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To Banish Winter in This Tiny Wisconsin Town, Burn a Swiss Snowman

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Matsumoto, Japan

This small Japanese street is lined with figures, sculptures and a shrine dedicated to frogs.

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    Madrid, Spain

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    Minyirr, Australia

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    Skopje, North Macedonia

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    Arnhem, Netherlands

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    Matsumoto, Japan

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    Madrid, Spain

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    Manila, Philippines

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    Once a crime hotspot, this refurbished underpass is now home to a bookstore and a mural celebrating the history of Manila.

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The haunting by the entity known as the Bell Witch has resonated across centuries of American history.

rites of spring

The Elusive, Maddening Mystery of the Bell Witch

A classic ghost story has something to say about America—200 years ago, 100 years ago, and today.

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May 2, 2023
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    Make the Jellied Delicacy Served Aboard the Titanic

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  • Bonfires and revelry dominate modern Beltane celebrations, but the origins of the event are more mundane.

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    Beltane Is About More Than Fire and Fertility

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  • Today, an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 outdoor staircases remain in the city.

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Every year on May 1st the small town of Cocullo in central Italy celebrates its patron saint San Domenico Abate. The celebration resembles many other Catholic festivities, but during this religious procession the saint's statue is fully covered with living snakes.

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The Italian Town that Welcomes Spring with Live Snakes

It's a good omen if the reptiles wrap themselves around the head of San Domenico Abate.

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  • U.S. Marines stand guard in the Garmsir district of Helmand Province in 2009. The province was the site of the most deaths of American and British soldiers during the U.S./NATO–led occupation of the country.

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  • Miniwashitu is described as a frightening-looking creature with an important job: breaking up the ice on the Missouri River with its saw-like backbone.

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    In North Dakota, the Hideous Miniwashitu Ushers in Spring

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  • A Hindu priest holds a lit coconut oil lamp in front of statues of Prince Vijaya (left) and Kuweni (right) at the Sri Subramaniam temple in the southern Sri Lankan town of Matara.

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  • Some residents of western Kenya consider night runners to be supernatural menaces. Others consider them an annoyance.

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  • 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.

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