Inside Cantelmoism, Reddit’s DMT-Based Cult
While short-lived, Cantelmoism made a lasting impact in the world of internet oddities. For the cult’s irony-steeped followers, founder Chris Cantelmo quickly went from Reddit meme to Christlike figure. And it wasn’t until his humanity showed that he was abandoned (left for dead, as you will soon see). This story is a cautionary one. Perhaps […]
The Haunting of Jackie Hernandez
Ghost stories are staples of our culture. According to a recent survey of Americans 21 and over, 57% of people believe in ghosts. For those of us who have never encountered ghosts ourselves, it is hard to decipher what’s true and what’s not when it comes to stories of the paranormal. The story of Jackie […]
The Real-Life Story of the Exorcist
William Friedkin’s 1973a film The Exorcist is one of the most highly regarded horror movies ever made. For those unfamiliar, the film centers around a 12 year-old girl named Regan. Satan possesses Regan’s body. She becomes violent, develops strength well beyond that of any 12 year-old, and, in a particularly famous scene, projectile vomits onto […]
5 of the Most Bizarre Traditions From Around the World
It’s easy to forget that our normal is someone else’s weird. Around the world are centuries-old traditions that seem detached from our reality. However, if you look hard enough, you’ll find that all tradition seeks to achieve the same goal: to create thriving communities based on shared beliefs and experiences. It’s just that some experiences […]
3 of History’s Scariest Cult Leaders
Human beings feel the need to belong, to have an identity that’s representative of something greater than the mere individual. This partly explains why people join even the most ridiculously misguided cults: a sense of community supersedes rationale. And behind every cult is an uninhibited leader who is somehow charismatic enough to make a backwards […]
The Story of the Watcher of 657 Boulevard
When we think of home, we think of a personal safe place, an escape from life’s stresses. However, when married couple Derek and Maria Broadus moved into 657 Boulevard, Westfield, New Jersey, home soon became a place of constant fear. For years, they were terrorized by someone who to this day is known only as […]
“Herman Emmanuel Fanken”: The Unidentified Maximum Security Prisoner
In our age of information, the likelihood that one could travel the world without leaving any sort of footprint is next to none. However, one man—currently incarcerated in Ontario, Canada—seems to have done just that. For clarity’s sake, this article will refer to him as the Unknown Person. However, at the time of his arrest, […]
5 Psychic Predictions That Actually Came True
If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that the future is unpredictable. The amount of major world-changing events we’ve recently endured has almost made us numb to surprise. While it may feel as if we’re living amidst the end of times, we must remember that unexpected tragedy has marked every point in […]
The “Mostly Harmless” Hiker Identified: the Sad Truth
Spanning over 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine, the Appalachian Trail is a hot spot for hikers across the world. Notorious for its difficult terrain, limited resources, and unpredictable weather, few who attempt to traverse the trail actually do so. In fact, over 3 million hikers cross the trail each year, but since 1936, only […]
The Disappearance of Kenny Veach and the Search for the “M Cave”
Kenny Veach’s 2014 disappearance has become fodder for some of the internet’s most reaching conspiracy theorists. How could Veach, supposedly an experienced hiker, vanish without a trace within a mountain range he had traversed many times before? Where was the so-called “M Cave” he was so obsessively seeking? Without a shred of evidence pointing to […]