Sideshow Anomalies

Woman wears corset day and night to deform waist into freaky wasp-shape silhouette

// June 11th, 2013 // No Comments » // Sideshow Anomalies

Michele Koebke deformed waist has been shrunk to 21 inches

24-year-old Berlin native Michele Koebke has a goal in life – to set the world record for the World’s Tiniest Waist. In order to achieve this goal, and create the wasp-waist silhouette that was so popular in the 19th century, she has worn a tight corset every day and night for the past three years (she removes the corset to shower). When she began her quest, her waist measured a mere 25 inches. Thus far she’s shrunk it down to 20 inches and intends to get it down to 15 inches before she stops – or before she is forced to stop.

Mind-reading girl set to be added to worldwide registry of people with phenomenal savant talents

// April 9th, 2013 // No Comments » // Sideshow Anomalies

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In 2013, a nine-year-old autistic girl from Sharjah, India was discovered to have an extraordinary ability to feel her mother’s emotions and read her mother’s thoughts without touch or any other physical medium. Nandana Unnikrishnan was revealed to the world in April 2013 and she could be the next name added to a worldwide registry of people with savant talents. Her parents began to notice her unusual reactions to her mother’s thoughts at an early age. When her mother felt or thought something, nine-year-old Nandana would react – without being told. Before long they began to realize that it was not just coincidence – Nandana was reading her mother’s mind.

Raymond Robinson – the true story behind the legend of “Charlie No Face” (aka The Green Man) surfaces

// January 21st, 2013 // No Comments » // Sideshow Anomalies

The Green Man or Charlie No Face (Raymond Robinson)

In the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, children are often told the tale of a monstrous creature, a faceless man that wanders the streets at night, stalking the roads, looking for prey.  They call him the “Green Man” or “Charlie No Face”.  “If you go out after dark, Charlie No Face may grab you.”  “If you stay […]

German Super Baby – mutated gene gives baby superhuman strength

// December 27th, 2012 // No Comments » // Sideshow Anomalies

German Superbaby at 7 months of age

In 1999, a former professional sprinter gave birth to a bouncing baby boy in Berlin, Germany. For the first four years, the baby boy had a somewhat normal life – until researchers found out he was a “super baby”.

Grady Stiles – the Lobster Boy

// December 26th, 2012 // No Comments » // Sideshow Anomalies

Grady Stiles, better known as the Lobster Boy, was not content to just be unusual in appearance. Born with a condition know as ectrodactyly, Grady eked out a living as a sideshow anomaly. Stranger still, his turbulent life lead Grady to drinking, murder, and eventually, death.

Schlitzie the Pinhead

// December 26th, 2012 // No Comments » // Sideshow Anomalies

From birth Schlitzie looked like any other baby boy but as the years progressed, it became apparent that he suffered from microcephaly, a condition where the face grows at a normal rate but the head does not. Microcephaly bestows upon the person an abnormally small head (often only half the size of a normal head) and sloping forehead. Known as “chaus”, “rat people” or “pinheads”, the condition almost always results in mental retardation and diminished brain capacity. The cause of the condition varies. Sometimes it can be caused when a child’s mother consumes excessive alcohol. There is no cure.

Minnie Woolsey – Koo Koo the Bird Girl

// December 26th, 2012 // No Comments » // Sideshow Anomalies

Koo Koo, the Bird Girl was born Minnie Woolsey in Georgia in 1880. Fate dealt Minnie a bad hand – she was born with a rare skeletal disorder, Virchow-Seckel syndrome. Virchow-Seckel syndrome is also known as bird-headed dwarfism, Harper’s syndrome or Seckel dwarfism. It is characterized by growth retardation and dwarfism, an extremely small head, a narrow bird-like face with a beak-like nose, large eyes with an unusual slant, a recessed jaw line, and mild mental retardation. It is very rare.

Prince Randian (The Human Torso or Human Caterpillar)

// December 26th, 2012 // No Comments » // Sideshow Anomalies

Prince Randian, billed as the Living Torso, was a side show performer during the 1930’s. He starred in the landmark film, Freaks, where he was mistakenly credited as “Rardion”. Born without arms and legs, Randian was often introduced as “the human caterpillar who crawls on his belly like a reptile”.

Lady Olga – the Bearded Lady

// December 26th, 2012 // No Comments » // Sideshow Anomalies

Jane Barnell, a “bearded lady” who used the stage name Lady Olga, was born February 28, 1877 in Wilmington, North Carolina. According to historians, Jane was already bearded at four years old when Barnell’s mother sold Jane to the Great Orient Family Circus. Her deformity caused her mother to believe she was bewitched and she sold Jane to the circus when her father was away on business. Jane quickly fell ill in Berlin and expected to die, was left in an orphanage, where she was later found by her father and returned to her home.