The 12 Most Horrifying Execution Practices Throughout History

From 1351 to 1870, drawing and quartering was the standard method of execution for those convicted of high treason in England. Victims were fastened to a wooden panel and drawn by a horse to the execution site, where they were hanged almost to the point of death, but not quite. They were then slit from their genitals to their throat, and their insides were pulled out and burned before their very eyes. They were then chopped into four pieces and beheaded, whereupon their dismembered body parts were used to decorate whichever prominent places the king deemed best.

Thought to have been used by the Japanese against POWs in WWII, this slow and excruciating execution involved the victim being tied in place over a growing bamboo shoot. The shoot would, over the span of multiple days, puncture the victim's skin and grow through their body until it came through on the other side. Those who practiced this form of torture were said to have force-fed their victims to keep them alive and in pain for as long as possible. The Siamese were also purported to have used this method in the 1820s during the invasion of Kedah.

This method was more often used as a torture tactic to get prisoners to reveal information, but occasionally, it went far enough to cause the victim to die a painful death. A rat was placed in a pottery bowl, with the open end against the prisoner's belly. The bowl was then heated from the bottom using coals or flames, and in a desperate attempt to escape, the rodent would scratch, gnaw, and eat its way through the victim's stomach. This sadistic practice took place in the Dutch Revolt in the mid-16th century, but there are reports of it taking place sporadically throughout other locations and time periods.

Not that there's any good way to be tortured to death, but this method might be one of the worst ways to go. It involves slowly removing the skin from the body, and even if all of the victim's skin is removed, it can still take up to a few days for them to die. The most common causes of death resulting from this practice are shock, dehydration, and infection, all of which occur after a long period of unbearable suffering. Flaying has been used as a form of punishment worldwide all throughout history, appearing early enough to be featured in Aztec and Greek mythology.

In this aptly named device that was used throughout Europe, the victim was tied spread-eagle to a wheel with many spokes. They were then beaten with a club, the gaps between the radial spokes allowing their bones to break cleanly so the person suffered for as long as possible before their eventual demise. The unfortunate person who set the record for taking the longest to die after receiving this treatment was a German serial killer, who in 1581 was forcibly kept alive for nine days after being beaten.

This type of execution was great for those who liked options. Should the saw pass horizontally through the victim's stomach? Or would cutting them in half vertically be a better choice? If you were really feeling sadistic, you could hang your victim upside down and start the job at their genitals; this kept blood flowing to their head, which allowed them to stay alive longer to get the full experience. This was a popular method of execution, with multiple nations on all continents practicing it at one point or another in their history.

Drinking milk and honey sounds like the opposite of torture… until it has to come out. Scaphism is the ancient Persian practice of stripping a person naked and trapping them between two hollowed-out logs so that their hands, feet, and head stick out. The victim would then be forced to ingest large quantities of milk and honey, which would soon cause diarrhea. After more honey was poured on the face, ears, genitals, and anus, the unfortunate person would be left to float in stagnant water while their feces accumulated inside their little boat of torture. After a while, insects and worms would come feed on the feces, rotting flesh, and honey, often burrowing into the victim's skin to breed. After multiple days of being subjected to stinging, gangrene, and being eaten alive, the victim would succumb to septic shock, dehydration, or starvation.

Although some doubt exists as to whether or not this method of execution was actually employed, it's been described in ancient Norse literature. The victim would be laid out on their stomach, the flesh on their back torn open to expose their spinal column. Their ribs would then be pulled away from the spine and spread out with the goal of having them resemble wings. The final step would be to remove the victim's lungs from their body, at which point death by suffocation would occur. Whether or not this form of execution actually occurred at some point has no bearing on just how horrifying it is.

It was never as popular as burning people at the stake, but boiling as a means of execution has been done in both Europe and Asia. The executioner would immerse the victim in a vat of boiling water, oil, or tar. The condemned would die by severe scalding, which could leave fourth-degree burns and completely cook off their body fat.

Ancient Greece's famous method of cooking a person alive involved a hollow brass bull with a door in one side. Thought up and invented by Perillos, it was proposed to the tyrant Phalaris as a new and terrifying way to execute criminals. The victim was forced inside, and a fire was lit underneath the bull until the person roasted to death. But believe it or not, that wasn't even the most morbid part of this invention; Perillos paid great attention to detail and designed his creation to have an acoustic attachment that would make the victim's screams sound like the guttural noises of a bull. Not only that, but the smoke that came from the person's burning body would pour out of the brass animal's nostrils.

The story of the brazen bull has a just ending, however: Perillos was thrown to his death from a hill by Phalaris after trying out his own invention, and Phalaris met his own untimely end in the brass bovine after being overthrown by Telemachus.

Just because this has been such a common method of execution throughout history doesn't mean it's any less horrifying. Being burned at the stake was a popular punishment for traitors, adulterers, and, of course, witches. Victims were tied to a pole as a flammable substance such as straw was lit beneath them. Many people died of smoke inhalation before the flames ever touched their skin.

The most famous victim of this type of execution is undoubtedly Jesus Christ, but this practice has been used throughout history all over the world. Those subjected to crucifixion were either tied or nailed to a cross, often naked as a way to humiliate them further as they died. Some victims were forced to carry their crosses (which could weigh up to 300 pounds) to the site where they would be hung to die, and it wasn't uncommon for them to have their legs beaten and smashed with clubs immediately after being crucified. After multiple days of agony, the crucified person would succumb to exposure, infection, or asphyxiation.

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