Author: Ms. R.

Korea is known for its horror movies and eerie writings, and almost as an homage to this genre, these spider twins spread an eerie charm across Incheon airport. The statues take the shape of a pair of strange oily spiders, which seem to be rolling balls of dirt around. Their lumpy exterior is reminiscent of some kind of Lovecraftian horror. The spiders are specifically designed to evoke a primal fear, which they do excellently, as both adults and children……

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This Amtrak station is nothing more than a platform, a parking lot, and a locked corkboard full of sun-faded Amtrak posters, but it’s a must-see for any railroad enthusiast.  Sanderson Station sees very few passengers—a total of just 198 in 2022—but it’s a cool sight that’s less than a mile from US 90. Definitely worth the stop, if only to say that you’ve been there….

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Historic Bisbee, Arizona is bustling, with a renewed emphasis on art, wellness, and tourism, but in many ways, it remains a living ghost town of its heyday. At the turn of the century, Bisbee was organized around the copper industry, with stories of massive wealth and exploitation. If you are looking for a place to stay and reckon with the ghosts of the past, there’s no better option than the putatively haunted Copper Queen Hotel. This Victorian-era hotel is……

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Located In rural Danville, Pennsylvania, the Montour Preserve was dedicated as a nature area in 1972. When parking areas were being built for the preserve, part of a hillside was dug out to use as fill. The hillside consisted of shale from the Mahantango Formation. This rock is rich in Devonian-era marine fossils, from an era when Pennsylvania was covered by a warm, shallow sea. When this fossil-rich shale was discovered, The Montour Fossil Pit was established. The dug-out……

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First settled in 1840, Cross Plains, Wisconsin is a small town approximately 15 miles west of Madison, the state capital city. A 1920 edition of the Wisconsin State Journal described the town as “nestled in a narrow valley, hemmed in by frowning bluffs.” Situated atop part of these frowning bluffs are the remnants of the Matz Farmstead, which consists of two desolate stone structures, the only remains of German-born settler Friedrich Matz’s built legacy. Located in the Dane County……

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When the U.S. Army decided to move helicopter operations to Alabama in August 1942 they built a new base, Fort Rucker, now Fort Novosel. But there was a problem. People had settled here a hundred years earlier and over time buried a number of loved ones in cemeteries near their settlements.   To show respect to those buried there, the federal government and Holman Funeral Home worked together to move the cemeteries to Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was founded in……

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Ritualcravt has been a unique hub for the witchcraft community in Colorado since 2015. The storefront is run by a coven of House Witches who work in a wide variety of folk magic traditions. They curate one of the largest collections of ritual tools, metaphysical wares, occult objects, oddities, rarities, and apothecary goods; as well as a massive library of books on folk magic topics. They are also home to Ritualcravt School, which offers classes and workshops on witchcraft……

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Along the wall enclosing the remains of a castle is an unusual stone. It is squared-shaped, and it bears a grid with the following words readable both horizontally and vertically: SATOR, AREPO, TENET, OPERA, and ROTAS.  These words can be read backwards, so that SATOR is ROTAS written backwards, AREPO is OPERA written backwards, and TENET, being at the middle of the five-letter square, is a palindrome itself. Another feature of this stone is that the initials of these……

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Nestled in the Adirondacks is the village of Saranac Lake (which, interestingly enough is actually along the shores of Flower Lake– though a lake called Saranac Lake is nearby.) The history of the village is deeply intertwined with one of humanity’s most deadly foes: tuberculosis. For much of human history, there were no effective treatments for tuberculosis. The Victorian era saw great advances in medicine, including some early treatments for the disease. In Prussia, Hermann Brehmer was pioneering the……

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Tucked away in Bexley, a suburb of Columbus, the Watlao Buddhamamakaram Buddhist Temple was built in 2009 to support the Laotian and Thai Buddhists in the eastern Columbus area. It’s a Theravada temple built in the traditional South East Asian style. From afar, the most noticeable aspect of the temple is its color. Having recently undergone renovations, the building shines in colorful hues of green, red, blue, and gold. Up close, though, one can see the full extent of……

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THIS ARTICLE IS ADAPTED FROM THE OCTOBER 28, 2023, EDITION OF GASTRO OBSCURA’S FAVORITE THINGS NEWSLETTER. YOU CAN SIGN UP HERE. As some of West Africa’s many cuisines gain international recognition, chefs, cookbook authors, and food vloggers from the region find themselves battling generalizations. One is that West African food centers around animal protein: stewed beef tripe, smoky dried fish, spicy meat skewers. Meat consumption in West Africa has increased over time due to many factors, including wider access……

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At the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, a rather out-of-place artifact is exhibited. To those unfamiliar, it’s only an ordinary Melitta-brand teapot—but if you know, you know. In the world of computer graphics, this item, usually referred to as the Utah teapot or Newell teapot, is recognized as a 3D test model that has become a standard reference object and a popular in-joke within the community, sometimes making an appearance in movies and TV shows (especially in……

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Lipstick-stained cigarettes line a grimey bathroom sink. In the kitchen, a pink fridge is covered with news clippings, old photos, and rust spots. It sits open just a crack, enough to see the rancid food, pet carcasses, and bedpan inside. Across the house, a balding cat is curled up on a distressed pink loveseat in an arsenic green parlor. Despite the cobwebs and peeling wallpaper, the house isn’t abandoned. Rather, it’s freshly furnished, and is still being added to……

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From a former slaughterhouse-turned-haunted honky tonk to a mystical shop packed with magic potions, a tavern with spine-tingling ghost stories, and futuristic houses and alien carvings, there’s no shortage of eccentric and spooky spots in Northern Kentucky. Here are eight otherworldly spots you can’t miss. 1. Bobby Mackey’s Music World Known as “the most haunted nightclub in America,” Bobby Mackey’s Music World is located in a small northwest Kentucky town fittingly named Wilder. Though today Mackey, a Kentucky native……

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