cemeteries
-
Halloween FeatureThe Startling History of the Jump Scare
By Gavia Baker-Whitelaw · October 28, 2024
-
Halloween Feature5 Macabre and Mysterious Stories About Candy
By Samantha Chong · October 11, 2024
-
Halloween FeatureFoxfire 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.
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
cryptozoology
Beware the Wendigo, the Frostbitten Flesheater of North America’s Chilly Heartland
This terrifying creature has evolved over millennia—but never lost the need to feed.
bones
In Malta, ‘Dead Men’s Bones’ Are a Sweet, Spiritual Tradition
The cookies are just one way that the island nation remembers the dead.
San Francisco, California
William Westerfeld House
This Alamo Square mansion is rumored to have hosted satanic rituals and other occult practices.
mythology
Mapping the Many Monsters of Aboriginal Australian Lore
A "terrifying pantheon" of ogres, sorcerers, and malevolent mermaids reflects a diversity in geography and environment.
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