Fascinated by Lizzie Borden, Sarah Winchester, and other wicked women??
This event was made for you. Join Leanna Renee Hieber as we talk about Haunted History of Invisible Women! Join us for a spooky signing and costume contest - the theme is Spooky Victorian, the spookier the better.
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 Womenoffers 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
Leanna Renee Hieber is an actress, playwright, ghost tour guide and the award-winning, bestselling author of Gothic, Gaslamp Fantasy novels such as the Strangely Beautiful and Spectral City series. A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America’s Ghosts, co-authored with Andrea Janes, examines the intersection of women’s history and ghost stories and was a Bram Stoker Award nominee for Superior Achievement in Non-fiction.
Leanna has been featured in film and television on shows like Mysteries at the Museum and Beyond the Unknown, discussing Victorian Spiritualism. She lectures around the country on themes of Gothic fiction, 19 th Century history and the paranormal. http://leannareneehieber.com
