LONGFORM

The Dare Stones: The Elaborate Hoax That “Solved” the Mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke

What really happened to Virginia Dare and the rest of the Lost Colony of Roanoke? In the late 1930s, an enterprising con man claimed to know.

Barnum Brown changed paleontology and pop culture forever by discovering Tyrannosaurus rex.

How Barnum Brown Discovered ‘T. rex’ and Became History’s Greatest Fossil Hunter

Like his most famous discovery, fossil hunter Barnum Brown was larger than life.

Treasure Island: The Enduring Enigma of Tucker’s Cross

Finding a highly valuable treasure is one thing. Keeping it is another.

The Train Crash That Spooked Charles Dickens

In 1865, author Charles Dickens survived a train crash—and he was never the same.

The Dale car promised to revolutionize the auto industry. Too bad it never really existed.

Motor Con: How Liz Carmichael and Her Dale Car Took Everyone for a Ride

In 1975, upstart automaker Liz Carmichael promised a $2000 car with a space-age body and incredible fuel economy. The only problem? It didn't exist.

An eastern hellbender, North America's largest salamander.

Raisin' Hellbenders: How Scientists Are Saving North America's Largest Salamander

A team of dedicated scientists is raising eastern hellbenders and releasing them into rivers, helping these ample amphibians to survive.

Strangers with Candy: Delaware‘s Chocolate Box Murders of 1898

Mary Elizabeth Dunning thought a friend had sent her chocolates as a treat. Instead, they were a death sentence.

When 'Fraggle Rock' Spread Peace Throughout the Soviet Union

In 1989, Jim Henson's 'Fraggle Rock' became the first American television series to air in what was then still the Soviet Union.

Nell Donnelly was a '30s fashion icon, which made her a target for kidnappers.

How Organized Crime Saved Kidnapping Victim Nell Donnelly

In 1931, fashion designer and millionaire Nell Donnelly was abducted from her Kansas City home. Her kidnappers didn't know that Donnelly harbored a scandalous secret that would eventually seal their doom.

Robert Brian Wilson in 'Silent Night, Deadly Night' (1984).

Santa Slays: When 'Silent Night, Deadly Night' Caused a Public Panic

'Silent Night, Deadly Night,' 1984's killer Santa slasher, led some psychologists to worry kids might develop panic disorders and even regress in their toilet training.

John Leonard in 'Pepsi, Where's My Jet?' (2022).

'I Just Want a Plane': When a College Student Demanded Pepsi Hand Over a Harrier Jet

John Leonard’s demand was simple. All he wanted was for Pepsi to deliver the Harriet jet he believed they had promised. In 1996, Leonard, then a 21-year-old col

How American Chinese Food Became Its Own Cuisine

Open your takeout containers, break apart your disposable chopsticks, and dig into the cuisine of the Chinese diaspora.

Alan Abel, History's Greatest Hoaxer

Before Nathan Fielder and Sacha Baron Cohen pushed the boundaries of performance art, Alan Abel was able to convince media and the public of just about anything, including his own death.

It Slices, It Dices: When Ginsu Knives Cut Through the As-Seen-on TV Competition

How an Ohio-made kitchen knife was reimagined as a piece of Japanese steel—one endorsed by Lorena Bobbitt, in a manner of speaking.

The Hydes’ homemade scow as found by searchers.

An Empty Boat in the Grand Canyon: The Mysterious Disappearance of Glen and Bessie Hyde

Bessie and Glen Hyde made history with their Grand Canyon boat trip in 1928, but not for the reasons they intended.

Meaty-oric Rise: How Renaissance Fairs and Disney Parks Catapulted the Turkey Leg to Greatness

As one Yelp reviewer put it, Disney’s turkey legs “are the reason I can tolerate thousands of children kicking and screaming all around me with their worn down parents.”

Unraveling the Many Mysteries of New Order's "Blue Monday"

Equal parts happy accident and technological triumph, “Blue Monday” is a supremely weird and brilliant song that continues to pack dance floors and transfix listeners 40 years after its original release.

Swedish rockers Rednex perform in Hamburg, Germany.

The Murky Origins and Controversial History Behind the Song “Cotton Eye Joe”

Rednex's fiddle-fueled '90s hit “Cotton Eye Joe” was a reworking of an old American folk song that do-si-doed all the way to No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The 30 Best Slasher Movies of All Time

Though often dismissed as a bunch of movies about a crazy guy with a knife, there’s a sense of near-constant creativity at work within even the most low-budget, opportunistic slasher films.

Stranger Than Fiction: The Paranormal Researcher Who Inspired Shirley Jackson

Paranormal investigator Nandor Fodor angered spiritualists, earned praise from Sigmund Freud, and influenced one of the most famous ghost stories of all time.

Actor portrayal of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt taking a stroll.

Katherine Swynford and the Illicit Affair That Birthed Centuries’ Worth of British Monarchs

Katherine Swynford played the long game with John of Gaunt … and won.

Madame Blavatsky, the Woman Who Brought the Occult to America

Blavatsky asserted that she was able to perform extraordinary paranormal feats because she had been given access to an ancient wisdom, known only to a select few.

Midnight movies go way back, and legendary drive-in critic Joe Bob Briggs helps shed light on their evolution over time.

Dread by Dawn: How Midnight Movies Became a Cultural Phenomenon, According to Joe Bob Briggs

Legendary drive-in film critic and host Joe Bob Briggs talks about the history of midnight movies, his upcoming Shudder special, ‘Joe-Bob's Haunted Halloween Hangout,‘ and more.

The gender binary looms large in this sphere.

The Sexist History of Naming Hurricanes After Women Only—And How 1970s Feminists Fought to End It

“I’m sick and tired of hearing that ‘Cheryl was no lady as she devastated such and such a town,’” Roxcy Bolton said. She wasn't alone in her exasperation.

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