Creepypasta, Shirley Jackson, and Horror Podcasts: A Halloween Reading Guide

The spookiness doesn’t have to end with the weekend—indulge in classic creepypasta, scary podcasts, and Ms. (Shirley) Jackson on your lunch break.

Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 30, 2016

What I Learned About Terrorism by Talking With My Father’s Kidnapper

The daughter of Terry Anderson—the Associated Press bureau chief held hostage and tortured in Lebanon for seven years from 1985 to 1991—interviews her father’s kidnapper, and gains insight into what makes Islamic terrorists tick.

Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 26, 2016
Length: 7 minutes (1,882 words)

The Trick to It All: A Conversation with Photographer Henry Leutwyler

Henry Leutwyler on portraiture and the magic of inanimate objects.

Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 27, 2016
Length: 13 minutes (3,326 words)

Salt, Sugar, Fat, Repeat: A Reading List on Restaurant Chains

Here are some of our favorite reads on America’s restaurant chains, from the generically upscale to the proudly down-home. They cover politics, economics, regional identity, and even (surprise!) food.

Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 26, 2016

Excerpt: ‘The Red Car’ by Marcy Dermansky

“The car had upset me. Judy had found a parking space right in front of the restaurant and I could see the red car from our table. Taunting me.”

Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 25, 2016
Length: 11 minutes (2,933 words)

The Way We Walk: A Reading List

In the following essays, Antonia Malachik discusses the cultural implications of our aversion to walking; Garnette Cadogan relates how his walks are coded by his skin color, depending on where in the world he is; Adee Braun praises the New York eat-and-walk, and more.

Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 24, 2016

The Love of a Thousand Muskoxen: Grieving a Love Lost to Time and Sickness

Years after spending a romantic month alone with a young photographer, Stephanie Land learns of his crippling chronic disease–and gets a glimpse of how much she meant to him.

Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 24, 2016
Length: 13 minutes (3,488 words)

Present-Day Witchcraft: Seven Stories About Witches

Seven stories about the modern rituals of witchcraft and how they inform our past.

Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 17, 2016

America’s HGTV Obsession: A Reading List

HGTV knows the formula for successful programming. Here are six reads that explore why the popular home improvement network can dish out exactly what its audience wants.

Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 12, 2016

Birth—and Rebirth—after Bulimia

In pregnancy, writer Judy Tsuei found herself confronting the eating disorder she’d recovered from and her Chinese-American upbringing—and in the process, rebirthing herself as the kind of mother her daughter would need her to be.

Author: Judy Tsuei
Source: Longreads
Published: Oct 11, 2016
Length: 14 minutes (3,571 words)