbsp;The crimes that resulted in new laws&nbsp;were already illegal when they were committed. The resulting legislation is usually seen&nbsp;as closing a loophole or addressing a unique aspect of the crime. However, there is much public debate on whether such laws are ethical or effective. People who have laws named after them are honored and memorialized, on the one hand, but critics argue such laws are often too reactionary to be truly effective.&nbsp;If you're unsure where you stand on the issue, browse this list. It will help you develop a more detailed understanding of how and why some crimes lead to new laws.&nbsp;

Every US Law Named After A Victim And What It Does

Arizona is beautiful, with its picturesque mountains, desert landscape, and welcoming residents. However, beneath this tourist-friendly facade is&nbsp;a dark underbelly of&nbsp;depravity and murder. These true crimes from Arizona might make you think twice before heading on a family road trip to the desert. You may have heard of Arizona's most notorious killers, which include Jodi Arias&nbsp;and&nbsp;Pamela Phillips.But did you know about Cynthia Lynn Coffman and James Marlow, serial killers who targeted women? How about&nbsp;Winnie Ruth Judd, a married woman who killed her two best friends because they had slept with her boyfriend, then stuffed their bodies in trunks bound for Los Angeles, CA?&nbsp;There is much more than meets the eye in Arizona, and these shocking stories will show what terrifying things can happen&nbsp;after dark.&nbsp;

Heinous Crimes And Unsolved Mysteries From Arizona

Most Chilling Unsolved Crimes From Arizona

Stefanie Hammond

History

What was it like to live in the Tower of London? That depended on a prisoner's social position and personal wealth; however, even&nbsp;the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-happened-to-the-princes-in-the-tower/christy-box" target="_blank">most notable prisoners</a> were subject to horrible fates. Many prisoners in the Tower of London faced torture and even death, but privileged inhabitants brought servants and threw feasts.&nbsp;The Tower of London didn't start off as a prison, but it certainly became one of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-ghosts-haunt-the-tower-of-london/erin-mccann" target="_blank">gnarliest places</a> to send criminals and political enemies. The last&nbsp;executions at the Tower of London took place after<a href="https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/shot-tower/" target="_blank"> World War II&nbsp;when Josef Jakobs</a> was shot by firing squad. But between its origins and the final shot, the Tower of London offered a vast array of experiences for&nbsp;prisoners.

What It Was Like To Be A Prisoner At The Tower Of London

Tower Of London Prison History: What Daily Life Was Like

Melissa Sartore

Lists about real people who were held against their will, the monsters who tormented them, and the grisly details of what went on during those dark times.

Human Captives

The Fritzl case came to public attention in April 2008, when Elisabeth Fritzl and two of the three children living with her emerged from their basement prison in Amstetten, Austria. Her own father, Josef Fritzl, had locked her in a hidden basement for 24 years. He had repeatedly sexually assaulted his daughter, which resulted in numerous pregnancies. He also forced her to give birth to their seven children <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/normal-people-human-captives/lyra-radford" target="_blank">in captivity</a>. Elisabeth&rsquo;s mother lived in the upper sections of the home, believing her 18-year-old daughter had run away.

In 2008, Elisabeth&rsquo;s eldest daughter, Kerstin, fell ill. Elisabeth convinced Fritzl to take the 19-year-old girl to the hospital. There, doctors wanted more information on Kerstin&rsquo;s medical history and made public pleas for the mother to come forward. Fritzl let Elisabeth - then 42 - out of the basement for the first time since she was 18. He took her to speak with the doctors, and the police then intervened.

The following year, Austrian courts found Fritzl guilty of multiple charges, including murder, rape, enslavement, and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/incest-murder-cases/lea-rose-emery" target="_blank">incest</a>. He received life in a psychiatric prison.&nbsp;In 2010, filmmakers released <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/disturbing-incest-documentaries/david-harrison" target="_blank">the documentary</a> Monster: The Josef Fritzl Story. By 2013, authorities sealed the cellar space where Elisabeth lived in concrete, although the rest of the building still stands. Elisabeth and her children are living somewhere in Austria and undergoing therapy.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Remembering The Horrific Case of Josef Fritzl's Incest Dungeon

The Worst Things Josef Fritzl Ever Did (To His Own Daughter)

Amanda Sedlak-Hevener

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