cemeteries
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.
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).
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
haunted
Podcast: Scary Stories From Real Places
Our contributors share stories from spooky locations they’ve visited and which continue to haunt them.
cemeteries
A Cookbook for Dining With the Dead
Learn to make amaranth skulls, “buried” tamales, and other regional Día de Muertos recipes.
mountains
The Transformation of Pamola, the Protector of Mount Katahdin
How a fearsome Penobscot Nation legend became a mascot of outdoor adventure seekers.
witchcraft
Podcast: Witch Cakes
A baked good thought to ward off evil might have kicked off one of America's most notorious witch hunts.
haunted
Why a Popstar Wanted to Go Ghost Hunting
Haunted places have a lot to tell us about ourselves.
plague
Venice Is Almost One Big Plague Graveyard
A city built on water was always going to struggle with burials—especially when a deadly pandemic came to town.
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.
Explore now