It doesn’t happen very often, but people do grow horns. They’re called cutaneous horns and they are the result of a wide range of epidermal lesions. According to the World Journal of Surgical Oncology, cutaneous horns appear in men over 55 and women over 65. Rare as these cases may be, cutaneous horns have been around for quite some time, with the first documented case appearing in the 1500s. Let’s have a look at seven of the most recent cases of horned people:

Man from Zheng Zhou

In 2006, an 88-year-old man from Zheng Zhou, China, caught the attention of the media after growing a small horn, on the right side of his head. The man said it began growing after he picked up a little bump on his head. Doctors diagnosed him with cortex hyperplasia and he soon received surgery, to have the horn removed.

Ma Zhong Nan



Back in 2007, a 93-year-old man, living in a small Chinese village, hoped to find a solution for the problem sticking out of his head. Five years before, Ma Zhong Nan was combing his hair, and carelessly injured his scalp. He paid no attention to the small wound, but soon, a hard substance started coming out of his head. In just half a year, the old man had a 10-cm-long horn on top of his head. After doctors told him they couldn’t fix him, he looked for help through the media.

Granny Zhao

In 2007, the Yangcheng Evening Post reported that a 95-year-old woman, from Zhanjiang city, China, had a curved horn, like the stalk of a pumpkin, coming out of her forehead. Actually, it wasn’t really a horn, but an overgrown mole shaped like a horn. The old woman, known as Granny Zhao, said it started out as a small mole, but it grew in time. She didn’t suffer any pains, on account of her “horn, it just slightly affected her vision.

Saleh Talib Saleh



Saleh Talib Saleh used to have repeated dreams about growing horns on his head, until one day, at 78 years of age, his recurring dream became a reality. The old Yemenite entered the attention of the media, in 2007, when he was 102 years old. That’s when he told the Yemen Observer the story of his condition. Saleh said he had no idea how why the horn began to grow, but believed it was a gift from Allah.
It had fallen off once, but grew back in a matter of months. Though it couldn’t have been very comfortable, Saleh refused to have his gift removed. According to doctors from a specialized hospital, the man’s horn was caused by multiplying layers of hardened skin, on his head.

Abdul Razak





This retired policeman, from Narasimharajapura town, India, has been living with multiple horns, on the back of his head, for over 20 years. He was born normal, and there was never any peculiar growth on the back of his head, but after his retirement, his horns started growing. In 2008, one of Razak’s horns, about a finger long, shed by itself, but he still has 5 horns that cause him pain every time he bumps his head, even a little bit. A doctor from the local hospital said cases like Abdul Razak’s are extremely rare, and they sometimes occur due to fat inside the skin.
Unknown woman



This 69-year-old woman apparently lived with a 20-cm-long cutaneous horn coming out of her forehead. She apparently came into a doctor’s office, one day,in 2008, saying she had a bump on her head, two decades ago, which eventually dried and turned into that curled up horn. The cutaneous horn was surgically removed.

Zhang Ruifang



Besides being one of the few people to live over 100 years, 101-year-old Zhang Ruifang has another trait that separates her from just about everyone else on the planet. This granny, from Linlou village, China, has a goat-like horn coming out of the left side of her forehead. It began as a small lump, that Zhang and her family ignored, but it turned into a regular horn that now measures 6 cm.
Zhang’s exposure, though the media, earned her the chance to have her cutaneous horn removed, but the old woman refused. Now, doctors have confirmed the black spot on the right side of her forehead is indeed another horn in the making.

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