Halloween Feature

The Unsettling Legend of Maryland's Native Cryptid, the Snallygaster

By Colin Dickey · October 27, 2023
Halloween Feature

Our Spooky Snaps Photo Contest Winners

By Winnie Lee · October 27, 2023
Halloween Feature

The Charming True Story of the Haunting ‘Lady in the Tree’

By Roxanne Hoorn · October 6, 2023

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.

Is it a ghost or a gas leak? Scientists are trying new ways to explore what makes a place seem haunted.

haunted

A Haunted Chamber, a Quivering Blade, and Other Spooky Science Experiments

Could infrasound, electromagnetic blips, gas leaks, and mold explain why some places just give us the creeps?

Caravaggio's 1597 painting of the gorgon Medusa vividly captures the violence behind origin stories for many of our constellations.

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.

The 1984 film Gremlins was inspired in some ways by wartime gremlin stories (Roald Dahl's in particular), but put another modern spin on the older tradition.

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.

The ancient Ashoka pillar.

New Delhi, India

Feroz Shah Kotla

The ruins of a medieval citadel believed to be haunted by a ministry of wish-granting djinns.

Catacombes des Paris Autumn 2018

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

Particularly terrifying clowns were used throughout the experiment, which is totally normal.

haunted

For the Love of Fear

In a Swedish amusement park, two volunteers faced their greatest fears—for science.

Stretching between the 16th and 18th centuries, the Scottish witch trials were among Europe’s longest and most deadly.

witchcraft

Isobel Gowdie and the Untold History of the Scottish Witch Trials

Some experts estimate as many as 3,000 people were accused and executed for witchcraft in Scotland.

The Raven Room

List

12 Important Places in Edgar Allan Poe's Life (and Death)

A tour of the writer's world, from his short-lived military career to his multiple gravesites.

Soap Sally was always lying in wait to snatch idle children and turn them into soap and candles, according to regional folklore in Appalachia and the American South.

fairytales

Soap Sally, a Villain of Appalachia and the American South, Echoes Old World Evil

The wicked washerwoman, child murderer, and entrepreneur has parallels to Baba Yaga and other classic European folk figures.

All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura

puzzles

The Atlas Obscura Crossword: Halloween Themeless

List

11 Places Where Dolls Are a Frightening Sight

We're not in the toy aisle anymore.

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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.