Ghosts Were People Too

Happy Halloween! It's Spooky (Mulder) Season, so we're talking about ghosts in the X-Files S4E22 "Elegy". It's not the only X-Files episode with ghosts, but it's a particularly creepy one. We hope you enjoy our discussion of haunted bowling alleys, inconvenient nosebleeds, white woman Wednesday, and pills that make you a serial killer. What are ghosts? What are frogs? Listen even though you probably won't find out.

Mild content warning for discussion of femicide and ableism, specifically pertaining to people with autism.

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Bibliography

• The Official Guide to The X-Files: I Want to Believe by Andy Meisler
• “Current Superstitions. I. Omens of Death” by Fanny D. Bergen, W. M. Beauchamp, and W. W. Newell, in The Journal of American Folklore
• “Current Superstitions. II. Omens of Death (continued)” by Fanny D. Bergen, W. M. Beauchamp, and W. W. Newell, in The Journal of American Folklore
• “American Attitudes to Death” by Charles O. Jackson, in Journal of American Studies
• “Bowling Alone: In which she is me” by Emily St. James, in Monsters of the Week: The Complete Critical Companion to The X-Files by Zack Handlen & Emily St. James

Is Ghostbusters the most American movie ever made? Your Ghost Hosts answer this and other questions you never asked in Part II of II on Ghostbusters (1984). We discuss the iconic film through multiple critical lenses including immigration, invaders, Orientalism, Spiritualism, the Occult, and Ghosthunting Capitalism.

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Bibliography

“Opening Up” in Men, Women, and Chain Saws by Carol Clover

“Immigrants as aliens in the Ghostbusters films” by Zoila Clark

Orientalism by Edward Said

Anderson, Matthew N., and Collin L. Brown. ""We're Ready to Believe You!": Spiritualism and the Interpretation of Paranormal Experience in Ghostbusters (1984)." The Paranormal and Popular Culture, 2019, pp. 133-146.

Podcast Episode: “How the Evangelical Machine Got Made” by The Experiment 

Podcast Series: The Orange Wave: A History of the Religious Right Since 1960

https://www.apollo-magazine.com/rudolf-steiner-occult-modernism/

https://superweirdsubstance.com/nikola-tesla/

Bustin' makes me feel... bad? What was meant to be an "easy, breezy, beautiful" 80s night became a two-part "cold hard research" episode. In part one, Quest and Annabelle give their first impressions of Ghostbusters (1984). They also unpack the "totemic nostalgia" of the original franchise and explore the film through the lens of the monstrous-feminine and possession.

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Bibliography

“Opening Up” in Men, Women, and Chain Saws by Carol Clover

“Immigrants as aliens in the Ghostbusters films” by Zoila Clark, in Australasian Journal of Popular Culture

“The Monstrous-Feminine: An Imaginary Abjection” by Barbara Creed

“Busters Behind the Ghosts” by Joanna Lipari, in Film Comment

“‘Now That I Have It, I Don’t Want It’: Vocation and Obligation in Contemporary Hollywood Ghost Films” by James A. Miller, in Folklore/Cinema: Popular Film as Vernacular Culture

THE HORROR OF NOSTALGIA: CHASING GHOSTS IN THE HOLLOW KIND by Andy Davidson

“Bitches Ain’t Gonna Hunt No Ghosts”: Totemic Nostalgia, Toxic Fandom and the Ghostbusters Platonic by William Proctor in Palabra Clave.

What are the cultural and artistic origins of spooky floating sheets? It's a familiar kitschy image with shrouded beginnings. Let's talk about little tamale men, skeleton trios, Obi-Wan Kenobi, ghost impersonators, pantyhose, and more. Plus, enjoy some cringe-worthy red-carpet commentary on medieval and Elizabethan art.

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@ghostswerepeopletoo (Bonus: See images from this episode here!)

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Bibliography

• “Why Ghosts Wear White Sheets (And Other Spectral Silliness)” by Rae Alexandra for KQED
• “Assault, Robbery, and Murder: The Dark History of ‘Bedsheet Ghosts’” by Lucas Reilly for Mental Floss
• “Why Are Ghosts Depicted Wearing Bedsheets?” by Spencer McDaniel for Tales of Times Forgotten
• “Playing Dead: Staging Corpses, Ghosts, and Statues in Early Modern Drama” by Sarah Outterson-Murphy
• The Ghost: A Cultural History by Susan Owens

Luigi is no longer second banana in the GameCube cult classic Luigi's Mansion (2001). In this episode, we talk about doubling, haunted portraits, haunted houses, ludic space, and so much more. Will video games be the next frontier of storytelling and critical research? Is Luigi, a plumber from Brooklyn, a working class hero? Let's talk about it on Ghosts Were People Too.

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Bibliography

“Ludic Space in Horror Fiction” by Onni Mustonen, in Mediating Vulnerability

“The Great Staging of Luigi's Mansion” by B-Mask“Haunted Houses” in Haunting Experiences: Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore by Diane E. Goldstein

“What Makes Luigi’s Mansion So Special?” by DuoStuff/Game Over Analysis

Luigi’s Mansion (2001) – Game Footage

Gothic Tropes: Animate Portraits and Tapestries by The Gothic Library, https://www.thegothiclibrary.com/gothic-tropes-animate-portraits-and-tapestries/

Haggerty, George E. “Gothic Portraits.” The Eighteenth Century, vol. 57, no. 1, 2016, pp. 141–44. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/eighcent.57.1.141.

Kamilla Elliott. Portraiture and British Gothic Fiction: The Rise of Picture Identification, 1764–1835, Portraiture and British Gothic Fiction. JHU Press, 2012

Cartoons and ghosts go way back, from spooky magic lantern shows to Disney's first spooky-scary Silly Symphony. In this episode, we talk about the relationship between scary and funny, as well as the roles ghosts play in contemporary cartoons, particularly select episodes of Spongebob Squarepants and Adventure Time.

Episodes Discussed

• Spongebob Squarepants, “Scaredy Pants” (S1E13a)
• Spongebob Squarepants, “Graveyard Shift” (S2E16a)
• Spongebob Squarepants, “The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom” (S11E5)
• Adventure Time, “Heat Signature” (S2, E26)
• Adventure Time, “Ghost Fly” (S6E17)
• Adventure Time, “Blank-Eyed Girl” (S7E19)

Also Mentioned

• Spongebob Squarepants, "Shanghaied" (S2E13a)
• Spongebob Squarepants, "Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost" (S1E11b)

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Bibliography

Dark Places by Barry Curtis

“Horror and Humor” by Noël Carroll. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism Vol. 57, No. 2, Aesthetics and Popular Culture (Spring, 1999), pp. 145-160 (16 pages)

Tonight we lead by counter-example as we explore Noël Coward's 1941 play Blithe Spirit by way of its movie adaptations. They could have been better, and that's interesting!

Hour 1: After discussing David Lean's challenges in making the 1945 film adaptation, including limitations of Hays code-era filmmaking, Annabelle gives a scathing review of the newly "liberated" 2020 Edward Hall version. Hour 2: Quest offers his theatrical expertise to lead a conversation about Blithe Spirit's value as a live performance and how the play is uniquely suited to the stage. We also discuss gender roles, category crisis (presence and absence, skepticism/belief, monogamy/polygamy), class hauntings, and sexuality.

There will be spoilers, but we hope they won't discourage you from seeking out a script, performance, or (maybe) a cinematic version of this wonderful play about marriage, mediumship, and of course, ghosts.

Note: This episode is marked explicit for some mild cursing and a very brief discussion of sexual content.

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Bibliography

Noel Coward and Radclyffe Hall: Kindred Spirits by Terry Castle

‘Blithe Spirit’ Review: Flat, Dated Resurrection of Noël Coward Farce Proves Some Things Are Better Left Dead," Guy Lodge for Variety (2020)

In this episode, Annabelle talks about spirit photography and its connections to the history of photography as a technology and artistic medium. We also discuss the infamous Mumler trial and how it is a great example of 19th-century attitudes toward skepticism, faith, and death. Finally, we wrap up our discussion of Spiritualism (for now) with reflections on the scale of the Spiritualist movement (hint: it was huge) and why it still matters today. Also, if you listen to the end, Quest, by popular demand, tells you what was up with D.D. Hume and those Russian emeralds.

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Bibliography

• The Apparitionists by Peter Manseau
• Calling the Spirits by Lisa Morton, Chapter 4: The Victorians and Spiritualism; or, The Seance is Born
• Looking Askance: Skepticism and American Art from Eakins to Duchamp by Michael Leja
• “The Medium on the Stage: Theatricality and Performance in the Spirit Séance” from Supernatural Entertainments by Simone Natale
• “Where Paranoid Meets the Paranormal: Speculations on Spirit Photography” by Louis Kaplan May 2014Art Journal 62(3):18-27

Links and Further Reading

• Conrad Young, Contemporary Tintype Photographer in Southern California: https://www.conradfilm.com/
• Last Photo of Abraham Lincoln: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/12/28/lincoln-death-photo/
• Vice on ghost photography: https://youtu.be/Xsx6xqi0vzU
• (Our Queen) Caitlin Doughty on spirit photography: https://youtu.be/BNuV6bRStXU
• More on Death and the American Civil War: This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust

In part one of this two-part series on Spiritualism, the medium is the message. We talk about the history of the 19th-century Spiritualist movement and its significance in American culture. Quest explains how seances were performed and tells us about big names in the business such as the Fox sisters, the Davenport Brothers, and D.D. Home.

Tune in to part two for a continued discussion of Spiritualism and its connection with the development of the technology and art of photography.

Make contact:

@ghostswerepeopletoo

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Bibliography

“Chapter 4: The Victorians and Spiritualism; or, The Seance is Born” from Calling the Spirits by Lisa Morton

“The Medium on the Stage: Theatricality and Performance in the Spirit Séance” from Supernatural Entertainments by Simone Natale

Spectres of the Self by Shane McCorristine (Ch 5 and Epilogue)

Ghosts of Futures Past by Molly McGarry (Ch 1)

In this episode, Annabelle and Quest introduce themselves and explain the mission of this podcast. We ask the question "What is a ghost?" and discuss some foundational theories that will guide us in the ensuing episodes including a brief history of ghosts, types of ghosts, Monster Theory (by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen), gothic literature, and abjection. 

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Bibliography

Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” published in Monster Theory: Reading Culture, ed. Cohen

“To Be Haunted” by Jessie Lynn McMains

Chapter 1: Introduction and Chapter 2: What Are (And Are Not) Ghosts? from Ghosts: A Haunted History by Lisa Morton

“Introduction: Conceptualizing Spectralities” from The Spectralities Reader: Ghosts and Haunting in Contemporary Cultural Theory, ed. María del Pilar Blanco and Esther Peeren

“The Gothic-Theory Conversation: An Introduction” and “Abjection as Gothic and the Gothic as Abjection” from The Gothic and Theory, ed. Jerrold E. Hogle and Robert Miles

Goddu T. A. (1997). Gothic America: Narrative History and Nation. Columbia University Press.