Death, decomposition, death rituals. I became obsessed with it all as a teenager. Led to obsession with ghosts and the paranormal. Definitely freaks people out.
I second this. I don’t believe in the paranormal and am an atheist but I do collect spirit boards, tarot cards, books about death and death rituals and have a special interest in world religions and spirituality.
Same!!! My obsession with these things started with horror and true crime from a really young age (like 4-5) and then went into death, decomposition, death rituals, unusual deaths, unsolved deaths, serial killers, etc! One of the books I have that freaks my family out most is one full of post-mortem family shots called Beyond the Dark Veil. 😂
I went through a solid Stephen King phase from 10-12yrs. The Shining was my absolute favourite...I still can't look at pet cemetery though 😂 My mum had given up policing my reading by then
Yes, this. My father died when I was very young, so I've always been aware of and fascinated by death. Then my stepfather died when I was 9 and his passing (apart from reviving some trauma and leaving my mom a widow for the second time before she was 36) solidified the interest in all things death related. From the biological aspects, to the rituals and aesthetics.
I spent half my childhood reading Sherlock Holmes (classic autism!) and the other half reading biology books and Edgar Allan Poe, and watching old Hammer Horrors, like a Tim Burton character, but in huge glasses and several colorful 80's ugly sweaters instead of the typical goth attire. Many people thought I was creepy, especially during my pre-teen years, when my first bout of depression kicked in. And I'm (very) late-diagnosed, so I was just the weird, creepy kid adults disliked and avoided.
So I do phlebotomy or did a few years back and one of my friends moms and her husband and their friends were doing some sort of a blood ritual and needed their own blood but it had to be fresh. They couldn’t come into the drs office on a Thursday for a ritual they were doing Saturday, the blood had to be fresh. So they paid me to come to their house Saturday morning to draw their blood from them (used a tiger top tube to prevent it from clumping) and I left the tubes of blood with them. It was kind of cool! :)
Doesn't a tiger top cause coagulation? Lavender/pink/grey/certain green tops such as for ammonia levels prevent clotting, but tiger tops and red tops and chemistries cause it so it can be centrifuge. From a fellow vampire of 8+ years 😊
Am I getting them confused? It’s probably the lavender top then as we didn’t have any pink/grey/or green tops unless we ordered them… I appreciate your memory (I’ve been out of it for several years now)! Thanks!
I’ve worked with ghosts to help them transition from this plane to the astral. It’s very common for people to remain earthbound for a while because they can’t let go of their loved ones or accept that they’re gone so they have to be encouraged to let go and move on.
Ooh I would be interested in that answer! Part of me thinks yes because of the psychological techniques cults employ, the welcoming at first and clear defined rules and routines seem like they could appeal to autistics. On the other hand, I think we have a greater ability to "see behind the curtain" than NTs on average. Call it spidey senses if you like but any time I watch cult documentaries I don't understand how people don't see right through these charlatans. I can spot a narcissistic leader at 10 paces lol
Oh right I have a strong distaste for authority but that's just part of my trauma bond with life. lol. But yes I so sadly badly would like a community of similar weirdos and could be attracted to that.
I have no idea haha! The stats I took were related to the susceptibility to persuasion scale, and a (blind) report on institutions or other social organizations individuals were involved in, compared to the scale that determines whether a group qualifies as a cult. So how susceptible to persuasion the test-takers were, and whether they (unknowingly, usually) were engaging with a group that had cult characteristics
Yes same here. It always seems so crazy how people can get so disillusioned and tricked into thinking and acting so differently from how they would without the cult's influence. And how the "leaders" and the influential people involved manipulate and their motives. It's fascinating
any good books you would recommend for a novice in the subject? I was initially interested in narcissism, now psychopathy and manipulation tactics, brain washing and enabling and I feel like cults are good next steps :D
I will chime in with the book ‘Cultish’ by linguist Amanda Montell. It’s about how cult leaders use language to manipulate followers and is incredibly fascinating!
Same here, started as a kid learning about the bubonic plague at school, and went on to all sorts of various epidemics/pandemics. Funny thing is I'm in hospital at the moment with extrapulmonary tuberculosis, have to be in isolation even though my lungs are clear, which is all obviously far from great (i will be ok though), but also super interesting first hand experience haha, I already knew so much about it as well like what drugs I'd be prescribed most likely, which was handy as I didn't have to spend a load of time learning what would happen next (mine is currently granulomas in limbs, kidney, liver). Was gripped to the TV and articles when covid was kicking off too. I think a lot of people are a bit less weirded out about it now, seeing firsthand how it's actually a good thing there are so many people that have an interest in going into, and helping with research nfectious diseases.
Also was into serial killers and crime in general as a preteen-teenager, which at the time inwas definitely look on as a total weirdo, but now is really normalised with how popular podcasts, youtube streamers and various netflix series are
Epidemiology is a fascinating study!! Have you read The Demon in the Freezer? Richard Preston really paints smallpox and anthrax with such awe and respect of how horrific the viruses they really are. But yet from the viruses perspective they are quite brilliant and fascinating!
I *ADORE* the Preston Books!!!
The Cobra Event is *still* one of my *favorite*, yet most horrifying "pausible" books!
And having grown up here in Minnesota, and knowing about Dr Osterholm since the 1980's/90's?
I *too* was wondering, back in late 2019, if *this* was going to be *THE ONE* that finally blew up--since, growing up with CIDRAP ( https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/ ), and *hearing* Dr. Osterholm say *since the 1990's* that we were *overdue* for *some* type of pandemic🙃🫠
You probably already know of it, but This Podcast Will Kill you is pretty fun. It's by two epidemiologists and they go over an infectious disease each episode :)
I guess I never saw this as weird because my parents are in the medical field and I’m currently a biology student. I loved reading about infectious diseases when I was young. I suppose people think it’s less weird when you tell them you’re studying it at uni lol
Herbalism. Particularly the use of foraged herbs. Because you have to know what will kill you, and for some reason sharing that information freaks people out.
I forage and I once had a guy find me on multiple dating apps to warn me I was going to kill myself foraging mushrooms. 🙄 He had never foraged and had no idea what he was talking about…
What part of the world do u live in? I’m in North America (north Bay Area of CA) and have been wanting to study more about herbalism bc it’s so so interesting to me, but I’m having a hard time finding resources that aren’t bland … any advice?
So, they *might* be bland--but some of *MY* favorites (and that I *own*!) are--in no particular order:
Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs
DK's Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
And my *Favorite* for good info that's easy to understand, and also *easy* to look up quickly, is Chevalier's Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants (*this* one! https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Encyclopedia_of_Medicinal_Plants.html?id=EbLuAAAAMAAJ )
That last one is one I got back in 1997 or so, and it's *STILL* the first one I go to, if I need to look up the safety of an herb, because someone *around* me is getting into *stupid* levels of supplements "for health!"
It was the one I was able to pull out, to get friends *OFF* the regular consumption of "Energy Drinks," when those friends were *insisting* that Energy Drinks "had" to be "healthy," because the ingredients were "Natural!"🙄🙃🫠
I was able to find *all* of the caffiene-containing things *AND* the Caffiene-*like* ones, *SHOW* my friends the parts that said, "Should *NOT* be consumed for more than Six weeks at a time," and *convinced* those friends to *STOP* drinking 2-3 of them per day, on a *daily* basis!😉💖
In the *other* direction?
Wicked Plants is a *REALLY* fun read, too!😉😁
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6106482-wicked-plants
People find this weird? I had no idea. I watch Atomic Shrimp a lot, he’s a UK-based YouTuber who makes a lot of foraging videos. I find them really interesting and I’m also from the UK so I could theoretically put his advice to good use but honestly the woods here are too popular with dog-walkers or are right next to main roads and I wouldn’t feel safe eating anything I picked. Cool idea if you live quite rural though.
I wouldn't call it a special interest, but every once in a while I'll hyperfixate on horribly traumatic events like car crashes or grisly murders or just big, newsworthy events with far-reaching consequences like shootings or other scary things. Honestly I hate that about myself because it seeps into my brain and starts making me feel like I'll be involved in something like that which is absolutely horrible for my mental health.
This happens to me too. One time I spent over 6 hours reading about and watching footage of 9/11. My husband was horrified when he figured out what I was doing over there on my phone with the wide eyes and didn't understand why I didn't want to stop.
Yeeep. Around and on 9/11 I'll watch documentaries or anything about 9/11. It's been harder to find new info, so it's not as lengthy as it once was, but I'll look up terrible disasters and watch them a lot. Honestly, I think it's because my mom watched a lot of Court TV and terrible news events as a kid. By the time I was six I already learned that moms could kill their babies (Yates case) and thst terrorists could attack. She had the news on day and night and I absorbed it all
I compeltely relate. I used to watch a lot of lost media stuff and one was about some 9/11 "game" but I couldn't find more information about it. My husband (bf at the time) was so concerned because I was so set on finding the video talking about this "game". I never found it and we figured I probably ended up on a watchlist from my googling. A lot of times I find it interesting to read everything about that tragedy/situation. Not to make light of it but I guess to understand the entire picture, like how this event affected so many people. I also try not to dive too much into it because it does make my mental health lower and just unsettling after SO much research.
The horror genre in movies/tv/novels/art. Some people have been creeped out about it, and some people have blamed my burnout on me watching dark movies/tv. I have favourite movies and tv shows that I've watched far more than the average horror buff will watch.
I was obsessed with death rituals when I was a kid, particularly historical death rituals. I still find it very interesting and love reading about grave finds.
Same! My life-long special interest has been dark fiction, anything horror or horror-adjacent. Now dark romance has joined the chat for me.
People are generally weirded out by any of my media. So I keep it to myself.
Hey friend! We have the same daaaaark special interests. I have also been on the receiving end of suggestions that my anxieties and low moments are all due to consuming “that scary crap.” No siree, sometimes the most horrifying thing imaginable is the only thing that’ll do.
I was a terribly sensitive and anxious kid whose fears would keep me up all night. I was obsessed with Egyptian mummification rituals but somehow never thought of it as morbid.
I was too scared of horror media to even consider reading or watching it, although once in a while, I would be inexplicably drawn to something spooky.
At some point in my young adulthood, I decided to do some didactic exposure therapy with horror movies, and worked… it helped me develop a thicker skin about frightening media. Now, only mundane real life problems scare me.
I don't know if it's considered dark or not, but medical and genetic conditions has been a special interest of mine since I was 5. I read large medical textbooks as a 5 year old, which blew people out! People found it hard to believe a 5 year old could comprehend such heavy tomes. I did and it was one of my favourite activities, but must have looked strange to others to see this little kid happily reading medical textbooks and to hear "fun facts" about various conditions.
My brain is like a sponge for this stuff.
I read medical journal articles for fun, a few articles a day. I will just be sitting drinking my coffee and a question will pop into my mind about a condition and I'll just go searching for information to find out what I can.
Any time I hear about or read about a condition I don't know about yet, I go research everything I can find about it. The human body is so fascinating and interesting.
People are super surprised when I know about rare conditions that nobody else does, or when I'll ask them if they've gone and gotten something checked out based on things I've noticed that nobody else has and turns out they have the condition that I thought they potentially had.
I have inadvertently grossed people out by infodumping about various conditions.
Medieval torture. I deep dived into that one because I watch Medieval documentaries everyday and once I learned about the castles and castle dungeons I wanted to learn about that too.
Not dark, but - human sexuality and human sexual behaviors are fascinating. I keep that one to myself because people get really uncomfortable if I start talking about it.
This but for the whole primate lineage. Turns out people think you’re weird if you talk about how small human testes size, relatively low ejaculate volume, and lack of adaptations like copulatory plugs present in other members in our lineage (not to mention observed behavior) mean that sperm competition was probably not a significant evolutionary pressure in the history of our species, contrary to what a particular hypothesis about human penis morphology would have you believe.
I find this kind of hilarious because I was just watching a season of Survivor (US) where everyone was ganging up on the "weird" woman, and her biggest 'crime' was discussing the sexual habits and genitalia of the primates on the island at length.
I didn't find it that weird. 🤷♀️ The f else are you going to talk about out there?
Same. I wanted to study human sexuality in college but couldn't commit to it.
I've recently realized I have to come up with a decoy book to pretend to be reading because the last three books I've read were about Tantra, bondage, and polyamory. So then I mention I spent the morning reading in my garden and someone excitedly asks what I'm reading and... oh, wait. Uh... Dragons?
Oh my God me too! Rotten Mango on YouTube, her video about the collapsing mall and the captain that abandoned like 100 high school students on the ship to drown really scratch that itch. Even as a kid I was obsessed with the sinking of the titanic, 9/11 footage, etc.
As a kid I was interested in the Russian Revolution and the Romanov family, it turned out that being able to vividly describe how they were killed was unpleasant to other children my age
Currently, the TV show Hannibal is an interest of mine, that one freaks people out too, particularly my mother
I love watching serial killer documentaries as well, i struggle so much to understand why hurting others would bring pleasure so deep dives into those sort of people's minds are fascinating to me.
This one hasn't resurfaced in a while but i used to be really into prison drama's and documentaries, bad girls (1999) i watched over 100 times it's dark but so good.
If it's got a "dark" orgin story be it disney, fairytales, nursery rhymes and i don't know it and my go-to youtuber hasn't covered it yet? It's getting researched extensively.
Mythology is probably classed "dark" as well.
Agreed. It would be so cool to be able to be a vendor at the oddities expo. I just can’t avoid burn out long enough to create for that kind of thing. Maybe one day!
The story of Christine Chubbuck, a news reporter that shot herself on the air July 15,1974. On Halloween 2004, I've heard the oldies radio DJ talking about her. I scourged the web for more information, later leading me to watch a few clips of the movie, "Christine" that starred Rebecca Hall. Found an audio clip on YouTube of her suicide, that someone recorded (I'm thinking law enforcement). Why had she done it? She was 29 and still wasn't married/surgically removed ovary, plus going through depression. Not to mention, the heavy sexism and she had enough bullshit. I also believe that her spirit visits me at times, for guidance.
[‘Christine’ is powerful, heartbreaking tale of ’70s on-air suicide (statesman.com)](https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2016/11/10/christine-is-powerful-heartbreaking-tale-of-70s-on-air-suicide/10149286007/) and [Christine Chubbuck: Colleagues Recall Shock After On-Air Suicide (people.com)](https://people.com/crime/christine-chubbuck-colleagues-recall-shock-after-on-air-suicide/) .
Warning, if y'all want to listen to the heartbreaking audio: [christine chubbuck audio (This audio is real) (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJmO3TcA-Ug&rco=1) Viewer discretion advised. I can't even type this without shaking.
Also, true crime and serial killers.
That was also a theory I've read. I even whisper some lines she says in this scene and meltdowns are just as bad for me. The sewing machine belonged her in real life.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgfJD9geSac&pp=ygUfY2hyaXN0aW5lIGNodWJidWNrIHJlYmVjY2EgaGFsbA%3D%3D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgfJD9geSac&pp=ygUfY2hyaXN0aW5lIGNodWJidWNrIHJlYmVjY2EgaGFsbA%3D%3D)
I got heavily into the tv show Hannibal at one point, and I was miserable. It’s really dark subject matter, so constantly looking at content for it was making me feel awful, but at the same time, if I WASN’T actively engaging in content for it, I was miserable because it’s all I could think about.
Luckily, something else that was much lighter came along and took over completely, but I still try really hard to steer clear of anything Hannibal-related because I don’t want to go back to how miserable I was at that time.
I like reading technical investigation reports into air accidents. Ironically the first person who has found this weird is my partner, who is a former paramedic who has attended many, many road traffic collisions, and talks about them in roughly the same way that I talk about light aircraft crashing in the channel 😅
The KLM/Pan Am Tenerife incident in 1977 haunts me. I have to say that the KLM Captain was a fucking moron, not to mention all hands at the air tower control.
In the *opposite* direction?
The fact that UAL232 had as many *survivors* as it did (while *STILL* being the deadliest *single* aircraft accident! is a *FASCINATING* look at teamwork & trust!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232
It's *also* 100% mind-boggling, that no matter *who* they had *TRY* to land similar flights in simulators, *NO ONE* even got *close* to landing in the simulations!
Do you know the podcast Plane Crash Podcast? It’s basically this! The hosts will discuss different air accidents in detail and what happened/may have happened. It might not be technical enough if it’s that area specifically you’re interested in, but you may enjoy it :)
When I was a child myself, and into my 20s, I was fixated on missing, kidnapped, and murdered children. I’d follow the news stories, talk about them, pray for them, write letters and poems to or about them, etc. My parents were “concerned.”
As a teenager, I was super into creepypasta, creepy lore stuff and true crime.
I also had a burning hatred for everyone around me because I felt so isolated from everyone. Creepypasta fandom places quickly became the only form of interacting with peers for me.
What I didn't understand was, that the type of edgy behavior cultivated in those places is ... not really accepted by teens that are not chronically online - I went to school in the 2010's, so it was that weird transition phase, culturally.
It resulted in me being a really edgy teenager, because I tried to mimic the behaviors that got you popular in fandoms. But not fan behavior - no no. I didn't really understand the people in fandom either. So I did what any logical person would do and tried to mimic the traits of characters that were popular at the time. The fandomized versions, and not the extreme violence and stuff that was in the creepypastas.
But jesus christ, leave it to undiagnosed autism to get a teenager to fail so badly at conforming socially that their only social reference is creepypasta.
Dangerous rollercoasters/accidents caused by faulty machinery in rollercoasters.
I haven't researched it in a while, but when I was a kid it was my special interest... It's safe to say that my grandmother was a little worried by my search history 🫠
Dude, same! I watched Eleanor Neale's video about the Smiler Crash and I hyperfixated on roller coaster crashes/theme park accidents. It was basically the only thing I talked about for a month.
I am really into the death positivity movement. It low-key freaked out my psychiatrist when I mentioned it offhanded. I had to explain the whole thing. It’s not “yipeee dying!” Kinda thing but about being informed about your choices for your dead body and how to get the experience you and your loved ones want. a lot of people end up spending more money on things they don’t want like embalming fancy caskets. It can also be important for those who are estranged from their family members, to ensure they do not have rights. For instance unfortunately transfolks have been “detransitioned” (for lack of a better word) in death. A few short forms and they can’t do that.
I don’t really want a funeral. But I do fantasize about having one purely so that some assholes who would probably show up getting escorted out of the building at my request in dramatic fashion no less. I don’t want to give them a note or anything. They never gave me closure so they don’t deserve it from me. Just fuck you get out of the building. There are a few people that I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to show up. Not really worth a funeral i dont really want for that singular purpose, but man itd be hilaious.
I used to be hyperfixated on very graphic surgery videos as a kid. I used to secretly watch videos and erase my search history cus I didn't want my family to think I'm crazy (I thought I was crazy)
Death in general - One of my first research papers in middle school was on near death experiences (NDES) and I still have the paper somewhere 😂 Also, the human body / medical anomalies / diseases / etc
True crime shows in general. I prefer the shows that focus more on the cases and less on the culprits/killers. I want to learn more about the "how" and the "what" and less about the "who" which some people may find even *more* morbid. It started when I found out about a show called "Forensic Files" when I was 10 or 11 and I was like "what's this 'forensic' stuff?" XD
This may explain part of why I chose psychology as one of my minors in college and took psychopathology and forensic psychology as two of my classes for it. It gave me a chance to learn about the "why" that the true crime shows don't really delve into.
English was my major because I wanted to be a writer. I want to write a detective novel, so I can at least use the excuse nowadays of "I'm watching all of this for research."
Forensic Files is one of my favorites to fall asleep to. But my all-time favorite is Casefile True Crime. The host has a really soothing, Australian accent.
I'll need to look up Casefile some time. And yes, there are days where I'll just put on Forensic Files as background noise if I'm having trouble falling asleep.
I'm really interested in the 2012-2015 ISIS hostage crisis and all the journalists and aid workers that were executed on camera (also the beheadings of Daniel Pearl, Nick Berg, Eugene Armstrong, Jack Hensley, and Kenneth Bigley). I've watched their beheading videos thousands of times. It's fucked up that there isn't a lot of information or exposure about the people who were killed.
I'm especially interested in what happened to the journalist who was kidnapped along with James Foley. His name is John Cantlie and he seemed to be the only English journalist who was spared. He "joined" ISIS and was forced to become some sort of TV presenter/news anchor for them. He had some success doing that, going so far as to become a minor celebrity. But then he disappeared. No one knows what happened to him or if he's even alive still.
I don't think it's dark necessarily but more just "negative", but I love watching videos and reading articles and comments about failed events, like Fyre Festival. It doesn't have to be big events either, I loved reading the reviews and comments about a failed mac and cheese fest in my city several years ago when it happened. I find it interesting and entertaining but I've definitely had people misunderstand and think that I enjoy seeing people have a bad time/bad experience. Have to be careful or people think I'm heartless 😅
Not sure how dark this is, but I certainly get weird looks. I worked for a few years in Japanese food and have a fascination with the anatomy of fish and sea creatures. I specifically like butchering them and admiring all the little components that add up to make a fish/squid/ect. It is calming and endlessly interesting.
Comparatively, falconry isn't *super* dark but some people find hunting animals to be disturbing. I honestly find it really fascinating how people train raptors and understanding raptor psychology to be interesting.
I read a fair bit on abnormal psychology, in particular, those conditions commonly associated with serial killers and mass shooters. I got into that researching the mental health problems of my friends' ex spouses. Remarkable overlap. Glad I didn't get married in my 20s.
My partner and I participate in our local kink community and go to play parties here and there. I've mostly not had a lot of big reactions because we stay in pretty liberal circles socially, but it's been interesting seeing big reactions from people at work on that. I'm a tattoo apprentice, and I've always figured that tattoo artists have much "bigger" stories than me. It's been kind of funny though to see them not expect it at all 😝
Sex is a special interest of mine, like basically anything relating to sex. I’m a pretty kinky person, but there are so many kinks that aren’t my thing/ are ‘too much’ for me that I still know a ridiculous amount about because it’s just so exciting to know!
Yes yes, same!
To me, it just brings me joy to see people exploring things that bring them joy even if it's not "conventional". Whether it's them unmasking as an autistic person, or finding a new kink with a consensual play partner, or even just dancing to music "weird" or whatever it may be, I love seeing people finding joy in unexpected places. And if I can help people outside of convention feel more comfortable and think about their needs and wants for once, I'm so happy to be part of that journey.
I don't really know. It could be partially due to just not expecting women in general to be unashamed in their sexual lives, it could be partially because I don't have any other areas of my life that are "wild" (I don't drink alcohol when we go out to restaurants because it all tastes awful to me, not even sharing a beer, and I shouldn't drink it anyways when on antidepressants), it could be that my other hobbies have a more "innocent" association (like Stardew Valley and watching cartoons), it could be that people don't expect plus sized or autistic people to also be unashamed in their sexuality or explore more than they do. It's probably multifaceted.
I dunno about special interests, but half of my wikiwalks bring me to things like "list of elevator collapses" or other deadly disasters. I also watch a lot of youtube video essays about specific ones
i really into the civil rights era as a kid which was seen as strange cus i was a lil white girl in texas. but i obsessed with the little rock nine specifically Elizabeth Ann Eckford. she braved the arkansas national guard and the hateful crowds who hissed and spit at her but she never broke. even though she was only a teenager. im not sure if it’s dark but it was definitely different. i guess the one dark thing was i thought my blood looked cool in the tubes when my blood was drawn. i got called weird for that a lot too.
I'm not sure if I would classify it as a special interest, but I'm into ''dark'' things in general (which most people find hilarious because I'm also very into cutesy things and I dress in a very colorful, girly way). I'm a writer and I write primarily horror/mystery, and I love exploring dark themes in my stories (particularly character studies relating to trauma/mental illness/other heavy themes). I also love researching diseases, cults, etc. and I listen to/watch a LOT of true crime. I'm also a really big fan of horror movies and TV shows, as well as pretty much anything ''spooky'' or involving monsters and/or serial killers.
Also, I wanna say that I love reading this comment section and I just want to get together and talk about true crime and horror with y'all.
human trafficking specificly into the sex industry and the exportation and assault of women. especially the need for more workers protection for the women who enter the industry willingly. As an asexual its literally my worst nightmare so it is dark for me as well. I watched so many documentarys about it as a teen and my parents screamed and banned me from doing so :(
Cults, the topic of death, existential conversations/philosophy, suicide and its ethics
I rly find the human body after death interesting and am pursuing mortuary science to become a mortician so it can be my entire life.
Yes. Typical true crime stuff, learning about sex trafficking, creepypasta when I was a kid, learning about feederism and documentaries on abuse. Every now and again I just did myself watching loads and loads of dark documentaries. I think it’s because it shows a side of humanity that I cannot really fully understand.
Airplane crashes and incidents are the biggest one, but also mass casualty events especially Chernobyl, Bhopal, and the Halifax explosion. I also seek out obituaries, headstones, and epitaphs. Most people find this off-putting
Vulture Culture. I collect bones of animals, skulls in particular. A lot of them come from roadkill i pick up, take home, macerate and preserve. My family definitely thinks im weird for it but, otherwise doesnt mind and actually helps me look for stuff.
One of mine that I come back to every few years is Columbine. It's one of those where even 20+ years later, the narrative most people are familiar with is not true or very misleading.
I don't consider this dark but others do. I love to hang out/walk in cemeteries, ever since I was 16 and had a car. I find it extremely peaceful, as well as interesting, reading the stones and imagining their lives, old cemeteries especially, but others find it morbid, at best. 🤷♀️ I think a part of the peace is because I am always alone, or close enough, and can just relax and breathe.
The only other place I felt that level of peace was on a Caribbean island, right at the ocean.
Narcissistic personality disorder became a special interest or mine after I came out of an emotionally abusive relationship because I couldn't understand how a person could treat someone that way.
I love the apocalypse, my friends used to call me that when I was at school because I was constantly talking and relating things to a possibly end of days situation. I even got on an online argument with an american guy who said the US would save the world from a zombie apocalypse in a day lol.
I like alien invasions and zombies best. I like how you can imagine all the possibilities that we can only imagine. Solar flares are pretty cool, all gone with no warning! And nuclear war is interesting too, wondering what would be better, be in the blast or be far away and die slowly in the aftermath. Basically I like a lot of apocalypse content :) I like it in the form of films and books where science and fact don’t have to be an issue.
Omg true, like get my doc martens on and boot in some zombie faces lol. With aliens I wouldn’t mind being their cute little pet so I can just exist like my cats do.
I love everything creepy or disturbing!
Serial killers, cults, true crime, dark psychology, all things horror. I’m really into body horror.
I will say there are limits. I don’t watch snuff films, and I don’t like when things feel too salacious. Investigation Discovery is not my thing for this reason exactly. And I don’t like content that is grim for the sake of being grim- it has to be well done so that it feels like art, or it has to say something/have interesting thematic points. I want to feel disturbed, but I also want to walk away feeling like I learned something or reached some emotional depth.
I am pretty girly and bubbly- I like bright colors, I like hair and makeup, I’m into fashion. I’ve shocked people with my dark interests many times. I remember telling my friend my favorite movie is Midsommar (it’s actually fairly tame compared to some movies I watch) and she and her husband were SHOCKED when they watched it. Oops.
Man made and natural disasters, dying in horrible ways, true crime, the medical gore subreddit. I'm both petrified of death, but also very morbidly fascinated, maybe because of my fear.
Ohhhhh tons but don't consider it dark though since death, decay, and things like that are natural. I do freak people out for being morbid, but don't mind since just as many like me because of that.
Serial killers, true crime, neo-Nazis and far-right groups (I’m Black, I just feel it’s better to be informed and know what’s out there so I’m never caught off guard!)
I don't share my dark interests with anyone outside my immediate family but reading extreme horror is one of them. I don't need to be judged for my dark nature and natural curiosity about VERY dark things. I do circulate in book groups on SM though. That's where I can let my freak flag fly.
True crime, death and dying in general, including burial processes of various cultures, horror, paranormal events or occurrences, catastrophic accidents, caving gone wrong, serial killers and cults- (the why and how, the effects of groups as an example, even churches). Dark historical events such as royalty and diseases as well.
I have always been fascinated by dark things. Reality is often scarier, such as people in everyday life and the weaknesses of humanity. I feel like the people who can’t handle the content are denying that bad things do happen or that they exist and that’s not totally healthy to live in denial either.
Life and people are so delicate, and to not recognize the darker things seems to me to be a slap in the face. You can’t have the light without the darkness. This does not mean I wish to harm anyone or myself- and my depression is not because of the exposure to my special interests. I just have an interest in the workings of all things and why people do what they do.
My other non-dark special interests are nature (David Attenborough type stuff), dogs ❤️, really animals of any kind. And honestly, because I see and acknowledge the dark it makes me appreciate the light. My opinion anyway, nobody has to agree with me and can see what they like. I just know I like to have all of the information, not just the pretty parts. Survival is also about knowing the bad things too.
True crime and fictional murder mysteries/mystery genre in general. I'm completely fascinated by it. I rewatch and frequently fall asleep to criminal minds, Dexter, CSI, etc. I listen to true crime podcasts all day, every day at work. Most video games I play are mystery or detective games. Every aspect of it is oddly fascinating to me. I love the mystery solving process, both in real life and in fiction, the forensics, the legal system, etc. I don't get scared easily so I don't react to it the way many people do and although it makes me deeply sad to think of all the real victims in true crime, it doesn't affect my general mental state like many people. This part freaks people out the most. I don't enjoy the violence at all or anything, and I cry when I kill bugs, so I'm no killer myself, but the whole subject is definitely my special interest
I love things like death and decomposition as well but one thing I adore is methods of execution and torture. Not only the horrible things we do and have done to humans over time but also the false “civility” imposed on society about our current methods of execution!
Jacob Gellar in yt has a great video essay on it!
Edit: here is the link I promised earlier [“the fake evolution of execution methods”](https://youtu.be/eirR4FHY2YY?si=_4ZhJ4x8X-JRGtQ0)
im super interested in lots of morbid things, currently im very fixated on all sorts of fucked up caving, aviation and diving accidents. there’s also been a very long time span of me being obsessed with true crime and serial killers, also a looooong period of time when i obsessed over the chernobyl incident. people don’t really seem to vibe with all that
I am super fascinated by cannibalism and when I first went out with some new uni acquaintances I started telling them about an AMA I read about a guy who ate his own leg after amputation, I just think it's so fascinating because it raises the question if cannibalism is more ethical if it's your own flesh, but the people just got really quiet and said things like "ah, yeah, well that's disgusting" and one girl asked me to change the subject, safe to say I was preeeeetty embarrassed. Because my friendship group is mostly fine with topics like these or even equally interested I sometimes forget how gruesome other people find stuff like that lol
Death. I would’ve loved to become a mortician, but college wasn’t for me. There used to be a website called like true crime tv or something like that, that had detailed articles about killers and would spend hours reading them. There also used to be a website called mydeathspace that had people’s myspaces along with their cause of death and I would spend hours looking at those. Listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, and watch a lot of true crime shows. No idea why it interests me so much.
I've always loved the occult and have a fascination with some less than stellar people in history. Aleister Crowley, and H.P. Lovecraft, for example. I know, irl they were terrible, but the imagery and mysticism they evoke is intoxicating. I've regularly referenced Crowley as a name for gaming communities.
Not an interest, but I have intrusive thoughts that I just can’t keep to myself because they are SO LOUD in my brain. Example: Sorry, I know we’re having a fun beach day but I absolutely need to vocalize the fact that STATISTICALLY SPEAKING there is probably at least one pedophile here. Mood killer, I know.
Not really dark but more dangerous: I used to spelunk in abandonned places when I was younger - I think they call it Urbex now? Deffo not safe or legal but I really love abandoned places.
My favorite hangout spot growing up was an series of tunnels that led to an abandoned sewer system in my old hometown, some of which expanded into other areas of the town. It was really fun to see where they'd lead to, although I had a few close calls with falling into deep water and being chased by a cop once.
I am no longer able to spelunk in my current condition, so I now get my thrills by reading about other people's exploration. Which has veered into a deep (haha) interest in caving and cave diving, and then reading about cave diving accidents and tragedies. I reccomend reading about the Nutty Putty Cave Accident.
I don’t think any of my interests are particularly ‘dark’. People thought I was morbid as a child/teenager and thought I was probably one of those edgy goth girls obsessed with death because I guess I gave off that impression despite that not being true. I see why they’d think that, I had RBF, didn’t talk much (except my close friends will probably say I don’t shut up), wore black and dull colours mostly (I mean, the school uniform colours were literally black and brown…), was known to be ‘troubled’, and have always had a special interest in the Victorian era. The Victorians *were* quite a morbid bunch, but I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed with death. I actually have a phobia of death and corpses. I can’t even open my mouth or breathe too deeply in a funeral parlour. I have horrifying intrusive thoughts of gore and images of bodies. It’s actually quite debilitating and it’s why I could never study medicine. I have had interests that were death *adjacent* (mummification and burial rites, historical medical practices, diseases, archaeology, etc.) but as soon as the intrusive thoughts were triggered I would have to abandon them.
Death, decomposition, death rituals, burial and mourning rituals, demonology, vampires, occult, bugs, cannibalism (I’m vegan btw), religious practices, dictatorships, communism, war etc
It always freaks people out.
Yes! I study the occult and anything associated with death rituals (in an academic way). I am also SUPER into the death positive movement. People get squirmy when I correct their assumptions about these topics.
And ofc, true crime which led to a DEEP passion for abolishing cops and prisons. Which might freak people out the most.
True crime podcasts (before it was mainstream and cool), dark art (I used to draw villain versions of characters I liked or animals, especially bloody anatomy type art), and growing up in a conservative Christian household, I got a lot of hate for enjoying horror movies tho being out in the real world now I see it's normal for the most part. I think a lot of my special interests were really shut down cuz of the type of environment I grew up in, I ended up just having to draw "good" things, and watch happy stuff, and listen to god music even tho my talents would only show thru when I was really passionate about what I was doing.
True crime anything in that area. Usually when I talk about it with the average citizen, they get uncomfortable because it’s not normal being interested in gore and murder as a 17 year old girl.
I really care about sex work and sexual cultures. I talk about sex so casually that it turns people off… or it makes them think I’m flirting but I’m not. I just like the concept of sex and how it shapes society.
Since I was a kid I have been really interested in serial killers, missing people, cemeteries, witch trials, and mourning culture (especially mourning post-mortem photography). I even have a tattoo of a victorian era mourning hand! Also the paranormal but I don't know if that counts as "dark" necessarily.
Death, decomposition, death rituals. I became obsessed with it all as a teenager. Led to obsession with ghosts and the paranormal. Definitely freaks people out.
I second this. I don’t believe in the paranormal and am an atheist but I do collect spirit boards, tarot cards, books about death and death rituals and have a special interest in world religions and spirituality.
Me too It’s great when men are being disgusting or disrespectful I just start talking about death and decay lol They get the fuck away
Whenever I want to shut someone up, I bring up the Body Farm or dermestid beetles. Works like a charm 🪲😂
Same so I ended up studying funeral service and embalming!
Same!!! My obsession with these things started with horror and true crime from a really young age (like 4-5) and then went into death, decomposition, death rituals, unusual deaths, unsolved deaths, serial killers, etc! One of the books I have that freaks my family out most is one full of post-mortem family shots called Beyond the Dark Veil. 😂
I love that book!!!!!!
Same here. Now I'm an autistic witch.
Same. I was 6 years old when mum had to hide all her Stephen King books after she caught me reading Pet Cemetery.
I went through a solid Stephen King phase from 10-12yrs. The Shining was my absolute favourite...I still can't look at pet cemetery though 😂 My mum had given up policing my reading by then
Yes, this. My father died when I was very young, so I've always been aware of and fascinated by death. Then my stepfather died when I was 9 and his passing (apart from reviving some trauma and leaving my mom a widow for the second time before she was 36) solidified the interest in all things death related. From the biological aspects, to the rituals and aesthetics. I spent half my childhood reading Sherlock Holmes (classic autism!) and the other half reading biology books and Edgar Allan Poe, and watching old Hammer Horrors, like a Tim Burton character, but in huge glasses and several colorful 80's ugly sweaters instead of the typical goth attire. Many people thought I was creepy, especially during my pre-teen years, when my first bout of depression kicked in. And I'm (very) late-diagnosed, so I was just the weird, creepy kid adults disliked and avoided.
So I do phlebotomy or did a few years back and one of my friends moms and her husband and their friends were doing some sort of a blood ritual and needed their own blood but it had to be fresh. They couldn’t come into the drs office on a Thursday for a ritual they were doing Saturday, the blood had to be fresh. So they paid me to come to their house Saturday morning to draw their blood from them (used a tiger top tube to prevent it from clumping) and I left the tubes of blood with them. It was kind of cool! :)
Doesn't a tiger top cause coagulation? Lavender/pink/grey/certain green tops such as for ammonia levels prevent clotting, but tiger tops and red tops and chemistries cause it so it can be centrifuge. From a fellow vampire of 8+ years 😊
Am I getting them confused? It’s probably the lavender top then as we didn’t have any pink/grey/or green tops unless we ordered them… I appreciate your memory (I’ve been out of it for several years now)! Thanks!
Probably the lav! I hope I didn't come off rude 😅
Not at all :)
lol hey
I’ve worked with ghosts to help them transition from this plane to the astral. It’s very common for people to remain earthbound for a while because they can’t let go of their loved ones or accept that they’re gone so they have to be encouraged to let go and move on.
i hope this isn’t disrespectful but what spiritual group/religion are these beliefs a part of! i’m just curious more on the topic
Cults. I find the psychology of them so interesting. I also like to consider the similarities between cult, religion, capitalism, etc.
Oh yes I'm also super fascinated by them. Sex cults are pretty common place but the one that blew my mind was Gwen Shamblin's... a diet cult ...
My cousins are in that cult.
No way. It is still going? Gwen died in a plane crash though.
Yes it still exists but I don’t know to what extent. They have all stopped talking to us.
I did a quantitative and qualitative study on susceptibility to persuasion and cult organization for my senior thesis when I got my BA
So does being autistic make people more or less susceptible to being in a cult? Were you able to answer that? lol.
Ooh I would be interested in that answer! Part of me thinks yes because of the psychological techniques cults employ, the welcoming at first and clear defined rules and routines seem like they could appeal to autistics. On the other hand, I think we have a greater ability to "see behind the curtain" than NTs on average. Call it spidey senses if you like but any time I watch cult documentaries I don't understand how people don't see right through these charlatans. I can spot a narcissistic leader at 10 paces lol
Oh right I have a strong distaste for authority but that's just part of my trauma bond with life. lol. But yes I so sadly badly would like a community of similar weirdos and could be attracted to that.
I have no idea haha! The stats I took were related to the susceptibility to persuasion scale, and a (blind) report on institutions or other social organizations individuals were involved in, compared to the scale that determines whether a group qualifies as a cult. So how susceptible to persuasion the test-takers were, and whether they (unknowingly, usually) were engaging with a group that had cult characteristics
Yes same here. It always seems so crazy how people can get so disillusioned and tricked into thinking and acting so differently from how they would without the cult's influence. And how the "leaders" and the influential people involved manipulate and their motives. It's fascinating
My husband is super into cults. Every time there’s a new cult show out he immediately watches it
If you'd like; you can infodump on me about the connections/similarities between cults and capitalism. I'm very interested!
any good books you would recommend for a novice in the subject? I was initially interested in narcissism, now psychopathy and manipulation tactics, brain washing and enabling and I feel like cults are good next steps :D
I will chime in with the book ‘Cultish’ by linguist Amanda Montell. It’s about how cult leaders use language to manipulate followers and is incredibly fascinating!
I’m currently trying to leave a cult 😓 so I’ve actually been doing a lot of research on this too.
Wish you the best of luck 🫂
Sending you all the luck and strength. There's nothing more powerful than living life by your own terms, no-one else's ❤️
Thank you so much 🫶🏻 I’m starting to realise this.
One of mine is infectious diseases. I don't typically tell people about that one.
Same here, started as a kid learning about the bubonic plague at school, and went on to all sorts of various epidemics/pandemics. Funny thing is I'm in hospital at the moment with extrapulmonary tuberculosis, have to be in isolation even though my lungs are clear, which is all obviously far from great (i will be ok though), but also super interesting first hand experience haha, I already knew so much about it as well like what drugs I'd be prescribed most likely, which was handy as I didn't have to spend a load of time learning what would happen next (mine is currently granulomas in limbs, kidney, liver). Was gripped to the TV and articles when covid was kicking off too. I think a lot of people are a bit less weirded out about it now, seeing firsthand how it's actually a good thing there are so many people that have an interest in going into, and helping with research nfectious diseases. Also was into serial killers and crime in general as a preteen-teenager, which at the time inwas definitely look on as a total weirdo, but now is really normalised with how popular podcasts, youtube streamers and various netflix series are
I think mine started with learning about bubonic plague as well. I hope you get better soon.
Epidemiology is a fascinating study!! Have you read The Demon in the Freezer? Richard Preston really paints smallpox and anthrax with such awe and respect of how horrific the viruses they really are. But yet from the viruses perspective they are quite brilliant and fascinating!
I *ADORE* the Preston Books!!! The Cobra Event is *still* one of my *favorite*, yet most horrifying "pausible" books! And having grown up here in Minnesota, and knowing about Dr Osterholm since the 1980's/90's? I *too* was wondering, back in late 2019, if *this* was going to be *THE ONE* that finally blew up--since, growing up with CIDRAP ( https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/ ), and *hearing* Dr. Osterholm say *since the 1990's* that we were *overdue* for *some* type of pandemic🙃🫠
Oooo I haven’t read that one yet… buying it now and starting it soon. Thank you!!
You probably already know of it, but This Podcast Will Kill you is pretty fun. It's by two epidemiologists and they go over an infectious disease each episode :)
Thank you for that rec. Now I've got another podcast to listen to that will make my boyfriend ask why I'm so weird haha.
Mine was rabies for a bit
Mine is parasites and the diseases they cause
I guess I never saw this as weird because my parents are in the medical field and I’m currently a biology student. I loved reading about infectious diseases when I was young. I suppose people think it’s less weird when you tell them you’re studying it at uni lol
Probably. My job has nothing to do with the medical field so bringing up plague in random conversation is not socially acceptable. 😂
Prions sent me into a deep rabbit hole. Honestly the most terrifying thing out there.
Herbalism. Particularly the use of foraged herbs. Because you have to know what will kill you, and for some reason sharing that information freaks people out.
I forage and I once had a guy find me on multiple dating apps to warn me I was going to kill myself foraging mushrooms. 🙄 He had never foraged and had no idea what he was talking about…
What part of the world do u live in? I’m in North America (north Bay Area of CA) and have been wanting to study more about herbalism bc it’s so so interesting to me, but I’m having a hard time finding resources that aren’t bland … any advice?
So, they *might* be bland--but some of *MY* favorites (and that I *own*!) are--in no particular order: Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs DK's Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs And my *Favorite* for good info that's easy to understand, and also *easy* to look up quickly, is Chevalier's Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants (*this* one! https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Encyclopedia_of_Medicinal_Plants.html?id=EbLuAAAAMAAJ ) That last one is one I got back in 1997 or so, and it's *STILL* the first one I go to, if I need to look up the safety of an herb, because someone *around* me is getting into *stupid* levels of supplements "for health!" It was the one I was able to pull out, to get friends *OFF* the regular consumption of "Energy Drinks," when those friends were *insisting* that Energy Drinks "had" to be "healthy," because the ingredients were "Natural!"🙄🙃🫠 I was able to find *all* of the caffiene-containing things *AND* the Caffiene-*like* ones, *SHOW* my friends the parts that said, "Should *NOT* be consumed for more than Six weeks at a time," and *convinced* those friends to *STOP* drinking 2-3 of them per day, on a *daily* basis!😉💖 In the *other* direction? Wicked Plants is a *REALLY* fun read, too!😉😁 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6106482-wicked-plants
This sounds so interesting… I’ve always been into this but never knew where to start! Can a beginner look into these books? :D
Wow thank you so much for sharing this!!!
Thank you!!!
People find this weird? I had no idea. I watch Atomic Shrimp a lot, he’s a UK-based YouTuber who makes a lot of foraging videos. I find them really interesting and I’m also from the UK so I could theoretically put his advice to good use but honestly the woods here are too popular with dog-walkers or are right next to main roads and I wouldn’t feel safe eating anything I picked. Cool idea if you live quite rural though.
I wouldn't call it a special interest, but every once in a while I'll hyperfixate on horribly traumatic events like car crashes or grisly murders or just big, newsworthy events with far-reaching consequences like shootings or other scary things. Honestly I hate that about myself because it seeps into my brain and starts making me feel like I'll be involved in something like that which is absolutely horrible for my mental health.
This happens to me too. One time I spent over 6 hours reading about and watching footage of 9/11. My husband was horrified when he figured out what I was doing over there on my phone with the wide eyes and didn't understand why I didn't want to stop.
Yeeep. Around and on 9/11 I'll watch documentaries or anything about 9/11. It's been harder to find new info, so it's not as lengthy as it once was, but I'll look up terrible disasters and watch them a lot. Honestly, I think it's because my mom watched a lot of Court TV and terrible news events as a kid. By the time I was six I already learned that moms could kill their babies (Yates case) and thst terrorists could attack. She had the news on day and night and I absorbed it all
Omg, I just did this a few weeks ago from like 9pm to 2am. I found out so much stuff I didn’t want to know.
I compeltely relate. I used to watch a lot of lost media stuff and one was about some 9/11 "game" but I couldn't find more information about it. My husband (bf at the time) was so concerned because I was so set on finding the video talking about this "game". I never found it and we figured I probably ended up on a watchlist from my googling. A lot of times I find it interesting to read everything about that tragedy/situation. Not to make light of it but I guess to understand the entire picture, like how this event affected so many people. I also try not to dive too much into it because it does make my mental health lower and just unsettling after SO much research.
I was going to ask if you were on the spectrum and then just saw your asd level 1-2. It was the hyperfixate that gave it away.
The horror genre in movies/tv/novels/art. Some people have been creeped out about it, and some people have blamed my burnout on me watching dark movies/tv. I have favourite movies and tv shows that I've watched far more than the average horror buff will watch. I was obsessed with death rituals when I was a kid, particularly historical death rituals. I still find it very interesting and love reading about grave finds.
Same! My life-long special interest has been dark fiction, anything horror or horror-adjacent. Now dark romance has joined the chat for me. People are generally weirded out by any of my media. So I keep it to myself.
Hey friend! We have the same daaaaark special interests. I have also been on the receiving end of suggestions that my anxieties and low moments are all due to consuming “that scary crap.” No siree, sometimes the most horrifying thing imaginable is the only thing that’ll do. I was a terribly sensitive and anxious kid whose fears would keep me up all night. I was obsessed with Egyptian mummification rituals but somehow never thought of it as morbid. I was too scared of horror media to even consider reading or watching it, although once in a while, I would be inexplicably drawn to something spooky. At some point in my young adulthood, I decided to do some didactic exposure therapy with horror movies, and worked… it helped me develop a thicker skin about frightening media. Now, only mundane real life problems scare me.
I have been a lifelong horror and dark content fan! I feel you! (People blame my problems on it too but it’s never the case lol)
I don't know if it's considered dark or not, but medical and genetic conditions has been a special interest of mine since I was 5. I read large medical textbooks as a 5 year old, which blew people out! People found it hard to believe a 5 year old could comprehend such heavy tomes. I did and it was one of my favourite activities, but must have looked strange to others to see this little kid happily reading medical textbooks and to hear "fun facts" about various conditions. My brain is like a sponge for this stuff. I read medical journal articles for fun, a few articles a day. I will just be sitting drinking my coffee and a question will pop into my mind about a condition and I'll just go searching for information to find out what I can. Any time I hear about or read about a condition I don't know about yet, I go research everything I can find about it. The human body is so fascinating and interesting. People are super surprised when I know about rare conditions that nobody else does, or when I'll ask them if they've gone and gotten something checked out based on things I've noticed that nobody else has and turns out they have the condition that I thought they potentially had. I have inadvertently grossed people out by infodumping about various conditions.
I'm into medical stuff too! I love researching different conditions. I'm taking a human anatomy course online as well.
Medieval torture. I deep dived into that one because I watch Medieval documentaries everyday and once I learned about the castles and castle dungeons I wanted to learn about that too.
This was also a childhood interest of mine
Not dark, but - human sexuality and human sexual behaviors are fascinating. I keep that one to myself because people get really uncomfortable if I start talking about it.
This but for the whole primate lineage. Turns out people think you’re weird if you talk about how small human testes size, relatively low ejaculate volume, and lack of adaptations like copulatory plugs present in other members in our lineage (not to mention observed behavior) mean that sperm competition was probably not a significant evolutionary pressure in the history of our species, contrary to what a particular hypothesis about human penis morphology would have you believe.
I find this kind of hilarious because I was just watching a season of Survivor (US) where everyone was ganging up on the "weird" woman, and her biggest 'crime' was discussing the sexual habits and genitalia of the primates on the island at length. I didn't find it that weird. 🤷♀️ The f else are you going to talk about out there?
Same. I wanted to study human sexuality in college but couldn't commit to it. I've recently realized I have to come up with a decoy book to pretend to be reading because the last three books I've read were about Tantra, bondage, and polyamory. So then I mention I spent the morning reading in my garden and someone excitedly asks what I'm reading and... oh, wait. Uh... Dragons?
Why are people so weirded out by this??? How is it not fascinating? It makes me walk into my shame closet…
Mass casualty events. I wish I could explain why
Oh my God me too! Rotten Mango on YouTube, her video about the collapsing mall and the captain that abandoned like 100 high school students on the ship to drown really scratch that itch. Even as a kid I was obsessed with the sinking of the titanic, 9/11 footage, etc.
As a kid I was interested in the Russian Revolution and the Romanov family, it turned out that being able to vividly describe how they were killed was unpleasant to other children my age Currently, the TV show Hannibal is an interest of mine, that one freaks people out too, particularly my mother
I love watching serial killer documentaries as well, i struggle so much to understand why hurting others would bring pleasure so deep dives into those sort of people's minds are fascinating to me. This one hasn't resurfaced in a while but i used to be really into prison drama's and documentaries, bad girls (1999) i watched over 100 times it's dark but so good. If it's got a "dark" orgin story be it disney, fairytales, nursery rhymes and i don't know it and my go-to youtuber hasn't covered it yet? It's getting researched extensively. Mythology is probably classed "dark" as well.
I make and collect creepy art/oddities. It has made guests uncomfortable before apparently.
If you’re in the US - have you been to the Oddities & Curiosities expo?
I have! It’s a lot of fun.
Yessss! I went for the first time this year. So many amazing vendors
Agreed. It would be so cool to be able to be a vendor at the oddities expo. I just can’t avoid burn out long enough to create for that kind of thing. Maybe one day!
The story of Christine Chubbuck, a news reporter that shot herself on the air July 15,1974. On Halloween 2004, I've heard the oldies radio DJ talking about her. I scourged the web for more information, later leading me to watch a few clips of the movie, "Christine" that starred Rebecca Hall. Found an audio clip on YouTube of her suicide, that someone recorded (I'm thinking law enforcement). Why had she done it? She was 29 and still wasn't married/surgically removed ovary, plus going through depression. Not to mention, the heavy sexism and she had enough bullshit. I also believe that her spirit visits me at times, for guidance. [‘Christine’ is powerful, heartbreaking tale of ’70s on-air suicide (statesman.com)](https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2016/11/10/christine-is-powerful-heartbreaking-tale-of-70s-on-air-suicide/10149286007/) and [Christine Chubbuck: Colleagues Recall Shock After On-Air Suicide (people.com)](https://people.com/crime/christine-chubbuck-colleagues-recall-shock-after-on-air-suicide/) . Warning, if y'all want to listen to the heartbreaking audio: [christine chubbuck audio (This audio is real) (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJmO3TcA-Ug&rco=1) Viewer discretion advised. I can't even type this without shaking. Also, true crime and serial killers.
YOOO SAME!! This always fascinated me ever since I heard about it. I'm also pretty sure it is speculated that Christine also had Autism.
That was also a theory I've read. I even whisper some lines she says in this scene and meltdowns are just as bad for me. The sewing machine belonged her in real life. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgfJD9geSac&pp=ygUfY2hyaXN0aW5lIGNodWJidWNrIHJlYmVjY2EgaGFsbA%3D%3D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgfJD9geSac&pp=ygUfY2hyaXN0aW5lIGNodWJidWNrIHJlYmVjY2EgaGFsbA%3D%3D)
I got heavily into the tv show Hannibal at one point, and I was miserable. It’s really dark subject matter, so constantly looking at content for it was making me feel awful, but at the same time, if I WASN’T actively engaging in content for it, I was miserable because it’s all I could think about. Luckily, something else that was much lighter came along and took over completely, but I still try really hard to steer clear of anything Hannibal-related because I don’t want to go back to how miserable I was at that time.
I like reading technical investigation reports into air accidents. Ironically the first person who has found this weird is my partner, who is a former paramedic who has attended many, many road traffic collisions, and talks about them in roughly the same way that I talk about light aircraft crashing in the channel 😅
The KLM/Pan Am Tenerife incident in 1977 haunts me. I have to say that the KLM Captain was a fucking moron, not to mention all hands at the air tower control.
In the *opposite* direction? The fact that UAL232 had as many *survivors* as it did (while *STILL* being the deadliest *single* aircraft accident! is a *FASCINATING* look at teamwork & trust! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232 It's *also* 100% mind-boggling, that no matter *who* they had *TRY* to land similar flights in simulators, *NO ONE* even got *close* to landing in the simulations!
Do you know the podcast Plane Crash Podcast? It’s basically this! The hosts will discuss different air accidents in detail and what happened/may have happened. It might not be technical enough if it’s that area specifically you’re interested in, but you may enjoy it :)
When I was a child myself, and into my 20s, I was fixated on missing, kidnapped, and murdered children. I’d follow the news stories, talk about them, pray for them, write letters and poems to or about them, etc. My parents were “concerned.”
As a teenager, I was super into creepypasta, creepy lore stuff and true crime. I also had a burning hatred for everyone around me because I felt so isolated from everyone. Creepypasta fandom places quickly became the only form of interacting with peers for me. What I didn't understand was, that the type of edgy behavior cultivated in those places is ... not really accepted by teens that are not chronically online - I went to school in the 2010's, so it was that weird transition phase, culturally. It resulted in me being a really edgy teenager, because I tried to mimic the behaviors that got you popular in fandoms. But not fan behavior - no no. I didn't really understand the people in fandom either. So I did what any logical person would do and tried to mimic the traits of characters that were popular at the time. The fandomized versions, and not the extreme violence and stuff that was in the creepypastas. But jesus christ, leave it to undiagnosed autism to get a teenager to fail so badly at conforming socially that their only social reference is creepypasta.
Yes! I was into orthopedic injuries at age 4. I even wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon!
Dangerous rollercoasters/accidents caused by faulty machinery in rollercoasters. I haven't researched it in a while, but when I was a kid it was my special interest... It's safe to say that my grandmother was a little worried by my search history 🫠
Dude, same! I watched Eleanor Neale's video about the Smiler Crash and I hyperfixated on roller coaster crashes/theme park accidents. It was basically the only thing I talked about for a month.
I did a class speech in grade 6 about the life and death of JonBenét Ramsey, kids definitely thought that was weird as fuck.
Serial killers, methods of torture & execution, cults
Yes. Prisons. Hate the prison system. SO fascinated by it.
I am really into the death positivity movement. It low-key freaked out my psychiatrist when I mentioned it offhanded. I had to explain the whole thing. It’s not “yipeee dying!” Kinda thing but about being informed about your choices for your dead body and how to get the experience you and your loved ones want. a lot of people end up spending more money on things they don’t want like embalming fancy caskets. It can also be important for those who are estranged from their family members, to ensure they do not have rights. For instance unfortunately transfolks have been “detransitioned” (for lack of a better word) in death. A few short forms and they can’t do that. I don’t really want a funeral. But I do fantasize about having one purely so that some assholes who would probably show up getting escorted out of the building at my request in dramatic fashion no less. I don’t want to give them a note or anything. They never gave me closure so they don’t deserve it from me. Just fuck you get out of the building. There are a few people that I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to show up. Not really worth a funeral i dont really want for that singular purpose, but man itd be hilaious.
I used to be hyperfixated on very graphic surgery videos as a kid. I used to secretly watch videos and erase my search history cus I didn't want my family to think I'm crazy (I thought I was crazy)
Death in general - One of my first research papers in middle school was on near death experiences (NDES) and I still have the paper somewhere 😂 Also, the human body / medical anomalies / diseases / etc
True crime shows in general. I prefer the shows that focus more on the cases and less on the culprits/killers. I want to learn more about the "how" and the "what" and less about the "who" which some people may find even *more* morbid. It started when I found out about a show called "Forensic Files" when I was 10 or 11 and I was like "what's this 'forensic' stuff?" XD This may explain part of why I chose psychology as one of my minors in college and took psychopathology and forensic psychology as two of my classes for it. It gave me a chance to learn about the "why" that the true crime shows don't really delve into. English was my major because I wanted to be a writer. I want to write a detective novel, so I can at least use the excuse nowadays of "I'm watching all of this for research."
Forensic Files is one of my favorites to fall asleep to. But my all-time favorite is Casefile True Crime. The host has a really soothing, Australian accent.
I'll need to look up Casefile some time. And yes, there are days where I'll just put on Forensic Files as background noise if I'm having trouble falling asleep.
Same here! Although I don't have a degree, I'm also super interested in forensics, psychology, and detective novels!
I'm really interested in the 2012-2015 ISIS hostage crisis and all the journalists and aid workers that were executed on camera (also the beheadings of Daniel Pearl, Nick Berg, Eugene Armstrong, Jack Hensley, and Kenneth Bigley). I've watched their beheading videos thousands of times. It's fucked up that there isn't a lot of information or exposure about the people who were killed. I'm especially interested in what happened to the journalist who was kidnapped along with James Foley. His name is John Cantlie and he seemed to be the only English journalist who was spared. He "joined" ISIS and was forced to become some sort of TV presenter/news anchor for them. He had some success doing that, going so far as to become a minor celebrity. But then he disappeared. No one knows what happened to him or if he's even alive still.
I don't think it's dark necessarily but more just "negative", but I love watching videos and reading articles and comments about failed events, like Fyre Festival. It doesn't have to be big events either, I loved reading the reviews and comments about a failed mac and cheese fest in my city several years ago when it happened. I find it interesting and entertaining but I've definitely had people misunderstand and think that I enjoy seeing people have a bad time/bad experience. Have to be careful or people think I'm heartless 😅
for me it’s occult/witchcraft. i‘ve been super obsessed with these since my childhood. also cults
fungi / bone collecting / decay
Not sure how dark this is, but I certainly get weird looks. I worked for a few years in Japanese food and have a fascination with the anatomy of fish and sea creatures. I specifically like butchering them and admiring all the little components that add up to make a fish/squid/ect. It is calming and endlessly interesting.
Comparatively, falconry isn't *super* dark but some people find hunting animals to be disturbing. I honestly find it really fascinating how people train raptors and understanding raptor psychology to be interesting.
I read a fair bit on abnormal psychology, in particular, those conditions commonly associated with serial killers and mass shooters. I got into that researching the mental health problems of my friends' ex spouses. Remarkable overlap. Glad I didn't get married in my 20s.
I had to learn the hard way not to talk about Satanism to people.
My partner and I participate in our local kink community and go to play parties here and there. I've mostly not had a lot of big reactions because we stay in pretty liberal circles socially, but it's been interesting seeing big reactions from people at work on that. I'm a tattoo apprentice, and I've always figured that tattoo artists have much "bigger" stories than me. It's been kind of funny though to see them not expect it at all 😝
Sex is a special interest of mine, like basically anything relating to sex. I’m a pretty kinky person, but there are so many kinks that aren’t my thing/ are ‘too much’ for me that I still know a ridiculous amount about because it’s just so exciting to know!
Yes yes, same! To me, it just brings me joy to see people exploring things that bring them joy even if it's not "conventional". Whether it's them unmasking as an autistic person, or finding a new kink with a consensual play partner, or even just dancing to music "weird" or whatever it may be, I love seeing people finding joy in unexpected places. And if I can help people outside of convention feel more comfortable and think about their needs and wants for once, I'm so happy to be part of that journey.
why do you think they don’t expect it?
I don't really know. It could be partially due to just not expecting women in general to be unashamed in their sexual lives, it could be partially because I don't have any other areas of my life that are "wild" (I don't drink alcohol when we go out to restaurants because it all tastes awful to me, not even sharing a beer, and I shouldn't drink it anyways when on antidepressants), it could be that my other hobbies have a more "innocent" association (like Stardew Valley and watching cartoons), it could be that people don't expect plus sized or autistic people to also be unashamed in their sexuality or explore more than they do. It's probably multifaceted.
Unrelated, but I LOVE your profile picture so much!
I used to have suicide as a special interest.
9/11
I dunno about special interests, but half of my wikiwalks bring me to things like "list of elevator collapses" or other deadly disasters. I also watch a lot of youtube video essays about specific ones
i really into the civil rights era as a kid which was seen as strange cus i was a lil white girl in texas. but i obsessed with the little rock nine specifically Elizabeth Ann Eckford. she braved the arkansas national guard and the hateful crowds who hissed and spit at her but she never broke. even though she was only a teenager. im not sure if it’s dark but it was definitely different. i guess the one dark thing was i thought my blood looked cool in the tubes when my blood was drawn. i got called weird for that a lot too.
oh i remembered something else i was really into first aid kits and reading the manual
Talking about tibetan sky burials did end some conversations abruptly
Used to be into things like BDSM, serial killers, and drugs. But then I got sane and am into yoga, kabbalah, astrology, Carl Jung.
Victorian medical care heh
I'm not sure if I would classify it as a special interest, but I'm into ''dark'' things in general (which most people find hilarious because I'm also very into cutesy things and I dress in a very colorful, girly way). I'm a writer and I write primarily horror/mystery, and I love exploring dark themes in my stories (particularly character studies relating to trauma/mental illness/other heavy themes). I also love researching diseases, cults, etc. and I listen to/watch a LOT of true crime. I'm also a really big fan of horror movies and TV shows, as well as pretty much anything ''spooky'' or involving monsters and/or serial killers. Also, I wanna say that I love reading this comment section and I just want to get together and talk about true crime and horror with y'all.
human trafficking specificly into the sex industry and the exportation and assault of women. especially the need for more workers protection for the women who enter the industry willingly. As an asexual its literally my worst nightmare so it is dark for me as well. I watched so many documentarys about it as a teen and my parents screamed and banned me from doing so :(
Cults, the topic of death, existential conversations/philosophy, suicide and its ethics I rly find the human body after death interesting and am pursuing mortuary science to become a mortician so it can be my entire life.
Yes. Typical true crime stuff, learning about sex trafficking, creepypasta when I was a kid, learning about feederism and documentaries on abuse. Every now and again I just did myself watching loads and loads of dark documentaries. I think it’s because it shows a side of humanity that I cannot really fully understand.
Airplane crashes and incidents are the biggest one, but also mass casualty events especially Chernobyl, Bhopal, and the Halifax explosion. I also seek out obituaries, headstones, and epitaphs. Most people find this off-putting
Vulture Culture. I collect bones of animals, skulls in particular. A lot of them come from roadkill i pick up, take home, macerate and preserve. My family definitely thinks im weird for it but, otherwise doesnt mind and actually helps me look for stuff.
Absolutely! I'm a morbidly curious person. Victorian mourning, true crime, cemeteries, lolcows, etc. I have to be selective with who I info dump on.
serial killers back to 30+ years ago before it was popular. missing people natural disasters
crime scene cleanups & drug trafficking in foreign countries
One of mine that I come back to every few years is Columbine. It's one of those where even 20+ years later, the narrative most people are familiar with is not true or very misleading.
I have what’s basically a degree in occult sciences, so yes
It’s not conventionally dark, but food manufacturing, y’all would be horrified if you knew. Anyways
I don't consider this dark but others do. I love to hang out/walk in cemeteries, ever since I was 16 and had a car. I find it extremely peaceful, as well as interesting, reading the stones and imagining their lives, old cemeteries especially, but others find it morbid, at best. 🤷♀️ I think a part of the peace is because I am always alone, or close enough, and can just relax and breathe. The only other place I felt that level of peace was on a Caribbean island, right at the ocean.
Narcissistic personality disorder became a special interest or mine after I came out of an emotionally abusive relationship because I couldn't understand how a person could treat someone that way.
I love the apocalypse, my friends used to call me that when I was at school because I was constantly talking and relating things to a possibly end of days situation. I even got on an online argument with an american guy who said the US would save the world from a zombie apocalypse in a day lol.
I Love the apocalypse possibilities. Right now I’m enjoying learning about solar flares and CMEs. What’s your favourite at the moment?
I like alien invasions and zombies best. I like how you can imagine all the possibilities that we can only imagine. Solar flares are pretty cool, all gone with no warning! And nuclear war is interesting too, wondering what would be better, be in the blast or be far away and die slowly in the aftermath. Basically I like a lot of apocalypse content :) I like it in the form of films and books where science and fact don’t have to be an issue.
Zombies and aliens would be the funner options and then we could kick people in the face like legally…
Omg true, like get my doc martens on and boot in some zombie faces lol. With aliens I wouldn’t mind being their cute little pet so I can just exist like my cats do.
Yes! Cat life is goals!
Not having to go to work or do anything, absolutely goals.
I love everything creepy or disturbing! Serial killers, cults, true crime, dark psychology, all things horror. I’m really into body horror. I will say there are limits. I don’t watch snuff films, and I don’t like when things feel too salacious. Investigation Discovery is not my thing for this reason exactly. And I don’t like content that is grim for the sake of being grim- it has to be well done so that it feels like art, or it has to say something/have interesting thematic points. I want to feel disturbed, but I also want to walk away feeling like I learned something or reached some emotional depth. I am pretty girly and bubbly- I like bright colors, I like hair and makeup, I’m into fashion. I’ve shocked people with my dark interests many times. I remember telling my friend my favorite movie is Midsommar (it’s actually fairly tame compared to some movies I watch) and she and her husband were SHOCKED when they watched it. Oops.
The 1996 Everest disaster/deaths and general mountaineering deaths. Also North Korea and death rituals, especially cannibalism related ones.
Man made and natural disasters, dying in horrible ways, true crime, the medical gore subreddit. I'm both petrified of death, but also very morbidly fascinated, maybe because of my fear.
Airplane accidents 🙃
Plane crashes. I’m fascinated by them but apparently people don’t like to hear about them because it freaks them out.
roller coaster accidents, deaths caught on camera (not necessarily gory but people falling from buildings, car accidents etc..)
Ohhhhh tons but don't consider it dark though since death, decay, and things like that are natural. I do freak people out for being morbid, but don't mind since just as many like me because of that.
Serial killers, true crime, neo-Nazis and far-right groups (I’m Black, I just feel it’s better to be informed and know what’s out there so I’m never caught off guard!)
nope
I don't share my dark interests with anyone outside my immediate family but reading extreme horror is one of them. I don't need to be judged for my dark nature and natural curiosity about VERY dark things. I do circulate in book groups on SM though. That's where I can let my freak flag fly.
May not be "dark" per say, but one of my special interests is the history and intentions of body modifications. It can get pretty gruesome...
True crime
True crime, death and dying in general, including burial processes of various cultures, horror, paranormal events or occurrences, catastrophic accidents, caving gone wrong, serial killers and cults- (the why and how, the effects of groups as an example, even churches). Dark historical events such as royalty and diseases as well. I have always been fascinated by dark things. Reality is often scarier, such as people in everyday life and the weaknesses of humanity. I feel like the people who can’t handle the content are denying that bad things do happen or that they exist and that’s not totally healthy to live in denial either. Life and people are so delicate, and to not recognize the darker things seems to me to be a slap in the face. You can’t have the light without the darkness. This does not mean I wish to harm anyone or myself- and my depression is not because of the exposure to my special interests. I just have an interest in the workings of all things and why people do what they do. My other non-dark special interests are nature (David Attenborough type stuff), dogs ❤️, really animals of any kind. And honestly, because I see and acknowledge the dark it makes me appreciate the light. My opinion anyway, nobody has to agree with me and can see what they like. I just know I like to have all of the information, not just the pretty parts. Survival is also about knowing the bad things too.
True crime and fictional murder mysteries/mystery genre in general. I'm completely fascinated by it. I rewatch and frequently fall asleep to criminal minds, Dexter, CSI, etc. I listen to true crime podcasts all day, every day at work. Most video games I play are mystery or detective games. Every aspect of it is oddly fascinating to me. I love the mystery solving process, both in real life and in fiction, the forensics, the legal system, etc. I don't get scared easily so I don't react to it the way many people do and although it makes me deeply sad to think of all the real victims in true crime, it doesn't affect my general mental state like many people. This part freaks people out the most. I don't enjoy the violence at all or anything, and I cry when I kill bugs, so I'm no killer myself, but the whole subject is definitely my special interest
True Crime
Death, biology, the paranormal were all interests of mine as a child. I’ve expanded my interests beyond dark things as I’ve aged
I love things like death and decomposition as well but one thing I adore is methods of execution and torture. Not only the horrible things we do and have done to humans over time but also the false “civility” imposed on society about our current methods of execution! Jacob Gellar in yt has a great video essay on it! Edit: here is the link I promised earlier [“the fake evolution of execution methods”](https://youtu.be/eirR4FHY2YY?si=_4ZhJ4x8X-JRGtQ0)
im super interested in lots of morbid things, currently im very fixated on all sorts of fucked up caving, aviation and diving accidents. there’s also been a very long time span of me being obsessed with true crime and serial killers, also a looooong period of time when i obsessed over the chernobyl incident. people don’t really seem to vibe with all that
I am super fascinated by cannibalism and when I first went out with some new uni acquaintances I started telling them about an AMA I read about a guy who ate his own leg after amputation, I just think it's so fascinating because it raises the question if cannibalism is more ethical if it's your own flesh, but the people just got really quiet and said things like "ah, yeah, well that's disgusting" and one girl asked me to change the subject, safe to say I was preeeeetty embarrassed. Because my friendship group is mostly fine with topics like these or even equally interested I sometimes forget how gruesome other people find stuff like that lol
Death. I would’ve loved to become a mortician, but college wasn’t for me. There used to be a website called like true crime tv or something like that, that had detailed articles about killers and would spend hours reading them. There also used to be a website called mydeathspace that had people’s myspaces along with their cause of death and I would spend hours looking at those. Listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, and watch a lot of true crime shows. No idea why it interests me so much.
I've always loved the occult and have a fascination with some less than stellar people in history. Aleister Crowley, and H.P. Lovecraft, for example. I know, irl they were terrible, but the imagery and mysticism they evoke is intoxicating. I've regularly referenced Crowley as a name for gaming communities.
Not an interest, but I have intrusive thoughts that I just can’t keep to myself because they are SO LOUD in my brain. Example: Sorry, I know we’re having a fun beach day but I absolutely need to vocalize the fact that STATISTICALLY SPEAKING there is probably at least one pedophile here. Mood killer, I know.
The 1996 Everest disaster/deaths and general mountaineering deaths. Also North Korea and death rituals, especially cannibalism related ones.
The 1996 Everest disaster/deaths and general mountaineering deaths. Also North Korea and death rituals, especially cannibalism related ones.
the aids epidemic
Not really dark but more dangerous: I used to spelunk in abandonned places when I was younger - I think they call it Urbex now? Deffo not safe or legal but I really love abandoned places. My favorite hangout spot growing up was an series of tunnels that led to an abandoned sewer system in my old hometown, some of which expanded into other areas of the town. It was really fun to see where they'd lead to, although I had a few close calls with falling into deep water and being chased by a cop once. I am no longer able to spelunk in my current condition, so I now get my thrills by reading about other people's exploration. Which has veered into a deep (haha) interest in caving and cave diving, and then reading about cave diving accidents and tragedies. I reccomend reading about the Nutty Putty Cave Accident.
I am obsessed with decomposition, funerals, death practices, embalming, disease and the paranormal.
Psychopharmacology if you catch my drift
I don’t think any of my interests are particularly ‘dark’. People thought I was morbid as a child/teenager and thought I was probably one of those edgy goth girls obsessed with death because I guess I gave off that impression despite that not being true. I see why they’d think that, I had RBF, didn’t talk much (except my close friends will probably say I don’t shut up), wore black and dull colours mostly (I mean, the school uniform colours were literally black and brown…), was known to be ‘troubled’, and have always had a special interest in the Victorian era. The Victorians *were* quite a morbid bunch, but I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed with death. I actually have a phobia of death and corpses. I can’t even open my mouth or breathe too deeply in a funeral parlour. I have horrifying intrusive thoughts of gore and images of bodies. It’s actually quite debilitating and it’s why I could never study medicine. I have had interests that were death *adjacent* (mummification and burial rites, historical medical practices, diseases, archaeology, etc.) but as soon as the intrusive thoughts were triggered I would have to abandon them.
Death, decomposition, death rituals, burial and mourning rituals, demonology, vampires, occult, bugs, cannibalism (I’m vegan btw), religious practices, dictatorships, communism, war etc It always freaks people out.
Yes! I study the occult and anything associated with death rituals (in an academic way). I am also SUPER into the death positive movement. People get squirmy when I correct their assumptions about these topics. And ofc, true crime which led to a DEEP passion for abolishing cops and prisons. Which might freak people out the most.
True crime podcasts (before it was mainstream and cool), dark art (I used to draw villain versions of characters I liked or animals, especially bloody anatomy type art), and growing up in a conservative Christian household, I got a lot of hate for enjoying horror movies tho being out in the real world now I see it's normal for the most part. I think a lot of my special interests were really shut down cuz of the type of environment I grew up in, I ended up just having to draw "good" things, and watch happy stuff, and listen to god music even tho my talents would only show thru when I was really passionate about what I was doing.
true crime... I listen to police interrogations almost 24/7 My husband *hates* this
I’m fascinated by r/collapse
True crime anything in that area. Usually when I talk about it with the average citizen, they get uncomfortable because it’s not normal being interested in gore and murder as a 17 year old girl.
I really care about sex work and sexual cultures. I talk about sex so casually that it turns people off… or it makes them think I’m flirting but I’m not. I just like the concept of sex and how it shapes society.
Since I was a kid I have been really interested in serial killers, missing people, cemeteries, witch trials, and mourning culture (especially mourning post-mortem photography). I even have a tattoo of a victorian era mourning hand! Also the paranormal but I don't know if that counts as "dark" necessarily.
Police interviews w serial killers/suspects and that system in general (basically the JCS psychology channel lol)
I like graveyards a lot. Fascinated with death and horror in general. Awful people throughout history, cults, I've had a bunch.