Rats: Little Murder Machines

What could possibly make rats one of the most terrifying weapons in the history of torture?

In this episode of Torture: A Dark History, Kevin Young and Dan Hourigan take a trip through history to uncover the disturbing ways rats have been used to torture, terrorize, interrogate, and kill people. From the infamous rat torture supposedly used in medieval and early modern Europe to the horrors of political repression in the 20th century, these little bastards have had a surprisingly long career in human cruelty.

We'll explore the infamous rat and pot method, the stories surrounding rat cages, the so called Rat Chair, the notorious Rats Dungeon in the Tower of London, and the use of rats as a weapon of psychological terror. We'll also travel to Ancient Rome, the Dutch Revolt, the British Empire, and the dictatorships of 20th century South America, before getting into more recent cases involving organized crime and coercion.

We'll also examine the science behind these surprisingly destructive rodents, from their teeth and breeding habits to the reasons rats became such effective tools of fear. And yes, we'll even get into the infamous claims made by Richard Kuklinski, better known as the Iceman, and the documented New Jersey case involving rat torture and an attempted forced Jewish divorce.

And because this is Torture: A Dark History, Kevin and Dan bring their usual brand of morbid humor to a subject that manages to be horrifying, disgusting, and somehow occasionally ridiculous all at once.

There were also a few technical difficulties along the way, because apparently even an episode about torture needs to suffer before it can be released.

If you love rat torture, torture history, dark history, medieval torture, the Tower of London, Ancient Rome, political torture, true crime, organized crime, historical atrocities, and some of history's most disturbing methods of torture, this episode is going to make you look at rats very differently.

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The Sassholes Insta!!

https://short-history.com/rat-torture-bc17cf72400b

https://www.twm.news/the-worst-of-history-part-2-rat-torture/

http://torturemuseum.net/en/torture-by-rats/

https://allthatsinteresting.com/rat-torture-method

https://www.britannica.com/list/8-interesting-facts-about-rats