The Man Who Comes Into My Home at Night

This story will send chills down your spine. [Image] [Image]( The Man Who Comes Into My Home at Night It wasn’t long after Ryan moved in that it happened again. This was the sixth home he and I had shared–there were three dorms in college, then two houses off-campus and in the four years that we lived together, we were burglarized four times. Years later, in our shared apartment far away from college, it seemed that either our bad luck had returned, or worse–whoever’d been breaking into our homes had finally come back to finish the job. I woke to the sound of thrashing outside my bedroom. The doors were locked, of course–they always were. I’d sometimes drag my heavy metal weight bench along the floorboards in front of them. But tonight I hadn’t done that. With enough of a push, the flimsy lock that held the doors together would unlatch right away. And from the sound of it, I was seconds away from three or four burglars blowing those doors down. Fight or flight kicked in the moment my eyes opened. I flung myself towards the doors, pushing my upper half forward so forcefully that I felt as though my right shoulder popped out of its socket. Wincing in pain, I snared one of the doorknobs and pressed the weight of my whole body against the cheap fiberwood paneling. “What—what th-the fuck is going on?” I yelled. [Read the Full Story]( [Image] [Image]( I Bought Bather Swim Trunks So I Could (Finally) Stop Shopping for Swim Trunks “As soon as I knew it might be okay to spend some time at the beach or poolside with my family and friends this summer, I started my annual hunt for swim trunks,” writes Deputy Editor Ben Boskovich. “Where I landed, thanks to my online habits and the beauty of programmatic advertising on social media, was in a vast landscape of indecision. That's because I landed at Bather, and the sheer amount of suitable options they offered for my Trunks of Summer 2021 left me feeling unsure about what I'd land on. What I was sure of, though, after looking at what Bather had to offer, was that it was going to be my only purchase in the swimsuit department this summer. Here's why.” [Read the Full Story](  [Image]( How I Became the Anti-Fireworks Guy “My life, in some ways, is several Final Destination films pieced together, with the through line being my certainty that one day, the fireworks will get me,” writes Staff Writer Justin Kirkland. “Every year, as summer approaches, I consider that this might be the year. I mean, America has a deep fascination with blowing shit up on the regular. Oil reserves in the Middle East? Blow up a country. Your wife is pregnant with a fragile fetus? Blow up a box with blue smoke inside to reveal that this kid has a dick. But summer is explosion season, full of chaos and unpredictability. Fireworks are the star. They haunt me and taunt me from above. I've simply seen too much.” [Read the Full Story]( [Image]( The 16 Best Movies to Watch on the Fourth of July What does "Fourth of July film" mean, exactly? Well, it's a vibe. A certain je ne sais quoi, but less French. The 16 films below reveal something about America, whether it be its heroism, its resilience, or perhaps the shitty things that America has been guilty of for its 400 or so year tenure. No country is without its layers and foibles. But the Big American queue below recognizes the highs and the lows. So here's to America, on its glorious 245th birthday. Here's hoping we don't do something awful and miss out on that big 2-5-0. Crack a beer, pick a selection, and keep it red, white, and blue, baby. [Read the Full Story](  [Image]( The 34 Best Books of 2021 (So Far) 2021 has so much to offer for your literary diet, meaning that even if you’re missing the normal rhythms of social life, you'll have plenty to keep your mind occupied. Our favorite books of the year thus far come from authors both emerging and established, meditating on everything from life online to life in the intersections of identity. Set everywhere from the all-too-real world to the distant past, and even peering into the speculative future, these books offer escape, education, and spiritual enlargement—whatever you’re looking for. [Read the Full Story]( [Image]( The Red Rockets' Glare Legendary journalist George Plimpton visited Orville Carlisle’s fireworks museum in Norfolk, Nebraska. This is his iconic missive to fire-filled skies. [Read the Full Story](  Follow Us       [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Notice/Notice at Collection](  esquire.com ©2021 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019   Â