Unlikely Animal Friends
Every cheetah at this California zoo is paired with a dog as its lifetime buddy, to help them learn social boundaries and gain confidence.
San Diego Zoo
This Anne of Green Gables author also wrote the superb Blue Castle, in which spinster Valancy ends up in a happily ever after marriage of convenience.
LM Montgomery
On Family Matters, the Winslows' annoying neighbor sometimes mysteriously transformed into this suave alter ego.
Stefan Urkelle
Last Halloween, Alan went as Ken’s best friend, this Mattel character.
Allan
A man was hospitalized after causing this fruit to explode by wrapping it in more than 700 rubber bands in a world-record attempt.
Watermelon
Bea the giraffe and Wilma, this species of largest living birds, probably bonded over having long necks.
Ostrich
In Lolly Willows, spinster aunt Lolly grows frustrated with her role as family helpmeet, and decides instead to take up with this supernatural figure, sometimes called Mr. Scratch.
The Devil
After his sister was attacked, Antoine Dodson gave a news interview encouraging people to hide these family members, later auto-tuning the clip into a chart topping hit.
Kids, wife
Two Halloweens ago Alan went as a “mountaineer,” wearing lederhosen and a Tyrolean hat to show off his ancestral connection to the region around this mountain range.
The Alps
A semitruck carrying this Western Slope delicacy rolled over in 2023, blocking the Morrison exit of I70.
Palisade peaches
Despite their age difference, a Brant goose seems to have developed a lifelong mating bond with one of these reptiles, who can live up to 150 years (this one was 45).
Tortoise
This Downton Abbey Dame portrayed the titular Miss Jean Brodie in the movie adaptation of the novel, which features a self-confident Scottish school teacher.
Maggie Smith
Voted the Worst Celebrity Neighbor in 2016 for his adolescent behavior, this floppy-haired popstar calls himself “a Jesus guy.”
Justin Beiber
In Alan’s favorite musical Easter Parade, Fred Astaire and this Wizard of Oz star team up in a dance act.
Judy Garland
During a challenge on this long-running, globe-trotting reality show, a slingshot malfunction caused a woman to be slammed in the face with a watermelon.
The Amazing Race
Kate, a Great Dane, adopted Pippin, one of these woodland animals known for dancing (leaping into air and shaking) when happy, aka “pronking.”
Deer
Barbara Pym has been called the modern incarnation of this beloved author for her witty English comedies of manners (most heavily populated with spinsters).
Jane Austen
This Netflix show is based on the true story of a New Jersey couple who received a series of frightening anonymous notes from someone claiming to be a long-time observer.
The Watcher
Alan was born on Halloween, which originated as this Celtic festival celebrating communion with the dead.
Samhain
A woman was struck near the eye with an arrow when her circus act attempted to recreate a famous apple stunt by this Swiss folk hero.
William Tell
Jack, one of these herd animals, whose horizontal pupils give them 340 degrees of vision, became a guide for Charlie, a blind horse.
Goat
In this children’s novel, a Maine spinster sends an unflattering description of herself to a midwestern farmer who has advertised for a mail order bride.
Sarah, Plain and Tall
The “mole man” of London spent 40 years digging tunnels underneath his home, interrupting power and water to his neighbors and causing these dangerous depressions in which the underlying surface has collapsed.
Sinkholes.
Like many angsty teenagers, Alan’s favorite author is this German-Swiss Siddhartha and Steppenwolf writer.
Herman Hesse
A Russian town was flooded with 176,000 barrels of fruit juice after the collapse of a warehouse owned by this U.S. beverage company, whose name comes from the Greek word for indigestion.
PepsiCo