Three years before Frankenstein was published, Mary Shelley traveled through Europe. While in Germany, she passed near Frankenstein Castle, which may have influenced her novel. The castle was home to Johann Conrad Dippel, an alchemist who created a tar-like substance called Dippel’s Oil. Folklore about Dippel’s experiments possibly inspired Shelley, though she never mentioned this in her journals.

McCurdy was an American Outlaw, but that’s not why he’s famous. After his death, his corpse went on to live in infamy.

In 1837, residents of a London neighborhood started to report strange encounters and incidents with a mysterious and terrifying man.