Our Fascination with the Unknown

What is humanity's fascination with the unknown really about? Is it all about our curiosity, the need to explain the unexplainable, or is there a deeper meaning? Urban legends, stories of the paranormal, and the study of cryptids (creatures that may or may not exist) all point to there being some underlying reason as to why we have such an obsession with these topics.

And these stories aren't going anywhere anytime soon. With the rise of creepypastas (internet urban legends), certain stories are starting up, and they are expanding the mythos that has inundated our society. While some of these creepypastas are quite bad, and some of them seem to come off as FanFiction, rather than original stories, they are evidence to the fact that we are not going to lose our collective imagination any time soon.

For centuries, we have come up with fantastical explanations to "solve" the mysterious problems that arise. When tuberculosis was taking families, it was theorized that the dead were coming back to life, and taking the energy of their family away, thus creating the vampire.

People were buried with iron cages surrounding their coffins as a way to keep them dead. The family members that were still living were sometimes forced to drink the ashes of the suspected vampire in order to get better. While this rarely worked, it was still widely implemented.

The Salem Witch Trials, a time of hysteria and religious fanaticism created a hell on earth for those accused of witchcraft, leading to a rash of hangings, and in one case, the flattening of a man. The Loch Ness Monster, theorized to be left over from the time of the dinosaurs, is still thought to be in Scotland, despite it being many years, and despite all "sightings" of the creature revealed to be a hoax.

What is humanity's fascination with the unexplainable? Why do we keep trying to create story after story? This series will explore each of these legends, myths, and possible truths each week. It will give answers to questions, introductions of more questions, and will hopefully solve some cases, although that is unlikely. Hopefully, it will give you enough answers to keep you curious in the unknown world around you.