A pair of pants made from human skin is so grotesque they could make even Hannibal Lecter reach for the barf bag. The 17th century human trousers, called “necropants,” are on display at the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft in Iceland. According to the museum, the bizarre slacks were made by skinning the legs of a dead man from the waist down, and include all the bits and pieces in between. Yes, even the genitals.
Legend has it that the macabre necropants were worn by 17th century sorcerers who believed the pants possessed magical powers and would bring them wealth and luck. By placing a coin inside the scrotum of the human khakis, the wearer was promised an endless flow of money “into the scrotum so it will never be empty.”
If this sounds like a sour deal for the guy whose legs were flayed, don’t worry – he was apparently in on the deal, too. Whoever wanted a pair of necropants would have to make arrangements with a friend to remove his skin postmortem.
Upon donning a pair of necropants, the wearer and the pants would reportedly become one. “They would immediately be stuck with your own flesh and be part of your body,” a spokesperson for the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft told the Mail Online. “People would be able to use them as long as they lived, but they would have to get rid of them before they die. If they would find someone to take them over the pants could last forever.”
Want a pair of necropants to call your own? No sweat; the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft even includes a DIY guide on how to make your own pair of necropants.
“If you want to make your own necropants (literally; nábrók) you have to get permission from a living man to use his skin after his dead [sic],” the instructionsread. According to the museum’s guidelines, after a man has been buried, you have to dig him up and flay the skin of his corpse “in one piece from the waist down.”
Then, you have to steal a coin from his widow and place it inside the scrotum along with a “magical sign” scribbled on a piece of paper. And if you wanted to keep the magical power of the pants profitable, you would have to pass the pants along to a worthy heir.
It is important to note that the necropants as seen on display at the museum in Iceland are just a replica, according to The Huffington Post. Still, even the replica itself – and just the possibility that these things could have been around hundreds of years ago – are enough to make us squirm.
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Source: International Business Times