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A Moscow Metro stop has been designed to offer a Dostoevsky theme, and is now one of the world's most gloomy mass transit stations.
Consider the scenic murals, for instance:
One controversial mural re-enacts the moment when the main character in the novel Crime and Punishment murders an elderly pawnbroker and her sister with an axe.
Another shows a suicide-obsessed character in Dostoevsky's novel The Demons holding a pistol to his temple.
Even better,
If that was not enough to darken the mood, shadowlike characters are shown flitting across the cavernous new station's walls and a giant mosaic of a depressed-looking Dostoevsky stares out at passengers.
This is probably the latter:
As with most fearsome media, there are suicide fears, like "psychologists have warned that its "negative energy" could make it a favourite spot for committing suicide."
Another Gothic touch: "The station, which started receiving trains last Saturday, was supposed to open more than a month ago but its inauguration was mysteriously delayed."
And a splendid Russian touch:
The artist responsible for the murals, Ivan Nikolayev, said he was unrepentant and had trouble understanding his critics. "What did you want? Scenes of dancing?"
Dostoevsky does not have them," he said.
(thanks to Slav-minded Jesse Walker)
Ritual killings for human hair are going on in Kenya, claims a local crime report. One man confessed to up to seven murders, while describing a group conducting more.
[John Okoth Otieno] said they [his religious group] were not interested in ransom or blood from the victims but human hair, which they produce to their seniors to assess their progress...
The suspect, who shocked police with the ease in which he made the confessions, said members of the cult meet every last Friday of the month in Kisumu, Kericho or Nairobi, where they compare notes on how many each had killed.
I'm reminded of one of the fine early X-Files episodes, "Irresistible." Remember "is your hair normal or dry?"
(via Warren Ellis)
"Night of the Living Wonks" is a slice from Daniel Drenzer's upcoming book, Theories of International Politics and Zombies (forthcoming).
The text is largely a parody of political theories. For example, "Zombie Realpolitik" ends up considering
How large would the army of the Cuban undead need to be to justify the deployment of the 82nd Airborne?
A swipe at liberal theory considers:
Provided that the initial spread of zombies did not completely wipe out governments, the liberal expectation would be that an international counterzombie regime could make significant inroads into the problem.
And a lunge at George W. Bush policy is inevitable:
an "Axis of Evil Dead"... would sabotage any attempt at broad-based coalition warfare, hindering military effectiveness in a Global War on Zombies (GWOZ).
Has anyone printed up GWOZ t-shirts yet?
At least one commentator wonders about a Kissinger approach to the shambling dead.
(thanks to Charles Cameron)
Haunted house home values have been hit hard by the Great Recession, according to the Onion.
Thousands of agents who used to specialize in old homes with a terrible secret in their walls have switched to non-paranormal houses, which, while still difficult to sell, are faring better on average than their green-glowing counterparts.
"We were handing out 30-year fixed rate [mortgages] with nothing down to anyone who was willing to ignore the spine-tingling whispers emanating from the basement. But since the market crashed, people don't even want to look inside."
Charges of cannibalism have been raised in one French criminal case.
The anthropophagic foodie prepared his meal rapidly:
Nicolas Cocaign, 39, appeared in court in the northern city of Rouen for allegedly killing Thierry Baudry in January 2007 by punching and kicking him, stabbing him with a pair of scissors and suffocating him with a rubbish bag.Mr Cocaign then allegedly sliced open Baudry's chest with a razor blade, removed a rib and pulled out an organ which he believed was the man's heart, but which in fact was a lung.
He is accused of eating part of the lung raw and then frying the rest of it with some onions on a makeshift cooker in the cell in the Rouen prison.
The explanation was less culinary and more metaphysical:
"I wanted to take his soul," Mr Cocaign, who at the time of the crime was in custody awaiting trial for attempted armed robbery, allegedly told an investigating judge probing the case.
(thanks to Jesse Walker)
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