Grady Stiles – The Murderous “Lobster Boy”

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1937, Grady Stiles Jr., aka “Lobster Boy”, was one in a long line of people in the Stiles family, dating back to 1840, who suffered from a rare and strange physical condition known as ectrodactyly. This genetic condition was one in which the fingers and toes are fused together to form claw-like extremities.

Grady Stiles Sr. was a sideshow attraction in a traveling carnival when his son was born and he jumped at the opportunity to add his son to the freak show act at the age of seven. Stiles Sr. married twice and had four children, two of whom also had ectrodactyly.

Many have viewed this disorder as a handicap, yet for the Stiles family it was seen, and used as, an opportunity. As far back as the 1800s, as the family grew and produced more children with unusual hands and feet, they developed a circus act: The Lobster Family, which became a carnival freak show staple throughout the early 20th century.