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Folktales

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This colored wood engraving shows the pig-faced Miss Atkinson.
victorian

Regency Londoners Were Obsessed With Pig-Faced Ladies

In 1815, the obsession with swine-ish, upper-class ladies reached a fever pitch.
Sarah Crocker August 6, 2024
Mijas, Spain

Museo Historico-Etnologico (Mijas Folk Museum)

Step into the past of this Andalusian town through exhibits with traditional tools, local crafts, and cultural artifacts.
Coventry, England

‘Sir Guy and the Dun Cow’

This oft-overlooked public artwork depicts another Warwickshire legend.
aliens

Podcast: Gabbing Goblins with Colin Dickey

Author and Atlas Obscura columnist Colin Dickey takes us on a wild, alien-filled ride.
The Podcast Team May 16, 2024
Görlitz, Germany

The Klötzelmönch's Worried Mother Statue

This bust remembers the haunting local legend of a murderous monk.
Panaji, India

Dona Paula's Tombstone

Legends of adultery, love affairs, and charity swirl around this mysterious 17th-century Portuguese woman.
Beginning in the 20th century, the hunt for the deadly wampus cat was on.
cryptozoology

The Child-Eating Wampus Cat Prowling the American South

Hide your dog; hide your children.
April White May 3, 2024
The capelobo is said to stalk Brazil's dense rainforests—always looking for its next victim.
cryptozoology

The Blood-Sucking Capelobo Haunts Brazil’s Dense Forests

The humanoid anteater slurps its victim’s gray matter as if devouring termites in a mound.
April White May 2, 2024
Standing no taller than a 10-year-old, the Yara ma tha who watches from the forest canopy—always ready to pounce on its next victim.
cryptozoology

The Child-Eating Bloodsucker of Aboriginal Australian Nightmares

The Yara ma tha who is more terrifying than any vampire.
April White May 1, 2024
animals

Rabbits Are Creatures of the Underworld According to Ancient Fears

From Ancient Egypt to 'Donnie Darko', beware the bunny.
Charis McGowan May 1, 2024
The horse-headed visage of La Siguanaba may just be your last sight.
cryptozoology

Beware La Siguanaba, Latin America's Murderous, Horse-Headed Beauty

Do not follow the woman in white.
April White April 30, 2024
A dingonek has seemingly impenetrable, armadillo-like scales, a powerful tail, and very sharp teeth.
cryptozoology

The Man-Eating Dingonek Lurks Beneath East Africa’s Rivers

The 18-foot-long, dog-headed beast-fish didn't seem so unbelievable to Africa's early white colonizers.
April White April 29, 2024
Warnford, England

Grave of George Lewis

This gravestone tells the tragic tale of its occupant's death.
A white church with four small turrets, two of which appear to twist
Curtea de Argeș, Romania

Curtea de Argeș Monastery

According to a gruesome legend, an architect sacrificed his wife to build this spectacular, 16th-century cathedral.
Farnham, England

Mother Ludlam's Cave

This place is the subject of local legends about a good witch and a Celtic God.
San Diego, California

'The Girl in Red Shoes'

A statue based on a tragic Japanese nursery rhyme, commemorating San Diego's sisterhood with Yokohama.
Pustevny, Czechia

Libušín a Maměnka

A folk-art cottage and hotel straight from a Slavic fairy tale.
The Yule Cat (or Jólakötturinn) serves as a warning for children to not misbehave, much like the threat of coal for naughty children on Christmas.
vikings

Beware the Yule Cat, Iceland’s Child-Eating Christmas Monster

But if you’re wearing new clothes, you have nothing to fear from Jólakötturinn.
Suzie Dundas December 22, 2023