SillyBandz can HARM you!

Whatever the newest young people fad is, there are always horror stories cautioning parents about it. They're usually always false or exaggerated, like the Pokémon cartoon being harmful, or Harry Potter leading kids to become real witches and wizards. 

In August 2010, a chain e-mail went out warning people of the dangers of SillyBanz. It showed a picture of a kid being lacerated by using SillyBandz for a long period of time. While this might have usually been dismissed as fake, it was actually true!

A 4-year-old boy from New York was taken to the doctor because his dad had found some deep cuts from all the SillyBands he had on his arm. The doctor even found some EMBEDDED on his skin! The picture is kinda nasty so we didn't want to post it on the main page, but you can head over to the source to check it out.

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Something tragic happens on Halloween in the first 4 Harry Potter books!

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone: Lily and James Potter were killed and the Troll attack 11 years later

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets: The chamber opens on Halloween

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban: Sirius Black's attack on the Fat Lady

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire: Harry's name emerges from the Goblet of Fire

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Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween!

Samhainophobia is an intense and persistent fear of Halloween, and it can cause panic attacks on people who suffer it. The word is derived from the old Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the Celtic year. They believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to the Earth on this day. Other Halloween related fears are wiccaphobia (fear of witches), phasmophobia (of ghosts) and coimetrophobia (of cemeteries)

We hope you don't suffer from Samhainophobia, because all OMG Facts for the rest of today will be Halloween facts!

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Suicide victims have been mistaken for Halloween decorations!

I'm sure you've heard the urban legend of a person hanging themselves from a tree branch and no one noticing because they think it's a Halloween decoration. It's an urban legend so prevalent that it was the inspiration for the opening scene of the original Scream.

But, did you know it's also a true story? There are at least 2 documented cases of this happening. The corpse of a 42-year-old woman was on display for HOURS in Delaware, because people thought it was just a Halloween display. She hung herself 15 feet from the ground, close to a busy road where she could be seen by passing vehicles! She was first noticed at around 7:30 and the police didn't investigate until 11:00!

There was another case in California, of a 75-year-old woman that was sitting on her balcony for 3 whole days because her neighbors thought she was a halloween display. She had actually shot herself IN THE EYE and was slumping over her chair. The case was ruled an apparent suicide.

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A gambler in Vegas turned $50 into $40 million… then lost it all!

In what is now known just as "The Run," Archie Karas had the best winning streak in Las Vegas history. A greek immigrant living in Los Angeles, he decided to drive to Las Vegas with only $50 in his pockets. He started gambling and went on a hot streak. Playing on a combination of poker and pool, he turned the $50 (with some helpful loans) into $17 million. 

To do this, He started playing high stakes pool, betting everything he had on every game, winning over $3,000,000 from just one person! Eventually he turned to high stakes poker and on his way, he beat some of the best poker players in the world. By the end of his run, he had amassed over $40 million! He always carried a gun with him, because he carried his money with him at all times! 

Sadly, he ended up losing all that money in a period of just 3 weeks. He lost $20 million playing dice, then switched to baccarat where he lost $17 million, a few weeks later, he lost the rest of his money on both those games. 

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