THIS MORBID LIFE, coming soon from Renaissance Books, collects the following essays:
• “The Most Morbid Thing I’ve Ever Done?” about having a premature baby, Morbid Curiosity #8, May 2004.
• “True-Life Romance,” about taking prom pictures in Glenwood Cemetery in Flint, Michigan, Gothic.Net, February 2001.
• “Female Bonding: Christine’s First Piercing,” Gothik Voluptuary #3, July 1999. Reprinted from File 13 #12, Spring 1992.
• “The Zipper Heart Club,” about my dad’s heart surgery, You Could Do Worse #1, Summer 1994.
• “The Ritual of the Black Sun,” about a Samhain Ball Dance ritual, Chaotic Order #16, Winter 2004. Reprinted from Cyber-Psychos AOD #8, August 1999.
• “The Only Thing I Can Do,” about staying with a friend dying of AIDS, The Bone Palace, October 2001. Reprinted from Jane online, May 2000. Originally published in You Could Do Worse #2, Autumn/Winter 1994/5.
• “Columbidae,” an essay on dead pigeons in the booklet for Wakened by Silence, a tape compilation of San Francisco-area experimental music and art (Charnel House Productions), November 1991.
• “Object of Desire,” SEX TOY TALES, edited by Anne Semans and Cathy Winks (Down There Press), February 1998. Reprinted from Good Vibrations’ 15th anniversary commemorative chapbook My First Vibrator: True Life Vibrator Tales, March 1992.
• “Bite They Tiny Heads Off,” ode to a dead mouse in my garden, Enterrupted #2, September 2001. Reprinted from Enterruption.com, January 2001.
• “Four-Color Cover,” about getting tattooed, originally published as “Color Me Thrilled,” Unzipped, April 2001.
• “Holocaust in the Garden,” about my issues with snails, Enterruption.com, July 2001.
• “Nothing Like a Damn,” about cross-dressing as my friend Jeff, original to this collection.
• “Cautionary Tale,” about the Tule Lake Concentration Camp in Northern California, Enterrupted #3, February 2003. Reprinted on Enterruption.com, October 2001. Originally published in Gothic.Net, September 2000.
• “Love is Stronger than Blood,” about visiting my still-living Great Aunt’s gravestone, originally published as “Love is Thicker than Blood,” Gothic.Net, August 2001.
• “Code of Conduct,” about Aoyama Rei cemetery in Tokyo, Gothic.Net, May 1999.
• “Winter’s Tombs,” about Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago, original to this collection.
• “Asking for It,” about the most morbid story ever offered to Morbid Curiosity, Zine World #19, Summer 2003.
• “The Pharmacology of Kava,” Morbid Curiosity #3, May 1999.
• “What the Housekeeper Saw” (as Lorelei Dot), Morbid Curiosity #2, August 1998.
• “I’m Going to Go Eat Bugs,” bug tasting at the Exploratorium, originally published as “Revenge,” Morbid Curiosity #4, May 2000.
• “Reading ‘Killing Max,’” about the AIDS epidemic and reading from Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues, originally published as “Reading in Public is the Best Way to Connect,” Red Room, September 22, 2011.
• “Mortuary Science for the Absolute Beginner,” Azrael Project Newsletter, July 2000. Reprinted from Morbid Curiosity #1, May 1997. Originally published in Browbeat #2, Fall 1996.
• “The Ghost of Friends,” about my friend Blair’s ghost, Bloodreams, November 1999. It also appeared as a podcast on Jennifer’s Ghost on November 1, 2011.
• “Anatomy Lesson,” about my first day in the cadaver lab at Humboldt State University, Chaotic Order #13, May 2002. Reprinted from Morbid Curiosity #2, August 1998.
• “Dead Bodies Everywhere,” meditation on the Body Worlds exhibit, Morbid Curiosity #9, April 2005.
• “Mountain View Ghost Story,” about ghost hunting in Mountain View Cemetery, originally published as “Weekly Photo Challenge: Sunset,” Cemetery Travel, October 4, 2011.

Uncollected Personal Essays

“We are all Survivors Now,” about the second Haunted Mansion Writers Retreat, THE HAUNTED MANSION PROJECT: YEAR TWO (Damnation Books), Summer 2013.

“How I Got Into Horror,” Black Sunday, 7/8/12.

“Touched,” about my encounters with ghosts, THE HAUNTED MANSION PROJECT: YEAR ONE (Damnation Books), March 2012.

“Weekly Photo Challenge: Family,” about my grandmother’s gravestone, Cemetery Travel, December 1, 2011.

“Late night talk about the reality of vampires,” about Morbid Curiosity and my daughter, Red Room, September 16, 2011.

“Morbid Curiosity Changed my Life,” MORBID CURIOSITY CURES THE BLUES (Scribner), October 2009

“No Spill Blood,” about working in a vivisection lab, MORBID CURIOSITY CURES THE BLUES (Scribner), October 2009. Reprinted from Morbid Curiosity #3, May 1999.

“The Mortician’s Gift,” about the great people I met through the magazine, MORBID CURIOSITY CURES THE BLUES (Scribner), October 2009. Reprinted from Morbid Curiosity #6, April 2002.

“The Morbid Curiosity Open Mic,” World Horror Convention program book, May 2006.

“In Memory Of,” about my brother’s sudden death, Morbid Curiosity #7, April 2003.

“Death in Four Flavors,” about my second experience with cadavers, Chaotic Order #14, November 2002. Originally published as “My Day in the Cadaver Lab” in Tail Spins #34, January 2002.

“The Eye of the Morbid Beholder,” about whether my fascination with graveyards is morbid, Gothic.Net, May 2001.

“Under the Influence,” about the women who influenced the magazine, introduction to Morbid Curiosity #5, May 2001.

“The Great Wallace Shows,” about the aftermath of a train crash in Durand, Michigan, Gothic.Net, April 2001.

“Satisfaction Brought her Back,” about the female models of curiosity, Gothik Voluptuary #11, Spring 2001. Reprinted from “Morbid Curiosity,” Gothik Voluptuary #1, January 1999. Originally published as “Satisfaction Brought her Back,” Morbid Curiosity #2, August 1998.

“Rooted,” about my grandmother’s grave, Gothic.Net, October 2000. An excerpt titled “Of Little Faith” was published in Morbid Curiosity #5, May 2001.

“A Tour of History,” about San Francisco’s Mission Dolores cemetery, Gothic.Net, August 2000.

“California’s Outdoor Museums,” about the Folsom History Museum’s exhibit on graveyards, Gothic.Net, June 2000.

“Burning Desire,” tour of a Neptune Society crematorium, Blue Plains, May 2000. Reprinted from Morbid Curiosity #1, May 1997.

“Blood Rite,” about donating blood, Morbid Curiosity #4, May 2000.

“An Exercise in Morbid Curiosity,” about my experiences at Death Equinox ’98, Cyber-Psychos AOD #9, August 1999.

“Uncertain Ground,” about my adventures during the San Francisco earthquake of 1989, Morbid Curiosity #3, May 1999.

“Working at Decadence,” about drinking absinthe, Morbid Curiosity #1, May 1997 (as Lorelei Dot).

“Musing on the Moon,” about the lunar eclipse, Morbid Curiosity #1, May 1997.

“Epitaph,” about the man who inspired a book on cemeteries, DEATH’S GARDEN: RELATIONSHIPS WITH CEMETERIES (Automatism Press), January 1996.

“After Words,” about working with the editor, Tales of the New Republic, volume 1: Veterans, May 1995.

“Editor’s Introduction,” LEND THE EYE A TERRIBLE ASPECT (Automatism Press), March 1994.

“What Are Friends For?” File 13 #16, Summer 1993.

“Looking Forward to Death,” about my grandmother’s senility, File 13 #15, Spring 1993.

“The Lifeline Stops Here,” about my friend’s HIV diagnosis, File 13 #14, Fall 1992.