Rotten.com

I was logged on to a motorcycle Web site one day, following a thread discussing the pros and cons of helmet laws, when I encountered a message that said, “Want to see why I wear a helmet? Go to www.rotten.com and scroll down to ‘motorcycle.’” I immediately clicked over to the site. “When hell is full, the dead will walk the earth,” rotten.com’s homepage advertised. “Pure evil since 1996.” I scrolled down to ‘motorcycle,’ clicked, and was rewarded with a terrifying image: an emergency room photograph of a man who had split his face wide open—it looked like an exploded cigar, except with bloody pulp and smashed teeth instead of tobacco—in a motorcycle accident. The creepiest thing about the image? From the light in the man’s eyes, it was obvious that he was alive and conscious. Far more gruesome sights await: photos from the decapitation massacres in Borneo, a bloated, foaming-at-the-mouth Chris Farley lying dead on the carpet, a WWII propaganda cartoon depicting a penis-shaped V-2 rocket flying up Hitler’s ass. Rotten.com reminds us that the world is not always a wonderful place, and while most of us don’t have to worry about losing our heads, anyone who visits this site could very well lose their lunch.