WEIRD

6 Strange “Alien” Languages Created by Linguists

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.

Our 25 Most Popular Stories of 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.

9 Funerals Gone Wrong

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 Murders to Mysterious Codes: 6 of the Best Dark Academia Novels

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.

IKEA’s 10-Pound Meatball Belongs on Your Holiday Menu

Lingonberry jam and cream sauce are included, naturally.

Caricature by James Gillray of Perkins Tractors being administered to a patient.

8 of History’s Greatest Charlatans

One scam was convincing enough to fool George Washington.

Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Snail Sex | Deep Look

Watch How Snails Make Baby Snails

Snail mating involves “love darts.”

Library Patrons in Oregon Can Check Out a Robotic Cat for Company

The battery-powdered purr machines are part of the library's collection of unusual items available for lending.

Forget about trying to nab any of these records.

8 World Records Too Dangerous for Guinness

The world's longest saxophone note is too risky to attempt. So is the world's longest kiss.

One of the rooms inside the Explorers Club headquarters.

11 Awesome Artifacts You Can See at the Explorers Club

The Explorers Club keeps some odd artifacts in its collection, including a stuffed whale penis.

The St. Augustine globster washed ashore in 1896.

7 Bizarre Globsters That Have Washed Ashore

Though these marine mysteries are often solved, globsters—unidentified organic masses that wash up on beaches—continue to capture the public’s imagination.

100 Facts That Will Make You Go “WTF”

Weird but fascinating facts about everything from the guy who dragged cars with his nipples to frogs shedding (and eating!) their own skin.

"They want someone to spray the trees so the leaves stop falling."

New York City’s 20 Weirdest 311 Complaints From the Last 20 Years

NYC311 has fielded calls involving everything from goats to ghosts.

11 Surprising Facts About Vampire Bats

Only three bat species, out of some 1100 in the world, actually have a taste for blood.

How Does Sword Swallowing Really Work?

The ancient art of sword swallowing may seem like some sort of elaborate trick—but it’s very, very real (and very, very dangerous).

Joan Rivers, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Keanu Reeves have all had ghostly encounters.

8 Famous Figures, Past and Present, Who Claimed to Have Encountered Ghosts

Being rich, famous, or influential has plenty of perks—but escaping the spirit world’s torments isn’t necessarily one of them.

Why does Friday the 13th inspire such superstition?

13 Fascinating Facts About Friday the 13th

Cut through the half-truths and urban legends to find out more about Friday the 13th, the unluckiest day on the calendar.

Victor Hugo, Anne Rice, and Thomas Hardy were all believers.

9 Authors Who Believed in Ghosts

Some, like Harriet Beecher Stowe and Victor Hugo, believed they had communicated with spirits directly; others, like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Thomas Hardy, had ghostly encounters they couldn’t explain.

21 Old and Odd Directional Words

The rich history of the English language is full of similar directional words that are cool but uncommon, like ‘pancakewards,’ ‘couchward,’ and ‘pocketwards.’

Still from 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' (1951) beside illustration of a theremin.

Audio Invasion: How the Theremin Went From Soviet Labs to Hollywood

The theremin—a spooky instrument that scored the biggest sci-fi films of the 1950s—was invented by accident.

The Eerie Legend of the ‘Old Leatherman,’ Connecticut’s Silent Wanderer

For decades, a man dressed head to toe in leather moved through Connecticut and New York. Who was he, and what did he want?

A Brief History of the Ouija Board

The Ouija board has terrified countless slumber party children and served as a plot vehicle in a number of Hollywood films. Here’s where it came from.

16 Cryptids That Might (Or Might Not) Exist

Almost every country has its own cryptid, from giant bats in Java to enormous water hounds in Ireland.

Skeletons are good for more than just Halloween.

Watch Plastic Skeletons Being Made in a 1960s Factory

We're glad skeletons are usually made of plastic now.

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