Death

Halloween isn't the only holiday with superstitions.

Some New Year’s superstitions and traditions are spookier than others, but these are some of those most memorable from around the world.

The Tower of London as seen from the River Thames.

The Tower of London inspires awe, fear, and intrigue. Here are seven facts you may not know about the iconic British fortress.

‘Searching for Franklin,’ ‘The Indifferent Stars Above,’ and ‘Cannibalism.’

You might want to skip dinner after reading these.

The hustle and bustle around these events was next level.

Black Friday shopping may stress you out, but as these tragic shopping stampedes from history show, things could always end up looking a lot worse.

A group of 18th-century anatomists dissect a body.

What began as a routine renovation revealed Harvard's history of body snatching.

Research (and lots of dry-heaving) has revealed why the flower reeks of weeks-old road kill.

According to a medieval saga, the Norwegian “Well Man” might have been used as a biological weapon.

Get a better sense of how illnesses have shaped history in these gripping reads.

Get a better sense of how illnesses have shaped history with these gripping reads about history’s most notorious diseases.

A hearse with S-shaped bars in place of back windows.

Those evocative scrolls you see on hearses actually have a name—and going back in the 1800s, they actually served an important purpose.

A black-throated green warbler perches on a funerary statue at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Three historic cemeteries, designed as refuges of the dead, are bringing their landscapes back to life for native plants and animals.

Tollund Man—a bog body at the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark

China, Chile, and New Zealand are a few places that have historic mummies of their own.

Elizabeth Taylor, Bela Lugosi, and Bob Marley were buried with some of their most treasured possessions.

Favorite alcoholic beverages, signature accessories, and reading material are a few of the items that these artists took with them to the afterlife.

Fear of taking a dirt nap before one’s time was once a common phobia.

These true stories inspired some spooky legends.

Sorry to tell you, but killers really have crawled out of medicine cabinets to attack their victims.

These strange, spooky cemetery tales of vampires, ghosts, and bloody headstones will keep you up at night.

Nancy Barnett’s family would not allow a road to disturb her final resting place.

This isn't something you want to pass late at night.

Thanks to his outrageous crimes, Graham Young will always be known as the Teacup Poisoner. Here are five others with unforgettable monikers.

Friends consult a Ouija board during a séance.

Harry Houdini and Princess Diana are just a few of the spirits that mediums have tried to contact over the years.

The cemetery failed to interest the public until it started seeking out famous corpses.

From the ‘manananggal’ (Philippines) to the ‘csodacsirke’ (Hungary), you’ll want to make sure you steer clear of these terrifying supernatural beings.

The Neptune Memorial Reef off Florida’s coast.

Neptune Memorial Reef is a piece of art, a cemetery, and a haven for wildlife.

The knight’s tombstone rediscovered at Jamestown.

Scientists examined microscopic fossils in the tombstone and suggest the jet-black slab with an English knight’s insignia could have come only from one place.

A ‘witch’ grave makes a cemetery even spookier.

When these supposed spell-casters died, the stories about them lived on.

Old age may precede dying, but it doesn’t directly cause it.

Can an octogenarian really just collapse from the wear and tear of life?

Odd Lang Syne: 7 Creepy New Year’s Superstitions That’ll Keep You Up Past Midnight

7 Formidable Facts About the Tower of London

8 Books About Historical Cannibalism

6 of History’s Most Tragic Shopping Stampedes

Hidden Bodies: How a Harvard Chapel Renovation Unearthed Human Remains

New Study Reveals the Source of the Corpse Flower’s Horrible Stench

DNA Identifies Medieval Man Thrown Down a Well, Confirming a Norse Saga’s Tale

12 Fascinating Books on History’s Most Notorious Diseases

Why Do Hearses Have Metal S-Shaped Scrolls Where the Back Windows Should Be?

From Snakeroot to Salamanders, Life Thrives in Cemeteries

8 Kinds of Mummies That Aren’t From Ancient Egypt

The Objects 10 Celebrities Took to the Grave

Can You Guess the Famous Person Who Was Afraid of Being Buried Alive?

11 Terrifying Urban Legends That Turned Out to Be True

5 Weird American Cemetery Legends

The Reason There’s a Gravesite in the Middle of an Indiana Road

6 Infamous Poisoners with Unforgettable Nicknames

8 Notorious Séances Involving Celebrities

When France’s Père Lachaise Cemetery Used Celebrity Remains to Boost Business

10 Spine-Tingling Spirits From Around the World

Explore the World’s First Underwater Cemetery

Jamestown’s Mysterious Black Tombstone Originated in Belgium, Archaeologists Say

The Stories Behind 8 ‘Witch’ Graves

Do People Really Die of ‘Old Age’?