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Haunted Houses
“When I was between the ages of five and eight, my sister and I slept in a large attic bedroom. At nightfall the room was filled with gypsies who glided around in clusters. They wore colorful thin flowing dresses and rummaged greedily through my drawers and books as if they would steal everything. I lay in bed as stiff as a board, trying to will myself invisible, praying they would not notice me looking . . . Daylight obliterated the gypsies, rendering them as thoroughly insubstantial as they had been real in the dark. I had a vague understanding that my vision was private, so I never told my family what I saw.”
So began Corinne May Botz’s fascination with the invisible, a phenomenon that has profoundly influenced her approach to photography in style and subject matter. For more than ten years, she searched for ghost stories in buildings across the United States. She ventured into these haunted places with both camera and tape recorder in hand; her photographs, accompanied by first-person narratives, reveal a rare glimpse into American interiors, both physical and psychological.
This book includes more than eighty haunted buildings, from the legendary to the ordinary, including Edgar Allan Poe’s house in Baltimore, a New Jersey tavern, and a Massachusetts farmhouse, a log cabin in Kentucky, and a number of private residences. The text includes ghost stories told to the author by those who lived through the moving rugs, creaking floors, apparitions, disappearing—and reappearing—objects, cries in the night, mysteriously burning candles, and other unexplained occurrences.
So began Corinne May Botz’s fascination with the invisible, a phenomenon that has profoundly influenced her approach to photography in style and subject matter. For more than ten years, she searched for ghost stories in buildings across the United States. She ventured into these haunted places with both camera and tape recorder in hand; her photographs, accompanied by first-person narratives, reveal a rare glimpse into American interiors, both physical and psychological.
This book includes more than eighty haunted buildings, from the legendary to the ordinary, including Edgar Allan Poe’s house in Baltimore, a New Jersey tavern, and a Massachusetts farmhouse, a log cabin in Kentucky, and a number of private residences. The text includes ghost stories told to the author by those who lived through the moving rugs, creaking floors, apparitions, disappearing—and reappearing—objects, cries in the night, mysteriously burning candles, and other unexplained occurrences.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published September 28, 2010
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About the author
Corinne May Botz
3 books6 followersCorinne Botz is a visual artist and educator based in New York whose practice encompasses photography, writing, and filmmaking. A sustained focus on space, gender and the body, particularly relating to women’s experiences, is central to her practice. Her published books combining photography and writing include The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death (Monacelli Press, 2004) and Haunted Houses (Random House/Monacelli Press, 2010).
Botz’s photographs have been internationally exhibited at such institutions as the Brooklyn Museum; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Illinois; Wurttembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany; De Appel, Amsterdam; and Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK. She has had solo exhibitions at Benrubi Gallery and Bellwether Gallery in New York City; Hemphill Fine Arts in Washington D.C. and RedLine Gallery in Denver, Colorado. Her work has been reviewed in publications such as The NewYork Times, Foam Magazine, Bookforum, Art Papers, Modern Painters, Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, Exit, Slate, Time: Lightbox and Ciel Variable.
Botz earned her BFA from Maryland Institute, College of Art and her MFA from Milton Avery School of the Arts, Bard College. She is the recipient of residencies at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture; Atlantic Center for the Arts; Akademie Schloss Solitude and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. She has received grants from New York Foundation for the Arts and the Jerome Foundation. Botz is on the faculty of International Center of Photography and John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY).
Botz’s photographs have been internationally exhibited at such institutions as the Brooklyn Museum; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Illinois; Wurttembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany; De Appel, Amsterdam; and Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK. She has had solo exhibitions at Benrubi Gallery and Bellwether Gallery in New York City; Hemphill Fine Arts in Washington D.C. and RedLine Gallery in Denver, Colorado. Her work has been reviewed in publications such as The NewYork Times, Foam Magazine, Bookforum, Art Papers, Modern Painters, Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, Exit, Slate, Time: Lightbox and Ciel Variable.
Botz earned her BFA from Maryland Institute, College of Art and her MFA from Milton Avery School of the Arts, Bard College. She is the recipient of residencies at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture; Atlantic Center for the Arts; Akademie Schloss Solitude and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. She has received grants from New York Foundation for the Arts and the Jerome Foundation. Botz is on the faculty of International Center of Photography and John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY).
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 1, 2018
A good collection of house and interior photos form across the US. Also, some ghost stories if you're into that sort of thing.
August 20, 2024
Beautiful photography!
October 10, 2016
I found this title in a catalog. After reading the book I have mixed feelings about it. As an author of ghost stories, I love reading stories by other authors. I find so many interesting stories and histories through these books.
I was somewhat confused by the book. The book is almost a coffee table book for haunted houses. The author has numerous photographs of haunted locations. The photographs are more artistic not the typical pictures featured in ghost books.
The first hand accounts of hauntings are scattered through out the book. The stories are short and sweet. Since the stories are mainly first hand stories, they do not have the historical aspects like I enjoy. They are okay, but most ghost story fans might be disappointed.
Another shortcoming is the pictures on the same location are scattered through the book. As I read, the photos may or may not be applicable to the story. I wish the locations covered were featured in a whole section including photographs and the story.
If you have trouble reading small print, the book may also be a difficult read. The text is small and white on black background.
Although I do not regret reading this book, it would not be on the top of my reading list.
I was somewhat confused by the book. The book is almost a coffee table book for haunted houses. The author has numerous photographs of haunted locations. The photographs are more artistic not the typical pictures featured in ghost books.
The first hand accounts of hauntings are scattered through out the book. The stories are short and sweet. Since the stories are mainly first hand stories, they do not have the historical aspects like I enjoy. They are okay, but most ghost story fans might be disappointed.
Another shortcoming is the pictures on the same location are scattered through the book. As I read, the photos may or may not be applicable to the story. I wish the locations covered were featured in a whole section including photographs and the story.
If you have trouble reading small print, the book may also be a difficult read. The text is small and white on black background.
Although I do not regret reading this book, it would not be on the top of my reading list.
January 17, 2016
The pictures are beautiful, haunting and thought provoking. The Short stories are narrated by people who live,lived or work in the haunted places. Eighty places are featured including Edgar Allan Poe's house in Baltimore.
I did find one thing to be frustrating. At the beginning of each short story is a index of pictures you are about to see. There is no page numbers next to the descriptions and location. Making it hard to correspond pictures with descriptions and locations.
I did find one thing to be frustrating. At the beginning of each short story is a index of pictures you are about to see. There is no page numbers next to the descriptions and location. Making it hard to correspond pictures with descriptions and locations.
May 16, 2011
In this book about Haunted houses across the author travels and interviews people who have seen ghosts. I really enjoyed the stories behind the tales, however the photography was a little bit odd. I didnt' really get why there were random pictures of rooms. Even though they may have been haunted, most of them didn't seem particualrly scary or menacing.
December 20, 2010
Firstly, the photos are not ghost photos. They are even more compelling and evocative. They give you that "just around the corner" feeling, the feeling of a presence. And the ghost stories collected are even better. I just wish that the house photos would have been put in order.
May 8, 2012
This book was created for me. Large format, long exposure photos detailing interiors and exteriors of buildings with ghost stories and the stories that go with them, told first person by the witnesses. It's awesome. I love this stuff.
March 7, 2011
LOVED this! The pictures were exceptionally well done and I loved how the author recorded ghost stories from the actual tenants, employees, etc. of these haunted places.
October 19, 2013
Very interesting photos but not the kind of in-depth ghost stories I was looking for, for a spooky Oct. read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews