Con artists, armed Boy Scouts and Santa Claus
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Nobody knows who wrote the first letter to Santa Claus, but the practice didn’t catch on in mainstream America until a con artist named John D. Gluck became intertwined...
Category: Dark History
Scary stories from the Reader staff
The Hound of the Hagavilles By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff Growing up in the hinterlands of Bonner County, there was no reason to lean into decorating the front of our house for Halloween. We...
Theory of Unknown Origin: ‘They’re eating the pets’
By Soncirey Mitchell Reader Staff The rise in xenophobia in the U.S. has opened the door for a range of stereotypes to step into the spotlight — including the renewed popularity of the claim...
The Lumberjill: Boogeymen
By Jen Jackson Quintano Reader Columnist In 2012, neo-Nazi Shaun Winkler bought property an hour north of the old Aryan Nations compound with hopes of building a new homeland for his white supremacist compatriots....
Babylon Berlin reemerges with a triumphal fourth season
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff A handful of critics seem a little bemused by the popularity of Babylon Berlin. The New York Times referred to a “a small core of aficionados” and a “cult”...
Back of the book: Defending the ‘weird’ from the ‘lame’
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff After a lifetime of being called “weird,” it’s strange to see that word having its cultural day in the sun, though being deployed to such devastating political effect. “Weird”...
Mad about Science: Deadly Paint
By Brenden Bobby Reader Columnist You may know a little about my favorite hobby: miniature painting. It’s not an incredibly dangerous hobby, but it comes with its own set of risks. 3-D printing the...
Dark History: Murder on the Monarchs
By Ben Olson Reader Staff The rock beaches along the eastern shores of Lake Pend Oreille are an idyllic place today. With the Green Monarch Mountains rising more than 3,000 feet above the water’s...
