Hi, friends! I’m Crystal, and I write the That Got Dark newsletter, BuzzFeed’s weekly roundup of all things creepy, macabre, and horrible AF. And if you looooove this kind of content, you should subscribe to get your weekly dopamine fix of the macabre delivered RIGHT to your inbox!
Here’s what the newsletter is covering this week:
1.
The fact that when someone is cremated, the “ashes” we receive aren’t actually ashes at all.
Turns out, after the body is incinerated, what’s left are bone fragments, which are then ground down in a machine called a cremulator to create the fine powder we think of as “ashes.” Just a little reminder that even in death, there’s always a twist. 💀
2.
This horrifying and tragic video of a 31-year-old hiker who fell to his death while trying to take a photo on Nama Peak in Sichuan, China. You can see the original video here, but fair warning, it is highly sensitive in nature.
The hiker reportedly unhooked his safety rope near a crevasse to get a better shot, slipped, and slid more than 650 feet down the icy slope — and it was all caught on camera as his friends watched helplessly. Apparently, the group had been climbing in a restricted area, and authorities are now investigating.
3.
The chilling case of Angela Hammond, a 20-year-old from Clinton, Missouri, who went missing under mysterious circumstances on April 4, 1991.
At the time she went missing, Angela was four months pregnant and engaged to a man named Rob Shafer. After dropping Rob off at his parents’ house one night, Angela stopped at a pay phone in town to call him.
During the call, she mentioned seeing a suspicious man circling the lot in a green Ford pickup truck. Moments later, Rob heard her scream. He rushed out to help and reportedly saw the truck speeding away — with Angela inside. Despite ongoing investigations and periodic new leads, Angela Hammond has never been found.
Founded by Jim Jones in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Peoples Temple cult is best known for the mass murder–suicide at Jonestown, Guyana, on Nov. 18, 1978 — often called the Jonestown Massacre.
More than 900 people died after being forced or coerced to drink a cyanide-laced flavored drink (not actually Kool-Aid, but a cheaper brand called Flavor Aid), inspiring the phrase “drink the Kool-Aid.”
Jones himself died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The massacre was the largest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural, deliberate event until the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
The acclaimed singer-songwriter — known for his whispery vocals and emotionally raw lyrics — was found in his Los Angeles apartment with two stab wounds to the chest.
His girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba, told police they’d been arguing, she’d locked herself in the bathroom, and when she came out, she found him with a knife in his chest and a note that read: “I’m so sorry, love, Elliott. God forgive me.”
Though it appeared to be a suicide, the coroner’s report couldn’t rule out foul play, noting unusual details like possible defensive wounds, the angle and depth of the wounds, and lingering questions about the note. Smith had long struggled with depression and addiction, and no one was ever charged, but his death remains an unsettling mystery.
6.
Finally, the story of Thomas Warren Whisenhant, a serial killer from Alabama who abducted, raped, and murdered women near Mobile County in the 1960s to 1970s.
Between 1975 and 1976, he targeted store clerks working alone, killing and mutilating at least three victims, and even returned to one crime scene to further mutilate the body. He was arrested in 1976 after one of the murders and confessed to multiple killings.
He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, though his case went through several retrials due to appeals and procedural issues. After spending more than 30 years on death row, he was executed by lethal injection in 2010.
His last meal: Chicken leg quarters, French fries, American cheese, orange drink, coffee, and chocolate pudding.
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