From 2006 to 2008, writer Wheeler Antabanez traveled the Passaic River and its shores, chronicling his adventures in a special issue of Weird NJ magazine. Nightshade on the Passaic was released as a special issue of the magazine and quickly became its best-selling issue, confirming readers' interest in stories involving the Passaic River. Antabanez intentionally did not want the special issue to be a history lesson of New Jersey or the river, but instead wanted it to be a Huck Finn-style adventure story.
In his canoe, Nightshade, Antabanez visits the most dangerous parts of the Passaic, along with several of the abandoned buildings and factories that relied on the Passaic years ago. In addition to the river and the decaying structures that surround it, he also researched murders that involved the Passaic River, including the horrific case of Jonathan Zarate who attempted to dump the mutilated body of his 16 year-old neighbor in the river, but was thwarted by a police officer who happened to pass by at the time.
Read more about this topic: Passaic River