Alien Hand Syndrome

Collected and curated by Alan Bellows and his team at a website, with over 400,000 unique visitors a month, this is the stuff nightmares are made of, and no one will be able to stop reading: Giant Carnivorous Centipedes; Mike, the Headless Chicken; The Exploding Lakes of Cameroon; The Swirling Vortex of Doom; Secret Agent Cyborg Cats; Fiery Balls of Naga; The Deepest Hole; The Terrifying Toothpick Fish; and, of course, Alien Hand Syndrome - a disorder wherein a person's hand develops a 'will of its own', unbuttoning shirts, grabbing at the steering wheel, tossing away cigarettes, and in some cases actually attacking its host. Most entries are full-blown narratives, complete with illustrations - for example, pointing out step-by-step how 'The Halifax Disaster' unfolded. Other entries examine short-take anomalies - such as unusual drug side effects, including the antidepressant Clomipramine (spontaneous orgasm upon yawning), the hormone Oxytocin (increases one's generosity), the medicine for Parkinson's disease, Ropinirole (compulsive gambling), and Viagra (priapus syndrome, with a remote chance of gangrene curable only through penectomy - say no more).

Pagina's: 320, Editie: Eerste editie, Paperback, Workman Publishing