17 Unsettling Facts That Will Freak You Out

Either by curiosity or as part of education, people are constantly acquiring random facts. While some are not particularly interests, others are so bizarre that they wished they had never learned it in the first place. When one website asked their readers to share random and creepy facts they knew of, they might not have been expecting what came from it. From disgusting to terrifying facts, here is a list that is sure to stick in your mind.

Zombie Rats

There is a parasite found in cat feces which can control rats' minds if they eat it. Toxoplasma gondii changes a rat's brain function, making them attracted by the smell of cat urine, which makes it easier for the cat to find and catch them. The behavior change happens as early as three weeks after infection, but researchers do not know exactly how it works. This parasite can only reproduce in the guts of cats, so its behavior directly affects its own survival. The T. gondii also affect humans but in a different way. It affects our immune system, so it is advisable that pregnant women do not come in contact with cat feces. Although the parasite has been linked with mental health, it does not explain the crazy cat ladies on the internet.

The Dancing Plague

In July 1518, a woman known as Frau Troffea stepped into the streets of Strasbourg and began to dance. A week went by before she was joined by about three-dozen of people, and by August, the dancing had claimed as about 400 victims. A stage was built for professional dancers and bands were hired to play music while the craze lasted. Local physicians could not find an explanation for the event other than blaming it on a fever. Some people collapse due to exhaustion, others had strokes and heart-attacks. It is shown on 16th-century historical records along with other similar occurrences in Germany, Switzerland, and Holland, but none were as deadly as the Dancing Plague of Strasbourg.

Facial Inhabitants

Another reader shares the unsettling fact that tiny creatures live in our skin. They are called Demodex mites and their spread by skin-to-skin touch. These creatures are arthropods, including jointed-legged animals such as insects and crabs. Being mites, they are close relatives of spiders and ticks. This is not new information; it has been known by scientists from as early as 1842. It is thought that every person has Demodex mites living in their face, therefore it should not be something to stress about. Although it is not clear what they eat, it is speculated that these mites feed on dead skin, but some believe that they live off the oil from the sebaceous gland.

Post Mortem Births

Although rare, it is possible for pregnant women to give birth after their deaths. It is nicknamed "coffin birth," and can occur during the composition of the corpse. Between 48 to 72 hours after death, the body releases gas, and if the corpse in question belonged to a pregnant woman, a dead fetus can be expelled from it. Coffin births have occurred throughout human history, but with modern embalming techniques, it became rarer. When a corpse does not go through the embalming process, medical experts agree that post-mortem birth could take weeks or months to happen, it all depends on external factors such as outside temperature.