People around the world, mostly Generation Z, are obsessed with the look and feel of gothic, elitist universities. Why?

It has been 50 years since an American has claimed the title of World Chess Champion. Will it ever happen again?

People who visit Florence seem strangely susceptible to Stendhal syndrome, which is blamed on an overwhelming sense of awe.

The author of classics like "A Farewell to Arms" and "The Sun Also Rises" is known and loved for his simple yet effective writing style. Here’s how to imitate it.

Undiagnosed brain disease or divine inspiration? The origins of the French composer’s most provocative composition remain up for debate. 

Ever felt sad during the holidays but weren't sure why? Chances are you were suffering from a case of Christmas Blues.

It's that time of year when the hours of meticulous wrapping of Christmas toys are viciously undone in seconds by tiny children.

Just as storylines make sense only when you have the context of the beginning and the end, listeners need to understand the impetus for why the album was even made.

Many of his criticisms ring true today.

Hit shows are like societal mirrors, capable of reflecting the cultural zeitgeist whose likeness they try to record. 

The singer-songwriter distilled the essence of the holidays into a hit song, and for her efforts she was crowned the Queen of Christmas.

What value does wit hold in genres defined by brute strength?

Released in 1972, "Ways of Seeing" has proven to be as worthy of study as the artistic traditions it investigates.

Although equal parts Hollywood blockbuster and Putinist propaganda, "Trotsky" still manages to capture the good, the bad, and the ugly of Russia’s revolutionary past.

By taking Satan out of the religious context, storytellers explored the nature of sin in new ways.

The German thinker wrote both treatises and songs. He approached each form of expression with the same level of interest.

Winner takes all, losers die, and participants have no choice but to play.

According to literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, Dostoevsky's talents were on par with those of William Shakespeare.

Before Herbert came along and wrote Dune, few if any sci-fi stories were set in fully realized universes.

Growing up in the United States, I remember on Halloween my mother used to say, “Honey, this is not just a day for costumes and candy. You must also remember […]

Frank Herbert's "Dune" refers to a religious desert people who are desperate for a savior to overthrow an evil empire. Sound familiar?

Fear is one of the oldest and most powerful emotions known to man, so it should come as no surprise that horror stories are as old as storytelling itself.

Today, alcohol is as important as candy to the Halloween economy.

One of the scariest films of the 1970s didn't set out to be a horror film at all.

The more horror we consume, the harder it becomes to find a good scare. These genuinely unsettling movies should get you in the mood for Halloween.

Haunting photographs depict the dead as "still with us."

Music is often labelled a “universal language,” and according to the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, there is a good reason for that.

Societal breakdown, whether real or imagined, can lead to dramatic responses — like blood-sucking vampires.

In hell, we assume a position of moral superiority, looking down over the sinners and the poor decisions that led them to this wretched place. In heaven, Dante is looking down upon us.

Portraiture is one of the most intimate genres in all of painting, and it has reinvented itself many times across European history.