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The Startling History of the Jump Scare

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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

South End Burying Ground

East Hampton, New York

South End Burying Ground

This cemetery holds the remains of an accused witch and the man that ensured her freedom.

A trilithon of Caelum Moor in a pond

Arlington, Texas

Caelum Mór

Fears of Satanic worshippers swirl around five Celtic-inspired megaliths.

Picture taken in April, so the stone work is very mossy.

Bruges, Belgium

Grave of Antoine Michel Wemaer

The spectacular and eerie moss-covered grave site of 19th-century Belgian merchant.

During the festival, those dressed as devils dance more intensely as they enter Píllaro.

Píllaro, Ecuador

Casa El Pacto

The devil masks on display at this small museum are part of an annual festival that has been taking place for centuries.

The 17th-century blood jam recipe recommended using fluid drained from “persons of warm, moist temperament.”

vampires

The Strange Endurance of Consuming Human Blood for Our Health

From draining slain gladiators to modern-day "sangs," people have long looked to blood as a panacea.

Clowns in American circuses were once considered a form of adult entertainment.

19th century

Today's Creepy Clowns Have Roots in Bawdy and Crass 19th-Century Circuses

Pennywise, Art the Clown, and other modern, face-painted menaces recall an era when their kind were strictly adults-only entertainers.

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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.