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Queer Hauntings is available now on Amazon.com and soon on Amazon.co.uk!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this website are solely those of the author and may not reflect the opinions of the businesses mentioned on the site. Any endorsements of products and/or services herein are the sole responsibility of the website owner and subject to his discretion and whim.

The names and sexual orientations of the individuals mentioned on this site are presumed to be accurate. Any discussion involving the sexuality of these people is not intended to degrade or demoralize the individual.

 

A glimpse inside Queer Hauntings...

 

 

Introduction

There is an underlying terror of death deep within human consciousness. Life’s greatest mystery awaits us after we exhale our last breath. Heaven or hell, blackness or rebirth, it’s all philosophical speculation. As human beings, we wish to matter and have purpose. There must be some reward for life’s insufferable journey. When our light snuffs out, we hope for an envisioned continuance in the afterlife.

Death, to the spiritually minded, is but a doorway, opening out of our mortal existence. While our bones crumble to dust in subterranean coffins, the soul continues its infinite journey. Some passageways lead the spirits of the dead back to our conscious world, hiding in shadows and haunting our homes. But these skeletons are not the only monsters sharing quarters with shoes and coat hangers. Behind closet doors, we hide an assortment of secrets and personal demons.

The term “coming out of the closet” is used to describe the shedding of some secret life, predominantly the embarrassed silence and denial of homosexuality. This rebirth of self-identity can be painful, isolating, and, in less-accepting circles, dangerous. Some gays and lesbians choose to live out their lives in confidentiality, taking their sexual identities with them to the grave. Others proclaim their gayness to the world with lifted voices. It’s a decision each person must make individually.

In reading tales of ghosts and hauntings, themes of fear and rejection recur with much regularity. Lonely souls seek acknowledgement from the living so that their lives are not forgotten. This terror of abandonment is shared by the many gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals deciding whether to share their truth with friends and relatives. No one, living or deceased, wants to feel invisible and unloved.

Yet some ghosts are invisible. The best-known ghost stories and haunted places revolve around heterosexual entities. Gowned ladies eternally wait for their male lovers, happily-married couples and their children loiter in their favorite homes. Many other tales surround ambiguous specters, demonic possessions, and unearthly animals. Feminine men and butch women are not often to be found, and when a haunting displays homosexual characteristics, it is often rejected, scoffed at, or ignored by paranormal investigators.

In this book, you will find some of the many pink phantoms and lavender apparitions which have fallen through the cracks. From the urban streets of New Orleans and London to the isolated countryside of Zanzibar and the United States, Queer Hauntings lifts the veil separating sexual orientation from supernatural activity and explores the other side of the metaphysical closet. Ghosts of legendary celebrities mingle with ordinary individuals. Horrific murders, forgotten history, and strange characters emerge once more as their stories are retold.

Though there are undeniable gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals discussed in these chapters, some characters have been at the center of much debate surrounding their sexuality. Not everyone was forthcoming with his or her personal proclivities in life; absolute knowledge often is taken to the grave. These assumptions and deductions are part of the collective myth surrounding these people and are by no means to assume that they may not have been bisexual, curious, or misinterpreted by friends, historians, and investigators. They fall under a broad spectrum of queer identities. This in no way reflects upon their character. Sexuality is not intended to be taboo with paranormal claims nor should it be. Identifying someone as gay, bisexual, or straight is not a moral judgment: it’s a human trait.

Background information is provided for many of the identified spirits to give a sense of their humanity. While they are deceased, they once lived and loved as you or I. Who they were in life is as valid and important as their behavior in the afterlife. Though historical research has pieced together many mysteries of several queer hauntings, some of the dead retain their secrets. Detailed records chronicling the lives of everyday individuals were not always kept. Incomplete facts have been left as they are; several enigmas remain a mystery.

Scattered throughout the pages are a handful of GLBT businesses hiding more than just shy lovers in darkened corners. Phantoms ignore rainbow flags and techno beats. Their desire to be seen or heard outweighs reluctance toward major renovations in their surroundings. Most specific locations mentioned are accessible to the public, giving the reader an opportunity to explore and experience possible paranormal activity for him or herself.

Whether you’re looking for a spooky experience on an upcoming trip or a creepy story for a chilly autumn night, this book offers something for everyone. Now, new meaning can be given to the expression “gay haunt”. And perhaps, this might inspire the next gay or lesbian ghost hunter to see beyond traditional haunted houses and explore a queerer side of the paranormal realm.

Copyright © 2009 Lethe Press. All rights reserved.

 

.:[ Click Here for a Sample Chapter ]:.