Mental Floss

MYTHS

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The holidays are here again. That means family, and family means listening to insane, ill-informed debates over every subject imaginable. But just because your relatives are old and probably a little crazy doesn’t mean everything they say is nonsense. Whe

M Asher Cantrell
Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

The legendary monsters series continues with some scary stories from Africa. There are so many nations and discrete communities in Africa that the problem here was not finding the legendary stories, but whittling down the list to a manageable number.1.

Miss Cellania


You'd think that there are enough scary animals in Australia that monstrous legends wouldn't be necessary. Apparently the deadly creatures that terrorize people on a regular basis aren't scary enough. The continent also includes New Zealand, and I slid a

Miss Cellania


It should be no surprise that a continent with extremely high mountains, extensive waterways, and dense rainforests filled with undiscovered species would have many legends of monsters. This is just a brief overview of some of South America's monsters. Th

Miss Cellania




The New Jersey Devil mascot steals the show during a game against the Montreal Canadiens.

Find out how the Jersey Devil went from a regional folk tale from the 18th century to an NHL mascot today.

Ethan Trex
Insomnia Cured Here, Flickr // CC BY SA 2.0

There’s actually a whole group of people who enjoy the theory that Sherlock Holmes – or at least sidekick John Watson -- was real. The truth? Well that's elementary, my dear Watson.

Jason Plautz
iStock / SchulteProductions

Subliminal messages affect the subconscious mind. Here's some pleasant (and not so pleasant) messages hiding in plain sight.

David K. Israel