haunted
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: Ominous animals, a dinner to die for, exploring an ancient netherworld, and more.
astronomy
In October, Our Night Sky is Full of Scary Stories
Stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere can find the demon star Algol, a murdered monster, and victims of vengeful gods.
military history
How Gremlins Went From Fairy Stories to Warplanes to Hollywood Legend
Meet these slippery, mischievous reflections of our anxieties about technology.
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).
Gardner, Massachusetts
S.K. Pierce Mansion
This historic Victorian mansion is allegedly so haunted that a signed waiver is required to enter.
New Delhi, India
Feroz Shah Kotla
The ruins of a medieval citadel believed to be haunted by a ministry of wish-granting djinns.
Paris, France
Catacombes de Paris
The vast, legendary catacombs hold secrets much stranger than stacked bones.
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
bones
Meet the Man Who Digs Up Graves to Lift Curses
Families hire a bone collector in Taiwan to fix problematic tombs—and sometimes deal with ghosts.
horror
These FX Artists Make Nightmares Come Alive (Or At Least Undead)
Mark Villalobos and Heather Mages create frightful fun in horror films big and small.
cemeteries
Podcast: Grave Bells
We learn about a peculiar belief that was once widespread: the hope to be saved by a bell.
abandoned
Bump in the Night: The Rackety Reason People Think This Prison Is Haunted
Sound and electricity play all kinds of tricks at Eastern State Penitentiary.
graveyards
The Tombstone Sculptor Who Carved His Own Death in Granite
Nestled in Vermont’s Hope Cemetery, ‘The Dying Man’ tells the tragic tale of the area’s Italian gravestone carvers.
disasters
The Legend of Japan's 'Earthquake Fish'
The serpent-like oarfish has long been considered an omen of natural disaster. Scientists are shaking up that old superstition.
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