Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, chairman of the Swedish Skeptics Society, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two.
For everybody who's in a Lovecraftian mood after that podcast, here's a ghoulish news item. Reports Emma Persson Hennig in Sydsvenskan, and I translate:
Staffanstorp municipality. A woman placing flowers on a grave at Brågarp churchyard suddenly sunk into it when the earth collapsed. One of her legs sunk into the grave and she could not get it free unaided. The accident happened at 17:30, Wednesday evening. As an evening service was being prepared, there were several witnesses. They called for help and the woman was freed.[...]
The recent heavy raining is believed to be the cause of the accident. The grave is a large family affair and relatively new.
"The ground has been settling, and that is because of the rains. Earth always becomes compacted after an inhumation burial, but as this is an unusually large grave, the settling is more dramatic. It's become entirely undermined.", says churchyard manager Jonas Kristiansson to the newspaper.
Now read H.P. Lovecraft's 1925 story "In the Vault".
Thanks to Claes Theliander for the tip-off.
Comments
Oh, come on - Hel just wants somebody to have a nice little chat with, every once in a while.
Posted by: Phillip IV | August 19, 2010 9:43 AM
Why are most modern authors of "horror" fiction so mediocre? Yes, we have King, Koontz (uneven), Straub, Stross (occasional guest from the SF genre) but the rest is a desert ("urban gothic" is usually closer to Fantasy and actually has some good stuff).
Posted by: Birger Johansson | August 19, 2010 5:28 PM
I'm fairly ignorant of modern horror, having read only some 70s and 80s King and a little Ligotti. Poe and Lovecraft are the ones I like.
Posted by: Martin R | August 20, 2010 1:19 AM
"The grave is a large family affair and relatively new."
Does this mean an entire family, at least several people, were buried simultaneously and recently? Or, when an individual is added to a family grave, do they have to excavate a large area to place the newest dead person in their proper place?
Posted by: TheBrummell | August 20, 2010 2:55 PM
Good questions. I don't know! I suppose they may have buried like three coffins over the past few decades, and now their lids have started to collapse.
Posted by: Martin R | August 20, 2010 3:12 PM
Possibly the grave is unusually deep now to allow for more burials in the future - the fill in a 15' shaft will settle a lot lower than in an 8' one.
Posted by: stripey_cat | August 22, 2010 6:10 AM