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The glass-ceilinged atrium of the Bradbury Building was inspired by Edward Bellamy’s utopian literature.
architecture

The Bradbury Building Featured in ‘Blade Runner’ Was Inspired by a 19th-Century Utopian Novel

The Los Angeles office building draws heavily on the futuristic architecture described in Edward Bellamy’s ‘Looking Backward.’
The Podcast Team May 29, 2025
Providence, Rhode Island

Lovecraft Arts & Sciences

This bookstore for weird fiction doubles as Providence’s de facto center for information about H.P. Lovecraft.
From epics to sci-fi, an eclipse in literature means something bad is about to happen.
mark twain

Stephen King, Shakespeare, and Many Writers Agree: Eclipses Are Doom

Beware the foreshadow of a darkened sky.
Suzie Dundas March 16, 2024
Butterfingers Binding's latest project is a collaboration between three or four makers, and a gift for a friend. It is mostly made form reclaimed materials.
books

The Emerging Art of 'Fanbinding'

Fanfiction enthusiasts are learning “1,000 hobbies in a trench coat” to make gorgeous physical artifacts of their passions.
Elizabeth Minkel March 1, 2024
One of the earliest works of botanical horror, written by H.G. Wells in 1894, featured a fictional orchid with a taste for human blood.
horror

What Stories of Scary Plants and Other Botanical Horrors Say About Us

From bloodthirsty orchids to body-snatching pods, fictional flora are often symbols of societal fears.
Kate Golembiewski May 4, 2023
Madame Chapeau
Brussels, Belgium

Madame Chapeau Sculpture

A bronze statue of the fictional character nicknamed "Mrs. Hat" from a beloved Belgian comedy.
objects of intrigue

Was This Letter Written by Sherlock Holmes?

If you are “Playing the Game,” the answer is elementary.
April White September 15, 2022
The Narnia Window
Headington, England

The Narnia Window

Beside the pew where C.S. Lewis often sat while attending church, a window filled with characters from his beloved stories.
Tokyo, Japan

‘Tora-san and His Sister’

Life-sized statues of two characters from a decades-long Japanese film series stand outside Shibamata station.
The house's garden
Mantua, Italy

Casa di Rigoletto

A small villa said to have inspired the design of the court jester at the heart of Giuseppe Verdi's 1851 opera.
Mozarts Pinkelstein
Raschala, Austria

Mozarts Pinkelstein (Mozart's Pee Stone)

A monument marks the site where the famed composer stopped to relieve himself on a long journey. Just one problem: Mozart never went to Raschala.
The plaque
London, England

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson Plaque

This plaque in one of London's oldest public hospitals commemorates the first meeting of two of Britain's most famous literary heroes: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
Maryborough, Australia

Mary Poppins Statue

A statue of the beloved storybook character stands in front of the building in which her creator was born.
Montgomery Scott Plaque
Linlithgow, Scotland

Montgomery Scott Plaque

The fictional birthplace of the Chief Engineer aboard the Starship Enterprise.
Calafia would have been at home in a modern fantasy novel.
medieval

California Is Named for a Griffin-Riding Black Warrior Queen

The story of Calafia reveals the surprising complexity of medieval attitudes about race.
Rebecca Johnson November 11, 2020
Be careful out there, in the imaginary lands around Oz.
maps

Escape Into These Fantastical, Imaginary Maps

When the real world feels unbearable, why not chart a course through lands that are literally unreal?
Jessica Leigh Hester April 9, 2020
View of the cottage from across the green.
East Dean, England

Sherlock Holmes Retirement Cottage

In this quiet village, a blue plaque marks the spot where the famous fictional detective retired.
Cecilia Valdes
Havana, Cuba

Statue of Cecilia Valdes

Standing in this historic plaza is a statue representing one of Cuba's most iconic literary characters.