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101 Amazing Unusual Deaths
Death is the one thing about life we can be sure of. But exactly how we shuffle off this mortal coil is another story altogether. Whilst the boring among us may well drift off in our sleep, and the unlucky suffer painfully in some horrible accident, very occasionally death will come in such an unusual way as to be particularly noteworthy. Ever since the politician Draco was suffocated by the gifts an appreciative audience showered him with in the 7th century BC, the fates have generously woven their magic to ensure that members of the human race have gone to meet the choir invisible in ever more interesting circumstances. This book examines over one hundred such cases, where the unexpected is the norm and the bizarre commonplace. From the humorous to the tragic and the gruesome, prepare yourself for a morbid trip through the kind of material you know the coroners secretly share at their Christmas parties...
46 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 11, 2021
When I come across books like these I am usually intrigued with them since I don't expect them to live up to the hype of their titles. Most don't even come with a good definition to make the reader quite aware of how the author is rating it as being an amazing unusual whatever versus what I would consider an amazing unusual.
As for this previous judging of the book I was quite right. Many of the instances have been mentioned in other books that explore strange deaths so they aren't new to those who are intrigued in the subject. And although there were a few that were quite eccentric and unusual most of them didn't fit the description of the book unless the description included either the events leading up to or after the passing of the individual, which to me doesn't count. Instead the actual deaths were pretty common such as suicide, shooting guns in places they shouldn't be shot, heart attacks, stupidity or lack of knowledge such as toxic minerals in cosmetic, etc.
The formatting of the book uses the entries as points on a list, which makes it easier to read along with the brief and easy writing. Unfortunately at the same time the actual writing had plenty of misspellings and grammatical issues while wasn't consistent on measurements so the reader will find themselves fluctuating between the metric and imperial systems of measurement.
What really irritated me with this book is first th at although the author claimed to have done as much research as possible that was thrown out with just one entry. This particular entry was told to have been researched as much as possible but that even though it may have been propaganda it hadn't been discounted as such thus was able to be used by the author for his book.
Another bristly point for me is the irreverence that the book uses when talking about these people and it makes me to cringe that some of their surviving kin may read this to find their loved ones as the butt of some pop cultural joke or comedic attempt for entertainment reading.
Then finally almost all of the deaths caused by animals were usually instigated by animal abuse with no thought to the animal victim(s). And the fact that the author called all suicide bombers as a particular breed of people when some of those bombers aren't voluntary is quite disgusting as well.
Otherwise if this is the first book that looks into this particular content for you and you are easily entertained like my husband than you may enjoy it but for more experienced readers of the subject just pass it by unless you need something to pass the time.
As for this previous judging of the book I was quite right. Many of the instances have been mentioned in other books that explore strange deaths so they aren't new to those who are intrigued in the subject. And although there were a few that were quite eccentric and unusual most of them didn't fit the description of the book unless the description included either the events leading up to or after the passing of the individual, which to me doesn't count. Instead the actual deaths were pretty common such as suicide, shooting guns in places they shouldn't be shot, heart attacks, stupidity or lack of knowledge such as toxic minerals in cosmetic, etc.
The formatting of the book uses the entries as points on a list, which makes it easier to read along with the brief and easy writing. Unfortunately at the same time the actual writing had plenty of misspellings and grammatical issues while wasn't consistent on measurements so the reader will find themselves fluctuating between the metric and imperial systems of measurement.
What really irritated me with this book is first th at although the author claimed to have done as much research as possible that was thrown out with just one entry. This particular entry was told to have been researched as much as possible but that even though it may have been propaganda it hadn't been discounted as such thus was able to be used by the author for his book.
Another bristly point for me is the irreverence that the book uses when talking about these people and it makes me to cringe that some of their surviving kin may read this to find their loved ones as the butt of some pop cultural joke or comedic attempt for entertainment reading.
Then finally almost all of the deaths caused by animals were usually instigated by animal abuse with no thought to the animal victim(s). And the fact that the author called all suicide bombers as a particular breed of people when some of those bombers aren't voluntary is quite disgusting as well.
Otherwise if this is the first book that looks into this particular content for you and you are easily entertained like my husband than you may enjoy it but for more experienced readers of the subject just pass it by unless you need something to pass the time.
June 22, 2023
A humourous and entertaining collection of unusual deaths, divided into chapters according to the type of death. Some of my favourites included:
*In 1983 Abelard Hattensperger was discovered dead on the deck of his boat which was floating on Lake Biggessee in Germany. Investigators were pretty sure that his death was caused by him being struck by lightning. They had no explanation, however, for why his trousers were down and his groin was covered in grease.
*In 1982 French undertaker Marc Bourjade was unfortunate enough to be crushed to death by a pile of coffins that fell on him after having been stacked in his workshop. To make the irony complete, he was buried in one of the coffins that had crushed him.
*In November 2004 Phillip Quinn heated a lava lamp up on his stove, hoping for something unusual to happen. He got his wish to a certain extent - the heat caused his lamp to explode, and a metal shard pierced his heart, killing him instantly.
*In 1983 Abelard Hattensperger was discovered dead on the deck of his boat which was floating on Lake Biggessee in Germany. Investigators were pretty sure that his death was caused by him being struck by lightning. They had no explanation, however, for why his trousers were down and his groin was covered in grease.
*In 1982 French undertaker Marc Bourjade was unfortunate enough to be crushed to death by a pile of coffins that fell on him after having been stacked in his workshop. To make the irony complete, he was buried in one of the coffins that had crushed him.
*In November 2004 Phillip Quinn heated a lava lamp up on his stove, hoping for something unusual to happen. He got his wish to a certain extent - the heat caused his lamp to explode, and a metal shard pierced his heart, killing him instantly.
February 14, 2020
An interesting compilation of stories about unique or unusual deaths that span from Ancient times to modern day. Perfect for fans of 1001 ways to die. I listened to the audio book thanks to spotify premium.
March 3, 2020
La gente es estúpida y cosas más extrañas han pasado.
(El libro es bueno, en el sentido de que cumple lo que promete.)
(El libro es bueno, en el sentido de que cumple lo que promete.)
February 22, 2023
2,25 🌟 — It was okay. Some of them were actually really interesting but mostly it was just poorly written.
February 21, 2025
Very short, but interesting.
Listened to on audio. Narrator was a bit too flippant for the topic, IMHO.
Listened to on audio. Narrator was a bit too flippant for the topic, IMHO.
December 27, 2025
Title says it all!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews