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!

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.

Two hands hold a decorated animal skull with antlers over a lit candle amidst small pumpkins on the ground with more burning candles

One Last Thing

The wood paneled interior of a Victorian study showing a desk with heavy candlesticks and carved figures with a collection of ink pots

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