Hoax Museum Blog: Death

Death by Lizards — I'm not sure whether or not this is a hoax, but it's definitely strange. Back in 1910 a young woman died in Akron, Ohio and the local doctor reported that the cause of her death was lizards living in her stomach. Common sense would say that this couldn't have been the case. Lizards couldn't survive for an extended period in the acid of a person's stomach. So did the doctor really believe lizards were the cause of the woman's death, or was he purposefully trying to make an outrageous claim? I don't know.

Hell on Earth’s Suicide Stunt — Hell on Earth promises that its concert in St. Petersburg this weekend will include an onstage suicide. A terminally ill patient will be the one departing this world. I guess if you wanted to go, doing it at a rock concert wouldn't be a bad way to do it, but in my opinion this is a pure publicity stunt hoax. In the same vein as Hunting for Bambi, Or Freck's New Feet (in which Freck claimed he was going to cut off his legs for a live audience... that never happened, of course). What will happen in this case is that the police will show up, and the concert will never take place. But Hell on Earth will have achieved lots of publicity. I'd never heard of them before, after all, but now I have. They can also claim to have legitimately raised awareness about the subject of euthanasia. The beauty of this stunt is that it definitely could happen. But I would wager money that it won't. These stunts never deliver on their promises. They're all about the publicity.

George Plimpton (1927-2003) — George Plimpton, creator of Sidd Finch (which came in at number 3 on my list of the greatest April Fool's day hoaxes of all time), has died. He was 76 years old.

The Death of Joey Skaggs — Legendary hoaxer Joey Skaggs is dead at 58. Okay, not really. But reports of Skaggs's death have surfaced, much to his surprise. Skaggs comments: "I found it quite amusing, but just to be on the safe side, I'm going
to see my doctor about this pain in my ass!"

Carl Lewis Isn’t Dead — Olympic track star Carl Lewis was reported to have been killed in a bicycle accident in this news report. But actually Lewis is just fine. The report is a phony, rigged up by a biking enthusiast to draw attention to an abutment in a Houston park that he considers dangerous.

The Life and Death of Eric Gordon — Here's an amusing account of a Harvard grad named Eric Gordon who faked his own death in order to try to get removed from Harvard's obnoxious alumni mailing list. Harvard actually published an obituary for Eric, but then had to retract it later.

Damion Hall Not Dead — The singer Damion Hall is not dead, despite recent email rumors to the contrary (supposedly he was found dead on a greyhound bus).

Push-Button Bugles — The military has a problem: not enough bugle players to play taps at all the military funerals. Therefore, they came up with the solution of bugles implanted with electronic chips that contain a recording of taps. No skill is required to play them, beyond being able to flip a switch. Now a group is protesting the use of the fake bugles, and is calling on bugle players throughout the nation to assist at military funerals: www.buglesacrossamerica.org