Looking for answers in a decades-old murder case set deep in the Missouri Ozarks.
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Why Would Two Girls Attempt Murder for Slender Man?
In 2014, two 12-year-old girls stabbed a friend, arguing that they did it for a fictional internet horror creature named Slender Man.
On the Right to Die: John Hofsess’ Secret Assisted Suicide Service
At Toronto Life, John Hofsess posthumously reveals the secret assisted suicide service he offered to eight Canadians — among them the poet Al Purdy — on the day of his own assisted death. The maximum penalty for assisted suicide was 14 years in prison. I was raising the stakes: by giving Al a pre-death sedative, […]
‘See What Y’All Can Work Out’: The State of Empathy in Charleston
Charleston’s—and our nation’s—systemic racism, through the lens of the Dylann Roof trial.
Revisiting the Ghosts of Attica
A wrenching new book recounts the bloodiest prison battle in our history.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
The best stories of the week, as chosen by the editors of Longreads.
The Zankou Chicken Murders
In the April 2008 issue of Los Angeles magazine reporter Mark Arax wrote about Los Angeles’ beloved Zankou Chicken chain, and how one owner tore the founding family apart by murdering two of its members and killing himself. The story is a compelling mix of family dynamics, fast food and the complex American dream.
Late in Life, Thoreau Became a Serious Darwinist
But he died before he could finish his book on natural history. As Emerson put it, Thoreau “depart[ed] out of Nature before… he has been really shown to his peers for what he is.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
The best stories of the week, as chosen by the editors of Longreads.

