Monthly, each Rue-Morgue magazine compiles a list of interesting bits of info that are insightful and gross called Weird Stats and Morbid Facts. This is one of my favorite features about this periodical. Figured I’d share a few.

+ Those who were sentenced to burn at the stake would occasionally be permitted to quicken their deaths by tying small bags of gunpowder under their arms and between their legs.

+ Many of the motorcycle gang extras in the original “Dawn of the Dead” were from a local chapter of the Pagans, one of the largest outlaw motorcycle gangs in America.

+ Superstition of yesteryear dictates that after death a corpse’s eyes must be closed or else the deceased will continue to look for someone to join them in death.

+ Before moving to the U.S., Bela Lugosi played both Hamlet and Romeo on stage in his native Hungary.

+ A shark that was captured for display at a Sidney, Australia aquarium in 1935 shocked onlookers when, without warning, it regurgitated a human arm.

+ George Romero’s favorite film is “Tales of Hoffman”, an adaptation of Jacques Offenbach’s fantasy opera directed by Michael Powell (”Peeping Tom”). Throughout the ’60s, Romero’s attempts to secure a print from a New York film library were frequently thwarted by an unknown person who kept borrowing the film for repeated viewings. Years later, Romero learned that the mystery man was Martin Scorsese.

+ When convicted murderer James Rodgers was brought before the firing squad, he was asked if he had a final request. His response: “Why yes, a bulletproof vest.”

+ While shooting “The Omen’s” graveyard scene, director Richard Donner and his crew had a difficult time getting the rottweilers to look vicious, as the dogs were much more interested in humping each other.

+ Early electric chair experiments were conducted on monkeys.

+ According to Peter Biskind’s book “Down and Dirty Pictures”, while shooting the first “Scream” film, the famously mild-mannered Wes Craven halted production and threatened to quit on the spot over harassment by Miramax’s Bob Weinstein.

+ The “gourmet” offerings that have appeared on the menu at the Explorers Club in New York City include tarantula, scorpion, mealworm, cockroach, maggot, and pigeon pate.

+ William Friedkin allegedly worked so slowly on “The Exorcist” that one crew member who was off work with the flu returned three days later to find Friedkin working on the same shot.

(Originally compiled by Monica S. Kuebler and John W. Bowen.)