History Main / WorldOfMysteries

* ''Film/MulhollandDrive'': [[MysticalHollywood Hollywood is presented in this fashion]]: it has mafia, mysterious TheMenInBlack on limos, an enigmatic phone call chain involving unspecified people from different parts of LA, weird {{McGuffin}}s like a strangely shaped blue key and a black book with phone numbers, supernatural entities like the AmbiguouslyHuman Cowboy and a creepy bum living in the backyard of a diner, and much more... [[spoiler:probably subverted, since the ending implies that it was AllJustADream of a failed actress who ordered a hit on her successful friend and lover out of envy and jealousy, and the overall feel of mystery and paranoia is due to her subconscious feel of guilt and fear of being caught. OrWasItADream]]

* ''Film/MulhollandDrive'': [[MysticalHollywood Hollywood is presented in this fashion]]: it has mafia, mysterious MenInBlack on limos, an enigmatic phone call chain involving unspecified people from different parts of LA, weird {{McGuffin}}s like a strangely shaped blue key and a black book with phone numbers, supernatural entities like the AmbiguouslyHuman Cowboy and a creepy bum living in the backyard of a diner, and much more... [[spoiler:probably subverted, since the ending implies that it was AllJustADream of a failed actress who ordered a hit on her successful friend and lover out of envy and jealousy, and the overall feel of mystery and paranoia is due to her subconscious feel of guilt and fear of being caught. OrWasItADream]]

* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'': Most of the events of the series can best be summed up thusly: the Assassins and Templars constantly trying one-up each other discovering {{Precursor|s}} technology, causing many, many world-altering historical events in the process, while their modern day iterations use modern technology (which they had invented or reverse engineered from previously mentioned Precursor tech) to rediscover those same discoveries, all accumulating into one big ConspiracyKitchenSink.

* In ''Film/MulhollandDrive'', [[MysticalHollywood Hollywood is presented in this fashion]]: it has mafia, mysterious MenInBlack on limos, an enigmatic phone call chain involving unspecified people from different parts of LA, weird {{McGuffin}}s like a strangely shaped blue key and a black book with phone numbers, supernatural entities like the AmbiguouslyHuman Cowboy and a creepy bum living in the backyard of a diner, and much more... [[spoiler: Probably subverted, since the ending implies that it was AllJustADream of a failed actress who ordered a hit on her successful friend and lover out of envy and jealousy, and the overall feel of mystery and paranoia is due to her subconscious feel of guilt and fear of being caught. OrWasItADream]]
* The neo-{{Giallo}} thriller ''Film/TheStrangeColourOfYourBodysTears'' has an Apartment Building of Mysteries. The protagonist, a businessman living in a swanky ArtNouveau style apartment complex, investigates the disappearance of his wife, and learns a number of mysterious stories from his neighbors that may or may not be related; the story has a very dreamlike quality, and these side plotlines are never resolved.
* Parodied and deconstructed in ''Film/UnderTheSilverLake'': the protagonist Sam sees Hollywood and Los Angeles as this, especially after he reads a zine about urban legends called "[[TitleDrop Under the Silver Lake]]" and meets its ConspiracyTheorist author. Sam encounters a number of weird characters, including a KingOfTheHomeless and a [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubus]]-like creature in an owl mask who kills men in their sleep, and finds [[PopCultureSymbology hidden messages in pop songs, video game magazines, and cereal box images]]. However, there are some implications that [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness he may be going off his rails]], and at least some of this stuff is happening only in his head.

* ''Literature/FoucaultsPendulum'' parodies and savagely deconstructs both this trope and ConspiracyKitchenSink. The protagonists make up their own parody conspiracy theory to make fun of the actual ones; they end up believing in it themselves, and seeing the real world as this trope; lampshaded in the museum scene, when Causabon sees hidden mystical meaning in nearly every exhibit. [[spoiler:Even worse, they apparently draw the attention of an ''actual'' conspiracy.]]
* In ''Literature/TheGrayHouse'' by Mariam Petrosyan, a number of students of the titular Gray House (a boarding school) are able to visit the Underside of the House, a parallel world which is literally the World of Mysteries: a surreal, Kafkaesque realm host to all sorts of fairytale/[[MagicalRealism Magical Realist]] and detective/thriller plots, with multiple references to the pop culture of the 1990s. Because of their superstitions students usually do not discuss in detail what happened to them in the Underside, only giving some subtle hints, which makes it even more mysterious.

* The third season of ''Series/TwinPeaks'' has pretty strong vibes of this. The first two were weird but more-or-less comprehensible ParanormalInvestigation series, but the third one took the weirdness up a notch. Let's see: we have obscure mafia plots involving Cooper's evil doppelganger, a sinister EldritchAbomination called Judy represented by a black symbol of a circle with two "horns", a number of otherworldly locations and characters including the Convenience Store, The Dutchman's, and an alternate world where Laura Palmer is still alive and works as a waitress in a cafe called "Judy's"... There is a possibility of a fourth season, so some of that may be resolved, but knowing Lynch, it is more likely to get even worse.

* Most of the events of ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' can best be summed up thusly; the Assassins and Templars constantly trying one-up each other discovering {{Precursor|s}} technology, causing many, many world-altering historical events in the process, while their modern day iterations use modern technology (which they had invented or reverse engineered from previously mentioned Precursor tech) to rediscover those same discoveries, all accumulating into one big ConspiracyKitchenSink.
* All three games in the ''Videogame/FallenLondon'' setting (which include ''Videogame/SunlessSea'' and ''Videogame/SunlessSkies'') qualify, with their main appeal being letting the players dig out the secrets one by one by their own selves.

* The entire universe, and even multiverse, of the ''Website/SCPFoundation'' is one of these, each mysterious entity/object/creature/setting/phenomenon being classified as an SCP. The titular organization in question is dedicated to studying, containing, and controlling the [=SCPs=], as well as keeping them and the public safe from each other. The setting even has several Worlds of Mystery within itself, as specific [=SCPs=].
* The titular town of ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'' is a FantasyKitchenSink crammed into a little desert town. For most of the residents, however, the mysteries and odd phenomena are just a part of life. The people Night Vale IS a World of Mystery for are outsiders, such as the listeners, and in-universe, new-in-town Carlos.

* The titular town and environs of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' qualifies for this. It's enforced by the Society of the Blind Eye keeping things secret from the townsfolk, and caused by the town having a 'Weirdness Magnetism' that literally attracts bizarre events, people, creatures and phenomena to the area.
* The city of Hillwood from ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' is definitely this. The city is a treasure trove of urban legends (like the Haunted Train and the Headless Cabbie) and just plain weirdness (like Arnold's neighbor Mr. Smith who is implied to be a spy). Though some of the legends, like the Monkeyman, are given non-mystical explanations, most of them remain unresolved.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'', the town of Crystal Cove is this. [[spoiler:It was built above a buried crystal sarcophagus containing an otherworldy [[EldritchAbomination Evil Entity]], whose influence made people commit crimes and dress up as ghosts and monsters using increasingly outlandish means and technologies. After Mystery Inc. defeated the Entity, the town was brought to normal.]]

* The entire universe, and even multiverse, of the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' is one of these, each mysterious entity/object/creature/setting/phenomenon being classified as an SCP. The titular organization in question is dedicated to studying, containing, and controlling the [=SCPs=], as well as keeping them and the public safe from each other. The setting even has several Worlds of Mystery within itself, as specific [=SCPs=].

* Parodied and deconstructed in ''Film/UnderTheSilverLake'': the protagonist Sam sees Hollywood and Los Angeles as this, especially after he reads a zine about urban legends called "[[TitleDrop Under the Silver Lake]]" and meets its ConspiracyTheorist author. Sam encounters a number of weird characters, including a KingOfTheHomeless and a {{Succubus}}-like creature in an owl mask who kills men in their sleep, and finds [[PopCultureSymbology hidden messages in pop songs, video game magazines, and cereal box images]]. However, there are some implications that [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness he may be going off his rails]], and at least some of this stuff is happening only in his head.

* The third season of ''Series/TwinPeaks'' has pretty strong vibes of this. The first two were weird but more-or-less comprehensible ParanormalInvestigation series, but the third one took the weirdness UpToEleven. Let's see: we have obscure mafia plots involving Cooper's evil doppelganger, a sinister EldritchAbomination called Judy represented by a black symbol of a circle with two "horns", a number of otherworldly locations and characters including the Convenience Store, The Dutchman's, and an alternate world where Laura Palmer is still alive and works as a waitress in a cafe called "Judy's"... There is a possibility of a fourth season, so some of that may be resolved, but knowing Lynch, it is more likely to get even worse.

These kinds of settings usually balance on the thin line between ordinary mystery/thriller genre and MindScrew: too much of the former, and you get the answers, too much of the latter, and you cannot even formulate the questions. A common setting for MagicalRealism and MocksteryTale; may also overlap with WorldOfWeirdness, WorldGoneMad, JigsawPuzzlePlot, ConspiracyKitchenSink, and FantasyKitchenSink. Also a common feature of AcademyOfAdventure, BazaarOfTheBizarre, MuseumOfTheStrangeAndUnusual, and IslandOfMystery.

* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' is all about this. The author's whole point is that "everyone has their own stories, and you cannot know everything". Lampshaded in the seventh chapter of ''Penultimate Peril'', when the author mentions a number of random people involved in random shady goings-on, and in the ninth chapter of ''The End'', when the protagonists find a lot of different objects brought to the sea shore, each of which has its own story, and is mysterious in its own way.
* ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' seasons this with ConspiracyKitchenSink. In fact, the main storyline ''does'' get resolved, but there are lots of secondary storylines involving various conspiracies and supernatural stuff, which are basically left hanging.

* Most of the events of ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' can best be summed up thusly; the Assassins and Templars constantly trying one-up each other discovering {{Precursor|s}} technology, causing many, many world-altering historical events in the process, while their modern day iterations use modern technology (which they had invented or reverse engineered from previously mentioned Precursor tech) to rediscover those same discoveries, all accumulating into one big ConspiracyKitchenSink.

* In ''Film/MulhollandDrive'', [[MysticalHollywood the Hollywood is presented in this fashion]]: it has mafia, mysterious MenInBlack on limos, an enigmatic phone call chain involving unspecified people from different parts of LA, weird {{McGuffin}}s like a strangely shaped blue key and a black book with phone numbers, supernatural entities like the AmbiguouslyHuman Cowboy and a creepy bum living in the backyard of a diner, and much more... [[spoiler: Probably subverted, since the ending implies that it was AllJustADream of a failed actress who ordered a hit on her successful friend and lover out of envy and jealousy, and the overall feel of mystery and paranoia is due to her subconscious feel of guilt and fear of being caught. OrWasItADream]]

* Most of the events of ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' can best be summed up thusly; the Assassins and Templars constantly trying one-up each other discovering {{Precursor|s}} technology, causing many, many world-altering historical events in the process, while their modern day iterations use modern technology (which they had invented or reverse engineered from previously mentions Precursor tech) to rediscover those same discoveries, all accumulating into one big ConspiracyKitchenSink.

* ''Literature/FoucaultsPendulum'' parodies and savagely deconstructs both this trope and ConspiracyKitchenSink. The protagonists make up their own parody conspiracy theory to make fun of the actual ones; they end up believing in it themselves, and seeing the real world as this trope; lampshaded in the museum scene, when Causabon sees hidden mystical meaning in nearly every exhibit.

These kinds of settings usually balance on the thin line between ordinary mystery/thriller genre and MindScrew: too much of the former, and you get the answers, too much of the latter, and you cannot even formulate the questions. A common setting for MagicalRealism and MocksteryTale; may also overlap with WorldOfWeirdness, ConspiracyKitchenSink, and FantasyKitchenSink. Also a common feature of AcademyOfAdventure, BazaarOfTheBizarre, MuseumOfTheStrangeAndUnusual, and IslandOfMystery.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'', the town of Crystal Cove is this. It was built above a buried crystal sarcophagus containing an otherworldy [[EldritchAbomination Evil Entity]], whose influence made people commit crimes and dress up as ghosts and monsters using increasingly outlandish means and technologies. After Mystery Inc. defeated the Entity, the town was brought to normal.

[[folder:Videogames]]

* The entire universe, and even multiverse, of the Wiki/SCPFoundation is one of these, each mysterious entity/object/creature/setting/phenomenon being classified as an SCP. The titular organization in question is dedicated to studying, containing, and controlling the [=SCPs=], as well as keeping them and the public safe from each other. The setting even has several Worlds of Mystery within itself, as specific [=SCPs=].
* The titular town of Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale is a FantasyKitchenSink crammed into a little desert town. For most of the residents, however, the mysteries and odd phenomena are just a part of life. The people Night Vale IS a World of Mystery for are outsiders, such as the listeners, and in-universe, new-in-town Carlos.

* The city of Hillwood from ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' definitely qualifies as this. The city is a treasure trove of urban legends (like the Haunted Train and the Headless Cabbie) and just plain weirdness (like Arnold's neighbor Mr. Smith who is implied to be a spy). Though some of the legends, like the Monkeyman, are given non-mystical explanations, most of them remain unresolved.

* The titular town and environs of WesternAnimation/GravityFalls qualifies for this. It's enforced by the Society of the Blind Eye keeping things secret from the townsfolk, and caused by the town having a 'Weirdness Magnetism' that literally attracts bizarre events, people, creatures and phenomena to the area.

* The entire universe, and even multiverse, of the Wiki/SCPFoundation is one of these, each mysterious entity/object/creature/setting/phenomenon being classified as an SCP. The titular organization in question is dedicated to studying, containing, and controlling the SCPs, as well as keeping them and the public safe from each other. The setting even has several Worlds of Mystery within itself, as specific SCPs.

A setting consisting ''entirely'' of [[TheUnsolvedMystery Unsolved Mysteries]], [[RiddleForTheAges Riddles For The Ages]], TheWalrusWasPaul, and stuff like that. Here every random bystander has their own skeletons in the closet you'll probably never learn about, every random symbol or number, be it [[PopCultureSymbology a fast food logo]] or a car plate, is an ArcSymbol or an ArcNumber, and every random item you notice lying around in the street has its own convoluted history. Every now and then, it will be lampshaded that what you're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg, a small part of a giant picture, and you'll be very lucky if you get answers to even a small part of your questions.

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]