My Toilet is Possessed by the Devil

When I was a kid, one of my greatest treats in life was being allowed to buy a Weekly World News at the grocery store checkout stand every time I got dragged along to Kroger. The Weekly World News introduced me to West Virginia's own Bat Boy, spontaneous human combustion, and a whole array of aliens, ghosts, cryptids, and just plain weird stuff.  I don't remember this particular story...but there's no mistaking that black and white  layout of MY favorite publication! If you look VERY closely along the right hand side, it appears as if the original publication date was August 31, 1993 or 1998.

 This lady dealing with the possessed toilet needs to join up with the Haunted Toaster lady; they can start a support group for owners of bedeviled household necessities!  Or, maybe there needs to be a toilet-only possession support group.  It seems as if this toilet isn't the only demonic commode to be featured in the pages of the Weekly World News.

The possessed toilet articles are obviously another installment of my Friday Funnies series...but for those of you who might want a little more...scholarly....reading on the topic of why a bathroom may be haunted, I've written an article explaining MY thoughts.  You can read it here:  HAUNTED BATHROOMS  Stay spooky...and keep your guard up the next time you have to take a restroom break!

Synergize with Demons! A Friday Funny

If all exorcisms could be this easy...I hope this lil' demon got his fries for being so accommodating!  We're not always on the same side, but this little comic reminds us to at least be civil to each other and lend a helping hand. Happy Friday, everyone! 

This comic is the work of Mr. Lovenstein.  Check out the link and support awesome artists.

The Exorcist Staircase

Horror fans come in all forms...

On June 3 2018, Kimberly Suiters, a reporter with WJLA (an ABC News affiliate in D.C.) snapped this photo of two young priests recreating a famous scene from The Exorcist.  The Exorcist is a staple in demon-related pop culture, which makes this hilarious photo the perfect Friday Funny addition to Demon Week!  And, if you find yourself in the Georgetown area, feel free to visit the staircase for  yourself.  You're sure to get some cool photos---but probably not as cool as this one!  

See the ORIGINAL POST here.

The Suicide of Judas: Demonic Art

Welcome to another day of Demon Week here at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State! I love to incorporate weird, supernatural art into my posts, so when I stumbled upon this image, I knew instantly that I wanted to included it into this week's theme.The oil painting, called The Suicide of Judas, was completed around 1491 by Italian artist, Giovanni Canavesio.

It depicts the suicide of Judas Iscariot following his betrayal of Jesus Christ in a rather...stylized?...way.  Apparently, when sinners die, the soul (which is a tiny, well-groomed, naked version of our outer body) is plucked from our chest cavity by a hairy little demon, not much bigger than our naked soul baby.

This is a pretty horrifying image today; I cannot imagine how much of an impact it must have had in the 15th century.  While the demon/devil isn't necessarily depicted as too ghastly, its still a disturbing enough image to make me rethink sinning!

The Suicide of Judas can found in the Chapel of Notre-Dame des Fontaines, near La Brigue, along with Canavesio's other religious works.  And just a quick note:  Obviously this is a historical piece chosen for its demon imagery, but it is in no way intended to make light of the very serious suicide problem we are facing today.  Depression affects people from every walk of life, and suicide touches our young, our celebrities, our veterans, our marginalized communities, and everyone in between---many whom you would never know by simply looking at them.  Be good to each other and reach out to those who might be struggling.  Stay spooky---and catch me over at Theresa's Haunted History Facebook page for more demonic posts throughout the week!

Demons for Sale

If I managed this produce department, I'd FIRE the writer of this sign. Not only is it really weird that he/she chose to randomly use a cursive 'L' for lemons when all other letters are printed...but this sign contains one of my biggest pet peeves in the whole demon-infested world. If you are writing that something costs x amount of cents, and you use the cents sign, then you do NOT need to add the decimal!!! By adding the decimal, you're actually stating that the price of the lemons shown here are less than 4 tenths of a penny. Every time I see a sign like this, I want to challenge the cashier and refuse to pay anything but what is stated right there on the sign.  Wow, this sign really is demonic, lol. It has brought out a terribly ugly side of my personality, lol. 

Friday Funny: Hell Hounds Welcome!

Ha! Here's a little Demon Week humor for you. I'm not gonna lie---I had to read that twice. I guess Hell Hounds are perfectly acceptable in the common areas of Pendle College's student housing?

Hehehehe...anyway, apparently this sign is a clever lil' play on words in reference to the Pendle Witch Trials, England's most famous and well documented set of witch trials in history. What do you think...is this sign funny, meh, or just in poor taste?

FREE Kindle Books on Demonology

Demonology is a subject that many are interested in, and it continues to be as hot a topic today as it was 100 years ago. So, today's quickie blog is a list of three totally FREE ebooks on the subject of demonology. Have you read any of these?


1. Demonology and Devil-Lore, by Moncure Daniel Conway

According to the Cambridge Library Collection: "In this two-volume work, first published in 1879, Conway draws from examples across the world to discuss the origins and decline of beliefs in demons. In Volume 1, he classifies types of demon and argues that the various types are personifications of the main obstacles to 'primitive man'. In Volume 2, he discusses the role that the Devil plays in Christianity, and that similar figures play in other religions." Also available through Project Gutenberg

2. Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft, by Sir Walter Scott

"The book takes the form of ten letters addressed to J.G. Lockhart, the epistolary mode permitting Scott to be both conversational in tone and discursive in method. In these, Scott surveys opinions respecting demonology and witchcraft from the Old Testament period to his own day. As a child of the Enlightenment, he adopts a rigorously rational approach to his subject. Supernatural visions are attributed to 'excited passion', to credulity, or to physical illness."--Source and More Info





3. The History of the Devil as Well Ancient as Modern in Two Parts, by Daniel DeFoe

This book is also known as The Political History of the Devil.  "The Political History of the Devil is a study of the devil by novelist, satirist and political journalist Daniel Defoe (1660?-1731). It was published in 1726 but this illustrated edition is from 1819. Defoe, a Protestant Dissenter, believed in the devil as a physical being at work in the world. The Political History of the Devil suggests that the devil appears on earth both in his own form and through inhabiting the bodies and minds of other beings. Defoe was strongly anti-Catholic and here he associates the devil with Catholicism, specifically with the Pope." Source and More Info