Ghosts Were People Too

Annabelle Bonebrake and Quest Zeidler
  • 5.0 (4)
  • DOCUMENTARY

Where do ghosts dwell? It seems just about everywhere: television, film, photography, theater, video games, folk songs, and even your family vacations. Oh the humanties! Join your hosts Quest and Annabelle on cultural ghost tour in Ghosts Were People Too, a podcast that investigates ghosts through the lens of the arts & humanities.

  1. 17 - Ouija Boards (Happy Halloween 2025!)

    10/28/2025

    17 - Ouija Boards (Happy Halloween 2025!)

    In this Halloween special, Quest and Annabelle talk about the poetics, play, and "dangers" of the Ouija board. Make contact: @ghostswerepeopletoo (tumblr/instagram) gwp2pod@gmail.com Bibliography:“‘The Medium is the Message in the Spacious Present’: Channeling, Television, and the New Age” by Hugh Urban, in Handbook of Spiritualism and Channeling, ed. Cathy Gutierrez “​​Parlor Games: Play and Social Life in the Haunted House” in Supernatural Entertainments: Victorian Spiritualism and the Rise of Modern Media Culture by Simone Natale “Wars and Ouija: Spiritualism in the Twentieth Century” in Calling the Spirits by Lisa Morton “An Aesthetic History of the Ouija Board’ by Jesse Ryan Erickson, in Printing History “James Merrill, Sylvia Plath, and the Poetics of Ouija” by Helen Sword in American Literature, vol. 66, no. 3, 1994 https://doi.org/10.2307/2927604

    1h 38m
  2. 16 - I Do, I Do, I Did! The Bride(s) of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion

    08/26/2025

    16 - I Do, I Do, I Did! The Bride(s) of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion

    In this, the first of our series on Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, Annabelle and Quest climb into the attic to uncover its ghostly brides, gothic backstory, and Disney’s spooky-funny balance. From the Beating Heart Bride to Constance Hatchaway, we ask what this haunted attic reveals about our fears, our histories, and our love of ghosts. Make contact: @ghostswerepeopletoo (tumblr/instagram) gwp2pod@gmail.com Bibliography: Davison, Carol Margaret. “Southern Gothic: Haunted Houses.” The Palgrave Handbook of the Southern Gothic, edited by Susan Castillo Street and Charles L. Crow, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, pp. 57–74 Donovan-Condron, Kellie. “Twisted Sisters: The Monstrous Women of Southern Gothic.” The Palgrave Handbook of the Southern Gothic, edited by Susan Castillo Street and Charles L. Crow, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, pp. 369–83. Giles, David. “The Thousandth Happy Haunt: Legends of Burial and Haunting at Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion.” Western Folklore, vol. 74, no. 3/4, 2015, pp. 297–316. Martens, Todd. “First Look: Disneyland’s Original Haunted Mansion Returns with a Heartbreaking New Scene.” Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2025. Steiner, Michael. “Frontierland as Tomorrowland: Walt Disney and the Architectural Packaging of the Mythic West.” Montana: The Magazine of Western History, vol. 48, no. 1, 1998, pp. 2–17. Surrell, Jason. The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic. Disney Editions, 2009. Tromp, Marlene. “‘Throwing the Wedding-Shoe’: Foundational Violence, Unhappy Couples, and Murderous Women.” Victorian Review, vol. 20, no. 2, 1994, pp. 36–54. Truffin, Sherry R. “New Orleans as Gothic Capital.” The Palgrave Handbook of the Southern Gothic, edited by Susan Castillo Street and Charles L. Crow, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, pp. 151–65. Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew. “Hidden Histories: The Many Ghosts of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion.” Disney Gothic: Dark Shadows in the House of Mouse. Edinburgh University Press, 2019, pp. 29–46.

    2h 14m
  3. 15 - Tina...!!! A Nightmare on Elm Street

    07/07/2025

    15 - Tina...!!! A Nightmare on Elm Street

    Dreams, collective trauma, stranger danger, groomer panic, queer death drive/queer evil, and media horror - it's all lurking below the surface in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Make contact: @ghostswerepeopletoo (tumblr/instagram) gwp2pod@gmail.com Bibliography Edelman, Lee. No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive. Duke University Press, 2004. Kendrick, James. “Razors in the Dreamscape: Revisiting A Nightmare on Elm Street and the Slasher Film.” Cinema Journal, vol. 50, no. 1, Fall 2010, pp. 60-78. Lieberman, Tucker. “The Trail of His Flames.” The American Reader, vol. 5, no. 1, Fall 2019. Schildcrout, Jordan. Murder Most Queer: The Homicidal Homosexual in the American Theater. University of Michigan Press, 2014. Thomsen, Morten Feldtfos. “‘Evil Never Dies, Right?’ Monstrous Mediation in the A Nightmare on Elm Street Film Series.” Journal of Aesthetics & Culture, vol. 16, no. 1, 2024.

    2h 13m
  4. 14 - The Haunting of Hill House (Part 2): Journeys End in Lovers Meeting

    01/07/2025

    14 - The Haunting of Hill House (Part 2): Journeys End in Lovers Meeting

    Part two of our Haunting of Hill House special! In this episode we discuss Hill House as a character, the origins of the Victorian haunted house trope, and how... every room becomes a mouth! Make contact: @ghostswerepeopletoo (tumblr/instagram) gwp2pod@gmail.com

    1h 54m
  5. 13 - The Haunting of Hill House (Prt. 1): AND They Were Roommates

    09/01/2024

    13 - The Haunting of Hill House (Prt. 1): AND They Were Roommates

    For our very special 13th episode, we present part one of a two-part series on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and its film adaptation The Haunting (1963). In part 1, we talk about the movie vs. the book, approaches to paranormal research, the Cult of True Womanhood, monstrous family systems, and Lesbians! Make contact: @ghostswerepeopletoo (tumblr/instagram) gwp2pod@gmail.com Bibliography “Walking Alone Together: Family Monsters in The Haunting of Hill House” by Richard Pascal Interview: Laurence Jackson Hyman on his mother Shirley: ‘Her work is so relevant now…’ by Rachel Cooke. The Guardian. “Opening Up” in Men, Women, and Chain Saws by Carol Clover The Haunting of Hill House, Introduction by Laura Miller “Walking Alone Together: Family Monsters in The Haunting of Hill House” by Richard Pascal in Studies in the Novel Queer for Fear, Episode 4 Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” American Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 2, 1966, pp. 151–74. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2711179. Accessed 31 Aug. 2024.

    2h 22m
  6. 12 - Ghosts in Folk Music

    04/01/2024

    12 - Ghosts in Folk Music

    Ballads and broadsides, sailors and skeletons, sisters and sampling, and... have you seen the ghost of John? Join us to talk about ghosts in folk music. We touch on some common themes and formats as well as academic approaches to analyzing and archiving folk tunes/lyrics. Come for the intertextuality, sociofunctionalism, politics, and anthropology-- stay for the boos. Want to sing along? Make contact: Make contact: @ghostswerepeopletoo gwp2pod@gmail.com Bibliography "Shall I Sing You a Ghost Story: The Nature and Purpose of Ghost Songs in Maritime Communities of Northern New England and Atlantic Canada" by Richard A. Blake (2019). All Graduate Plan B and other Reports. “Ghosts of Voices: Hauntology and Folk Music” by Eamon Byers. Folk Horror Revival: Harvest Hymns. Volume I- Twisted Roots, Volume 1"Folk Songs as Socio-Historical Documents" by John Greenway. Western Folklore, vol. 19, no. 1, 1960, pp. 1–9. JSTOR.“The English, Scottish, and American Versions of the ‘Twa Sisters’” by Archer Taylor, in The Journal of American Folklore“‘The Twa Sisters’—Going Which Way?” by Harbison Parker, in The Journal of American Folklore“Magical Corpses: Ballads, Intertextuality, and the Discovery of Murder” by David Atkinson, in Journal of Folklore Research“Comparativism and the Functional Contexts of Myths and Rituals”, from Mythography by William Doty“Maieutic, Creative Myth: Conveying Values and Systems of Interpreting Reality (Definition, part 2)”, from Mythography by William Doty"'Have You Seen The Ghost Of John” is a kids’ song that actually chills'" by Mariah Eakin. AV Club."“Ghost of John”: Appalachia’s Most Ghoulish Lullaby" by Musette. Medium. Songs Alan Mills (The Ghostly Sailors)-Accordion https://youtu.be/CpysXQtf1Y0?si=tbeb8EzPfeSZUpeJHoulihan (The Ghostly Sailors)-Acapella https://youtu.be/k7wbShaiZGg?si=83P6fIghjOiH-_qhHave You Seen the Ghost of John (Children Singing) https://youtu.be/6F9mcvX9pXE?si=zoSRCe_c2IM9kCs7“Binnorie (The Twa Sisters)” as sung by Custer LaRue ://youtu.be/rLBBg4MjO6oThe Geography by Belbury Polyhttps://youtu.be/vv4tsUg7MLQ

    2 hr
  7. 11 - Angela Deane Part 2: Wish You Were Here (Nostalgia, Leisure Photography, and Kitsch)

    01/03/2024

    11 - Angela Deane Part 2: Wish You Were Here (Nostalgia, Leisure Photography, and Kitsch)

    Baltimore-based artist Angela Deane paints sheet ghosts onto found photos. You might know Deane's work from the cover of Phoebe Bridgers' Stranger in the Alps (2017) or perhaps you've seen her ghosties elsewhere in the great digital regions beyond. This is part 2! Go check out part 1 (episode 10) We dare you. Here, we talk about nostalgia theory, leisure photography, and kitsch. Enjoy! Make contact: @ghostswerepeopletoo gwp2pod@gmail.com Bibliography https://angeladeane.com/home.html The Hours Have Lost Their Clock by Grafton Tanner The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap by Stephanie Coontz Scarbrough, Elizabeth. “Unimagined Beauty.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 72, no. 4, 2014, pp. 445–49. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43282368.  Kitson, Jennifer, and Kevin McHugh. “Historic Enchantments – Materializing Nostalgia.” Cultural Geographies, vol. 22, no. 3, 2015, pp. 487–508. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26168663. Goodwin, Sarah Webster. “Domesticity and Uncanny Kitsch in ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ and Frankenstein.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, vol. 10, no. 1, 1991, pp. 93–108. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/463954.  “Chapter 5: Chansonetta Stanley Emmons’s Nostalgic Views” from At the Edge of Sight: Photography and the Unseen by Shawn Michelle Smith

    1h 16m
  8. 10 - Angela Deane Part 1: Say Cheese! Absence, Presence, Spirit Photography & Deane's Ghost Paintings

    01/03/2024

    10 - Angela Deane Part 1: Say Cheese! Absence, Presence, Spirit Photography & Deane's Ghost Paintings

    Baltimore-based artist Angela Deane paints sheet ghosts onto found photos. You might know Deane's work from the cover of Phoebe Bridgers' Stranger in the Alps (2017) or perhaps you've seen her ghosties elsewhere in the great digital regions beyond. In this, part one of a two-part episode, we talk briefly about nostalgia (more on that in part 2), and then dig into Deane's artist statement. What does it mean to capture a moment in time? Photography as an art form plays with notions of presence and absence. How does spirit photography manage equations of presence and absence? How does Angela Deane play with these concepts in her Ghost Paintings? Then, we revisit theories and histories regarding spirit photography (see Episodes 1 & 2 for more) to contextualize the impact of Deane's contemporary take on image doctoring. Note: Annabelle now knows how to pronounce "Prarie Schooner" thanks to a two-second Google search. Whoops. Peace and Love. Make contact: @ghostswerepeopletoo gwp2pod@gmail.com Bibliography https://angeladeane.com/home.html Photography and Spirit by John Harvey, “Chapter 3: Art” At the Edge of Sight: Photography and the Unseen by Shawn Michelle Smith, “Chapter 5: Chansonetta Stanley Emmons’s Nostalgic Views” MORGAN, JAMES. “NOSTALGIA.” Prairie Schooner, vol. 8, no. 3, 1934, pp. 153–153. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40622498.

    1h 9m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Where do ghosts dwell? It seems just about everywhere: television, film, photography, theater, video games, folk songs, and even your family vacations. Oh the humanties! Join your hosts Quest and Annabelle on cultural ghost tour in Ghosts Were People Too, a podcast that investigates ghosts through the lens of the arts & humanities.

Information

  • Creator
    Annabelle Bonebrake and Quest Zeidler
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Ghosts Were People Too