Not your average next-door neighbours, these creatures are residents of Monstrous, which claims to be 'the largest and most popular Web site about Monsters'. Come here to learn about mythical creatures like aliens, cryptids, zombies, werewolves, vampires and ghouls… each accompanied by rather interesting background details. While these creatures do not really exist, their descriptions shed light on human thought and insecurities that gave rise to such myths.

There are also sections on related games, music, movies and books. While most of the links in the books section point to amazon.com, the site promises free downloads of monstrous classics soon. The 'goodies' page offers screensavers of your favourite baddies, creepy voices, trailers and theme cocktail recipes.

Lightness Demonstrations

White, black and various shades of grey are used to experiment with lightness perceptions and create optical illusions. This site has a collection of at least eleven examples.

An applet lets you choose the one you want to watch. After the Flash 'movie' is played, you can experiment further by clicking 'interact' or check out 'ideas' to find out how the illusion was caused. Each demo can also be downloaded individually.

Some interesting ones:

Criss-Cross Illusion

Impossible Steps

Vasarely Illusion

White's Illusion

The Snake Illusion

The Sliding Puzzle

You're presented with a grid of disorganised tiles and a blank space. Your task is to rearrange the tiles to form a picture (a smaller version is shown at the right). The blank space is the key. Keep sliding the tiles upwards or downwards until you get it right. A record is kept of the time taken and the number of moves made.

If you get stuck, you can turn on the 'hints'.

Make a puzzle of your choice and then solve it! Just select any picture from your hard disk - including one of yourself - and set its difficulty level by deciding the number of pieces you want it cut into (4 x 4 is the default). In a minute, your puzzle will be ready and you'll even be able to mail it to friends.

SleepNet

This test will help you see if you have symptoms of sleep disorders. If you have, you can consult your physician, and get further information on disorders like sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy, etc.

The site is designed to be a complete portal on sleep and problems arising from the lack of it. You can read up on news, visit related links and have your say on discussion forums.

Also follow these healthy sleep habits, go through a glossary of terms and subscribe to the monthly snoozeletter!

Also Read -- Write email with a bloody finger -- Solve Rubik's cube online -- Childish beliefs and origin of phrases -- Sherlock Holmes, physics, coureware online -- Serial killers and popularity contests

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