Necropants

Yesterday, I went to visit an exhibit about Vikings with a couple of good friends. As we toured the exhibit, one of my friends asked me, “Have you heard of necropants?”

And here are a pair — well, a replica of a pair.

necropants Iceland

Necropants are part of Icelandic magic folklore from the 17th century. Wearing these pants are meant to guarantee your wealth, but getting a pair involves finding a living man willing to donate his skin to you after he dies, and a coin from a widow (in one account, I read that the widow had to be of the guy whose legs you are about to wear) during a Christmas or Easter. You place the coin in the scrotum of the pants to ensure your wealth. What is worse, I think, is that you are supposed to wear them from that point on and then make sure to get them off before you die.

The following video does a good job of explaining the zany rules around making the necropants work.

Horror Cinema: Late Phases

Movie review
Adrián García Bogliano’s Late Phases

Late Phases features a blind hero who battles werewolves. Being blind, his sense of smell and hearing are heightened, like the werewolves. This makes for a really interesting take on the werewolf story. The story was well told and the werewolf attacks were appropriately gruesome.

Adrián García Bogliano. Late Phases, Dark Sky Films, 2014.

Horror Gore

Searching online for good horror make-up, I found this list from Dread Central of the 10 Modern Horror Films With Awesome Practical Effects:

  • The Evil Dead (remake)
  • Late Phases
  • 30 Days of Night
  • Slither
  • Exists
  • Turistas
  • Jeepers Creepers
  • Hell Fire
  • John Dies at the End
  • Altered

I have not seen many of these movies, which is good because it means I have got a bunch of horror movies to watch! I am going to start with Slither.

Still from Gunn, James. Slither, Universal Pictures, 2006.

Haunted UK: Roman Soldier Ghosts

With it being the month named after Mars, I decided to look up ghost stories about Roman soldiers. I found the story of a sighting of Roman soldier ghosts in York, Britain. The mix of history and storytelling in the story is fascinating.

Here, a tour guide tells the story of the ghost sighting, which happened back in 1953:

For those who prefer reading, here is a print version of the story: