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Crystal Ponti

@crystalponti.bsky.social

1.4K followers 710 following 2.4K posts

A freelance writer exploring the intersection of history and folklore. Bylines: The History Channel, The New York Times, BBC, etc. Also @HistoriumU (Historium Unearthia); Grieving mom of Adam. muckrack.com/crystal-ponti

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 2d

The Civil War didn’t just change the nation. It gave rise to embalming, and America’s funeral industry as we know it. Here's my latest for HISTORY. #history #funeral #Americanlife

👉 www.history.com/articles/civ...

How Civil War Deaths Advanced America’s Funeral Industry

Embalming advanced as a way to preserve and disinfect remains.

www.history.com

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 5h

In Romania, Hoia Baciu Forest bends trees into spirals and circles barren of growth. Locals call it the “Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania,” where lights flicker, time warps, and shadows move without bodies. #31DaysofHalloween #31DaysofHaunting

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 8h

In the United States, Waverly Hills Sanatorium saw thousands die of tuberculosis. Visitors still hear gurneys rolling, children laughing, and doors creaking where no breath remains. #31DaysofHalloween #31DaysofHaunting

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 10h

In Scotland, Mary King’s Close is a buried street beneath Edinburgh. Families once trapped by plague were sealed inside. Their whispers are said to drift through the walls centuries later. #31DaysofHalloween #31DaysofHaunting

Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 12h

Aokigahara Forest lies at the base of Mount Fuji, hushed beneath thick trees that swallow sound. Known as Japan’s “Sea of Trees,” it is both beautiful and sorrowful; a place where many have vanished. #31DaysofHalloween #31DaysofHaunting

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 14h

The Tower of London is a fortress of ghosts. Anne Boleyn walks headless near the chapel, the Princes in the Tower cry unseen tears, and guards tell of footsteps where no living man treads. #31DaysofHalloween #31DaysofHaunting

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 16h

On Poveglia Island in Italy, victims of plague were once burned by the thousands. Later, it became an asylum. Locals refuse to go near it. Fishermen swear their nets sometimes dredge up bones. #31DaysofHalloween #31DaysofHaunting

Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 17h

Thank you! :)

Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 18h

The Paris Catacombs wind for miles beneath the city, lined with the bones of over six million souls. Their silent skulls form walls of the forgotten, and visitors whisper that voices still echo in the dark. #31DaysofHalloween #31DaysofHaunting

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

Folklore says phantom ships sail still. The Flying Dutchman, doomed to roam forever, appears as a glowing omen of storm and death. Mariners feared its sight more than the waves themselves. #WyrdWednesday

Art: Albert Pinkham Ryder

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

Hindu temples often use murti, sacred deity dolls or idols, as vessels for divine presence. Rituals treat them as living beings, with offerings of food, clothing, and care. #LegendaryWednesday

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

The immrama were voyages of saints and heroes into the Otherworld. Some ships found islands of joy, others of terror - seas as thresholds between life and death. #WyrdWednesday

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

In Slavic tradition, motanka dolls were made without faces to protect households. With no eyes or mouth, spirits could not enter. They became guardians against both envy and evil. #LegendaryWednesday

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

The Arctic itself is a haunted expanse. Franklin’s doomed expedition sought the Northwest Passage, but ice and scurvy swallowed the crew. Their ghosts linger in stories and naval lore alike. #WyrdWednesday

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

Horror cinema gave us the possessed doll. From Chucky to Annabelle, folklore fused with fear to create dolls that walk, whisper, and kill, carrying childhood’s comfort into nightmare. I wrote about this several years ago: www.theatlantic.com/...

#LegendaryWednesday

'Child's Play': Chucky and the Horror of Creepy Dolls - The Atlantic

The 1988 film introduced an iconic villain in Chucky—just one of many living toys that have haunted cinema for decades.

www.theatlantic.com

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

In poetry, Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner makes the sea a haunted stage. Albatrosses, curses, ghostly crews; it is a voyage where the unknown punishes hubris. #WyrdWednesday

Art: Gustave Doré

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

Ancient Rome used poppets of wax and clay for curses or blessings. These dolls were vessels, carrying wishes to gods or binding oaths in secret. #LegendaryWednesday

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

Erik the Red, Leif’s father, had already braved exile to colonize Greenland. His own saga is one of banishment and survival, showing how perilous journeys often begin with broken ties. #WyrdWednesday

Art: Carl Rasmussen

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

In Mexico, the Island of the Dolls is a shrine of horror and grief. Hundreds of dolls hang from trees, left by a caretaker who believed they appeased the spirit of a drowned child. #LegendaryWednesday

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

Leif Eriksson sailed west around the year 1000 and found Vinland, a land of grapes and forests. The sagas make it sound both wondrous and dangerous, a liminal shore where luck could turn to doom. #WyrdWednesday

Art: Christian Krohg

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

In Japanese folklore, the Okiku doll is said to grow human hair. Housed in a temple, it belonged to a little girl who died young. Visitors swear the strands lengthen year by year, alive with her spirit. #LegendaryWednesday

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

The Norse sagas are filled with voyages gone awry. Sea serpents, whirlpools, and ghostly islands awaited sailors who dared to sail too far. The ocean was not just water but mystery. #WyrdWednesday

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 1d

The voodoo doll is more complex than pop culture portrays. In Haitian Vodou, dolls and effigies honor spirits or guide prayer. They've been twisted into objects of fear, but their roots are devotional. #LegendaryWednesday

Art: GM Binder

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 2d

Superstitions swirl around pumpkins. In some European villages, people believed pumpkins left too long in the field turned into vampires, rolling through the night in search of blood. #FairyTaleTuesday

Art: Navita Gujral

Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 2d

Edgar Allan Poe’s raven tapped at midnight, echoing grief in a single word: “Nevermore.” In poetry and folklore alike, ravens perch between mourning and mystery. #FairyTaleTuesday

Art: Greg Cartmell

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Crystal Ponti @crystalponti.bsky.social · 2d

Ravens croak through myth and legend. Odin’s twin birds, Huginn and Muninn, flew across the world to bring him thought and memory. Ravens are not just scavengers but keepers of knowledge. #FairyTaleTuesday

Art: Jerome Weber

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