Gabriela L. Laracca
School
Kutztown University, Rutgers University
Expertise
Arts And Entertainment, Video Games, Outdoor Activities
- Gabriela has been reporting for over a decade across a large array of genres and beats, including arts and entertainment, features, news, politics, travel, local events, and more.
- Those around her have always known her as the talkative, human encyclopedia of weird facts and historical knowledge; basically, if it's uselessly interesting, odds are, she knows everything about it.
- She has obtained multiple media-related degrees, helping her hone in on her story-telling abilities and awareness of what sparks interest and inspiration.
Experience
Gabriela L. Laracca has been reporting for over a decade. The flame was sparked back in 2010 when she began writing as a student reporter, and she has been covering an array of beats — from news to entertainment and features to travel in publications across New Jersey and Pennsylvania — ever since. She carries an overwhelming passion for entertainment, culture, nature, and some things that are not so natural ... like oddities, state cryptids, and other things that go bump in the night. Regardless of the topic, she is delighted to bring her encyclopedic knowledge of weird facts to readers.
Education
Gabriela L. Laracca began her academic journey at Kutztown University in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, where she studied professional writing with a minor in literature and a concentration in journalism. She then graduated from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, with a master's degree in media and communication and a specialization in digital media, training her to become the all-around multimedia professional she is today.
The unique content on Grunge is a result of skilled collaboration between writers and editors with a broad array of expertise in everything from history to classic Hollywood to true crime. Our goal is to provide accurate and diverse content bolstered by expert input.
Focused on accuracy and ethical coverage, the Grunge editorial team consistently fact-checks and reviews site content to provide readers with an informative, entertaining, and engaging experience. Click here for more information on our editorial process.
Stories By Gabriela L. Laracca
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Nothing succeeds like success (or excess, depending), so it's no surprise that a monster hit like 1962's "Monster Mash" spawned more than a few follow-ups.
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In November 1970, the scorched remains of a petite woman were found by a family on a hiking trip. Here's the story of the unidentified Isdal Woman in Norway.
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Everybody knows how snakes eat really big prey, swallowing it whole -- they're able to basically unhinge their jaws and open really wide. Except they don't.
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It's no secret that those who fish have been known to exaggerate their accomplishments with rod and reel. Sometimes money is involved, as is fraud.
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Necessity is the mother of invention, and rarely is inventiveness more important than at the height of armed conflict with a shortage of supplies.
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If you're of a certain age, the "Free Willy" movies might have given you a benign view of orcas. That might change if they're biting your sailboat.
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It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a ... fully-grown, adult human with a near 30-foot wingspan? What exactly would happen if humans could fly?
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Think of a ghost town, and you probably have images of abandoned buildings out in the deserts of the American West. Kitsault, British Columbia, is different.
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Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were two of the best baseball players of all time, but they were once allegedly struck out by an 18-year-old girl.
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Led Zeppelin was formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page after he left the famed band "The Yardbirds." Here's how Led Zeppelin's "Tangerine" is related to Page's past.
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Hailing from a Jewish family, the home Anne Frank was born into quickly became anything but amidst the rise of Nazism and Adolf Hitler's anti-Semitic wrath.
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Audrey Hepburn was one of Hollywood's most iconic actresses, but one of her greatest honors was having a tulip named after her in the Netherlands.
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Scientists plumbing the depths of the ocean discovered a portion of the sea floor that looked like the yellow brick road from "The Wizard of Oz."
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Edgar Allan Poe's story, "The Black Cat," details how a ghostly cat helped solve a murder. In 1961, a movie studio auditioned cats to play the titular role.
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To this day, Kamapua'a is said to reign from the ocean, protecting the pigs of Kohala and abundance of life in Hawaii, by roaming its many waterfalls.
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While Elvis Presley's rendition of Big Mama Thornton's song became one of his most famous, there was one live performance of the hit that Presley regretted.
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Olimpia Maidalchini was the sister-in-law of Pope Innocent X, who actually had more political power than the pope himself. This is her haunting ghost story.
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Frederick Valentich was a pilot who disappeared off the Australian coast in 1978. There are many theories as to what happened -- including an alien abduction.
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The residents of Tangier Island in Virginia speak a distinct dialect that is entirely unique to the island. These are the origins of the accent.
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Pythons are a nonvenomous reptile found slinking through jungles across the world. And one of these creatures found itself with a drug addiction.
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Although the rock we will discuss here is, in fact, extra-terrestrial, Superman is safe from kryptonite — for now, at least.
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During the Vietnam War, anti-war protesters were experimental, like the time Abbie Hoffman and Allen Ginsberg attempted to levitate the Pentagon into the sky.
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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild seemingly pays tribute to a late beloved comedian and actor, who just happened to be a huge fan of the game.
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Abbreviated phrases or sentences, wee images to indicate something emotional -- all the stuff of modern digital communication, but not necessarily new.
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Many people experience difficult, painful childhoods, and may or may not rise above those tragic circumstances. Very few become serial killers.
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On January 19, 1943, in Port Arthur, Texas, a counterculture icon was born. She would later break ground for women in the rock 'n' roll industry.
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Due to her role in "The Wizard of Oz," the masses have associated Margaret Hamilton's image with pure villainy. But in real life, this is far from the truth.