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Halloween

These daisy wheels were found in Saxon Tithe barn in Bradford-on-Avon.

Cool Finds

Join an English Scavenger Hunt for Spooky, Supernatural Scratches

“Witch marks” are all over old buildings in England—and this Halloween, a preservation group is calling on the public to help document them

The tongue-eating louse will leave you speechless.

Hollywood Has Nothing on These Real Life Halloween Horror Shows

Face-unfurling, chest-exploding, zombie-making fiends: They’re all around us

Freeman Fisher Gosden and Charles Correll, c. 1935 (detail), as "Amos and Andy"

Commentary

The Long, Unfortunate History of Racial Parody in America

Art historian Gwendolyn Dubois Shaw discusses the painful performative origins

The Exorcist’s Rule Book

A serious manifestation of evil is never a pretty thing, but Catholic priests face down demons with precision

The bonfires of Samhain were said to welcome the spirits that could travel to Earth during this special time.

Halloween Owes Its Tricks and Treats to the Ancient Celtic New Year’s Eve

During Samhain, the deceased came to Earth in search of food and comfort, while evil spirits, faeries and gods came in search of mischief

The original Frankenstein didn't create a bride for his creature–and with good scientific reason.

New Research

Scientists Find That Frankenstein’s Monster Could Have Wiped Out Humanity

Thank goodness his creator never finished his proposed girlfriend

The presidential mask offers Americans a particularly playful—and anonymous—entrance into political humor.

What’s Behind America’s Obsession With Presidential Masks?

From nose-picking Nixon to Trump-kissing-Clinton, Americans have long imitated their political candidates

Mmm, science.

Science Explains Why Chocolate Should be Savored, Not Scarfed

And other molecular secrets to digest while you’re digesting

Killers Don’t Always Look the Part

The tragic true story of an innocent man suspected of murder is a classic motif of the Hollywood thriller and is used as a subplot in Scream

The Great Flying Saucer Mystery of 1966

When policemen spotted a “flying saucer” in 1966, an official investigation declared it was an optical illusion created by swamp gas

A rare book depicting the sea monk by Guillaume Rondelet (1507-1566) in the Smithsonian Libraries dates to 1554.

Renaissance Europe Was Horrified by Reports of a Sea Monster That Looked Like a Monk Wearing Fish Scales

Something fishy this way comes

Prehistoric Kickboxing Killer Turkeys

Unlike Jurassic Park’s lizard-like creatures, real raptors had feathers and looked a lot more like their closest relatives — birds

Girls are saying "let it go" to princess costumes in favor of superheroes.

Trending Today

Kids Ditch Princess Costumes in Favor of Superheroes This Halloween

For the first time in over a decade, princesses falter on the charts

Trending Today

If You Want to Adopt a Black Cat, You May Have to Wait Until Halloween Is Over

Why some adoption centers wait till after the spooky season to give some kitties a home

This Champion Pumpkin Weighs More Than a U-Haul

At the annual Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Weigh-In, a pumpkin weighing 1,910 pounds took the crown

Cool Finds

Candy Corn Hasn’t Changed Since the 19th Century

The Halloween sweet was invented in the 1880s

Trending Today

How ‘Bewitched’ Helped Salem Embrace Its Grim Past

A popular 1960s sitcom helped the New England town turn witches into big business

What makes these guys creepy?

On the Science of Creepiness

A look at what’s really going on when we get the creeps

Tabulae Anatomicae Clarissimi Viri..., Bartolomeo Eustachi, 1722

Halloween

The Grisly Details of Early Anatomy Textbooks

These images detail the inner workings of human bodies in all their gruesome glory

Cool Finds

This Haunted House is Actually a Lab for Studying Fear

Get scared for science

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