As someone who is fascinated by history, the idea that ice can freeze something and preserve it in a nearly pristine state amazes me. So much about our history and about our human ancestors has been discovered thanks to stuff found frozen in time. I always preferred cold weather over the hot humidity of summer, and finding out about all the things that have been encapsulated in ice makes me appreciate freezing weather even more. But not everything under the ice is benign. There are loads of creepy things found frozen under the snow. Read on to find out about what’s been found beneath melted glaciers, in ice blocks far away from the North Pole, and what mysteries have been revealed thanks to the icy depths of the North.

15. Bodies Of WWI Soldiers

In Italy, during WWI, an intense battle occurred in the northern part of the country, in a mountainous area. Despite the deaths that were a result of the fighting, violence wasn’t the only thing that took soldier’s lives. In 1916, an avalanche in the Dolomites killed a great number of soldiers. It’s a terrifying thought that a single natural event wiped out about 10,000 men. Because of the current warming of the earth, the bodies on this preserved battleground have been popping up over the years. It’s horrifying to think what went through those soldiers’ minds as they suffocated under piles of snow.

14. Ötzi the Iceman

Ötzi the Iceman was discovered in the early ’90s inside a glacier. The mummified corpse was well-preserved inside the mountain of ice, so it has been able to tell us a lot about our ancestors. The fact that it was so well-preserved also means that it was also identifiable as human which makes it pretty creepy, at least to me. He was uncovered and found wearing actual clothing that had been kept safe from the elements. Of course, none of it was pristine but it’s one of the closest looks we’ve had at how people looked and lived some 5000 years ago.

13. Someone’s Mom Found In A Freezer

This is as depressing as it is creepy. Last year, a woman in North Carolina apparently sold a freezer for $30 to a neighbour who was none the wiser regarding what was inside. Inside the freezer that had been taped shut? The woman’s mother. Her remains had been stashed in the freezer. Investigators did an autopsy on the body of the elderly woman and ended up finding no evidence of homicide. It seems that the woman might have stored her mother’s body in the freezer to collect social security benefits of some sort. But why sell it to a neighbour without removing the body?

12. Hidden Treasure

I’ve dreamt of finding treasure. Haven’t we all? I imagine my dog digging up a hole in the yard and finding wads of buried cash. She digs a lot. This is my way of being okay with it without going crazy. Truthfully, it’s far more likely that she’ll end up digging up a body. France’s Mont Blanc apparently has a treasure of its own. A plane crash that occurred in 1966 left behind various types of debris that have since been recovered. It turns out that more than debris was taken hostage by the ice. It turns out a box full of precious stones was part of all that wreckage and a climber found it and actually turned in the expensive collection of jewels. Here’s the thing. I’ve seen enough movies to know that keeping something expensive you found that was buried in the ground is a recipe for disaster. Can anyone say ‘curse’?

11. Mexican Hikers

As someone who likes to run and hike, I often think about the fact that I might stumble upon a dead body someday. It’s just that I’ve seen that scene so many times on ‘Criminal Minds’ or at the start of a true crime documentary. Someone is walking their dog and they stumble upon something as horrible as human remains. It’s always the hikers. Hikers also happened upon the mummified remains of missing Mexican hikers a few years back. The hikers that had been discovered and had gone missing in the late ’50s never to be seen again. The bodies had been frozen in time after being killed by an avalanche.

10. Beware The Giant Virus

If you’re the kind of person I am, who overthinks everything, maybe you’ve thought about the following once or twice. The idea that there are terrible things hiding deep underground or frozen in the Arctic that could kill all of us. No, I’m not talking about aliens or weapons of mass destruction, I’m talking about illnesses that have been eradicated that somehow find their way back to the surface after being hidden. Like the plague. It turns out my fears aren’t totally irrational. Scientists found a virus frozen in ice that turned out to be really, really old. Scientists decided to revive the virus. That sounds totally logical. But don’t worry, the virus doesn’t want to harm us! Still, this discovery means that other diseases, infections, and viruses, potentially lethal to humans, could find themselves back in circulation.

9. FROZEN BODY PARTS

I’m not talking about something that was found far north where the ice is thick and the weather is freezing. In fact, Joseph Mastropole was found in a freezer. Before the gruesome discovery, Mastropole had been reported as missing. It turns out something went down between the man and a longtime childhood friend, Gaston Gomez. During a standoff with police, Gomez ended up shooting himself in the head. Inside the home, police found what appeared to be a marijuana grow-op, some semblance of a body in a freezer, and possible body parts burned in the yard. It’s still not clear what Mastropole’s cause of death was. Hopefully not being frozen alive…

8. Antarctic Fish

These critters aren’t actually frozen in ice, in fact, they’re alive and well and swimming directly beneath it. I’m talking about deep sea Antarctic fish that live far away from any kind of sunlight. Yeah. That’s terrifying. Most deep sea creatures are the stuff of nightmares. The place they inhabit isn’t only far below, it’s also super freezing cold. And yet, they still manage to survive. Anything that can live through those kinds of conditions should be feared. Although, on the bright side, maybe there are loads of potentially delicious sea creatures for us to eat all the way down under the ice. Yum!

7. Incan Children

This is one of the saddest things found under the ice. Three children were discovered frozen in the ice. These children happened to be from five-hundred years ago. The bodies were almost perfectly preserved and the photographs are an eerie sight indeed. The Incan youngsters had apparently been sacrificed. The children are curled in sleeping positions that make them look like little resting angels. If you’re interested in seeing their remains, they are now on display in Argentina. Their little bodies are still curled in fetal-like positions and look as if they are permanently freezing cold. I think I’d feel the urge to reach out and cover them in a warm blanket.

6. Plane Crash Wreckage

Last year, a wreckage site was discovered in Alaska. Apparently, it’s thought that the wreckage site may be that of a plane crash that occurred in Alaska in the early ’50s. A total of 52 people were killed in that tragic crash. The crash site was originally discovered but since it was located on a glacier, there was much movement that caused parts of the wreckage to be lost. A few skeletal remains were found, mostly fragments, but there’s hope that further testing can provide surviving relatives some peace. Those family members who are still alive will be able to get closure even after so many years have passed.

5. Body Found In New Zealand Glaciers

As the world warms up, so do we. Summer heat waves have us all seeking cool spots to hang out, and perhaps there are even times when some of us end up wishing fall and winter would come sooner. The world warms and so do glaciers that end up revealing buried secrets. Imagine hiking or climbing and happening upon a half frozen body! It makes you wonder what else could be under all that ice. Earlier this year, a body was discovered in a New Zealand national park. It turns out that it could be a number of persons who have since gone missing there. An autopsy is needed to figure out who exactly was found in the New Zealand glacier.

4. Frozen Body Found In An Abandoned Detroit Building

This must have been a gruesome and sad discovery for the person who found the body. In Detroit, a reporter ended up finding a body stuck in solid ice in an abandoned building. The reporter had gone to visit the derelict building because of a tip and it ended up panning out. When the reporter inquired with several homeless persons around the area they explained that they didn’t even really think the ‘body’ was a body. Frozen in ice in an elevator shaft I wonder what happened to the person and how they ended up there. Either way, it can’t be a very happy story.

3. An Innocent Child Killed And Then Frozen

I cannot fathom how two parents could knowingly harm a precious 3-year-old girl. No, her body wasn’t found in a glacier or under the snow in Antarctica. Little Kayleigh was unfortunately tortured and then stuffed inside a freezer in her home. It’s no small comfort to know that the child was dead prior to being put inside the freezer, though. It turns out she died from blows that ended up causing her intestines to burst. The police actually found Kayleigh in her bed, but she was cold to the touch and half frozen. The parents were found guilty of killing their daughter and I really hope they stay behind bars for a long, long time.

2. Blood

Blood pouring out of ice? Yeah. If that’s not straight from a horror film, I don’t know what is. The glacier is located in Antarctica and has been given the apt nickname of ‘Blood Falls’. Red coloured water comes out of the glacier and makes the site look like a real messy crime scene. So what’s going on? Are there tons of dead bodies hidden under the ice? No, of course not. It turns out that the salty water in the area is iron rich and actually goes through the process of oxidization which turns it the unsettling reddish colour.

1. Woman Survived After Almost Being Frozen To Death

What? No. This must be fake. Nope! The story of Jean Hilliard, the woman frozen who later recovered, is totally true. She was discovered in the snow and her body was nearly hard as rock. She was walking and trying to find help after her car broke down. Some reports of the story seriously exaggerate events, but I think that the fact alone that she survived sub-zero temperatures is extremely impressive. Here’s the thing, though, it’s easier for a person to survive very cold temps than it is for them to make it out alive in sweltering hot conditions. Personally, I’d take being freezing cold over being boiling hot any day.

Sources: BBC, CTV News, Fox 32 Chicago, National Geographic, People