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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

‘David with the Head of Goliath and two Soldiers,’ from 1615. Found in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collections.

biblical

Monsters Are Everywhere in the Bible—And Some Are Even Human

Scholars are learning what bestial and depraved characters can reveal about ancient authors and cultural attitudes.

The entrance to the Silver Cliff Cemetery leads visitors down roads less traveled.

cemeteries

What's Really Behind the Ghost Lights of Colorado's Silver Cliff Cemetery?

Tucked between rugged mountains, this lonely graveyard is home—allegedly—to ethereal, glowing orbs that dance among the headstones.

The Flatwoods Monster

Sutton, West Virginia

Flatwoods Monster Museum

In 1952, a strange encounter in the woods of West Virginia led to the legend of a 10-foot-tall monster with glowing eyes and a distinctive style.

Trollkonufingur

Sandavágur, Faroe Islands

Trøllkonufingur

Legend says this rock spire is the finger of a witch who wanted to throw the Faroe Islands towards Iceland.

Llyn Barfog on a cloudy, atmospheric day

Tywyn, Wales

Llyn Barfog

According to legend, King Arthur killed a beast that dwelled beneath the waters of this Welsh lake.

Fye Bridge

Norwich, England

Fye Bridge

One of the oldest bridges in Norwich was used during the English witch trials and is said to be haunted.

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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.