Unruly History in the News #5

Ghosts and goblins edition

Halloween is tomorrow, and I couldn’t resist a spooky-themed history news round-up this week. Get ready for the internet’s best stories about ghosts, goblins, and ghouls:

• This 17th-century religious dispute might just be behind the terrifying New Jersey Devil.

• The haunted island of Poveglia has a dark history even if you don’t believe in ghosties.

• Have you heard of belsnickling? While Halloween comes from the Celtic Samhain, modern trick-or-treating can be traced to bored youths playing pranks as part of the belsnickling custom.

• Speaking of Samhain, the festival can be traced back to the terrifying ‘hell caves’ outside Rathcroghan, the royal residence and festival center of the ancient Irish kingdom of Connaught. (Rathgroghan is, quite possibly, Europe’s largest unearthed royal complex. Paging all archaeologists!)

  

  An artist’s rendition of the temple at Rathcroghan. An early version of Halloween would have been celebrated there around 2000 years ago. Source.

• Just how far back can we trace the origins of vampires, werewolves, and zombies?

• Meet olms, the elusive sightless salamanders that live up to 100 years and were long believed to be baby dragons.

• In the tunnels underneath Centralia, Pennsylvania, a fire has been burning for over 60 years, spewing noxious gas into the air. The city has been uninhabitable ever since and is in constant danger of collapsing, which would spread the fire to the surface.

• Speaking of terrifying hellfires, what is going on with Turkmenistan’s Gates of Hell firepit? It was set ablaze deliberately—can it ever be extinguished?

Did I miss any other spooky scary news this week? Drop a link in the comments!