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Unearthing Spooky Stories in San Francisco and Beyond #HLAS #hereliesastory

Last week, a historic plantation burned to the gro

Last week, a historic plantation burned to the ground in a mysterious fire.

Was it -

🔥The Ancestors taking revenge?

🔥The ghosts of all of the enslaved humans buried onsite rising up?

🔥 An electrical fire what the hell is wrong with you guys?

🔥 OR CURSED DOLL ARSON?

We are diving into the story of plantation resorts (barf), the legend of Annabelle the haunted doll (cool but probably fake) and the extremely American miasma of guilt, denial, and capital that got us to this meme. Link in bio or check your inboxes!

If you would like my smoking hot ghost takes ON DEMAND, you can sign up the newsletter, too!

🎸 ROBERT JOHNSON AND THE DEAL WITH THE DEVIL 🎸

Have you guys seen Sinners??? Aka the best movie this year and YES I AM INCLUDING MY BELOVED NOSFERATU!! Well, we are talking about the movie and the legend it eludes - Robert Johnson, the father of Delta Blues and American Rock and Roll - on the blog.

This story has everything:

⚡️ A deal with the Devil

⚡️ An @atlasobscura endorsed monument

⚡️ Incredible music

⚡️ Stories of OTHER Faustian bargains

⚡️ Mild screeching about the vampirism of American capitalist culture

⚡️ Mild pontificating about METAPHORICAL crossroads, mmkay?

⚰️⚰️⚰️

✝️ POPE FRANCIS’ FUNERAL ✝️ The world i

✝️ POPE FRANCIS’ FUNERAL ✝️

The world is tuned into the colorful, arcane rituals of a Vatican funeral this week. Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday - right after meeting JD Vance! Crazy! Never trust a trad convert but also we do appreciate the drama!

I wrote about the process of the Pope’s funeral, the different stations of mourning, and the legacy that Francis I left the world. His ring is broken! Coins are minted! New 2024 rules apply! As far as popes go, I thought Francis was a pretty cool guy, and I think he did justice to St. Francis’ name. I think he is a popular specifically because of his deep love for all of Earth’s creatures - not just the rich, pious, or powerful.

Link in bio, or look for it in your inbox if you subscribe!

🗞️SUPPORT THE CNDC 🗞️ The California Di

🗞️SUPPORT THE CNDC 🗞️

The California Digital News Collection at UC Riverside is an incredible free research database that archives California newspapers going back to 1846. Tons of journalists, authors, and researchers use this resource, and it’s an important part of public history in our state.

BAD NEWS: The legislature wants to cut their funding, which would shutter the site.

GOOD NEWS: You can help! Contact the state representatives and tell them to preserve funding for this critical resource! I made it super easy - go to the link in bio for the email addresses and template you need!

“I don’t have to tell my readers that things are whack right now. The administration is using keyword searches and corny AI prompts to gut the American digital landscape of all references to women, LGBTQ, minority groups, climate change, civil rights, and who knows what else. They want to put the people’s history in a memory hole, and we have to stop them.

You don’t realize how important resources like this are until they’re gone. Journalists, scholars, historians, and authors rely on the CDNC to do critical research – research that keeps the project of American history alive. If you love work like mine, then you love the CDNC. How else am I supposed to write about how the sandy soil that covered the burials at Yerba Buena cemetery would frequently blow off exposing the coffins? Or how Islais Creek was once an overflowing “hell broth” of human, animal, industrial waste? Or that “One Eyed Welchy” haunted the old Sailor’s Home, telling tales of pirate ghosts and TERRIBLE WORKING CONDITIONS HOW DO YOU THINK HE GOT THAT ONE EYE?”

This is an easy and free way to preserve California history for the people. Go ahead and send some emails, friends.

🩶 SUPPORT MAIDEN LANE - THE FILM 🩶 We here

🩶 SUPPORT MAIDEN LANE - THE FILM 🩶

We here at HLAS love a good story about a local underdog, a hidden history, the seedy underbelly of Gold Rush capitalism, the false premises of our libertine past, and most of all, we love the ladies.

In other words, we love everything about this new project - @maidenlanefilm This film follows women who come to Victorian-era California seeking adventure and opportunities, and turn to sex work to support themselves. It’s based on @shmivy_shmaderson and Devon Angus’ incredible book “Alice: Memoir of a Barbary Coast Prostitute.” The script is full of compelling characters and settings, it is of the past but also of the present. As anyone who follows my work knows, a lot of the problems of the past never went away.

From the filmmakers:
“Maiden Lane” is a period drama with a surprisingly modern perspective that moves beyond sensational or stigmatized portrayals of prostitution, instead treating it like any other “bullshit job”. Our protagonist, Adeline (known as “Alice” in the underworld) is neither a victim nor a free agent; she, like everyone else, must survive in a dog-eat-dog world ruled by wealthy white men. Her choices are limited by her gender and class, and sex work is not empowering per se, but it does save her life. We see this film as a protest piece against contemporary policies that target sex workers, the poor, and women in general, and as a celebration of found family and resilient communities.”

The best news is YOU can help make this movie a reality! The film is seeking backers at all levels - check the link in my bio or visit their page @maidenlanefilm. This is your chance to help amazing local cretaors make some truly compelling art about San Francisco. 🎬

💾 THE ZIZIANS 💾 Today we’re diving into t

💾 THE ZIZIANS 💾

Today we’re diving into the convoluted, insane story of the Zizian cult. They were in the Bay Area!
They formed as a violent off shoot to another weird cult like tech movement! They lived on boats! They were vegans! THEY KILLED EIGHT PEOPLE.

I spent many, many hours listening to podcasts about these people and the dark shit they got into, and distilled it into a post that hopefully makes it a little easier to understand. I also want to remind everyone about the long line of death cults that came out of San Francisco, and why. Ziz is not the first psychotic weirdo to wield an army of robotic killers in the Bay Area. Link in bio, babes.

If you’re signed up for the newsletter, it’s coming to you direct, hot off the Wordpress 🔥

🔪 JACK THE RIPPER’S DNA 🔪 Well, Jack the R

🔪 JACK THE RIPPER’S DNA 🔪
Well, Jack the Ripper is back in the news. Russell Edwards, an author who has written about the crimes, thinks that he has found the identity of the murderer. He argues that DNA has linked one of the victims - Katherine Eddowes - to one of the suspects - Aaron Kosminski. This is actually an old story from 2019 and I’m not a hundred percent sure why it’s showing up again, but I am endlessly interested in this case and I HAVE SOME THOUGHTS.

”I think what I really want to say about this DNA test is that I think it’s marketing. Ripperology is its own industry. Hundreds of people make money leading tours, operating museums, writing books, podcasts, and websites devoted to these 130 year old murders. As a culture, we are still obsessed with the Whitechapel murders, and there’s always money and attention to be made - both off of preserving the mystery AND pushing a theory of a particular killer. To be clear, I’m not down on it. People love true crime and they always have. It’s always been a genre tinged with exploitation and gross elements, but HEY - THAT’S HUMANITY.”

Full post on the site at hereliesastory.com OR link in bio, and if you subscribe, look for the email! 💌

🐦‍⬛ NEWSLETTER TOMORROW 🐦‍⬛ In whic

🐦‍⬛ NEWSLETTER TOMORROW 🐦‍⬛

In which we cover some fun, newish stories and discuss why these jerk ass birds in the city aren’t coming to my new bird feeder. Don’t they know I need it FOR MY SOUL?!

Sign up link in bio or at hereliesastory.com

🏛️ ACKNOWLEDGE THE SHADOWS 🏛️ I had the

🏛️ ACKNOWLEDGE THE SHADOWS 🏛️

I had the honor of attending Quinn Keck’s exhibit, “Whispers of Incongruences,” on Friday night at Seven Mirrors Gallery in Oakland. Together with Luz Marina Ruiz, this show explores the themes of cycles and repetition, using bookmaking as an art form. Keck and Ruiz write that “to acknowledge the shadows is to shift our attention, to see there is no I in the vacuum of space.”

Keck’s work is a 3D lucite rendering of the Legion of Honor Museum, made of removable panels inscribed with quotes about the cemetery that lies beneath the institution. The transparency of the plastic, etched with bones and words, is an incredible representation of the history that lies hidden on the site. Keck’s work brings forth the legacy of the obscure dead, scaffolding the foundation of a museum dedicated to classical history and art. The bones are hidden, but ever present. To me, they are a fascinating and necessary element of the museum’s history.

I have written about how both the people and the bones at Lincoln Park were unwanted. They were viewed in life, and in death, as a nuisance, an unhappy obligation, an obstacle to the people and stories that really matter. As awareness of the cemetery at this site grows, we have an opportunity to see how these lives and remains are actually foundational to the city of San Francisco, and an incredible asset to the story of the Legion, which was founded as a memorial to dead of WWI. To my mind, the incongruence featured in Keck’s work is a gift to contemporary artists, curators, funders, and citizens - to acknowledge it is to uncover the deep roots of San Francisco’s past, giving us the opportunity to embrace them, adding richness to our understanding of the past and present.

Definitely go check this exhibit out!

@running.from.the.silence.press
@seven.mirrors
@legionofhonor

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The Lost Cemeteries of San Francisco

Find out what happened to the cemeteries of San Francisco: where they were, why they were moved, and how the hell did so many graves get left behind?

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Support the California Digital Newspaper Collection

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Apr 15, 2025 | Assorted Spookies

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