If you want to prepare yourself for Halloween with plenty of creepy stories, there's no fiction that's scarier than the news. These stories happened in different years in different places all over, but together they will make your skin crawl.

As they say, truth is stranger than fiction. Cracked has a list of pictofacts that will set up the facts (and the goosebumps) with a link for each in case you want to read more.

When you plan your time travel trip, make sure you've set the coordinates correctly. This video is short and to-the-point and ends the only way it could. -via Digg

An awful lot of people are far from blind, but have trouble reading text in certain circumstances, like the ubiquitous "small print." Others have low vision, meaning they aren't totally blind, but could use some help in navigating text. While typographers design fonts for readability as well as beauty, a new font developed by Applied Design Works and the Braille Institute is designed specifically to help those with low vision. Atkinson Hyperlegible was named in honor of J. Robert Atkinson, the founder of the Braille Institute.

“Typefaces that have more character are generally easier to read,” says Craig Dobie, founding creative director at Applied Design Works. Traditional serif faces like Times New Roman have some of that character, but the Braille Institute needed a more contemporary typeface like Helvetica, Dobie says, because the organization is modernizing for the 21st century.

The challenge for modern, sans serif faces is that they accept a certain level of ambiguity. For example: When “Illness” is capitalized in Helvetica, the first three letters look identical. Atkinson Hyperlegible’s small, serif-like flourishes remove these ambiguities.

“It does some things a modernist font doesn't usually do, so it's breaking the rules a little bit,” Dobie says. “But it's breaking the rules for the right reason — to increase legibility.”

Read more about the font at All About Vision. You can download the free font here. -via Kottke

(Image credit: The Braille Institute)

Can you carve a pumpkin with a power washer? This guy is obviously more experienced with a power washer than he is with a pumpkin. He neglects to open and clean out the guts first, so he has so do it mid-project. But the video is short and the results are astonishingly adequate. Besides, you know it's gotta be super clean. -via Fark

Head lettuce, especially iceberg lettuce, gained popularity through the 20th century because it was easy to transport, had a longer shelf life than other greens, and stayed crunchy in a hamburger. However, compared top other greens, it's not all that nutritious or flavorful. Statistics show that head lettuce is losing ground quickly to other greens. What about those other greens?

About year ago, journalist Amanda Mull unleashed a brief but intense national debate with her assertion in The Atlantic magazine that, after having “entered into the cultural lexicon” in the early 2010s “as a status symbol for a generation of young adults drawn to conspicuous health-consciousness,” kale is on the way out because it doesn’t taste good.

Supermarket data do show sales stopped rising a couple of years ago. But as the above chart hints, oversupply may be part of the explanation too. The acres of kale harvested in this country jumped from 6,256 in 2012 — when food magazine Bon Appetit deemed the crispy kale salad at Brooklyn restaurant Battersby its “Dish of the Year” — to 15,235 in 2017.

It’s possible the nation’s farmers got a bit ahead of the market. And yes, it really is the nation’s farmers: California is responsible for about half the acreage, and South Carolina and New Jersey have a lot too, but kale is now planted in every state. In 2017, the most recent year for which data are available, there were even nine acres harvested in Alaska.

My own experience follows the trends in greens. I was willing to try kale, and even grew some, but it doesn't taste good. I never cared for spinach until I started using it fresh in salads. And while cole slaw and sauerkraut are okay, the best use of cabbage is in kimchi. Read about the rise and fall of all kinds of green leafy vegetables at Bloomberg.

Eddie Van Halen did that guitar solo on the song "Beat It" from the album Thriller, but was not credited anywhere. Still, it was pretty easy to figure out who it was. Can you imagine if Pete Townshend had done it instead? Here's the story behind the song. -via Laughing Squid

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, had two military camps training soldiers for World War I: one was for Canadian draftees, and the other, Camp Kościuszko, was made up of Polish refugees who wanted to fight to liberate their homeland. In 1917, the arrival of the Polish forces frightened townspeople, but the European soldiers soon made friends and were welcomed into the community. Then in September of 1918, the men began to fall ill.

Although some historians argue that Quebec beat Niagara to the unfortunate distinction by a couple of days, local experts are certain: Camp Kościuszko had become the site of Canada’s first Spanish Flu outbreak.

Merritt says the virus was likely imported along with trainees from the United States, where there were large outbreaks. Once inside the crowded camp, it spread quickly. Despite efforts to separate the sick from the healthy, men soon started to die. Over the course of two surges of infection — the second of which happened in January 1919 — 31 Polish trainees and two Canadian officers died.

“The real tragedy, of course, is that these men were all volunteers,” Merritt says. “They had all volunteered to fight for the repatriation of their homeland, Poland, which had been occupied by other countries for 125 years. These men were dying almost as martyrs.”

The women of Niagara-on-the-Lake sprang into action to tend to the sick soldiers, particularly Elizabeth Ascher, who they called their "Angel of Mercy." The Spanish Flu outbreak left a mark that is felt 102 years later in the town, and commemorations are still held to honor the Polish soldiers who died in service there. Read about the small town and the soldiers they still honor at TVO. -via Nag on the Lake

(Image credit: Justin Chandler)

Nell Cropsey and Jim Wilcox became sweethearts soon after they met in 1898, when her family moved to Elizabeth City, North Carolina. By 1901, they were not yet married and began to tire of each other. Nell began to flirt with other men, and Jim wanted to break off the relationship. He did so on the night of November 20, which was also the last time anyone saw Nell alive. Jim swore he didn't know what happened to her, as he left her at her home after the breakup. More than a month later, her body was found. The murder investigation turned up some weird anomalies, but Jim Wilcox was tried for murder.

While the jury deliberated, there were numerous reports that if Wilcox was found not guilty, he would be kidnapped from jail and lynched.  It was even suggested that the jurors themselves would be in grave danger if they did not return the approved verdict.  To no one’s real surprise, the jury voted for a conviction, and Wilcox was sentenced to death.  However, his lawyers, citing the extreme prejudice against their client in Elizabeth City, were able to win him a new trial in another county.  Wilcox was again found guilty, but this time merely for second-degree murder.  His life was spared, but he faced a long prison term.  As he was heading to the penitentiary, Wilcox told a policeman, “There is a little fire smoldering in Elizabeth City which might break out in three months, or it may be three years, but it will break out sooner or later, when the truth will be known which would then relieve me of the burden of somebody else’s sin.”

Jim Wilcox maintained his innocence for the rest of his life, and quite a few facts about the case raised questions about who really killed Nell Cropsey. Read about the case and the devastation it left behind at Strange Company.  

The historic Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic, was built over the Vltava River. Construction began in 1357 and continued for around 50 years. How did they build such a large and sturdy bridge back then? This video by Tomáš Musílek gives us a ridiculously quick idea of what was involved in the bridge construction.  
 


We can only hope the engineers and laborers alike were adequately compensated. -via TYWKIWDBI

(Image credit: Sergey Ashmarin)

The Miss Mexico pageant competition is underway, and all 32 contestants are required to model a costume that reflects the national character. While some have the Vegas showgirl vibe we are used to from the Miss Universe pageant, many are stunning in other ways.

See all 32 contestants in their costumes in a ranked list at Bored Panda. The pageant finale will take place on October 31st.  

(Images from the Miss Mexico Organization at Facebook)

In 1893, James MacMurray gave up his job of tending sheep to become a New York City firefighter. He brought along his trusty collie, Robert Bruce. The dog was a trained and capable sheep dog, now expected to become a big city fire station mascot. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but Robert Bruce was only two years old, and quickly came to understand his new responsibilities. In fact, he soon became a hero. In October of that year, the Nevius & Haviland wallpaper factory caught fire, which spread to the William Campbell paper factory.   

Flames were bursting from the windows of both factories by the time the first of many fire companies arrived. In their rush and excitement, the firemen of Robert Bruce’s company forgot about the horses. Even fireman Pete Tinkum, who drove the engine that night, did not notice that the fire was beginning to spread at the corner of the block where his horses stood.

Since it was the dog’s job to stay with the engines during the fires, Robert Bruce was the first to notice the horse nearest the flames succumb to the heat and collapsed.  He jumped from firemen to fireman to get their attention, but they were too occupied to pay the dog any mind. Finally, he jumped on Pete, who followed the frantic dog to the engine and saved the other horses just in time before they also suffocated.

That's a good dog. It was not the last time Robert Bruce saved lives during fires. Read about two other occasions in which the fire dog distinguished himself, including once where his sheep herding skills were crucial, at The Hatching Cat. -via Strange Company

We've long known that the theme from Gilligan's Island, "Amazing Grace," and "House of the Rising Sun" can all be sung to each other's tunes. However, that only scratches the surface. From the YouTube page:

The Gilligan's Island theme song is what is called a "Ballad Metre" (or Meter). Each stanza of ballad metre has four iambic lines. Typically, only the second and fourth lines rhyme. Here are 31 short samples of the some of the songs whose lyrics can be sung to the Gilligan's Island Theme Song and Vice Versa (mostly, not every lyric fits perfectly).

Read more about ballad metre here. The YouTube page also has a list of the 31 songs with timestamps so you can skip ahead and hear the ones you want. Some are Gilligan's Island lyrics set to other tunes, and some are other lyrics set to the TV theme's music. You can switch them around in your head if you like. -via Metafilter 

In 2018, a new science fiction museum opened in Allendale Town, England. Neil Cole's Adventures in Science Fiction: Museum of Sci-fi lured science fiction fans to the small village in Northumberland County. Locals enjoyed it too, as well as they enjoyed the extra business brought by tourists. But only three months after the opening, the Northumberland County Council confronted Cole with a complaint that a small shed in front of the museum did not conform with the historical nature of the building, and must be taken down within 14 days. The shed was a shelter for a Dalek, the fictional space villains of the TV series Doctor Who.

“One of the arguments that a councilor made [against the shed] was that we didn’t need a Dalek outside because we had one inside,” says Cole. “They were missing the point: The one inside is an original; the one outside attracts people inside. A little sandwich board is not going to do it.”

Cole refused to be bullied, but the Planning Committee would not yield. The battle between the AllenDalek and the Northumberland County Council made headlines across the country—and the globe. Even Hollywood took notice; a Tom Hardy–helmed film about the saga is currently in development. The Council repeatedly declined requests for comment at the time, instead releasing the statement, “We wish to work with the property owner to resolve this[.]”

The Council didn’t appear to be quite so open to dialogue in practice. On two separate occasions, Cole claims, a member of the Planning Department was caught hiding behind his garbage bins, covertly snapping photos of the AllenDalek. Cole says, “It was all about ego, saving face, and people throwing their power around irresponsibly.”

Sci-fi fans, and fans of the museum, got involved to save the museum's outdoor Dalek. Find out how the saga of the AllenDalek has played out so far (it's not quite over yet) at Atlas Obscura.

Horror movies have go-to techniques that scare us silly, like the jump scare, the twist, the unknown lurking in the darkness, the expert who is no help, or the building sense of dread. You might not have noticed how many horror films have a sit-down dinner, which is used in a number of ways.   

Horror has understood how bizarrely masochistic our human ritual of eating together is, long before anyone was using their self-diagnosis of social anxiety to skip out on family get-togethers and Friendsgivings. Inescapable exercises in formal etiquette, the consumption of a meal someone else has prepared, the life-draining amount of small-talk necessary to survive – the dinner table truly is The Hunger Games of horror, a gladiator-esque arena where people live and die by how well they play the game.

What that game is depends mainly on who you’re dining with. Is it your significant other’s parents? Then the game is making a good first impression. Is it your extended family? Then the game is making it out without wading into a political debate with your insufferable uncle. There are all kinds of games we play at the dinner table, performances we put on so that we can fill a basic need without cutting to the meat of our psychological hang-ups. We all inherently understand how to behave during these social ceremonies, which is why watching them play out in horror movies is so damn unsettling.

Jessica Toomer looks at the ways different horror films harness the power of the dinner table, from benign foreshadowing to enlightening discussions to horrific reveals in movies such as Get Out, Hannibal, and Midsommar, among others at Uproxx. 

Nikon has announced the winners of their annual Small World Microphotgraphy competition. The top winner this year is Daniel Castranova, along with Dr. Brant M. Weinstein and Bakary Samasa of the National Institutes of Health for this image of a juvenile zebrafish with its organs highlighted with fluorescent tags. The lymphatic system is orange and the scales are blue.

This image is particularly significant because it was taken as part of an imaging effort that helped Castranova’s team make a groundbreaking discovery - zebrafish have lymphatic vessels inside their skull that were previously thought to occur only in mammals. Their occurrence in fish, a much easier subject to raise, experiment with, and photograph, could expedite and revolutionize research related to treatments for diseases that occur in the human brain, including cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Castranova stitched together more than 350 individual images to create this single stunning visual. The image was acquired using a spinning disk confocal, merging together maximum intensity projections of three separate image Z stacks to generate the final reconstructed image.

See, and read about, the top twenty ranked images from this year's competition at the winners gallery. The honorable mentions are worth a look, too. -via Kottke