I didn't want to sleep tonight anyway..

dodecadevin · 2012-09-07T09:36:41+00:00

This is a Zoroastrian Tower of Silence. Though most of the picture is real, the "festering pit of blood" is shopped in and the story is just old-school creepypasta.

franklymydeer · 2012-09-07T13:23:06+00:00

Well, that's clearly bollocks.

jjgarcia87 · 2012-09-07T13:58:09+00:00

Of all the things that didn't happen, this didn't happen the most.

FreeThinkerLee · 2012-09-07T10:41:16+00:00

We call this story, bullshit.

RamsesThePigeon · 2012-09-07T15:24:34+00:00

Eh... 5/10. Here's why:

This story has all the right elements to make it decent: A mysterious discovery that defies logic, hints of a supernatural element, real-world "proof," and characters who become affected by the above.

It falls a bit short by leaving way too many gaps for doubt, basically. Every time we hear a horror story, our mind does this little analysis, wherein it asks "Could this be real?" In a story that's meant to be offered as a historical account - such as this one - the opposite is true: We start asking "Could this be false?" Each detail prompting that analysis needs to be treated as an opportunity to provide more proof, and said proof has to be of a completely mundane and detached variety, to give the illusion of objectivity.

Fair warning to anyone who wants to watch this in action: If I get the chance over the weekend, I'll put together my own real-life horror story as an example, and I'll post it on Monday.

memeaddictedchick · 2012-09-07T08:30:37+00:00

This picture is not real. However, I don't feel like looking for the original. But it was posted to /r/creepy and someone else found the original.

SuperEgo_Bitch · 2012-09-07T10:28:14+00:00

This is a repost, I remember from the original post that this was a fake. I will try and find it.

BeARdBARIAN · 2012-09-07T11:09:12+00:00

This again? Sheesh..

Herecomestheblades · 2012-09-07T12:23:53+00:00

Blood for the blood God?

tytanium · 2012-09-07T15:00:07+00:00

There was a report about this practice on NPR the other day.

Zoroastrian's used to utilize kites and vultures as means of disposing of a body in addition to exposure, but an antibiotic/medication that was given to cattle nearly wiped out the vulture population in India, as the vultures that consumed cattle carcasses died shortly after eating it. The medication is now banned and vultures are a protected species in India.

Darktidemage · 2012-09-07T13:59:21+00:00

You think someone would do that? Just make something up on the internet?

clarque · 2012-09-07T17:36:19+00:00

The potted plant in the background was a nice touch. Really spruces up the place.

scotty3281 · 2012-09-07T13:57:40+00:00

True or not the story is interesting to me. It gives off a Stephen King vibe and I was disappointed to learn the story was fake.

Be right back, sending pic Stephen King to see if he likes it and writes a creepy novel about it.

barium111 · 2012-09-07T14:55:46+00:00

Yawn... Bullshit story is bullshit. Superstitious and religious nonsense.

jeeptoy · 2012-09-07T11:32:38+00:00

The facts of this story are bullshit, but pic looks real.

combivent · 2012-09-07T09:06:30+00:00

Tower of Silence and Parsi Sky Burial NSFW ( you shouldn't be on Reddit at work anyway)

estragonsboot · 2012-09-07T16:07:15+00:00

title	comnts	points	age	/r/
is this real? [nsfw]	537^coms	963^pts	7^mos	WTF
The Zorastorian Tower of Silience ... "tainted with the blood of Ahriman" ... great WTF story (x-file-ish / possible hoax / nonconfirmed)	3^coms	0^pts	8^dys	conspiracy
Just came across this weird story...	237^coms	587^pts	14^dys	WTF
Gory (not sure if repost)	13^coms	9^pts	1^mo	WTF
The Tower of Silence	60^coms	187^pts	4^mos	WTF

source: karmadecay

keightalchemist · 2012-09-07T01:00:46-07:00

Awesome. Read this while in a local sanctuary park. Will be calling I reinforcements to go home!

Ballsackzach · 2012-09-07T14:42:20+00:00

Fuck. This is edited, fake and they have no idea what they're talking about. It's been posted to WTF multiple times over the past couple months, every single time because people fall for this shitty story.

FoxBattalion79 · 2012-09-07T14:47:08+00:00

this is fake story but good around a campfire I suppose. I saw this posted like a month ago, and the comments had links to other posts and disprovements

Manjensan · 2012-09-07T15:14:59+00:00

THIS. IS. SPARTA!

tjmjnj · 2012-09-07T16:18:18+00:00

there are other photos - https://www.google.com/search?q=tower+of+silence&sugexp=chrome,mod=17&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

also, this image is photoshopped - if you look in the pit you can see some black, in the original photo you can clearly see the bottom of the pit, it is dry, no blood, just some bones and crap that had been pushed in. Story is complete bullshit.

have a look http://alterman47.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/towers-of-silence-india-c-print-1999-si-la-gi-dot-com-wtmk.jpg?w=439&h=315

twb2k8 · 2012-09-07T17:05:32+00:00

It's real. Kinda. I went to Mumbai and our taxi driver drove us past what looked like a closed off area with trees beyond it's walls, he told us that the Parsi people (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsi) live there. When a member of their community dies, they have a pit in which the bodies are placed. Within around ten minutes (according to him), only a skeleton would be left as the nearby vultures and buzzard would have picked the body clean.

Like the post says, it's apparently something to do with returning the body to the earth.

The story here and the way it's presented is fake but there is some truth in it. It's made to sound way more creepy and gory than it is (not that it isn't of course).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakhma

eric423 · 2012-09-07T10:10:52+00:00

also here still fun story though

redpointm · 2012-09-07T10:43:49+00:00

Good read

Younggun101 · 2012-09-07T11:50:41+00:00

That's creep as shit

miss-sawa · 2012-09-07T12:06:56+00:00

Cool story, bro.

I actually held a talk about those towers last year in English class. I used that picture (yes, with all the bodies, after I asked my classmates which one they wanted to see), only the unshopped version where you can see bones in the pit, because that's how they work. Got me an A+ btw.

iSupport · 2012-09-07T12:21:45+00:00

Suprised at this post only because I was listening to this on the way home from work the other day. (It's an NPR story about the Parsis and vanishing vulture population)

Sambospudz · 2012-09-07T12:22:12+00:00

Well it's on the Internet, ergo, It's true

king_hippo77 · 2012-09-07T13:04:35+00:00

this story broke my bullshit detector buy irreversibly burying the needle.

grumblz · 2012-09-07T06:46:44-07:00

So some dude figured pictures of war crimes were too boring so he made up some bullshit lovecraft story too?

EasilyTurnedOn · 2012-09-07T14:26:01+00:00

Do people really believe stuff like this? This tainted blood infected these people and they began shouting nonsense about things they had never heard of before but was somehow related to the situation!

satismo · 2012-09-07T14:26:03+00:00

ha ha ha how cute

mystikarts · 2012-09-07T14:48:20+00:00

I love how there's, what looks like, a potted plant at the other end of the pit.

InvalidWhistle · 2012-09-07T14:54:34+00:00

Big ole load of fake here/.

Nasty_Nomad · 2012-09-07T15:09:48+00:00

Horseshit.

krokee64 · 2012-09-07T15:14:04+00:00

Bullshit, but good bullshit.

MuggyTheRobot · 2012-09-07T15:16:30+00:00

That is one pit I would not like to fall into.

Dmonkey98 · 2012-09-07T08:22:02-07:00

Wonder how long it will take someone to make this into a movie??

justlikeearth · 2012-09-07T15:22:29+00:00

So much repost......

iodian · 2012-09-07T15:23:27+00:00

cool story bro.

Zombayz · 2012-09-07T15:23:59+00:00

This would be an awesome opening to a zombie film.

zentenai · 2012-09-07T08:28:12-07:00

How many times must this bullshit chain mail article be reposted? I thought reddit was better than that.

SlowTape · 2012-09-07T15:31:47+00:00

Lame creepypasta.

starkdigger · 2012-09-07T15:32:11+00:00

I'm glad someone debunked this story. I was starting to feel like this was becoming a reality.

deivijs · 2012-09-07T15:33:12+00:00

Yeah, I too am afraid that I'd wake up one morning to find a pit of blood surrounded by corpses in my back yard.

Honestly, the coming of Cthulhu seems more likely.

panzervike · 2012-09-07T15:37:27+00:00

Where's the guy with a hook for a hand?

Tanaka-san · 2012-09-07T08:38:47-07:00

That picture with its little blurb could be used as viral campaign for resident evil.

punctili0us · 2012-09-07T15:40:54+00:00

Oh my gosh, that's so creepy...

mch2opolo11 · 2012-09-07T15:42:10+00:00

Like all good stories, this one has a little bit of truth laced in it. In my world religions class, we spent a little time on this, so that's my source, take it as you will. Zoroastrians only do this kind of thing when a member of their community dies. They will usually carry the body to a sacred ground, most of the time a prominent landmark. The body is left there for nature, i.e. vultures, to pick the bones clean, then they are gathered. It's been a while since that class so I don't remember what they do with the bones.

tburman · 2012-09-07T15:48:47+00:00

I'm part Zoroastrian and have been to this tower of silence for a number of funerals, though I'm not allowed up there (patriarchal religion). There aren't any vultures left in Mumbai and these images and ones like it have been making the rounds for a while.

The orthodox still insist on tradition, while reformists cite pictures like this to urge a more pragmatic approach to final rites. Even the people that carry the bodies up there are a separate, tiny sect whose numbers are dwindling.

There's a bunch of tall apartment buildings right next to this place. I wonder what it smells like.

oxyghene · 2012-09-07T15:49:02+00:00

yeah, right. "several feet of festering blood" - http://socks-studio.com/img/blog/Tower_of_Silence-15.jpg

and just for the hell of it, here's one where the bodies were not there anymore: http://socks-studio.com/img/blog/Tower_of_Silence-13.jpg - i hate this bullshit on the web. look at the picture closely and you'll see its altered. if the pic is fake, how am I supposed to believe anything else in this?

wallmartadvice · 2012-09-07T15:51:22+00:00

That reminds me of a party I went to over the weekend.

jackmydog · 2012-09-07T15:53:18+00:00

Came to the comments to make sure this was a bunch of hooey. Was not disappointed.

dark55star · 2012-09-07T08:55:24-07:00

Have we not already been over this?

themaskedugly · 2012-09-07T15:56:47+00:00

4/10

SureFireWaytoDie · 2012-09-07T15:59:57+00:00

once again the shopped image re-emerges.... sir your karma was not deserved.

twoodymc · 2012-09-07T16:00:41+00:00

The story would make such a cool movie

snared · 2012-09-07T09:07:08-07:00

This was awesome until I came to the comments, thanks guys :/

pyrosterilizer · 2012-09-07T16:08:00+00:00

Am I the only one who, upon seeing the circular pit, and prior to reading the story, thought THIS. IS. SPARTA!?

Wildebeast1 · 2012-09-07T16:09:38+00:00

is it just me or does this get photo/story get a shit-ton of Karma every-fucking-time it's posted?

Seriously, ive only been here for a few months and ive seen this almost a dozen times...

smek2 · 2012-09-07T16:14:15+00:00

I couldn't find a single trust-worthy source for this story. Only a couple of blogs that posted the very same "facts" as in the image. Is there an article about this?

daemin · 2012-09-07T16:22:05+00:00

The stench was so unbearable many of the officials began to get nauseous when they first approached the dakhma.

My god... the pit was so foul it caused the investigators to make other people nauseated?

Rapistsmurf · 2012-09-07T16:35:42+00:00

I listen to NPR too.

lucastars · 2012-09-07T16:36:29+00:00

Sounds so cool I WANT TO GO.

blastshieldaddiction · 2012-09-07T16:42:14+00:00

old.

Baby_Punter · 2012-09-07T09:48:29-07:00

I prefer true things that creep me out. This does not qualify.

TERRiBEAR · 2012-09-07T16:49:06+00:00

OP is either a copy pasta or is really gullible.

Google your suspicions before believing.

Being skeptical is a good thing.

Edit: To ease some minds here, I'll post information about the "pit filled with blood".

Once the bones have been bleached by the sun and wind, which can take as long as a year, they are collected in an ossuary pit at the center of the tower, where—assisted by lime—they gradually disintegrate and the remaining material—with run-off rainwater—runs through multiple coal and sand filters before being eventually washed out to sea.

eleanor7667 · 2012-09-07T17:27:03+00:00

There was a story on NPR yesterday about how the actual ethnic group that practices open air 'burial' has been having trouble with body disposal because a certain chemical that local farmers feed to there cattle has been killing off all the buzzards/birds of prey. The real story is actually pretty WTF anyways though. Here it is: http://www.npr.org/2012/09/05/160401322/vanishing-vultures-a-grave-matter-for-indias-parsis

I_hate_humans · 2012-09-07T17:58:10+00:00

Oh no! Not a picture of dead bodies with text underneath!

stenseng · 2012-09-07T18:05:39+00:00

Yeah, this totally happened.

Obversaria · 2012-09-07T18:14:10+00:00

If evil entities do exist, the one mentioned in this is not one I would want to cross.

archontruth · 2012-09-07T18:42:27+00:00

And if you believe any of that, I'm a Nigerian prince who just needs $1,000 from you so that I can access my multi-million dollar inheritance, which I will be happy to share with you if you help me out.

poonthenoob · 2012-09-07T19:07:00+00:00

A legend is born...

FatMansPants · 2012-09-07T19:13:34+00:00

Would make a cool Bollywood movie.

guruthewarrior · 2012-09-07T19:25:43+00:00

I've seen this before. You have failed the internet.

amibeingatool · 2012-09-07T19:54:43+00:00

NOT SAFE FOR WORK, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!

Giggyjig · 2012-09-07T20:35:06+00:00

Creepypasta. This ain't true

Isfahan · 2012-09-07T20:52:43+00:00

One time our neighborhood in Iran reeked of something awful and we found out our Zoroastrian neighbors were boiling large quantities of sheep blood and making jam with it to eat with bread.

Then one day one of them died after getting bit by a scorpion, so they moved out.

There's plenty of these ancient towers all over Iran but I'm curious if the Zoroastrians there still do this practice or not. They'd get a lot of shit for it if they did...

RelaxedBurrito · 2012-09-07T21:05:22+00:00

FAKE REPOST SHOOP'D.

pccrooks · 2012-09-07T22:06:58+00:00

I didn't want to sleep tonight anyway... so I reposted this!

quitefunny · 2012-09-07T23:41:17+00:00

obligatory suggestion of posting this on /r/nosleep

screwed124816 · 2012-09-07T14:45:31+00:00

Really Reddit? People read the article, hit the upvote button, and didn't even check the comments with the slightest suspicion of bullshit?

WTF

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