Possessions: The History and Uses of Haunting in the Hudson Valley

by Judith Richardson

The cultural landscape of the Hudson River Valley is crowded with ghosts--the ghosts of Native Americans and Dutch colonists, of Revolutionary War soldiers and spies, of presidents, slaves, priests, and laborers. Possessions asks why this region just outside New York City became the locus for so many ghostly tales, and shows how these hauntings came to operate as a peculiar type of social memory whereby things lost, forgotten, or marginalized returned to claim possession of imaginations and territories. Reading Washington Irving's stories along with a diverse array of narratives from local folklore and regional writings, Judith Richardson explores the causes and consequences of Hudson Valley hauntings to reveal how ghosts both evolve from specific historical contexts and are conjured to serve the present needs of those they haunt. These tales of haunting, Richardson argues, are no mere echoes of the past but function in an ongoing, contentious politics of place. Through its tight geographical focus, Possessions illuminates problems of belonging and possessing that haunt the nation as a whole.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2003

Reviews

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not too many academics engage Sleepy Hollow on its own terms. Judith Richardson, however, explores Sleepy Hollow and other haunted locations in the Hudson Valley in this stupendous exploration of hauntedness. After laying out the groundwork for the study, there is a chapter is on Washington Irving’s influence. There’s more to it than that, however.

The next chapter explores the ghost story of “Spooky Hollow,” near Leeds. This tale has a basis in history, as a legal document from the early settlement period shows. Richardson uses the shifting cultural circumstances around slavery and indentured servitude and the attitudes to various “races” to demonstrate how ghost stories change to fit the needs of a society.

Even the march into industrialization leaves its impression on the land. Richardson also considers more modern, fictional versions of the various hauntings of the Hudson Valley. Each reflects the needs and wants of various factions who lay claim to the area. My blog post (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World) on the book addresses the larger question of how haunting aids ownership. Or at least raises its specter. This is a brilliant piece of both ethnography and literary analysis, easily understood by anyone interested in this uncanny region.

[Quinn Monette]

Ontologically coy

[joanne bongiovanni · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what I expected from the title

Facts facts and more facts . well researched with no story. I skipped through the majority of the book as it didn't hold my interest.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite dense and not nearly as titillating a Halloween read as I'd have liked. Thus taking over a year to finish it. When the notes section is as long as the book itself, you know you're in for an opaque experience.