(Photo: Patrick Emerson/CC BY-ND 2.0)

Halloween may be but one day a year, but the whole month of October is prime creepy time. And in the lead up to All Hallow’s Eve, we at Atlas Obscura will be getting you in the mood with fascinating and mysterious scary stories.

Every day until October 31 we’ll be publishing true tales of horror and fright and telling the unsettling stories that will keep you up at night.

Eager to get reading? We’ve kicked things off with the mysterious Japanese group who stocked supermarket shelves with cyanide-laced candy in the 1980s. Then there’s our practical travel guide to the many gates of hell around the globe. Visit all of them and complete your punch card. (Is the punch card laced with cyanide? Maybe!)

To see all our 31 Days of Halloween stories as they are published, visit the dedicated page. Happy Halloween, and may all your screams come true.