A wunderkammer hidden on the top floor of the Hartford statehouse.

Fiji mermaids, mummified remains, and recreated cryptids are among the morbid oddities at this Maryland museum.

Go through the looking glass in Tokyo's Wonderland-themed shop.

This fairy-tale castle would make Dracula (who is said to have been imprisoned there) jealous.

Venice's "Island of the Mad."

Walk in the footsteps of the gods and straddle two tectonic plates.

A massive cave complex boasts some of the clearest water (and most charming bats) in the world.

The largest of London's subterranean rivers and once a mad, bad center of London life.

Shrine to Japanese water-goblins, complete with their preserved body parts.

A spectacular cave and a beguiling lake.

Nonprofit art center that promotes outsider, intuitive, and self-taught art.

The taxidermied remains of Charles Dickens' pet raven, which helped inspire one of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous poems.

This empty Victorian manse on Staten Island is said to be haunted but is actually a real life crime scene.

The loneliest island in New York.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

This crumbling UFO is one of only a few remaining "moveable ski chalets" of its kind.

Love, knishes, and best wishes from this legendary Lower East Side bakery.

A battle between nature and architecture in the Cambodian jungle.

Giant pinnacles in the sun-scorched lands of Southern Utah have been nicknamed "white ghosts."

The skull of the patron saint of lovers lies in the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin—maybe.

These Pre-Columbian petroglyphs contain representations of birds, deer, hunters, and even some early Native flute players.

A beautiful bamboo trail tucked in this famous Japanese shrine.

The man who first patented the Ouija board rests in peace beneath a headstone that playfully reflects that achievement.

Keshwa chaca, among the last handwoven Incan bridges, crosses Apurimac Canyon in Peru.