Mental Floss

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That wood-burning stove on the left is a potential health hazard.

It may feel nostalgic, but its affects on your health and the local environment are far from comforting.

Scroll down for a map you can enlarge.

From Execution Rocks and Devil’s Den to Skull Mesa and Maggoty Run—plus, how these spots came by their terrifying monikers.

If linguistics is any indicator, it would appear that everybody in the spirit realm speaks Scots English.

You can probably guess which is the most Googled.

Which Jane Austen books is the internet obsessed with?

Ken Jennings.

All five answers to the questions below have something in common. Can you figure it out?

This spider is still very much alive.

We explain the science behind the answer.

Fires have prompted a number of safety regulations.

From tragic factory fires to toxic food scandals, some safety laws we may take for granted today actually have some pretty unsettling backstories.

Ever wonder where the name ‘Snickers’ came from?

Surprise: Milky Way wasn’t named after our home galaxy. Let’s take a brief stroll down the etymological candy aisle and discover how these confections got named.

What a hearty meal.

Warning: This map may cause pizza cravings.

Alien visitors or swamp gas?

How many people need to see the same UFO for it to be “real”?

Who wouldn't want to tuck into a bowl of golden-brown, crispy hush puppies?

Hush puppies might seem like a simple side dish, but they carry a pretty interesting history.

Open book with silhouettes of graveyard and zombie hands with full Moon. Halloween still life with

Add these books to your TBR this spooky season.

Pumpkin beer has a long and spicy history.

The first pumpkin ales were brewed back in the 17th century as a beer of last resort. Today, they're part of a multimillion-dollar, fall-flavored industry.

The sky‘s the limit with costume options.

Haven‘t picked a costume yet? Get some inspiration from this list.

What‘s leaving air pockets in your sandwich cheese?

Learn the science behind the holes in Swiss cheese.

They could be medieval artifacts.

Talk about a historic find.

Can you figure it out?

This riddle comes from a book published in 1868—can you figure out the answer?

You remember these.

This multiple-choice quiz challenges you to match the hit 1980s song to the movie it was made for.

Men prevent a vampire rising from its grave in a Romanian cemetery in this 19th-century illustration.

The belief in real-life vampires predates Bram Stoker’s legendary novel ‘Dracula.’

Grab your magnifying glass.

We give you an obscure word with four definitions—one correct, three made up. Can you identify the correct one?