This blue behemoth of a bear is a colorful homage to Brown University's mascot.

An unusual library of dead things at the Rhode Island School of Design.

An ancient cemetery with some historic bodies underfoot.

The vaguely man-shaped root that ate the body of the founder of Rhode Island.

To avoid the demolition costs this abandoned drawbridge was simply left in the up position.

A simple Colonial home with a past haunted by death and madness.

This 3,500 pound obelisk was constructed with more than 1,000 reclaimed guns.

An architectural statement of artistic intent smack in the middle of Providence, Rhode Island's Colonial uniformity.

A virtually untouched "home on the hill" for the flora and fauna of Rhode Island.

A 19th century library favored by Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, known by locals as "the Ath."

Once at the center of U.S. finance, the historic Trading Room was meticulously recreated piece by piece and rebuilt in the Art Institute.

Illegal drag racing two stories beneath Chicago’s streets.

This cheerfully-named branch of the Chicago River is the fetid result of years of blood, entrails, and meatpacking waste.

Once called the "Polish Gold Coast" it is an icon of the neighborhood that bears its same name.

The city of Rockford, Illinois is symbolically protected by a quartet of fittingly stony sentinels.

A six-story-tall golden pyramid, surrounded by a moat.

Home to a protest movement, a bombing, and a dramatic change in labor history.

Combination beer garden and music venue in the heart of Wicker Park.

In one Chicago park, a trio of werewolves are waiting to devour their fallen brethren.

A European-style bath house in Chicago.

Each of these gorgeous, intricately decorated rooms is painstakingly crafted to the scale of 1 inch: 1 foot.

Years of archaeology, just chillin' by the water cooler.

The world's only known button museum.

The only Bahá'í house of worship in North America and one of only a handful worldwide.