Cruel & Unusual: the Bizarre Life and Ugly Death of Grady Stiles, the Lobster Boy

Grady Stiles was born with claws for hands, flippers for feet, and a stone for a heart. After years of abuse, his wife and stepson allegedly had him killed. Come now and witness the bizarre life and gruesome death of the Lobster Boy, one of the last of the American carnival's sideshow freaks.

This story originally appeared in Details magazine, the October 1994 issue. Since that time, it has become known as the definitive Lobster Boy biography. It's not as long as a regular overstuffed biography. But it's all there. And it will fry your brain, just as it fried the author's brain when he wrote it.

Erik Hedegaard has been a contributing editor at Rolling Stone for the past 15 years or so, mainly on the movie-star celebrity-type beat. He has been nominated for a National Magazine Award.