News of the Weird: March 7, 2019

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Devil in the Details

Pastor Alph Lukau of Alleluia International Ministries in Johannesburg, South Africa, is facing lawsuits after a stunt in which he appeared to resurrect a dead man on Feb. 24. Sowetan News reported that a video of the incident shows Lukau placing his hands on the man’s stomach as he lay in the coffin, when suddenly, the man begins to gasp for air and sits up. “Can you see what happened!?” Lukau exclaims in the video. “This man died since (sic) Friday, he was in the mortuary. Devil, I told you wherever I find you, I will kick you out!” Fellow pastor Rochelle Kombou added that Lukau “completed the miracle by praying, because prayer is the key.” The lawsuits, meanwhile, stem from the misrepresentation of the situation to three funeral parlors, whose services were sought by church officials. A coffin was bought from one, and the hearse was later hired from another.

Patella Protection

Filipino Angelito Oreta, 55, has an unusual method of protecting himself and his home from thieves and attackers. His friends and he raid fresh graves near Manila to steal kneecaps from corpses. Oreta uses a scalpel to remove the patella, then soaks the bone in coconut oil for several days to dissolve the skin. Once dried, the bones can be found scattered around his home… or worn around his neck. “The benefit that the guardian angels from the patellas will bring is that they will help your livelihood,” Oreta explained to Metro News. “The kneecaps are used for protection, or they will also work as a shield.” Oreta also gives the kneecaps as gifts.

Hotel Leatherface

If you’re looking for a creepy weekend getaway, The Gas Station along Texas Highway 304 near Bastrop now offers overnight stays. Why, you say? The old filling station was the setting for the 1974 film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The Gas Station opened as a restaurant in 2016, serving barbecue and souvenir merchandise to film buffs. Manager Ben Hughes said the Coke machine in the movie is the same one that’s now in the restaurant, and they have a van parked outside that’s an exact replica of the one in the film. Now, he tells KVUE TV, fans can stay in one of four mini-cabins right behind the restaurant. But Hughes promises the staff won’t try to scare you: “We want to make sure that everybody that comes out has a good time... not just freakin’ out or anything like that.”

Silence of the Gams

A Manchester, England, woman named Joan has a unique project in mind for a custom clothing designer. It seems Joan, 55, is anticipating having her leg amputated because of peripheral arterial disease, reported the Daily Mail, so she posted on Sewport.com requesting help to “create something beautiful and useful,” that is, a handbag, using the skin from her soon-to-be severed limb. She has budgeted about $3,900 for the project, which she envisions as a “medium-sized handbag with a short strap and a section down the middle that will be made from my skin,” she explained in the post. “I know it’s a bit odd and gross, but it’s my leg, and I can’t bear the thought of it being left to rot somewhere.” There are no laws against her keeping the limb, although there is paperwork to fill out. Boris Hodakel, founder of Sewport.com, reports that, shockingly, no designers have yet come forward to help with Joan’s request.

Awww…

On Feb. 13, Nina Harris of Kentucky told her husband, Allan, that she wanted tulips for Valentine’s Day. As she explains it, he then responded “Yes, I know.” When I got up, I had my first cup of coffee, and he said, ‘Oh, your turnips are here.’ And I said, ‘Turnips?!’” Nina told WPVI TV. Allan’s story is slightly sweeter: “I put the turnips in the bucket that says ‘I Love You’ on it,” he said. “I went in there, got her coffee and said, ‘Here you go!’” Allan, who admitted he wasn’t really listening when Nina requested tulips, later made it up to her by getting her the flowers as well as candy and balloons.

© 2019 ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION