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

The ship first known as the Viking Sally was once a floating pleasure palace, part of the Baltic's "cruiseferry culture."

disasters

The Curse of the Viking Sally, the Baltic’s Most Ill-Starred Ship

The one-time floating pleasure palace left a legacy of murder and maritime disaster in its wake.

An aling-aling is a half-wall opposite a gate that can keep spirits at bay.

architecture

How Homes in Bali Are Designed for Harmony—and to Keep Demons at Bay

All the subtle ways traditional dwellings offer spiritual security.

A Halloween party in Scotland in 2004.

food

In Scotland, Trick or Treaters Sing (And Tell Jokes) For Their Candy

This tradition dates back hundreds of years.

Through the centuries, the vampire myth has taken many different forms.

vampires

Five Vampire Stories You Haven’t Heard Yet

From Dracula’s Indian inspiration to just how long it would take these mythical bloodsuckers to annihilate humanity.

Skinwalkers are not hapless victims who fell prey to dark magic—they want to be monsters.

mythology

Beware the Skinwalkers, Werewolf Witches of the American Southwest

These canine-humanoid shapeshifters travel between worlds using magical doors.

Frensham, England

The Frensham Cauldron

This cauldron was said to be hidden inside a church after it was borrowed from a local witch.

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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.