Halloween

In 2014, Americans Feared Walking Alone at Night. Now They’re Worried about Government Corruption

A survey on American fears by Chapman University sociologists has produced some surprisingly frightful results

A bust of the legless "bicycle girl" zombie executed by Rick Grimes in the Walking Dead pilot.

America's Undead Are Immortalized at the Smithsonian

The cast of "The Walking Dead" donates a set of perfectly macabre Halloween gifts

The Ilban people of East Borneo captured these six warrior skulls in a single battle. They tossed the heads into a fire pit to cure and then wrapped them in vines to suspend their prize from the rafters of the community longhouse.

Explore Haunting Relics of Death With New Photography Book

Placenta-wiping fetuses are only the tip of the frightberg

Are You Descended From Witches? New Digital Document Could Help You Find Out

The Wellcome Library manuscript lists people accused of witchcraft during the Scottish witch panic of 1658-1662

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

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"

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.

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.

Kids Ditch Princess Costumes in Favor of Superheroes This Halloween

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

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

Candy Corn Hasn't Changed Since the 19th Century

The Halloween sweet was invented in the 1880s

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