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Spirits Week

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The Weston State Hospital, once (and again) known as the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.
abandoned

A Cultural Historian Explores an Old Mental Hospital, and Why They Scare Us

They are haunted, but not by ghosts.
Troy Rondinone October 31, 2019
Now part of Bear Mountain State Park, the abandoned hamlet has zero (living) residents but three cemeteries.
cemeteries

In This New York Ghost Town, the Graveyards Keep Growing

Doodletown was shuttered by the state in 1965. That hasn't stopped Doodletowners from burying their dead there.
Shane Cashman October 31, 2019
The "Bacardi Bomber" now resides at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
military history

Bacardi's Head Honcho Once Tried to Bomb Castro's Cuba

After many a misadventure, his warplane is on display today.
Anne Ewbank October 31, 2019
No matter where you are, there's probably a ghost story nearby.
ghosts

13 Extremely Local Ghost Stories

Read some of our readers' favorite spooky tales from very close to home.
Eric Grundhauser October 31, 2019
The Weeping Woman.
culture

How Mexico's Most Sorrowful Spirit Became a Cultural Phenomenon

As America's immigrant population grows, so does La Llorona's cultural stature.
Winnie Lee October 7, 2022
haunted

The Wonderful World of Selling Your Haunted House

Depending on the ghosts, it might fetch a premium.
Dan Nosowitz October 30, 2019
The suburb of Shively is notorious for its blanket of "whiskey fungus"
whiskey

The Dark Side of the 'Angel’s Share'

Kentucky's bourbon industry is covering its neighbors in black fungus.
Anne Marshall October 30, 2019
Around Halloween, visitors to the Merchant's House Museum can pick up a funeral biscuit to take home.
victorian

Eat Your Sorrow With These Victorian Funeral Biscuits

Ingredients often included molasses, caraway seeds, ginger, and grief.
Jessica Leigh Hester October 30, 2019
Monaco's cemetery crawls up a hillside overlooking the Mediterranean.
suicide

The Curious Case of Monte Carlo’s Suspect 'Suicide Epidemic'

When a moral panic swept over Europe's seaside casino playground.
Tal McThenia October 29, 2019
In the late 19th century, "ghost hoaxers" wore costumes to terrify unsuspecting victims.
victorian

The Mischievous 'Ghost Hoaxers' of 19th-Century Australia

To stave off boredom, some people donned sheets and menaced the public.
Joseph Hayes October 29, 2019
Whether the Nain Rouge is friendly or fiendish, he's definitely red and demonic.
beer

The Spirited Afterlife of Detroit’s Little Red Demon

The Nain Rouge has been stirring up trouble—and maybe generating some goodwill—for more than 300 years.
Jessica Leigh Hester October 28, 2019
Once upon a time there was a cemetery here, in Tangier, Virginia.
cemeteries

From Indonesia to Ingonish, Some Bones Won't Stay Buried 

As seas and storms erode coastlines, cemeteries are giving up their dead. 
Jennifer S. Holland October 28, 2019
A green sea turtle, tangled in a ghost net in 2014.
ghosts

Ghost Nets Haunt the World's Oceans, Hunting Beyond the Grave

Who you gonna call?
Sabrina Imbler October 28, 2019
Demogorgon was never a deity in Greek or Roman mythology. In fact, “Demogorgon” wasn’t even a real word. The character's popularity dates back to the 1300s, when he began appearing in Latin literature.
monsters

The Many Lives of Demogorgon, From Scribal Error to 'Stranger Things'

How vague and various descriptions made a medieval mistake into a lasting horror.
Daniel A. Gross October 25, 2019
A miner sits at the feet of El Tio, leaving offerings for safety and prosperity.
mines

The Liquor-Soaked Devil Shrines of Bolivia's Deadliest Mine

In the heart of the Andes, Catholic miners also pray to satanic statues.
Luke Fater October 25, 2019
Eerie lights are a common sight in Clinch County, Georgia.
mystery

Searching for 'Spooklights' in Southern Georgia

This rural region may be the will-o'-the-wisp capital of America.
Shaun Raviv October 25, 2019
An 1876 map showing Laurel Cemetery.
cemeteries

The Grim History Hidden Under a Baltimore Parking Lot

After an African-American cemetery was bulldozed, families wondered what happened to the graves.
Sarah Laskow October 25, 2019
One of Zufferey's engraved wheels of cheese.
mountains

The Valley of the Cheese of the Dead

In this remote Swiss town, residents spent a lifetime aging a wheel for their own funeral.
Molly McDonough October 24, 2019