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"Blood-drinking festival." Reading those words, it's hard not to get either creeped out or curious — especially around Halloween.

I opted for curiosity. Which is how I discovered photojournalist Jana Asenbrennerova's stunning photo essay on an obscure custom that takes place each year in the remote, mist-wrapped highlands of Nepal. These festivals are actually a reflection of the complex relationship that Nepal's Buddhists have with eating meat.

While we're on the subject of devastating storms, consider a report published last year by the National Hurricane Center. The title alone makes it worth a look:

THE DEADLIEST, COSTLIEST, AND MOST INTENSE UNITED STATES TROPICAL CYCLONES FROM 1851 TO 2010 (AND OTHER FREQUENTLY REQUESTED HURRICANE FACTS)

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Good morning.

We'll talk next with the man coordinating the federal response to Hurricane Sandy. Craig Fugate is head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He's at FEMA headquarters in Washington.

Mr. Fugate, welcome to the program.

CRAIG FUGATE: Good morning.

Across New York City, much of New Jersey and other places hit hard by Superstorm Sandy, power remains out today and the long, hard process of digging through debris and starting to rebuild continues.

Suppose Sandy had struck a week later. With power out across multiple states, how would people be able to vote on Election Day?

"If this were happening next week, we have no provisions for dealing with this in law," says Thad Hall, a political scientist at the University of Utah.

Michel Petrucciani was the first important jazz pianist I ever saw live. In retrospect, it's hard to believe that he would make it to Guéret, my tiny hometown in the middle of France. But in 1992, on a tour called "Like father like son" ("Tel père tel fils"), Petrucciani came to perform with his father, guitar player Tony Petrucciani.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. Hurricane Sandy disrupted flights all across the United States. Even people far from the storm discovered planes could not get to their airports. And of all the people affected, the saddest were surely 1,300 people from the East Coast stuck in Honolulu.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

What a shame.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne with news of jack-o-lantern art this Halloween. Ray Villafane is a former teacher who found his medium after carving a gourd a student gave him. The sculptor began with a pumpkin, this year, weighing just under a ton to create a vividly realistic life-sized stringy haired orange zombie pulling other zombies out of a pumpkin garden. The work of pumpkin art is now giving people the shivers at the New York botanical garden. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.