biology
Why Does It Look Like This National Park Building in Alaska Is Sprouting Hair?
The answer might not sit well with arachnophobes.
All Stories
sea monsters
Found: Teeth From a Medieval Sea Monster/Delicacy
Fancy a lamprey pie?
knives
In Medieval Europe, No Outfit Was Complete Without a Personal Eating Knife
They were fashionable and functional, used for dining and self-defense.
explorers
The Remarkable Photo at the Heart of 'The White Darkness'
It shows a message, carved in ice, from one polar explorer to another.
propaganda
The Soviet Children's Books That Broke the Rules of Propaganda
How folk tales and traditional life snuck into avant-garde kids' books in the 1930s.
pumpkins
Show Us Your Sad, Sagging Halloween Pumpkins
November jack-o'-lanterns deserve love, too.
grave week
We Asked, You Answered: The Foods You Want People to Leave on Your Grave
Atlas Obscura readers share their hungriest final wishes.
sea burial
Can Hong Kong Sell Its Residents on Watery Graves?
Sea burial is a way to save space in a dense city, but runs counter to funeral traditions.
grave week
The Ancient Roman Libation Tubes That Connected the Living to the Dead
Families poured offerings through vessels directly installed into graves.
dracula
Bram Stoker Wrote in His Library Books
The London Library combed through its shelves to track down his marginalia.
grave week
In Search of Cemeteries Alive With Beauty, Art, and History
These resting places celebrate life.
auctions
For Sale: Very, Very Tiny Pieces of the Moon
These samples of lunar soil are very expensive, too.
retail
Sears Once Offered Mail-Order Tombstones
Its beloved catalogue had a good run.
grave week
In Sleepy Hollow, Life Imitates Legend
How a New York town made its fictional identity a reality.
grave week
When ‘Dumb Suppers’ Were a Halloween Love Ritual
To see into the future, young women held mystical meals.
octopus
Found: The Largest Cluster of Deep-Sea Octopuses Ever Recorded
More than 1,000 were spotted off the coast of Monterey, California.
grave week
The Final Resting Places of 7 Famous Dogs
Man's best friend in life and death.
loneliest graves
The Mountaintop Cemeteries Surrounded by Coal Mines
Hard to access and hemmed in by explosive activity, these graveyards are stuck in limbo.
