I think you hit the nail on the head, when you said they tasted like pork gone bad! They probably WERE bad. Pork rinds have a shelf life, and they can and DO go rancid, because they're a natural food product. Fresh pork rinds have a faint bacony smell, and taste rather bland, slightly like raw-ish bacon, without the smoky flavour. If they smell bad, or have a strong "chemically" odour, they're rancid. Take them back!! I do.

Try to buy them from a store where the turnover is high, so they haven't been sitting there for weeks and weeks. And eat them up within a few days of opening the bag too -- they go stale quickly (stale pork rinds can be whirled into crumbs in the food processor, herbs added and used for breading meats, chicken and fish). If possible, look for a freshness date on the package. NOTE: stale isn't the same as rancid. Stale just means they're not crispy any more, from the package being opened.

Avoid buying from stores where they stock the pork rinds on a shelf under a hot spotlight. Heat will speed up the rancid-process. I complained to a store manager, and they moved them to another location

Too bad you had an unpleasant experience. Pork rinds are pretty boring on their own, but when fresh, they really are good with various dips or toppings.

Doreen