The Great African American Escape to Soviet Russia
In pursuit of the African American story abroad, we often look to 1920s Paris, where…
Category Obscure history
A Brief Compendium of Vintage Opium Underworlds
I don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable, so if you’re reluctant to step inside the world…
Buried under a Bridge in Paris: The Misfit Mausoleums of Montmartre
At the foot of Montmartre under a heavy wrought-iron bridge that skims the tips of…
The Witch-Proof Windows of Vermont
Drive around enough of Vermont’s picturesque streets, and you’ll become puzzled over an architectural anomaly…
A Haunting Compendium of Paris Ghost Stories
Paris may be the City of Light, but it is filled with dark corners. Some…
The Buried African Folklore behind the Pop Culture Zombie
There is a law still in effect in the Haitian criminal code that dates back…
The Original Ghostbusters
As the 19th century came to a close and the 20th century picked up speed,…
The Secret Lives of Fashion Mannequins
For a brief moment in the 1930s, one of the most famous celebrities of the…
Never thought of it like that: Versailles, a Giant Nightmarish Hotel
The Palace of Versailles, famously opulent and vast, is often celebrated for its architectural grandeur…
The Paris Horror Show
Friday night at the theatre would never be quite the same again. Down a dark…
New York’s Real-Life Handmaid’s Tale
Revivalist sects, polyamorous communes and radical experiments in communal living – America was rife with…
Classrooms without Walls: A Forgotten Age of Open-air Schools
This old black and white photograph pops out at me every now and again on the…