spooky scholars assemble: the first ghost hunter deserves a read

In honor of Women's History Month, let's pour one out for the first ghost huntress!

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos in this post are taken by yours truly on various ghostly pursuits.

If you’ve ever watched a ghost hunting group on TV, you might notice some interesting dynamics. Many of the more popular shows are heavily dominated by men. If women make a cameo, they typically fit a trope of either the psychic or the witch. Leave the tech gadgets and demon provoking to the men, ok?

Nothing wrong with men.. or psychics.. or witches. Love witches. But where are the women leading investigations? Or for that matter, the people of color, queer investigators, or those from other underrepresented backgrounds?

The paranormal community, like many others, would benefit from showcasing a wider range of perspectives and voices. After all, if we believe that anyone can become a ghost, bringing diverse representation to an investigation can only improve communication.

So why aren’t there more women at the forefront? Could it be that their approach is often less aggressive, less dramatic, and dare I say… less 'emotional'? Don’t come for me, Zak Bagans!

What if I told you that the first modern ghost hunter—one of the most influential paranormal researchers of all time—was a woman? Enter badass Catherine Crowe (1790–1892).

Public domain image of Catherine Crowe. The University of Kent’s Catherine Crowe Collection includes a framed photograph of a pen and ink sketch portrait, believed to be an authentic likeness of Catherine Crowe (1790-1872).

In 1854, Catherine Crowe led a team of women and men to investigate a haunted house in Edinburgh, Scotland. She had been compiling and publishing folklore, ghost stories, and paranormal chronicles for years before she decided to take matters into her own hands and start seeking them out for herself.

“She enlisted a clairvoyant and several esteemed members of the community to make contact with the spirits of those murdered on the premises and dutifully recorded their experiences. Crowe and the clairvoyant observed “waves of white light” emanating from the floor in intervals. Crowe and another witness glimpsed “a bright diamond of light, white brilliant and quiescent.” This paranormal investigation was likely the first of its kind.” - “The First Ghost Hunter,” copyright 2020 Allison Jornlin

A successful novelist and a playwright, her most famous work was her paranormal publication The Night-Side of Nature, or, Ghosts and Ghost-seers. It remains one of the best-documented compilations of ghost stories, sightings, anecdotes, and evidence of paranormal phenomena to date.

Crowe was the first to bring the terms poltergeist and doppelgänger into common English discourse. Her works, along with her discussions of paranormal topics, helped shape the intellectual environment and fueled the growing interest in spiritualism during the mid-19th century, eventually contributing to the establishment of the Society for Psychical Research in 1882.

Catherine Crowe fell out of notoriety after a brief mental health crisis in 1854. You can imagine how well this went over with her contemporaries. The stigma surrounding mental health, combined with the controversial nature of spiritualism, made her situation even more challenging.

Image from Brom Bones Books “The Source of the Catherine Crowe Caricature Has Been Found.” Link in article to a full scan of the original magazine, if you’re so inclined.

An early feminist icon, she wrote stories featuring women and abuse, reflecting her own struggles:

“She was not afraid of discussing the harsh realities of domestic life, and of crime. Several of her stories hinge on the treatment of women trapped in abusive relationships or situations. She even reworked Harriet Beecher Stowe’s iconic anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin into children’s books, publicising the injustice of plantation slavery and racism to young readers.”

- The Sad Story of a Victorian Ghost-Seer, History of Northampton

Catherine Crowe’s legacy as a pioneer in paranormal research remains largely under appreciated, but her contributions were groundbreaking. She laid the foundation for modern paranormal investigations and played a key role in popularizing Spiritualism. Fearless in her pursuits, she continues to inspire the paranormal community today.

Book Clubs Are Hot:

Here’s the thing—I love books, but I suck at reading them. My bedroom is packed with used books by brilliant authors just waiting to be read. The catch? Many don’t have audiobook options. So, I’ve decided to make that happen. My plan: read a chapter or two out loud to you each week. We’ll see how it goes!

I’m actually incredibly excited about this project. I’m a total nerd for editing audio (though spoiler alert: that doesn’t necessarily make me good at it). Every Monday, paid subscribers will receive a new episode in their inbox with the next chapter of the book read aloud. (I will also include screenshots in case my voice just isn’t for you.)

Library at the Conjuring House

Don't worry—all the books I’m reading are in the public domain. Down the road, we might go live or have Zoom calls if the spirit moves us. For now, though, it’s just me reading to my (7!) paid subscribers. We can talk about each chapter in the comments, and it will be fun for the whole family! (Most of my paid subscribers are literally family.)

To kick things off in honor of Women’s History Month, we’re starting with Ghosts and Family Legends by Catherine Crowe. The Preface will be sent to everyone this Monday for free, and subsequent chapters will go out to paid subscribers every Monday. Try it out and see if you want to join for just $2.50/month with an annual subscription.

For future books, I’ll send out a poll, and we’ll vote on what to read next. But knowing me, it’ll probably be something creepy and dreary. Who doesn’t love that?

Lizzie Borden’s personal collection

Here are a few I have in mind:

• The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe

• Fairy Water by Charlotte Riddell

• A Haunted House by Virginia Woolf

• The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

• The Italian by Ann Radcliffe

• The Old Nurse’s Story by Elizabeth Gaskell

• The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

• The Bell in the Fog by Gertrude Atherton

• The Haunted House by Hope Mirrlees

• The Ghost Ship by Richard Middleton

• Dracula by Bram Stoker

• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

• **I’m super open to suggestions!!!

Brattle Book Shop in Boston, MA

Séance Update:

To those of you stunningly gorgeous humans who purchased a séance from me, thank you kind souls. Out of respect for your privacy, I won’t name names but you know who you are. You are my heroes. You are the wind beneath my wings.

I still have a few left at 50% off for anyone willing to write an Etsy review. Use promo code SUBSTACK here.

Salem Witch Board Museum, Salem, MA

The Feminine Macabre

Volume VII of The Feminine Macabre is here!! It’s my first publication in a real-life book, and I’m oh so proud! If you are interested in buying a copy, they are currently available on Thriftbooks and Amazon. There are some truly amazing writers in this batch, and I am over the moon excited to be included with such great company.

Thank you for taking this paranormal excursion with me to celebrate Women’s History Month! Let’s keep the momentum going with some more ghastly ghost stories by Catherine Crowe.

Hauntingly yours,

dreary dendrophile

Black Veil Shoppe of Drear & Wonder, Salem, MA

You can also buy me a coffee, you gorgeous specimen.

References:

• “Paranormal Herstory—Catherine Crowe: The Original Ghost Hunter,” The Feminine Macabre Volume I, Curated by Amanda R. Woomer, Copyright 2021, Spook-Eats Publishing

• Wikipedia entry: “Catherine Crowe” (accessed March 2025)

• From Parlor Tricks to Primetime: Fame, Gender, and the History of Ghost Hunting – Death and the Maiden

• Paranormal Women: A Hidden History

• The Sad Story of a Victorian Ghost-Seer

• Guest Post: The First Ghost Hunter, by Allison Jornlin

• Science, Ghosts and Vision: Catherine Crowe's Bodies of Evidence and the Critique of Masculinity

• Requesting Help with Portraits of Catherine Crowe & The Source of the Catherine Crowe Caricature Has Been Found

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA