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Folklore Studies
In this excerpt from "America's Most Gothic," Leanna Hieber and Andrea Janes examine the history and folklore of Maine's vanished schooner.
An interview with renowned mythologist Martin Shaw about persona, presence, and how to spend life's finite time.
The Trojan War was fought in Finland and Ulysses sailed home to Denmark, says one controversial theory.
The clash of academic archaeology and what might be called folk archaeology comes into stark focus at Stonehenge.
Discover how the threads of myth, legend, and artistry have been woven together by storytellers to craft history.
Serving as the inspiration for the modern horror classic “The Blair Witch Project,” what does our fascination with this unsolvable mystery tell us about our modern psyche?
The toilet “is a portal to a mysterious otherworld.”
Was the terror of Biscayne Bay a man who escaped slavery, an African chieftain, or a marketing ploy that went viral?
In an attempt to prove Christianity inferior to communism, a Soviet scientist hoped to play God.
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a medieval airship!
The mountain can generate lenticular clouds, which may contribute to its supernatural reputation.
Legend holds that newly elected popes in the Middle Ages had to present their genitals for inspection to confirm that they were male.
Almost all royal lines try to legitimize their rule with legendary origin stories. Here are five of the strangest examples.
Bram Stoker's mother survived a terrible cholera outbreak and recounted the ghastly scenes to her son years later.
But make sure you bring the fossegrim the proper offering—or else.
How one man's divine dream became a poultry-shaped reality.
Zombies aren't a modern-day obsession. Throughout history, fear of the undead led to bizarre burial rituals all over the world.
Fortune cookies emerged from one of America’s darkest moments.
Mass sociogenic illnesses can afflict thousands of people.
X marks the spot. The Dutch town of Ommeren has been swamped by detectorists armed with shovels looking for $20-million treasure.
St Nick had a history of teleporting long before needing to reach all the world's children in one night.
The word “turkey” can refer to everything from the bird itself to a populous Eurasian country to movie flops.
"Oosouji" or "big cleaning" is much more than a chance to tidy up.
Forget about Tinkerbell.
Urban legends help personify the anxieties that arise from living in a modern city.
Between 30% and 50% of the US population says they believe in ghosts.
All nations have founding myths, but none are quite like Russia's.
Venerated astrophysicist Carl Sagan entertained the possibility.
How drugs, demons, and the search for immortality gave us words we use everyday.