My Dearest Ghost Adventurers,
HAPPY OCTOBER! This is the first year that I’ve been able to plan a whole calendar of Halloween material for Instagram, and I’m so excited to share it with you weirdos!!
Listen – the past 18 months have been dark enough. I didn’t plan to start a ghost empire in the middle of a fucking pandemic, and last year was still too depressing to really enjoy the holiday. We did a drive-through haunted house, FFS.
I want to fill this October with fun content that will make you feel like a *healthy/normal* death obsessed goth. So here’s what’s coming up! If you’re not already on Instagram, visit @here_lies_a_story to check it out. We have a new theme every week – here’s what’s up we’re serving up!
Witches
I love witches! The creepy cinematic ones, the real life practitioners, the unfairly accused. We’re hitting the highlights of the best witch movies, books, and accounts to follow. Queue this shit up!
Movies and TV:
- The Craft (1996)
- The Witch (2015)
- Marianne (2019, Netflix)
- Luna Roja/Lúa vermella (foreign release, Spain 2020)
- MacBeth (2015)
Books:
- The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem – Stacy Schiff
- Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World – Judika Illes
- Hedgewitch Book of Days: Spells, Rituals, and Recipes for the Magical Year – Mandy Mitchel
To Follow:
- #witchtok on TikTok!
- @damienechols
- @magick.me
- @blood.moon.bruja
- @hauswitch
- @hausofhoodoo
Pagans, the Occult, & Halloween History
You know I *love* European folk history and especially the creepy old Celtic shit. I wrote a whole post about it last year! Many of my ancestors came to America from Ireland, and I love to imagine them eons ago, building passage graves and fairy rings and lighting bonfires to keep the dead away on Samhain. The shit is in my DNA. I’m calling it the cousin of the occult, because a lot of it feels related. Don’t overthink it.
Here Lies Content:
(Obviously I have to plug THIS VERY SITE FIRST, you guys)
- Halloween Part 1: The Veil
- Halloween Part 2: Mischief and Mayhem
- Instagram Halloween Story! For those of you who are visual learners, lol
Movies:
Books:
- Occult, Witchcraft and Magic, an Illustrated History – Christopher Dell
- Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll – Peter Bebergal
- Halloween in America: Contemporary Customs and Performances (this is an article on JStor – You should be able to log in with your local library card!)
To Follow:
One Last Thing
I just found this excellent online exhibit by the Camron Stanford House in Oakland:
Morbid Desire – The Victorian Fascination with Death
Check it out! Lots of great information with curated photos and illustrations. Absolutely perfect Fall Viewing Material.
Happy scrolling, friends!
Xoxo,
Court