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It’s that time of year again. Yes, International Ninja Day is back and that means you can indulge in your favorite ninja content from documentaries and action movies to learning ninjutsu (it’s a real thing, not just from Naruto) and more accessible jujutsu (grappling, select weapon training). It’s also a good time to practice your stealth, whether that’s creeping past the creaky boards in your house without a sound or learning how to manipulate your writing to punch your readers in the gut with some surprisingly heartfelt content.

Whether you’re practicing your own writing or interested in books that sneak up on you (like a well-trained ninja with a well-placed kunai to the throat) you’ll want to give these stories a try. Some have shocking twists, some tell you exactly what they’re about, but all leave you with some sort of feeling in your gut that you may not have seen coming.

Photo by Dominik Krawczyk on Unsplash

Are you craving a chomp of an oversized turkey leg or a spoonful of an overpriced bread bowl? Do you miss the smell of leather goods, the sound of fake but endearing British accents, or the crunch of gravel and the crinkle of straw underfoot?

This year has left a gaping Ren Faire hole in our hearts, and now that the season is coming to an end, it’ll be another year until we’re given the chance to cheer on complete strangers in knightly armor. That is, honestly, unacceptable. To hold you off until next fall and to temporarily patch up that hole in your soul, we’ve compiled a list of some medieval reads (some set in the Middle Ages, some not).

Screenshot from Among Us by author

The three-person team of indie game developer Innersloth brought veteran and new gamers around the world much needed social connection and good ol’ fun in the form of Among Us. This social deduction game follows a 4-10 person crew attempting to fix their spaceship while 1-3 impostors, assuming a crew member's form, sabotages the ship, picks the crew members off one by one, crawls through vents, and frames other members.

There are countless literary and pop culture characters who are too much of a hero to pull off the impostor look (and we love them for it), but what about the ones who would ace the impostor test? Scroll through for some characters who are already impostors in their own right.

NOTE: Some of these secret impostors are a bit spoilery, so to avoid ruining the show, book, etc., each section is labeled with the title of the work—not the name of the impostor character. So scan through and skip past any story you don’t want ruined.

Photo by Element5 Digital from Pexels

Have you sent in your mail-in ballot? Have you or do you plan to go to the polling place to vote?

Yesterday NY1 broadcast a photo of a voter reading The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires while in line for the polls, and after seeing @claskow’s tweet with the phrase “VOTE AND READ,” we wanted to support this concept and recommend some other escapist reads to pack for your poll outing. If you’ve already cast your vote, nothing’s stopping you from diving into one of these distracting books while you wait for the results. No matter what, make sure your voice is heard, treat yourself to a curated mental diversion, and VOTE AND READ!

Photo by Colton Sturgeon on Unsplash.

Here in South Eastern Pennsylvania we have this heinous tradition of committing rambunctious pranks and acts of petty vandalism the night before Halloween. It is dubbed Mischief Night or Devil’s Night or Gate Night… or Moving Night, Goosey Night, Cabbage Night, Mat Night…you get the idea. New Jersey, Cincinnati, and Detroit know what we’re talking about, but for the rest of America and the globe, here’s a brief history.

No matter what you call the night though, it’s a night for throwing toilet paper into trees, egging houses, sticking forks in lawns (yeah, it’s a thing), and causing a good ol’ fashion ruckus. Think of it as The Purge, but not sanctioned by the government and hopefully with less destructive and life-threatening consequences. Sometimes it’s harmless and even fun, like hiding candy for your friends, but other times it’s more tricky, and we know a few mischievous characters who would take Mischief Night by storm.

Photo by Hans-Jurgen Mager on Unsplash.

Whether you grew up on Winnie the Pooh, Paddington, Corduroy, or the Berenstain Bears, everyone has at least one good pop culture bear that holds a special place in their heart, but what about the lesser known bears, those just as deserving of a good bear stamp? What about the ones often mislabelled as bad bears—the ones just misunderstood?

We're here to shine some spotlight on those good bears audiences often brush under the rug or ones who, despite their standoffish exterior, are deep down (some deep deep down) good bears.