Detail from Carl Ostersetzer, Wirtshauspolitik, 1914, oil on panel.

James McGirk writes from Oklahoma, where plans for a public satanic ritual expose cultural fault-lines and religion seems to permeate every aspect of life. “They want your soul and they’re willing to fight for it.”

Preparing for the Day of the Dead, Rex Weinerreports from Casa Dracula, a haunted house for writers on the Pacific Coast of Mexico.

Looking at the controversy surrounding The Death of Klinghoffer, Michael Friedman reminds us that grand opera has always been intertwined with the politics of the day.

Dwyer Murphy interviews David Gordon: “My protagonists eat a lot of Chinese food and go to a lot of cafés. People tend to have cats in my stories, and the women have long fingers. I have no idea where this stuff comes from. I have no lost love with long fingers.”

Now that the World Series is over, Adam Sobsey has a simple request decades in the making: “Let’s get Dock Ellisinto the Hall of Fame.”

Plus, Sadie Stein looks at the outmoded fun on display in Cupid’s Cyclopedia; what scares the staff of The Paris Review? (Taylor Swift, among other things); and Thackeray’s doodles reveal his macabre side.