Weird

The Fountain of Youth, painted in 1546 by German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder.

Punta Gorda locals have been swearing by the mystical properties of a radioactive water fountain for a century.

Did Bubble Yum gum really contain spider eggs? Learn about the schoolyard urban legend that threatened the success of this popular chewing gum back in the 1970s.

Decades after the footprints that popped up in northern California, they were alleged to be a hoax.

When 16-inch-long tracks began popping up on northern California logging sites in 1958, workers dubbed the culprit ‘Big Foot’—but decades later, the whole thing was revealed to be a hoax.

The Southernmost part of the United States (or not).

Florida is known for its alligator sightings, weird crimes, and Disney World. But how much of what you think you know about the Sunshine State is true?

According to some strange old theories about the origins of birthmarks, a blemish on your behind meant you had the mark of the devil.

One Florida town experienced a golf ball rain.

From beer floods to meat showers, history is full of peculiar—and putrid—disasters.

The long-snouted fellow in the center is a very slithy tove.

Nonce words are only meant to serve one particular purpose—here are some of the best examples.

Winston Churchill needed a good dentist.

Plagued by oral issues, the British prime minister carried two sets of dentures with him at all times.

Is the call really coming from inside the house?

From what inspired Candyman and the Mothman to the tales about alligators in the sewers and killers calling from inside the house, we're breaking down the origins of popular urban legends.

An Edison phonograph exhibit with a talking doll in Paris, 1889.

Modern technology has helped these dolls find their voices—and when they speak, it’s downright creepy.

Sasquatch sightings have been reported in every state but Hawaii over the course of several centuries. In the process, a number of bizarre theories have been put forth to explain how the mysterious beasts came to be—and how they manage to evade us.

This simple cereal has a particularly intriguing backstory.

Not every great invention was created according to plan. From penicillin to breakfast cereal to popsicles, these everyday items were all invented entirely by accident.

First MUZZY Commercial - Je Suis La Jeune Fille!

If you watched television in the 1990s, you probably saw an ad for a green blob that could teach you French.

The researchers analyzed search engines, search data, and social media in hopes of turning up evidence of time travelers.

In 1975, Bum Farto had it all. A dead body and a drug deal gone wrong changed everything.

'I see, sir. And when did you order the Uber Eats?'

Losing your nose ring in the shower is a bummer. It’s not an emergency.

Barbie and Ken are just two members of the Barbie bunch.

From Celine Dion’s “erotic motorcycle” to the crafty female platypus who faked a pregnancy in order to bust out of the Bronx Zoo, 2023 was full of some pretty great stories.

Exolangs are constructed languages that imagine how the languages of extraterrestrial beings might look and sound—and linguists have come up with some pretty mind-bending options.

There was something for every type of reader on MentalFloss.com in 2023.

Once again, Mental Floss readers proved to be curious about all sorts of niche topics—and our editors and writers were happy to oblige their interests.

From a profane parrot to an exploding corpse to swapped (and dropped) bodies, the funerals on this list went terribly awry.

Secret societies and dark cabals? You'll find plenty of them in these tomes.

From murder mysteries to secret societies and more, the best dark academia novels from Donna Tartt and other authors capture the macabre in the most unlikely of places.