#a haunted history of invisible women

[leannareneehieber]

(Pictured: Carnations laid in honor of the dead at the sidewalk of NYU's Brown Building. Photo by Leanna Renee Hieber)

On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the top floors of the Asch Building. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire took the lives of 146 people, most of them women and girls. As a NYC tour guide of over 15yrs, I speak about this site with vehemence. Never forget the importance of modern labor laws and the lives lost before we gained these rights. Andrea Janes and I wrote about this site, and its importance in the capacity of residual haunting, in our book A HAUNTED HISTORY OF INVISIBLE WOMEN. Our chapter on the fire, Industrial Monsters, is up on the Boroughs of the Dead blog: https://boroughsofthedead.com/industrial-monsters-ghosts-of-the-triangle-shirtwaist-factory/

Please support union workers and legislation aimed at shoring up worker protections. Honor the dead.

[ofliterarynature]

January 2023 Wrap Up

[ liked loved DNF bookclub* reread** ]

Tehanu | Like Real People Do | Murder Must Advertise | Vespertine | Spear | Sword Stone Table* | Pride and Prejudice** | Drunk on All Your Strange New Words | Reforged | Wonderstruck | A Haunted History of Invisible Women | Have His Carcase | The Sun Down Motel | Shady Hollow | A Gentleman in Moscow | The Atlas Six

[imaginationamuck]

Book Review: A Haunted History of Invisible Women

I’m such a fan of the paranormal and love ghost stories, maybe because there’s a weird type of comfort that comes with believing, but also because of how history has turned these ghost stories into one giant game of telephone and seeing people unravel that game to the true message is something I find fascinating.

Leanna and Andrea do such an amazing job of unraveling those threads to find the truth of these women and turn them into the real and true people they are and not just the tropes or cautionary tales that they’ve become.

I don't usually annotate books, but this one had such amazing historical facts that I kept going 'whoa!" and highlighting. I loved the discourse and truth behind these stories. As a paranormal fan, some of these stories I knew and some I didn't, but looking at them through a female gaze and really digging into the truth of these women's stories is amazing

Rating: 5 ⭐️

[foxandcatlibrary]

51st Book I Read in 2023

Title: A Haunted History of Invisible Women

Authors: Leanna Renee Hieber & Andrea Janes

Notes: A really fun read! Can warmly recommend this book.

[thegothiclibrary]

A Haunted History of Invisible Women Review and Giveaway

A Haunted History of Invisible Women Review and Giveaway

A wispy woman in white, a widow who haunts the home she once ruled over, a fair maiden whose life was tragically cut short—have you ever noticed how many of the ghost stories of popular culture and local legend feature female spirits? Brilliant and knowledgeable ghost tour guides Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes—whom I have taken many tours of NYC with through Boroughs of the Dead—explore…

[literarysiren]

A new nonfiction dive into some of history's most famous (or most little known) female ghosts, and the tropes they've inspired, from two authors and haunted house tour guides. So good it might be required reading for anyone interested in ghosts, hauntings, houses, or history.

[readingwithwrin]

A Haunted History of Invisible Women by Leanna Renee Hieber & Andrea Janes | Book Review

A Haunted History of Invisible Women by Leanna Renee Hieber & Andrea Janes | Book Review

Title: A Haunted History of Invisible Women Author: Leanna Renee Hieber & Andrea Janes Publisher: Kensington Published Date: September 27th, 2022 Genre: Non-fiction, History Source: Kensington Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ .5 Goodreads Summary: From the notorious Lizzie Borden to the innumerable, haunted rooms of Sarah Winchester’s mysterious mansion, this offbeat, insightful, first-ever book of its…

[coffeewritesfiction]

From the notorious Lizzie Borden to the innumerable, haunted rooms of Sarah Winchester's mysterious mansion, this offbeat, insightful, first-ever book of its kind explores the history behind America's female ghosts, the stereotypes, myths, and paranormal tales that swirl around them, what their stories reveal about us—and why they haunt us…

A Haunted History of Invisible Women True Stories of America's Ghosts By Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes

This book sounds fascinating. I've got to get a hold of it somehow

[fantasticalleigh]

LEIGH'S RIDICULOUSLY BIG TBR/TBW LISTS

like i mentioned before i am too busy/hesitant to actually consume a lot of new media (or at least be able to focus on it) so i'm critically behind on so much stuff. don't judge me pls :S lmao

anything in bold is something that i've begun but not finished :P tagging @snow-in-the-desert bc you expressed interest in seeing the lists!

TO READ:

The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood

The Hurricane Wars - Thea Guanzon

Winter's Promise - Christelle Dabos

The Stand - Stephen King

North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell

The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

Work - Louisa May Alcott

Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

Dr. Sleep - Stephen King

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

The Last Duel - Erik Jager

Portrait of a Lady - Henry James

The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton

The Great Mortality - John Kelly

Dead by Sunset - Ann Rule

Dracula - Bram Stoker

It's Lonely at the Center of the Earth - Zoe Thorogood

The Great Influenza - John M. Barry

The Monster of Florence - Douglas Preston

The Lottery and other stories - Shirley Jackson

Helter Skelter - Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry

White Noise - Don DeLilo

Icebreaker - Hannah Grace

She Is a Haunting - Trang Thanh Tran

This Thing Between Us: A Novel - Gus Moreno

Parable of the Sower - Octavia E. Butler

^^ This is an incomplete list--I know there are others but these are the books I've bought over the past couple years and have not yet finished/ready. They are stacked on my desk and around my room, silently accusing me of neglect. I wither in shame. The rest of the list escapes me currently. This also doesn't include the tbrs currently on my e-reader since I can't remember where it is to see what's on there.

MOVIES/MEDIA TO WATCH:

Any Adam Driver movie that isn't on Netflix (House of Gucci, Annette, Paterson etc.) I have seen the Last Duel, Blackkklansman, This is where I leave you, Marriage Story, White Noise, Frances Ha and a few others). I know Ferarri is in theaters right now but I've kind of developed a phobia of theaters since 2020 :S

a ridiculous number of documentaries/video essays on youtube that I do not have the energy to go look for right now

Fall of the House of Usher (I love Mike Flanagan's work but I'm still hooked on Midnight Mass and Daddy Father Prewitt)

The Haunting of Bly Manor (I know everyone was obsessed with this and I meant to watch it but I was reading the Turn of the Screw when it came out and didn't want to get spoiled for it so I avoided it like the plague and finished the book but never got to watching the show)

Blue Eye Samurai

The Beguiled

Ugly Betty (I'm actually on season 2 and it's charming and funny but holy shit the amount of body shaming/slut shaming/ homophobia in this show. definitely a product of its time.)

Anne with an E

Fleabag (never finished it but thought it was amazing)

What we do in the shadows (have seen all but the most current season)

Reservation dogs

The Batman (2023)

Black Swan

The Crown

Band of Brothers

Demon Slayer

Whiplash

Wolf of Wall Street

Birds of Prey

Downton Abbey

Peaky Blinders

Nimona

Drag me to Hell

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Queen Charlotte (halfway through but haven't finished. i hate things that make me cry when i watch them so i have to be in a very specific mood to watch emotional heavy things)

Lady Bird

The Banshees of Inisherin

BARBIE (*ducks thrown rocks* I'll get to it, i SWEAR) (but i'm amazing at avoiding spoilers at this point i still know very little about the movie)

Men

Pearl

The Invisible Man

The Turning

Succession

Suspiria

Promising Young Woman

Shiva Baby

Luca

The Green Knight

Licorice Pizza

Bullet Train

The Menu

Women Talking

Knives Out + Glass Onion (*ducks more thrown rocks*)

Paddington 2!!!!

SHadow and Bone (honestly I lost almost all interest in reading/watching this once I heard the hot villain dies. BOOOO)

Carol

That one newish show with Adam Scott that looks super liminal and sci fi i can't remember the name

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Oppenheimer

Killers of the Flower Moon

Guardians of the Galaxy 3

M3gan

Turning Red

Everything Everywhere All At once

Nope

Barbarian

Just like the book list, I'm sure there's many other titles I'm forgetting to put here. I actually have branched out and watched a fair amount of new movies this year so i'm going to keep it going! and here's one more list just because this is fun

Stuff I watched or read in 2023 that I loved/recommend (with the caveat that not all of this came out in 2023): (and i'm not including obvious stuff like Spider man across the spiderverse)

White Noise

Don't Look Up

Living in the Time of Dying (documentary on Youtube. It is HEAVY on existentialism and the science/data on the current state of climate change. This WILL ruin your day so I'm warning you now. Definitely don't watch it today. This really affected me and I cried for a long time after watching this but it is incredibly important to keep in mind.)

Blackkklansman (i had to watch this with the volume on the lowest setting bc of all the n words being dropped so frequently lmao but goddamn this was so good and funnier than i expected.)

DIMENSION 20: Burrow's End!!!!! As well as The Unsleeping City season 1. Neverafter and A Crown of Candy are probably at the lower end of the list but I still love them. (thank you to @rogueimperator for cluing me onto how amazing D20 and Dropout are. <3 this is a whole new world lol)

Midnight Sun :)

7. Christine and the Queens - Redcar les adorables étoiles Full show on Youtube. I was supposed to see him live in October but he got injured and had to cancel the rest of his tour :( but this album and the video are incredible! Slight warning for semi nudity.

8. Game Changer on Dropout. he's been here the whole time!

9. The 1975 live at Madison Square Garden. I was lucky enough to see them twice this tour with my twin sister and we had an absolutely amazing time. They always put on amazing shows and this particular tour/their latest album meant so much to us. Even our younger brother has come with us for some of these shows so it's something we all share. (Last time they came to Chicago in 2022 the venue was too small so they didn't have the House set with them so we didn't get to see it in action until this year) Sex and The Sound will always be the perfect closers for their shows and I get so emotional every time I hear them. Core memories for sure.

10. Puss in Boots: the last wish. this seems like another obvious answer that i probably could have left off but this gets an honorary mention because our family cat was diagnosed with advanced bone cancer in August, and we had to put him down very soon after that diagnosis. We spent an agonizing week tending to him and cherishing every last second we could get with him. I've been fortunate enough to never experience the death of a pet until this year, and i almost wish we didn't have any pets at all because I've never felt such excruciating grief. He was a fat, grumpy orange boy with beautiful yellow stripes and a little yellow mustache. I was trying to distract myself and found this movie on Netflix and watched it, then recommended it to my sister (who is actually Thomas's owner but we all shared him) though I warned her the movie did deal with themes on mortality. We all watched it together the night before his final vet visit and Tommy was there with us on a comfy pillow. I hope he approved of the movie, because now any time I think of Puss in Boots i think of him. <3

I could add more to this but my eyes are tired and I'm wired up from coffee. I know this is long as hell so sorry but I had fun making it! I'll probably keep coming back to this post in the future to cross out what I've watched.

[gaslightgallows]

2024 TBR Pile of Good Intentions

(crossposted to Patreon)

This year’s TBR pile looks very much like last year’s (hence the reused banner image) but last year was also a shitshow so I’m giving myself a do-over. Although looking back, I did actually manage to read two (2) of the books on last year’s list! I even wrote about How to Live Like a Monk for my patrons! The other one was Mexican Gothic… Y’know, I should really write about Mexican Gothic…

Lion’s Paw Reads: (aka books I’m planning to do patron content about)

Orlando, by Virginia Woolf

A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America’s Ghosts, by Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes

The Haunting of Alma Fielding, by Kate Summerscale

The Octagon House: A Home for All, by Orson Squire Fowler

Other Reads (Fiction):

Our Wives Under the Sea, by Julia Armfield

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, by Susana Clarke

Radiance, by Catherynne M. Valente

Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsin Muir

Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke

The City We Became, by N.K. Jemison

Nothing but Blackened Teeth, by Cassandra Khaw

The Story of Silence, Alex Myers

A Psalm for the Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers

Viriconium, by M. John Harrison

Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry, Edited by David Ly & Daniel Zomparelli

What Moves the Dead, by T. Kingfisher *I actually finished this last week!

Phantastes: A Faerie Romance, by George MacDonald

Other Reads (Non-Fiction):

City of Sin, by Catherine Arnold

The Mutual Admiration Society, by Mo Moulton

Monster, She Wrote, by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson

The Gilded Edge, by Catherine Prendergast

Dickensland, by Lee Jackson

I might also do posts on some of these other books, provided I get to/through them. If you’re at all interested in my thoughts on this assemblage of horror, fantasy, scifi, and very niche historical non-fiction, I hope you’ll consider subscribing and telling me what else I should be reading!

[witchyfashion]

"Deliciously eerie.” —Leslie Rule, Bestselling Author From the notorious Lizzie Borden to the innumerable, haunted rooms of Sarah Winchester's mysterious mansion this offbeat, insightful, first-ever book of its kind from the brilliant guides behind “Boroughs of the Dead,” featured on NPR.org, The New York Times, and Jezebel, explores the history behind America’s female ghosts, the stereotypes, myths, and paranormal tales that swirl around them, what their stories reveal about us—and why they haunt us . . . Bram Stoker Award Finalist for Superior Achievement in Nonfiction Sorrowful widows, vengeful jezebels, innocent maidens, wronged lovers, former slaves, even the occasional axe-murderess—America’s female ghosts differ widely in background, class, and circumstance. Yet one thing unites them: their ability to instill fascination and fear, long after their deaths. Here are the full stories behind some of the best-known among them, as well as the lesser-known—though no less powerful. Tales whispered in darkness often divulge more about the teller than the subject. America’s most famous female ghosts, from from ‘Mrs. Spencer’ who haunted Joan Rivers’ New York apartment to Bridget Bishop, the first person executed during the Salem witchcraft trials, mirror each era’s fears and prejudices. Yet through urban legends and campfire stories, even ghosts like the nameless hard-working women lost in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire —achieve a measure of power and agency in death, in ways unavailable to them as living women. Riveting for skeptics and believers alike, with humor, curiosity, and expertise, A Haunted History of Invisible Women offers a unique lens on the significant role these ghostly legends play both within the spook-seeking corners of our minds and in the consciousness of a nation. "A Haunted History of Invisible Women looks beyond the legends of maligned female ghosts and gives us their real histories. It is both a meditation on the misogyny of a ghost-hunting culture that capitalizes on false narratives of sex and death, and a fascinating look at the flesh-and-blood women behind the ghost stories. This book is a long-overdue search for historic truth, yet it recognizes that “When it comes to ghosts, truth is as elusive as the spirits themselves.” —Chris Woodyard, Author of The Victorian Book of the Dead. Afterword by Bram Stoker Award-winning author Linda D. Addison

https://amzn.to/45U6ne6

[leannareneehieber]

NYC! Boroughs of the Dead is BACK! THIS THURS, 7pm! We're kicking the 2023 Season off with a JOINTLY-LED, TAG-TEAM EVENT of awesome guides. Join yours truly and my co-author extraordinaire, BotD founder herself, Andrea Janes, for GHOSTLY WOMEN OF GREENWICH VILLAGE, the tour that became the backbone of our Bram Stoker Award Nominated book, A HAUNTED HISTORY OF INVISIBLE WOMEN. Only a few tickets left via this link: https://boroughsofthedead.com/ghostly-women-of-greenwich-village/ - We'll ALSO have books on hand to sign for you! Let's celebrate Women's History Month with some incredible facts and eerie figures!

[mybeingthere]

Anne Ferran has been exhibiting since the 1980s. Her landmark series Scenes on the Death of Nature, presented at Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, in 1987, established her as one of Australia’s leading photographic artists. In the mid 1990s she began working with the meagre residues of Australian colonial past, paying particular attention to the lives of women and children. Intellectually and emotionally engaging, her photographs have explored histories of incarceration in prisons, asylums, hospitals and nurseries. They play with invisibility and anonymity, and are often haunted by things unseen.

"While Ferran’s work encapsulates many theoretical and philosophical concerns, it is not constrained by them. Rather than make a definitive statement about women or history, Ferran takes us on an imaginative journey with images about which one can endlessly speculate."

Claire Armstrong, 2005

https://suttongallery.com.au/artists/anne-ferran/

[greenconverses]

Recently read: Had a cold last week, so I didn’t finish as many books as I thought I would in the middle of February. Still trying to squeeze in as many romance novels as I can!

Lore of Olympus: Volume 2 by Rachel Smythe was a cute and quick read. I’m excited to continue with the next few in the series, though it might be a bit until I pick them up. (★★★★)

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey was my non-fiction audiobook of the month. A Haunted History of Invisible Women quoted this book a few times, so it felt like I was retreading the same ground in some places. I wish I would’ve listened to this one before Haunted History because it was much better sourced and more focused on actual ghost stories. Enjoyed the narrator as well! (★★★★)

I think I would’ve liked A Scoundrel of Her Own by Stacy Reid if I’d read the previous books in the series since some of the stories seemed to intersect quite a bit in this one. I love the way Stacy writes, but there was just something about the plotline and the romance that didn’t just fully click for me. (Might’ve been the cold medicine, haha.) The plot of the second book seems much more up my alley, so I’m excited to start that one! (★★★.5)

Gah, I’m so mad I didn’t read The Palace of Rogues series in order. All the character development in the first two books is so great and important for the rest of the books! I adored Angel in the Devil’s Arms. I love the way Julie Anne Long lets her romances smolder and develop properly. I haven’t been disappointed with an emotional resolution yet. (★★★★)

[ofliterarynature]

tagged by @ninja-muse and @reynoldsreads, thank you!

The last books I finished:

- A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

- Shady Hollow by Juneau Black

- The Sundown Motel by Simone St James

Currently reading:

- Reforged by Seth Haddon

- Have His Carcase by Dorothy L Sayers

Books I'll be reading next:

- A Haunted History of Invisible Women by Leanna Renee Hieber & Andrea Janes

- Sword Stone Table ed. by Swapna Krishna & Jenn Northington

- Wonderstruck by Allie Therin

tagging @wearethekat @agardenandlibrary @theinquisitxor @thereadingchallengechallenge @logarithmicpanda @tinynavajoreads @rae-laxing and anyone else who'd like to share!

[nedlittle]

you’ve heard of the best books of 2022, now get ready for my WORST books of 2022!!!

tamburlaine must die by louise welsh ⭐

“very interesting that francis walsingham plays an important role considering that he DIED THREE YEARS EARLIER OH MY GOD.”

murder in the crooked house by sōji shimada (tr. louise heal kawai) ⭐

“i can't even say that they're pieces on a chess board because at least those have defined purposes. the characters in this book are blank-slate checkers pieces trapped in the absolute stupidest game of mousetrap in the history of mankind.”

murder between the lines (kitty weekes #2) by radha vatsal ⭐.25

“i marked the plot v. character driving force question as n/a because there is simply no action in this "book" love and light “

singapore sapphire (harriet gordon mysteries #1) by a.m. stuart ⭐.5

“oh so this is like COLONIAL-colonial singapore. the only characters that matter are white and singaporeans are either shoved to the side or killed unceremoniously, present only as bodies rather than people. “

tidepool by nicole wilson ⭐.5

“the ending is drawn out for several chapters of exposition that nobody asked for, leaving TIDEPOOL as lifeless and bloated as the corpses that litter its beach. by the end, very little has changed, and even less has been said.”

the partly cloudy patriot by sarah vowell ⭐.75

“the older i get [..] the less tolerance i have for sarah vowell's tone-deaf-american-exceptionalism-neoliberal-schtick. i think that's all i have to say on that point because the political writing in this book speaks for itself.”

rooks & romanticide by j. i. radke ⭐.75

“exoticism is cool if you're writing mediocre white gay romance i guess. i'm so tired. i have a migraine from typing this up.”

a botanist’s guide to parties & poison (saffron everleigh mysteries #1) by kate khavari ⭐.75

“the romance couldn't be more forced if kate khavari inserted ff.net-style author's notes midway through the text to threaten the characters to act more in love so she doesn't kill them off”

murder in old bombay (captain jim & lady diana mysteries #1) by nev march ⭐.75

“[...] would be outpaced by a one-legged tortoise!”

a haunted history of invisible women: true stories of america’s ghosts by leanna renee hieber and andrea janes ⭐.75

when you posit the past (sorry, The Past™) as one endless stream of drudgery and violence and the present (sorry, The Present™) as a utopia for human rights correcting centuries of structural oppression, then not only do you flatten the experiences of marginalized people then, you also flatten the experiences of marginalized people now!