Beheading by Axe, Sword, or Guillotine An executioner, usually hooded, chops off the person's head. Quite trendy in England in the 1500-1600's(the Guillotine was first employed in France).

Beating to Death Found in multiple cultures around the world. Many times whips were tipped with metal, had multiple ends, etc(see The Cat).

Boiling Alive Popular in the Middle Ages.

The Boot A metal boot was put on a foot and tightened, slowly crushing the foot.

Buried Alive Widely used around the world throughout the ages. For example, in India they buried women in sand up to their necks, then left them, head emerged only, to bake in the sun.

Burned at the Stake Popular during the Inquisition for heretics, witches, and uppity women. Also used during the Salem witch trials.

Eaten by Animals

Skinning/Flaying The skin is removed in strips.

Drawn and Quartered The person is carved into pieces while alive, or each arm and leg is attached to a different horse and ripped off. It was often combined with hanging and used for extremely serious crimes such as high treason, where mere hanging alone was not enough.

Iron Chair/Iron Bed These pieces of iron furniture were placed over a stoked fire and occupants were roasted to death.

Iron Maiden Female effigies constructed of wood or iron with the inside hollowed out and filled with sharp iron spikes. The iron maiden would be opened up and the offender placed inside. The person would then be embraced by the iron maiden, being impaled by all the stakes.

The Wheel Wheels were used in a variety of ways. For example, a person could be somehow attached to the outer rim of a wheel and then either rolled over sharp spikes, off a hill, or into a lake. Used on witches a lot.

Crucifixion Early crucifixions were carried out on trees. It would suffocate you after hours of hanging there. Sometimes the legs would be broken to speed the process up.

Drowning Used in a variety of ways. Popular at sea. Probably the most well-known variation is the witch's test. If the water rejects the woman and she floats, then she is guilty and executed by another method. If the water accepts her and she drowns, then she was innocent.

Blown from a Cannon The person is positioned across the mouth of a canon, then a shot is fired, blasting through the person's body.

Pendulum

Poison Interestingly, this has not been a common method of execution. Socrates, who was forced to drink hemlock, is probably the most well-known victim of poison.

Pressing The person lies under some sort of slab-like surface and then heavy objects such as stones are placed on top until the person is crushed to death.

The Rack Catch-all term for a number of mechanical devices and practices which cause torture and death by stretching the person.

Sawed in Half

Death by Insects, Etc, There are many variations on the scenario in which the person is staked to the ground, smeared with something sweet like honey, and left out to eventually be eaten/stung to death/devoured by insects.

Disembowlment The torso is slit open and the entrails are removed slowly.

Punishing Shoes Iron shoes with attached leg shackles . Spikes will go through holes into the heels of the delinquent if they weakens and rests upon the shoes. Often used in combination with a standing pillory.

Shot by Arrows Practiced by the Vikings. They would aim at non-vital parts of the body in order to prolong agony as long as possible.

Starvation The person is put away in a cell or cage and not fed anything. For example, in medieval France there were oubliettes (oublier is French for forget-it's a place where you forget/are forgotten about).

Stocks and Pillory Stocks are a wooden device restraining the feet(and sometimes the hands too), and the Pillory also has an opening for the neck.

Stoning Rocks are thrown at a person until he or she dies. Often members of the commuity will assist in the stoning. Still in practice in some Islamic and African countries (or at least until very recently).

Garotte Oftentimes a hybrid of the rack and hanging. Something is tightened around the person's neck until death results.

Dragging The person is tied to a horse and dragged until death.

Sword Stabbing, spearing, slicing, beheading, etc. Used in both European and Oriental countries.

Throat Slitting Not used very often because of it's lack of drama, and it is a very quick death.

Thrown from a Great Height The person is thrown off a mountain, high wall, etc.

The Cauldron A iron container, mouth down, is placed on the victim's stomach. The container is lifted a bit and some mice or rats slipped inside. Then the container is heated up from the outside with a flame. As it begins to get hot, the mice want to escape, but there is no way out except through the mouth of the cauldron. So they begin to gnaw through the person's stomach and do so until the person dies.

Torn Apart Between Two Trees As in the Robert Frost poem "Birches", two trees would be pulled down so they would come together from opposite directions. One arm and leg would be tied to one tree, the other arm and leg to the other tree. Then, let go of the trees.

Torn Apart by Horses A person is attached to four horses, one to each limb of the body. The horses are then giddied on to gallop in oppostie directions, in the aim that the person will become dismembered. Not a very effective method unless certain tendons in the limbs are pre-cut(see drawing and quartering).

Water Death Person is forced to drink water until death.

Water Torture Used in U.S. prisons in the nineteenth century. Water was poured on top of the prisoner's head and a large bucket of water was also placed under their chin to simulate the feeling of drowning.

The Gag This device was placed in prisoners' mouths and kept in place by locking the chain around their necks. (Used in U.S. prisons in the nineteenth century).

The Cat Prisoners were whipped with leather straps and cat-o'-nine tails until their flesh was raw and bleeding.

Click Sailor Saturn to run screaming.