alt.culture: a bit of alternative culture for you.
The Astounding B Monster is the place to check out for offbeat films of all kinds.
Bizarre Historical Trivia provides a bit of history that's much more fun than what we learned in school. The site includes how the disease-ridden louse (the bug) has changed history, explores the questions of whether Pope Joan ever existed, etc.
Bizarre Magazine has a complementary website with articles and photographs on eating all kinds of insects, a column inviting bizarre questions from the public, etc. A fun timewaster.
Bud E. Luv the homepage for those of you who missed the book. A major talent. You bet. The lounge singer who will drive you to tears (or drink) or whatever.
The Burns Archive is a must-see site with historical vintage photographs. The Burns collection has been the subject of several excellent books, including Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America, Masterpieces of Medical Photography, and Harm's Way: Lust and Madness, Murder and Mayhem.
The Christian Catacombs of Rome give the virtual visitor a history of the catacombs, their importance, an overview of Christian symbols of the period, and information on visiting those sites open to tourists.
Cecil Adams created a wonderful column called The Straight Dope that appears in various newspapers. In it, Adams answers questions--all kind of questions, stupid or smart. This is his unofficial webpage, and you can read his columns on it.
The Central Intelligence Museum is a very unofficial site that exhibits a briefcase that fires a Smith & Wesson 9mm, a cigarette incendiary device, and other gadgets worthy of James Bond. Most are supposedly real, some might be fake. You decide.
City of the Silent: Here's a site for those interested in cemeteries and gravestones. It surveys the history of cemeteries, displays photographs of interesting cemetery art, gives instruction on the art of gravestone rubbing, and gives links to other death-related sites.
The Clown Hall of Fame, opened in 1987, is physically located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but here's a virtual website for those interested in the subject. It includes a brief history of clowning, descriptions of the various types of clowns (with pictures), and bios and illustrations of the inductees.
Codex: Everything you want to know about privacy and security can be found in the Codex Privacy Suite.
The Black Ops Encyclopedia of Conspiracy home page is an excellent guide to all kinds of conspiracies and conspiracy theory. The Encyclopedia itself, which will be published in 1998 by HarperCollins is by Miriam Joan Hill and Robert Anton Wilson.
Consumer Product Safety is an ugly but useful site with important information, courtesy of the U.S. government.
The Contortionist Homepage has photographs and profiles on practitioners of this art, plus training tips and other invaluable information.
David Cronenberg is an unofficial website devoted to archiving everything connected to the brilliant Canadian director. It includes a filmography, rumors of upcoming projects, reviews of his movies, interviews, and links to other sites of interest to Cronenberg fans.
Electronic Postcards: Send an electronic postcard. Your online postcard can have beautiful or icky photo graphs and illustrations, everything from Van Gogh to Man Ray, the life cycle of the flea to pictures of the denizens of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Not as fast as email but a lot more fun...
Eye Candy: All kinds of art on the web chosen by Justin Hall.
Factsheet Five is the best guide in print for discovering obscure magazines. Now you can read it online.
The Filled Pause Research Center is a fascinating site analysing those little fillers we all use when talking like...uh...off the cuff.
Frankenstein charts the evolution of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster from Mary Shelley's novel to modern times.
Goats/goat shrine: Whoever runs the Goats/goat shrine website is obviously obsessed with the critters. T hey really love their goats and can tell you anything you ever wanted to know about them. And you can see photographs of their faves.
The Hitchcock Page for fans of Psycho, The Birds, and other films by the master.
History of Things That Never Were is an intriguing site by Edgar Governo about alternative histories created on television, movies, books, and comics.
The Hour of the Wolf is Jim Freund's homepage and a great one it is, with information and links to many of Jim's enthusiasms including his radio show, Steeleye Span, science fiction, fantasy, a list of recommended reading.
The Compendium of HTML Elements is an invaluable tool for those who create webpages.
Inconspicuous Consumption is a wonderful site by Paul Lukas, who formerly did the column for The New York Press and New York Magazine. He covers such items as Reindeer pate and other canned meats, tooth towels--when brushing is just not enough, etc.
Chuck Jones creator of Wylie E. Coyote, Daffy Duck, and other cartoon characters we know and love (or hate) has a site devoted to his life and work.
Deb and Jen's Land 'O Useless Facts will tell you how Dr. Seuss actually pronounced his name, which tiger subspecies have the most and the least stripes, the lifespan of a tastebud, and other arcane facts.
Los Angeles Coroner's Office is the unofficial website for the L.A. Coroner's Office with an faq and more to the point, a wonderfully macabre gift shop from which you can order a toe tag keychain, a wristwatch with a chalk line body logo, bath towels with the same logo, etc. Tasteless? You bet.
MeatMation is kind of indescribable but worth a look/read.
Men in Black is a newish monthly magazine that's not only about those ubiquitous men in black but also about mysterious creatures like the New Jersey Devil, about Houdini, and about alien technology.
The Morbid Fact of the Day has been supplying the good news since August 1996. They've got quite an archive by now and it grows daily.
The Museum of Jurassic Technology has been immortalized in Lawrence Weschler's book about it: Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder. This museum of natural and not-so-natural oddities and wonders exists in Los Angeles but now you can visit it on the web.
The National Association of Investigative Specialists is a trade organization for private eyes, which for the past 16 years has been seeking to create positive publicity for the trade. Are you a private eye or thinking of becoming one? If you join you can receive their newsletter, get airline, car rental, and book discounts, and attend the annual convention.
The Night Gallery is a must for horror fans and readers.
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal brings you a biography of the man who was responsible for, and scenes from such sf/fantasy classics as The Time Machine, Atlantis, the Lost Continent, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, and War of the Worlds.
IBM Patent Server gives access to all U.S patents filed since 1971 and includes inventions like the human slingshot machine and non-staling aerated bubble gum.
Police Forensics from all over the world links into sites all over the world. Watch criminals in action as their thievery is recorded on video. See the updated photographs and rap sheets on the FBI's Most Wanted List. Check out the New York cop's own web page. Great stuff.
Primal Scream: The Voice of Rage is a website devoted to crime and justice with a calendar of historical criminal dates, photographs of the Gein family burial plot, library of articles on criminal justice and criminal ravings, links, etc.
Private Eye Want to be a private eye? Here's everything you need to know.
The Gallery of Regrettable Food presents recipes and advertising from earlier decades, and features Eleanor Roosevelt hawking a "simple hot dog with mustard" (but you haven't seen/heard anything until you've witnessed the lady "singing" High Hopes on the Frank Sinatra Variety show of yesteryear).
Roadkill Network: At the Roadkill network site you can order and buy roadkill--for eating or whatever.
Scary Women is an outgrowth of a symposium on the image of the girl and woman as monstrous in popular film.
Serial Killers is a subsection of The Internet Crime Archive, above and catalogs serial killers by the number of victims and tells you their various crimes.
Shelby--My Mom's Chihuahua is a cute little dog dressed up in hats, etc. This site is guaranteed to cheer you up.
Sideshow Banners is a wonderful site with some of the colorful banners of the old freak shows, commentary on what was advertised and what you actually got, a lexicon of carny lingo, and lots more about this great bit of Americana.
Sissy (parody of Sassy magazine)
The Smoking Gun displays an internal FBI memo about the Disney movie That Darn Cat discussing whether the film would sully the agency's reputation; a traffic ticket given to X-files star David Duchovny; autopsy reports of infamous murder cases, and other fabulous documents.
Sources eJournal is another source for spies and those interested in them.
Spike Web, Net Detective is an online game that enables you to "fight crime on the Internet with a sort of AI program"
Squashed Bug Zoo is exactly what it says--and if you have your own favorite squashed bug you can send it in for posterity to view online.
Survivors International provides psychological and medical treatment to survivors of torture around the world.
Twilight Zone Directory provides fans of the classic television show with listings of each episode, with actors, directors, and plot summaries.
John Waters is someone you need to know about. Creator of Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Desperate Living, Polyester, and other tasteless movie classics.
Zombies on the Web is fascinating site compiled by David J. Chalmers, Associate Professor in the Department of Philosphy at the University of Santa Cruz.
Send comments, corrections, and suggestions to Ellen Datlow
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