Sadly, torment has been a savage reality for so many people. Generally, the most disturbing thing about it isn’t the severe pain that’s been inflicted on all those unfortunate individuals, but the feeling of pleasure and glee injected into the creation of such torture devices. From the chair of torture through the very well-known head crusher, the world has truly been a ferocious place of barbarity and suffering. Naturally, most of these torture methods used for harassing others mercilessly are simply unbelievable, unlike others which are certainly not that “creative”.

While browsing through these totally crazy torture devices and techniques, you just start thinking about the people standing behind their creation. “Tongue Tearer”, “Pear of Anguish”, “The Heretic’s Fork” – all of these torture devices feel like some crazy horror movies which certainly have the potential of driving you nuts before bedtime. Unfortunately, each and every one of them is as real as you and I; and just to prove our point, here are some of the most horrendous and exceedingly brutal torture devices and techniques ever designed and created.

15. Chair of Torture

Meet the chair of torture, also known as the Judas Cradle. Actually, it’s a creepy device invented by Italians which absolutely makes your hair stand on one end. This chair of torture had its moment back in the day when it was mainly used for torturing people without having any mercy. If you’re wondering about its practical use, here it is: the prisoner sat on what seemed to be a pyramid-shaped “chair”. The pointy end of the “seat” had to be inserted directly into the prisoner’s rear end. Of course, the suffering of the victim continued until they perished, eventually tearing up the muscle tissue alongside their organs and intimate parts.

14. Breaking Wheel

Generally, the Breaking Wheel was one of the most gruesome torture techniques ever designed and used. Actually, the ill-famed device is also known as the Catherine Wheel used for murdering prisoners who were sentenced to death. Naturally, the merciless method had to be applied in front of a crowd with the idea of humiliating the victim as well. When it comes to its mechanism, the Breaking Wheel was truly nothing more than a large wagon wheel which offered some special radial spokes. The victims were practically bludgeoned to death while being lashed to the wheel.

13. The Heretic’s Fork

What’s a Heretic’s Fork anyway? Out of all these crazy torture devices, perhaps the Heretic’s Fork is the most bizarre and brutal one. The so-called Heretic’s Fork was usually placed between the prisoner’s throat and breastbone as it was firmly fixed under the chin. Also, the fork was typically double-secured with a leather strap around the victim’s neck. The mechanism of the horrendous Fork was aimed to prevent the individual from moving around. All in all, the dreadful punishment was given to every person who spoke the name of the Lord in vain. Of course, the liars and criminals were also tortured with the horrifying fork. Eventually, the prongs of the fork pierced the victim’s throat leading to the full incapability to talk.

12. Saw Torture

Here we go with another extremely severe and brutal way of dealing with prisoners who were sentenced to death back in the day. In this regard, the method of Saw Torture is just another crazy device used in the past. In general terms, the Saw Torture technique was a method which kept the victim hanging upside down. By doing so, the victim’s blood could rush to the head as the basic idea of that was to keep them awake while being tortured. Eventually, most of the individuals were not only murdered but sliced in half as well. Indeed, some of them experienced slices in their abdomen only to keep them in a severe agony as long as possible.

11. Pear of Anguish

Surely, the Pear of Anguish can offer us the most colorful and creative name of a torture device. Why is it called Pear of Anguish anyway? Actually, the dreadful instrument was basically used in the Middle Ages as its function was to torment women who were indicted for facilitating a miscarriage. Not only were they severely tortured but punished with the so-called Pear of Anguished which was inserted into the woman’s vagina. Believe it or not, men were also given the terrifying “treatment” as the creepy device was put into the anus of the prisoner creating an agony beyond words.

10. The Rack

As crazy as it sounds, this specific torture device consisted of a wooden frame which has the shape of a rectangule. The rack had a roller on both sides as the prisoner’s ankles were practically fastened to these elements. This method was primarily used during an interrogation process as the victim’s wrists were chained as well. As the interrogation proceeded, the ratchet of the rack mechanism was slowly but surely tightened more and more until inducing an extreme amount of agony and suffering. The worst part of this dangerous “game” is that the muscles of the individual being savagely tortured were excessively stretched until snapping in the end.

9. Rat Torture

Finally, we got to the Rat Torture, being the perfect example of an extremely brutal and savage way of tormenting and killing an individual. Actually, there were many movie scenes showing us such wicked creativity as well. Do you remember a specific scene from the Game of Thrones series? If not, then you had better find this episode to get the idea here. This method was really loved and “appreciated” in China and Germany during Medieval times. According to this scary torture method, a starving army of mice and rats were put in the cell of the chained prisoner. Naturally, the next scene was full of blood and screams… Well, who would blame the group of rats after all?!

8. Iron Chair

Much like the Chair of Torture, being just another crazy example of how problems were solved during the Middle Ages, the Iron Chair was extensively used for tormenting people to death. With the chair’s numerous spikes the prisoner was forced to sit on the Iron Chair. Naturally, the next step was tightening a special set of iron restraints as they forced the spikes to go deeper into the skin of the poor subject. Adding weights to facilitate the effect of torturing was also put into action as the victims died of infections or blood loss in most of the cases.

7. The Brazen Bull

There are many legends behind the creation of this dreadful torture technique. According to rumors, the most sadistic and horrifying torture method was designed by none other than a brass worker many centuries ago. The so-called Brazen Bull was actually used as an extremely savage tool consisting of tubes which had to focus on the victim’s painful screams. The prisoner was placed inside the device in what was called a brass bull hole. Eventually, the torturers set the Brazen Bull on fire as the role of the tubes on the inside was to amplify the screams of the victim as they are burned alive.

6. Head Crusher

What’s a Head Crusher? As another frightful example of a brutal torture device, the Head Crusher was actually a tool which basically offered a vice for the victim’s head that had to crush the skull bit by bit while inducing an excruciating pain. Not only did it really crush the prisoner’s skull but all of his facial bones as well. More often than not, the torturer made his victims scream louder than ever by letting them feel the agony and severe pain after smashing their faces. Eventually, those people who experienced the Head Crusher died after the dreadful “procedure”.

5. Neck Torture

Surely, the Neck Torture technique can be depicted as one of the most brutal ways to humiliate and kill an individual. Not only did torturers torment their prisoners beyond description, but they also humiliated them publicly. Believe it or not, the Neck Torture method was basically something like an endurance test that the victims had to pass. When they failed, the prisoners were hooked into this scary neck device which could be made of wood or metal. The Neck Torture technique actually aimed at torturing them as the brutality of this method was that the prisoners weren’t able to move or even lower their heads!

4. Coffin Torture

You may not believe this, but the Coffin Torture method is indeed one of the scariest of them all. We can hardly tell you why it was invented during the Middle Ages, but this crazy tool was actually one of the most preferred and used torture techniques back in the day. This heinous practice involved putting the prisoner inside a cage made of metal which was the size of the human body. This explains why the name of this scary technique was Coffin Torture. While hanging from a tree, the prisoners were locked into smaller cages with the purpose of creating the perfect discomfort in there. All in all, the victims were abandoned by their torturers as they were also found by starving crows which basically dined on their remains.

3. The Breast Ripper

With such a hideous name, the Breast Ripper is surely another scary and dreadful instrument used for harassing people until the last breath. Such was the case with a woman in medieval Germany who was not only bludgeoned but she also experienced the terrifying breast ripper which was used for ripping a lady’s breasts clean off. Basically, the heinous tool was usually heated to a certain degree or frozen before being fixed onto the woman’s breasts with the purpose to rip them off savagely. Indeed, the world was really insane back in the day, wasn’t it?

2. Meet the Scaphism Technique

Here we are almost at the end of our scary tour across the world’s craziest and most frightful torture methods ever created. Naturally, we can’t wrap up the list without mentioning another pretty insane method for tormenting and murdering people. Scaphism is certianly an ugly word which was actually a Persian torture technique. According to this method, the victims were forced to overeat on honey and milk with the sole idea of experiencing the unpleasant feeling of sharp diarrhea. Afterward, the victims were set strapped to a boat and sent away with the purpose of being eaten by bugs and insects. How awful!

1. Tongue Tearer

Nowadays, we just can’t believe how such brutal and barbarian things did exist back then. However, believe it or not, this seemed to be the way people got dealt with. The Tongue Tearer method is a horrendous example of how nuts the world must have gone to create such tools and devices. Everyone who was considered a liar or a thief had to experience the Tongue Tearer procedure leaving them without a tongue. When looking at this pretty insane tool now, it’s really hard to believe that such a thing was ever used to cut a person’s tongue out… Doesn’t that sound totally crazy?!

Sources: cracked.com, gizmodo.com, buzzfeed.com