Most gruesome form of execution, hanging or beheading

[Nancy]

I know this board doesn't allow for a lot of OT and political discussions so if anyone is interested in talking about the war in Iraq, etc. I invite you to come to a political discussion board I moderate.  The board was started by actor Carroll O'Connor in 1997.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/79406/

Nancy

[MsCriseyde]

Personally, I'd rather be beheaded. Otherwise, I'd be spinning in my grave every time someone said hung instead of hanged in reference to my execution. Umm, yeah, my degree is in English. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Thanks for offering to move any discussion about Iraq to your board, Nancy. 

[Brandon Collins]

Lethal injection would be my choice, or being shot in the head...rather than being hanged or beheaded.

I was watching some History Channel program the other day, and what I found quite interesting that I didn't know about hanging, was that hanging is intended to snap your neck and knock you unconscious, and once it does so, then you choke to death. That seems quite humane to me, but then again, your head can come clean off and you can also strangle to death while still conscious. I suppose nothings fullproof...

[michael c]

poor,poor miss winters.

at one point or another the dear girl faced all three types of execution under discussion here.

beheadment at the hands of matthew morgan(remember matthew sharpening that ax!),burning at the stake(didn't angelique want to revive some of the "old customs" when she set that house of cards ablaze?),and of course she found herself at the gallows on more than one occasion.

that's more persecution than the average governess can take!

[BuzzH]

I watched both the full execution of Saddam and his autopsy footage and it was beyond disgusting.

Um, then why did you watch it? Or at least continue to watch it after it became disgusting? 

Well, the execution itself wasn't that bad to be honest.  The worst part was seeing that he was dead on the rope (eyes open) and then the video ends right there.  I only watched it once, not knowing how much they would show.  I watched one of those horrible Faces of Death movies when I was in my 20's, not realizing how horrific those things (never watched another one), and this was nowhere near as bad or graphic.

As far as the autopsy video, it was really just someone going into the morgue where you see a body on a gurney w/a sheet over it.  They lift the sheet and you see it's Saddam, again, not that bad, then they zoom in on his neck and you see it's cut by the rope.  It happens so fast you don't realize what it is you're seeing until it's too late.  Once I realized what I was looking at I was like "Holy s#@*!", then the video ends.  Believe me, if I'd known what it was, I wouldn't have viewed it.  

[MsCriseyde]

Believe me, if I'd known what it was, I wouldn't have viewed it.

Frankly, I could've done without the verbal description too. Spoiler tags would've produced the right effect, though I'm not sure spoiler would be the appropriate word here.

[ProfStokes]

When they were first talking about Vicki being a witch reference was made to being burned at the stake, which is what they did in the 1690's when they had the witch trials in Salem.

Actually, the idea that Salem witches were burned at the stake is a myth.  All of the so-called witches were hanged (one was crushed to death by stones because he refused to confess). No American witch was ever burned at the stake, though it did happen in Europe especially to heretics.

I think beheading would be the most gruesome form of execution to watch (very bloody, maybe the job wouldn't be done right), but hanging would be the most gruesome to experience.  Beheading by guillotine is supposedly very effective and relatively humane compared to swinging and kicking for several minutes while slowly suffocating.   

ProfStokes

[Brandon Collins]

Didn't they also throw suspected witches into a river or pond or something to see if they would sink or float? If memory serves, if they came up floating (or swiming, or whatever) then they were said to be a witch but if they drowned and sank to the bottom then they weren't a witch.

So I guess if you weren't a witch that you'd have to go through a pretty damned hard trial to get people to believe it. :-

[Jackie]

I'm glad Vicki didn't get beheaded... she might not have made it back to 1968 without her head.  And the exchange would have been messy with Phyllis showing up without a head in 1795.  The family would have to deal with a mess!

[Alondra]

When they were first talking about Vicki being a witch reference was made to being burned at the stake, which is what they did in the 1690's when they had the witch trials in Salem.

Actually, the idea that Salem witches were burned at the stake is a myth.  All of the so-called witches were hanged (one was crushed to death by stones because he refused to confess). No American witch was ever burned at the stake, though it did happen in Europe especially to heretics.

I think beheading would be the most gruesome form of execution to watch (very bloody, maybe the job wouldn't be done right), but hanging would be the most gruesome to experience.  Beheading by guillotine is supposedly very effective and relatively humane compared to swinging and kicking for several minutes while slowly suffocating.   

Thanks for sharing this information. Though hanging would be a terrible way to die, like I said, burning would be worse at least IMO.

Beheading would be more gruesome. I just watched the 1840 storyline [spoiler]where Quentin and Desmond were sentenced to be beheaded. As Quentin lay his head down on the block there was a bucket on the other side of the block to catch his head! Gak! And it wasn't a guillotine (which would have made the cut more sure and BRIEF!!) but a man with a long blade and you had to hope his aim was true...otherwise the absolute agony of the last few seconds would be horrifying indeed.[/spoiler]

I think I'd probably prefer firing squad to any of the other ways of execution, it would be very brief.

Alondra

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Then again, speaking of executions that are especially "cruel" and "unusual," you might be strapped to a chair and forced to watch Schuyler Rumson as he blowdrys and coifs his absolutely perfect head of hair in front of an oversized vanity mirror for the rest of your (and more disturbingly, HIS)  natural life! 

[BuzzH]

Then again, speaking of executions that are especially "cruel" and "unusual," you might be strapped to a chair and forced to watch Schuyler Rumson as he blowdrys and coifs his absolutely perfect head of hair in front of an oversized vanity mirror for the rest of your (and more disturbingly, HIS)  natural life! 

LOL!  Or watch ANY Roger Davis scenes!  

[Bob_the_Bartender]

LOL!  Or watch ANY Roger Davis scenes!  

Yes, Jeff Clark, the Max von Sydow of Dark Shadows!

[Nelson Collins]

Personally, I'd rather be beheaded. Otherwise, I'd be spinning in my grave every time someone said hung instead of hanged in reference to my execution. Umm, yeah, my degree is in English. 

that is one of my pet peeves too ....