All Stories

Photographer Blaine Dixon befriended activist Pat Carey, who was, he says, "a tireless Mother Teresa to the runaway teens" of the area in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This image, of three men in makeshift loincloths on Polk Street, dates from 1980.

queer history

See Two Decades of San Francisco’s Wildest Queer Halloween Parties

The rise and demise of the night of the living dead.

An alligator capturing a nurse shark in Florida.

sharks

We Now Have Evidence That Alligators Like Chomping on Sharks

Gators rarely pass up a snack.

The Complex Ethics of a Haunted House Starring Psychiatric Patients

psychiatry

The Complex Ethics of a Haunted House Starring Psychiatric Patients

A Halloween attraction at a Utah mental-health hospital perpetuated stigmas but benefited residents.

Living candelabras sat or stood unflinching as hot wax dripped onto their bodies, forming incredible sculptures and shapes.

happenings

A Dispatch From the Other Side of the Veil

In Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, Atlas Obscura's "Into the Veil 2017" was a night of sublime contradictions.

Unsettling Edvard Munch Paintings Are Coming to Oslo Airport

airports

Unsettling Edvard Munch Paintings Are Coming to Oslo Airport

Do airports make you want to... scream?

The all-duck menu from Nixon’s “reciprocal” dinner.

menu monday

The Nixon Dinners That Taught Americans to Stop Worrying and Love Peking Duck

The president's historic trip to China caused a Chinese food boom.

Salesmen promised that tomato pills could cure headaches, diarrhea, and cholera.

fraud

The Tomato Pill Craze

How a war over cure-all pills convinced Americans to eat tomatoes.

"Energy Flux," data source: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, September 2000.

data

For as Much as We Know About the World, There Are Still Dark Spots on the Map

A new atlas aims to surprise.

And in 3-D.

imaginary world

Imagining What Houses Drawn by Kids Would Look Like in Real Life

A solar-powered pyramid, a house with legs, and titanium fortress.

A view of Havana from a hotel popular with Americans.

cia

What Do We Know About the Strange Sonic Attacks in Cuba?

Starting late in 2016, diplomats reported hearing loss and other severe symptoms.

Old Faithful erupts roughly every 90 minutes.

geysers

Scientists Are Just Beginning to Understand How Old Faithful Works

The deeper structure of Yellowstone's most famous geyser has long been a mystery.

You Can Now Take a Virtual Hike Around Canada's Polar Desert

google maps

You Can Now Take a Virtual Hike Around Canada's Polar Desert

Quttinirpaaq National Park just became the northernmost spot on Google Streetview.

Two cougars dine on a carcass in Wyoming.

science

Mountain Lions Are Way More Social Than We Thought

The big cats have been spotted sharing meals.

The word Allah is mirrored in the pattern.

vikings

Found: Viking Clothes With 'Allah' Embroidered in Silk

The designs were overlooked by researchers in the 1940s.

Humble produce makes up the face of "The Vegetable Gardener."

renaissance

The Renaissance Painter Who Made Fantastical Portraits From Food

Giuseppe Arcimboldo painted surreal art unlike any of his contemporaries.

A pard from the 12th-century Aberdeen Bestiary manuscript.

cryptozoology

Just About Everything We Know About the Pard

The mythical big cat was once believed to make up half of every leopard.

The distinctive markings of the Burmese star tortoise make it a popular option in the exotic pet trade. (Image cropped.)

tortoises

The Burmese Star Tortoise Is Back From the Brink of Extinction

A meteoric return for a slow and steady reptile.

Cambodian designer Vann Molyvann died in September in his home near Angkor Wat.

legacy

The Architect Who Married Modernism and Ancient Khmer Style

Until his recent death, Vann Molyvann struggled to bring Cambodia's past and present together.