Everyone loves a good practical joke, but sometimes the prankster’s judgment becomes a little clouded.

And in the midst of the mist, the little funny can go a bit too far—further than simply ticking off the butt of the joke or wreaking a little havoc in your buddy’s dormant life.

Everyone has heard, and most likely participated in, the little ha-has played on pizza delivery personnel. Just think—you can send a dinner treat COD to someone else or jump into the running car of the pizza man for a little joy ride. A little fun, so what’s the harm, right?

Well, apparently a guy in Wenatchee, Wash., isn’t much for good-natured humor. He went to bed, looking forward to a gracious night of slumber I’m sure, and probably without a worry in the world. When he woke up is when the worries and the police crept, (this is a gravely minute attempt at a bit of foreshadowing) or crypt, into the picture.

It seems that four of his buddies went out on the town, so to speak, and had a little too much to drink. They decided to play a prank on their friend, and in the course of deciding that perfect holiday laugh, ended up in a graveyard.

And, you guessed it, dug up a body and brought it back to this guy’s home where visions of sugar-plums danced in his head. The body was that of a woman who died between 1910 and 1920, with her head and finger bones allegedly removed.

He woke up all freaked out, and called the police. One of the four grave-digging pranksters, an 18-year-old, said “we got drunk, went to the graveyard and dug up a body,” before he was taken to jail. “It was like a prank, to freak out some friends. But now that I’m sober, I can’t believe I did it.”

Neither can she.

And speaking about the unbelievable, did you hear that aliens landed in Rockford? That’s what several thousand copies of Sunday’s Rockford Register-Star said.

Apparently someone playing a prank placed the bogus article over the one that was supposed to be read by the readers. The article said the “aliens claim to be human children offering further proof that alien beings do indeed live in (sic) our planet and maybe (sic) among local residents.” With so many mistakes, I guess the prankster’s short-sightedness in not looking at the consequences of his actions is even larger than his deficiency in grammar.

Either that, or he was trying to make the Geraldo show.

Monday’s edition showed a vague publisher’s explanation about the incident with an apology and a reconfirmation of the paper’s firm commitment to accuracy. Maybe the publisher should give the head of the guy responsible to the four drunk prankster’s in Washington so they can freak someone else out while they are enjoying their freedom during parole.

But not all practical jokes actually hurt someone or impune another’s integrity. A fellow male columnist of mine whose luxurious image appears before my mugshot, received a letter of praise that would make a grown man cry—with laughter.

The devotee sent a congratulatory letter to my fine, fluffy friend and a picture of himself next to the fallen grotesque. The fan and the grotesque were smiling away in their full-morning glory, with the only offering of protection from the elements being facial hair.

Now that’s a joke.