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This article was published on July 14, 2015

Undead Elvis and the two-headed boy: The world’s weirdest tabloid is on Google Books


Undead Elvis and the two-headed boy: The world’s weirdest tabloid is on Google Books

Google Books is a treasure trove of interesting material but it’s just got its most incredible cache of madness: The archives of the Weekly World News.

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Marilyn Monroe x JFK = Tabloid gold for The Weekly World News

The sensationalist supermarket tabloid was one of the strangest publications in the world, specialising in stories about aliens, human oddities and the supernatural.

Toilet haunted by a plumber's ghost – The Weekly World News
Toilet haunted by a plumber’s ghost – The Weekly World News

It was published in print from 1979 until 2007 and lives on as a rather disappointing online-only publication. The trouble is, even a legendarily loopy newspaper can’t match the true strangeness of the Web.

On Google Books, you’ll find editions from 1981 through to the final print Weekly World News in August 2007.

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Mother Teresa vs The Two-Headed Boy from The Weekly World News

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My favorites? Elvis’ tomb is empty! and Mother Teresa investigating the two-headed jungle boy. Feel free to share yours in the comments. Or, you know, don’t.

The Weekly World News [Google Books]

Read next: The curious online afterlife of a 20th century cult

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