Support My Work

Recasting the Bygone Witch: Representations of Lesser-Known Witches in Popular Culture (2026) is now available for purchase in hardcover and paperback from Vernon Press. This collection co-edited with Dr. Mariaelena DiBenigno is an interdisciplinary exploration of witches across time, culture, and scholarly space. Click here to learn more and purchase your copy. (Image: Aíne Norris)

“Eternal Troupers: Circus Death Memorialization and Community Identity” in The Routledge Handbook of Dark Events: Celebrations, Heritage, and Customs of Death and the Macabre (2026) examines the distinctive ways the circus community remembers and memorializes their dead. Click here to learn more and purchase. (Image: Library of Congress Chronicling America collection)

“Grave Implications: The Richmond Vampire Legend and Cultural Revision” in Urban Legends and Cultural Geography of Horror (2026) provides newly uncovered archival details and a cohesive chronology about the Richmond Vampire myth and places it in conversation with cultural revision, dark tourism, and urban legends in the American South. Click here to learn more and purchase. (Image: Aíne Norris)

“‘Queens of Ghost-Land’ 134 Years Later: Un-Masking An Appalachian Witchcraft Accuser” in The Journal of American Culture (2025) uses archival techniques and stylometric analysis to un-mask a late nineteenth century witchcraft accuser in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Click here to read. (Image: Public Domain)

“Tiptoe Once More: Tiny Tim’s Extraordinary Return to Popular Culture” in Bandwagon: The Journal of the Circus Historical Society (2024) examines Tiny Tim’s return to fame in contemporary Internet culture and showcases his time working in the circus in the late 1980s. This article is still under embargo and only available to Circus Historical Society members. See information at top of page to reach out. (Image: Bandwagon; New York Public Library Digital Collections)

“Step Right Up: Sideshow Autonomy from Freaks to American Horror Story” in Horror Homeroom (2022) considers the ways in which autonomy is demonstrated in Tod Browning’s Freaks and American Horror Story: Freak Show. Read the full issue here. (Image: Public Domain)

“‘She’ll want to drink blood’: The Implications of Disease, Fear, and Lore in Margaret Atwood’s ‘Lusus Naturae’ and the Exhumation of Mercy Brown” in Margaret Atwood Studies Journal (2022) discusses vampire panic in early America and thematic overlap in Atwood’s short story. This issue only available to Atwood Society members or via ProQuest. Reach out using the methods listed at the top of the page. (Image: Aíne Norris)

“The Tenacious Women of Iron Jaw” in Bandwagon: The Journal of the Circus Historical Society (2021) examines the lives and legacy of women who performed feats of maxillary endurance in the American circus, or those who performed daring tricks while hanging by their teeth. This article is available in full on the Bandwagon Internet Archive collection. (Image: Public Domain)

“Lore No More: Uncovering Eva Clark’s Rightful Legacy” in Bandwagon: The Journal of the Circus Historical Society (2020) is the first large-scale biographical sketch about circus aerialist Eva Clark who was murdered by her husband after a show in the early 1900s in Staunton, Virginia. The culmination of decades of research, this article takes Clark out of the realm of ghost stories and solidifies her place amongst circus Queens of the Air. Read online in the Bandwagon Internet Archive collection. (Image: Cincinnati Public Library bound collection)

Temporary Co-Host of Circus Stories: A Circus History Podcast (2026). You can enjoy Circus Stories on all major podcast distributors. Learn more here. (Image: Circus Stories podcast)

“Sally Fridley’s Bewildering Press: Investigating Accusations of Appalachian Witchcraft” in C19: The Society of Nineteenth Century Americanists Podcast (2025) expands upon my Appalachian witchcraft work and even offers a surprise twist. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Soundcloud. (Image: Library of Congress Chronicling America collection)

“Circus Slang: Its Peculiarities and Derivation” LibriVox chapter narrator for Circus Life and Celebrities by Thomas Frost. This project brought Frost’s immense circus work into the audio public domain. Listen for free online. (Image: LibriVox)

“Teeth Work: Incredible Iron Jaw” Exhibit Co-Curated for Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Co-curated with the incredible Jen Cronk of Circus World Museum, this exhibit displays artifacts about iron jaw performers through the ages, including mouthpieces, posters, photographs, wardrobe, and ephemera. You can see the exhibit through the 2026 season at CWM. (Image: Aíne Norris