In this episode of Haunted History Chronicles, I’m joined by authors Andrea Janes and Leanna Renee Hieber, the minds behind America’s Most Gothic, to explore the chilling truth behind Gothic tropes — and the real people whose lives were even darker than fiction.

Fog-drenched mansions, oppressive family dynasties, forbidden rooms, madness, obsession and death… we tend to associate these with novels and cinema. But Andrea and Leanna reveal how many of the Gothic’s most enduring themes are rooted in documented history, lived experience, and genuine tragedy. From vampire panics and cursed landscapes to women silenced, punished or driven to the edge, this conversation uncovers the unsettling overlap between reality, folklore and the supernatural and how these are not imagined horrors — they are echoes of lives shaped by fear, power, repression and loss.

Brooding, atmospheric and deeply human, this episode asks why the Gothic continues to haunt us — and what it reveals about the darkness woven into history itself. Settle in… some stories are meant to linger.

My Special Guests Are Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes:   

Leanna Renee Hieber is an actress, playwright, artist and the award-winning, bestselling author of Gothic Victorian Fantasy novels for adults and teens such as the Strangely Beautiful, Eterna Files, Magic Most Foul and the bestselling Spectral City series. She grew up in rural Ohio inventing ghost stories, graduating with a BFA in Theatre and a focus in the Victorian Era from Miami University. Her books have been translated into many languages and have been selected for multiple book club editions. An enthusiastic public speaker about the history of the Gothic novel, she loves nothing more than a good ghost story and a finely tailored corset, wandering graveyards and adventuring around New York City, where she also works as a ghost tour guide for Boroughs of the Dead.

Andrea Janes tells ghost stories for a living. She is the co-author of A Haunted History of Invisible Women and the owner and founder of Boroughs of the Dead, a boutique tour company dedicated to dark and unusual walking tours of New York City. She is currently at work on a Middle Grade historical fantasy novel set in New Amsterdam. Her personal obsessions include weird history, slapstick comediennes, witches, ghosts, all things nautical, and beer. She lives in Brooklyn where she can usually be found by the ocean or near a cemetery.

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Guest Links⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Websites:⁠ https://www.leannareneehieber.com/ 

https://boroughsofthedead.com/ 

Link To Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Americas-Most-Gothic-Haunted-Stranger-ebook/dp/B0DLQYQ8SP?ref_=ast_author_dp_rw&th=1&psc=1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Tfe2CbhauvI79PMeZoax5oJeBLDS6lgWTrfrorAjyYbTnh4LnoaqNYXDS9p3A0D0fSTJq5Xv0AhH5CP8KlAY4NaC5JEfQjb984-V4QxnaFLMNgRzQbjU4YXixVTN7OM7TvNMXpnIYyK6iznTDVCezw.t3aAtxJmgJ0_c4hspGHjj8k3H1dTpO-ERp7y6hiN_eE&dib_tag=AUTHOR