Halloween Feature

The Startling History of the Jump Scare

By Gavia Baker-Whitelaw · October 28, 2024
Halloween Feature

5 Macabre and Mysterious Stories About Candy

By Samantha Chong · October 11, 2024
Halloween Feature

Foxfire Brings Magical Light to the Dark Forest

By Leigh Ann Henion · September 25, 2024

Haunted Halloween Harvest

Atlas Obscura Scares Up the Best of the Season

October is our favorite month to celebrate the macabre, the mysterious, and the monstrous. Join us on a wild ride through a landscape of unsolved hauntings, terrifying legends, and hidden places almost too creepy to be real. It's going to be ghoulish good fun.

Tales of Terror: The mother of all witches, creepy cryptids, the many faces of death, and more.

With chattering squirrels, chirping birds, and often lush vegetation, cemeteries are full of life—including multiple lichen species.

cemeteries

A Cemetery's Immortal Residents and the Scientist Who Studies Them

Lichens growing on gravestones appear immune to aging. What does their life cycle teach us about death?

In Mexico, today’s teyollohcuani is a terrifying, shape-shifting, vampire-like witch, but the figure has deep precolonial roots and a complex evolution.

vampires

Mexico's Vampire Witch Has a Twisted Origin Story

The terrifying teyollohcuani is a shape-shifter of ancient indigenous lore, dark colonial history, and pop culture.

Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle.

witchcraft

The Greatest Witch Movie Ever Made

Why do modern witches embrace "The Wicker Man"?

An Extra-Creepy Atlas: Create your own Road Trip of the Damned with these unsettling Places you can visit IRL (in this life or the next).

Alishan, Taiwan

Pagoda of the Tree Spirit

A monument to placate the spirits of an ancient forest.

Mask of the Bat God

Mexico City, Mexico

Mask of the Bat God

This ancient jade mask depicting the Zapotec bat god was found in the ruins of the pyramids of Monte Alban.

Odesa, Ukraine

Odesa Catacombs

The largest catacomb system in the world.

You Are Fearless. You Have Scrolled Deep Into the Atlas Obscura Crypt.

Venture even deeper into the shadows for more spine-tingling Stories, positively paranormal Places, and other spooky surprises.

Scroll down at your own risk

A phenomenon known as “nocturnal death syndrome” inspired Wes Craven to write A Nightmare on Elm Street and introduce the world to Freddy Krueger.

horror

The Science of Fighting Our Nightmares

Researchers around the world are working on ways to regain control of our minds during sleep and battle the monsters that torment us.

Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, or Alice Claypoole Gwynne, stunned in her “Electric Light” costume in 1883.

halloween

Get Inspired by History’s Most Scandalous and Stunning Costumes

For centuries, people have used fancy dress to impress.

From post offices and grocery stores to margarita bars and town halls, ghosts can turn up in the most ordinary places.

haunted

7 Stories of Ghosts in Weird Places

From a Norwegian grocery store to a town hall in Spain, hauntings can happen where we least expect them.

aliens

Who Were the Mysterious Moon-Eyed People of Appalachia?

Tales of strange, nocturnal people haunt the region—and so do theories about who they were, from a lost Welsh "tribe" to aliens.

Creeping in the dark woods is a hideous beast—but don’t say that to its face.

floods

Appalachia’s Ugliest Cryptid Drowns In Its Own Tears

A new festival looks to draw out and soothe the squonk in all of us.

witchcraft

Were the Salem Witch Trials Ruff on Dogs?

The 17th-century event claimed at least 25 human lives. Whether any dogs were killed is unclear—but accusations against them had a familiar theme.

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Still hungry for more mischief and mayhem?

Satisfy your appetite for all things Halloween, from tasty treats to unsolved mysteries, with these classics from years past.