Flashback Friday Halloween Science Roundup: scientific studies to haunt your dreams!

Over the years we've featured some creepy studies, with topics ranging from ghosts to vampires to haunted scrotums. Here are a few of our favorites, just in time for All Hallows' Eve. Enjoy!The case of the haunted scrotum. “On CT scanning of the abdomen and pelvis, the right testis was not identified but the left side of the scrotum seemed to be occupied by a screaming ghost-like apparition (Figure 1).” Does garlic protect against vampires? An experimental study. “Garlic has been regarded as an effective prophylactic against vampires. We wanted to explore this alleged effect experimentally. Owing to the lack of vampires, we used leeches instead.” A case of exorcism-resistant ghost possession . “An Indian man now in Britain explained his criminal behaviour as episodic ghost possession. Traditional exorcisms failed to help. ” Word of the day: cacodemonomania.“The experience of having had intercourse with the devil has in the past been regarded as evidence that the individual is a witch.” How to make people see ghosts in the lab. “To test the hypothesis that experiences of apparitional phenomena with accompanying fear can be simulated within the laboratory, a 45-yr.-old journalist and professional musician who had experienced a classic haunt four years previously was exposed to 1 microTesla, complex, transcerebral magnetic fields.” That vampire bat recognizes you. And he’s coming back tomorrow night. “Using psychoacoustical methods, we show that vampire bats can recognize individual humans by their breathing sounds” Related content: A new thing to fear: getting tarantula hairs stuck in your eyes.Flashback Friday: The strange case of the “vampire” burial in Venice.NCBI ROFL: Voodoo allergy cure fail.