Culture

This spooky szn, The Ubyssey is highlighting horrifying and heartwarming profiles, reviews and personal essays . Get under the blankets with just a flashlight and enjoy!

Bread of the dead

In my house, we celebrate the Day of the Dead on November 2 by making bread, which we call bread of the dead. We make ofrendas, of course, and even dress up as vampires and ghosts as if it were Halloween, but the bread was the main ritual.

Ximena Gordillo Cruz Culture November 2, 2022

On the mundanity of talking to spirits

Would you believe me if I told you that I had experienced spiritual wonders — spellwork, divination, the casting and removal of curses? What if I told you that I gained insight into past lives and karmic tolls, and that it all happened in the living room of my grandfather’s house?

Jenny Chantrakool Culture October 31, 2022

Madness and misogyny: John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness 28 Years Later

John Carpenter’s 1994 film In the Mouth of Madness is not a very good horror film.

Julian Forst Culture October 26, 2022

Movie Review: Feminist Iranian horror in A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night

From the ghostly image of a young woman’s pale face to its haunting dialogue, Ana Lily Amirpour’s 2014 film A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is striking

Tova Gaster and Colby Payne Culture October 25, 2022

Scary Spooky Story: Haunted love

With only one night to haunt, I knew exactly where I was headed.

Tianne Jensen-DesJardins Culture October 31, 2021

Scary Spooky Stories: Don't make friends with the portraits

The library was eerily quiet that night as I entered with my Starbucks drink in hand. There were no sounds of keyboards tapping, no pencils scraping against paper, no quiet sniffles coming from students. The place was abandoned.

Lauren Kasowski Culture October 30, 2021

Scary Spooky Stories: Dreams and reality

The problem was that the horror from the books bled into my real life.

Isabelle Dina Culture October 29, 2021

Scary Spooky Stories: Night Terrors

I can feel them crawling underneath my duvet, traveling up my legs, over my torso and into my mouth.

Chelsea Seaby Bruno Culture October 29, 2021

Scary Spooky Stories: Pumpkin

In some households, Christmas was the holiday to await, advent calendar counting down the days, chocolatey treats eaten in anticipation. But for mine, it was Halloween.

Kyla Flynn Culture October 28, 2021

Scary Spooky Stories: Agoraphobia

The lights flicker and I hear the call end. That simple, really. Just a little bit of rain and suddenly the whole city’s wiring is failing. It reminds me of a macro cosmic motherboard gone wrong.

Shanai Tanwar Culture October 28, 2021

Scary Spooky Stories: Blue lights at night

Reaching down to pause her music, she stopped. The road was now unpaved, and her step cracked in the rocky dust.

Silvana Martinez Culture November 1, 2020

Scary Spooky Stories: The ‘Haunted’ Zoom

Students have reported that during their lectures, they would see a dark, cloaked spectre with a Jack-o-Lantern head passing behind professors and a few other students.

Cynthia Hoang Culture October 31, 2020

Spooky Scary Stories: The Boat Cruise

She was so ill that she hardly noticed when her coworkers stopped partying around her. Shrieks of drunken laughter turned into panicked screams and a splash as her boss fell overboard.

Theresa Wong Culture October 31, 2020

Spooky Scary Stories: The Mall Clone

When I turned around, she looked incredibly startled. I was somewhat confused about why she was acting so oddly, suddenly she uttered words that caught me off guard;

Jane Diokpo Culture October 29, 2020

Scary Spooky Stories: No Time for Nightmares

I flipped the page, expecting to read about a winding staircase leading to an underground dungeon, or maybe to a secret lair, but instead, I felt my head start to dip towards my chest and my eyes beginning to shut.

Tianne Jensen-DesJardins Culture October 29, 2020