Taboo

- Season 9

(2012)

Eric in Jacksonville, Fla., trades in true crime collectibles murderabilia. His online business sells souvenirs of serial killers, including artwork, letters and craft items from many well-known serial killers and mass murderers, including a so-called Craigslist killer, throughout the country.

A group with Tourette's syndrome in England is shunned. A teenager with Trichotillomania tries to hide her syndrome. A man with narcolepsy and cataplexy falls asleep so suddenly that he injures himself. Men with autism type to communicate.

Mike in Vancouver began drinking when he was 12. Now he's 27, and he can't stop. Faced with withdrawal symptoms, rehab becomes Mike's biggest challenge. In Denmark, Dennis is 14 years old, has an alcoholic mother in recovery and has already been hospitalized for excessive drinking. Dennis embarks on a binge-drinking vacation in Spain paid for by his mom, who believes a holiday of excess may teach him a lesson.

Around the globe, girls begin having sex at different ages and for different reasons. In Cambodia, the Kreung people encourage the sexual independence of their daughters by building separate huts for them to sleep in.

Since ancient times, humans have expressed their passions and their personalities through their collections. But when a collection crosses the line from passion to obsession, ignoring legal, moral and taste boundaries, then it becomes taboo.

Standards of beauty and how they differ across cultures are examined. The hour spotlights a London modeling agency called Ugly, which shines light on beauty prejudices, and profiles America's first full-face-transplant recipient, Dallas Wiens.

Behind the scenes in every society, there are people doing jobs we can barely imagine; people who come into contact with sights, smells and substances that are not only disgusting, but often put their health at risk.

Couples get married at a nudist group wedding. Two dogs get married in an elaborate ceremony. An Indonesian man kidnaps his bride because her family disapproves of the wedding. Some Indian women break local tradition by getting married instead of becoming prostitutes.

In our modern world, old stereotypes are changing. There are now many variations on the traditional ideal of heterosexual monogamy and marriage, like serial monogamy, homosexuality and open relationships.

Examine the effects of excessive alcohol consumption amongst the Phoenix's Labor Day weekend party-goers and the battle of medical and law enforcement agencies to prevent injury and save lives.

When people go to extremes with body modification, they provoke fear and disbelief. Take for example, the world's most pierced woman, Elaine Davidson with her 6000+ piercings; Mary Jose Cristerna, with horn implants; pumped up female bodybuilders; and Japan's adventurous bagel-heads, having saline injected into their foreheads for a temporary mutant thrill.

Sex changes are discussed; a profile of a married couple who both switched genders after meeting and falling in love; one person self-identifies as a hybrid - neither male nor female.

Dug, a foot fetishist, has over 300 pairs of shoes and 5+ million photographs of feet. While most collectors keep their collection in their home, Lonnie has allowed his collection to become his home. In Turkey, a potter's strange collection is hidden in an underground cave. What started as a childhood hobby for Lawrence has spun out of control forcing him to rely on his parents.

Fruitarians Aloma and Matthew live off fruit they find in city dumpsters. Puppy play enthusiast Liliane takes her human puppy Jen, aka Tyke, for a walk in the park. Freelance writer Erias walks his dog too, when his sex-worker girlfriend Jessi has company. In Chicago, Matt Daniel and his fiance Casey Levan share an unusual fetish for skintight body suits known as zentai.

Examining different cultures' perceptions of childhood. The hour looks at young snake charmers in India, young girls who are worshiped as living goddesses in Nepal, a 9-year-old boy who races cars in Greece, and an American teen who's transitioning from female to male.

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In Gurgaon, India an 82-year-old nun voluntarily fasts to the death in a religious ritual, attended by her children. A Taiwanese man honors his dead father with exotic dancers gyrating at the graveside. And an octogenarian in San Francisco lives with death every day amongst his vast collections of skeletal remains.

In Phoenix, Arizona, a battle for the souls of those said to be possessed is being waged, not by priests, but by five teenage girls. In Colombia, a man's life is crumbling away. Believing he is tortured by demons, he feels he has only two options: suicide or an exorcism. And in Florida, an ex-prostitute and drug addict has become the leader of an evangelical ministry that promises salvation through deliverance from demonic possession.