Terrifying & True | The Funhouse Mummy: Elmer McCurdy's Horrifying Tale This Halloween

This Halloween , jump into the eerie tale of Elmer McCurdy —a true crime deep dive into urban legends and America’s carnival underbelly. In 1976, a seemingly innocuous Halloween haunt took a terrifying turn when a “mannequin” on a Long Beach dark ride wasn’t a prop—it was a real human corpse . In 1976 , a TV crew at The Pike’s Laff in the Dark discovered human bone after a stunt arm snapped. Forensics exposed arsenic embalming , a copper bullet jacket , and a 1924 penny with old carnival tickets —breadcrumbs that led to Elmer McCurdy , a bungling Oklahoma train robber killed in 1911 . For more than six decades , his body was bought, sold, and exhibited in sideshows and roadside museums, then misfiled as a prop and hung on a ride—until investigators finally confirmed the truth and laid him to rest under concrete in Guthrie (1977) . This is a true-crime deep dive into America’s carnival underbelly, the commodification of death , and how an outlaw became the Funhouse Mummy . Inside this episode: The 1976 discovery at The Pike: the moment the “dummy” bled clues— arsenic , bullet jacket , 1924 penny , tickets . McCurdy’s final heist (1911): the botched robbery, the posse’s shot, and an undertaker who wouldn’t release the body . The carnival con: how promoters “claimed” the corpse and rebranded it coast-to-coast for decades. Forensic ID & burial (1977): the paper trail that ended with concrete sealing a grave in Guthrie, Oklahoma . Ethics & aftermath: why outlaw mummies vanished—and what the case says about spectacle vs. dignity . If you’re searching funhouse mummy , Elmer McCurdy , Long Beach funhouse corpse , The Pike Laff in the Dark , outlaw mummy Oklahoma , arsenic embalming , sideshow history , or a true crime podcast about real “haunted” carnivals , this episode is your map. Follow and share for spooky-season specials all October. We’re telling that story tonight. Check out more Terrifying & True episodes! https://www.weeklyspooky.com/categories/terrifying-true/ 🎧 LISTEN NOW and subscribe for spine-tingling horror stories every week! 🎉 Unlock exclusive bonus episodes and support the show on Patreon! 👉 WeeklySpooky.com/Join 📬 Contact Us / Submit Your Horror Story! Twitter: @WeeklySpooky Facebook: facebook.com/WeeklySpooky Email: WeeklySpooky@gmail.com 🎵 Music by Ray Mattis 👉 Check out Ray’s incredible work here ! 👨‍💼 Executive Producers: Rob Fields, Bobbletopia.com 🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder 🌐 Explore more terrifying tales at: WeeklySpooky.com