Welcome to “The Sights + Sounds Show with Jeneé Darden," where every week we tap into the Bay Area arts scene and bring you rich conversations with artists. On today’s show, we look back at our live event “Creepy Tales,” featuring eerie stories from award-winning writer Thaddeus Howze, KALW’s Hana Baba and award-winning poet James Cagney. Then, Oakland horror author Cynthia Gómez transports readers back to 1968 in a novella about an Oakland Latina witch, who's caretaking for a rich, Orinda woman that has been cursed to be immobile and silent like a doll. Will the witch break the spell for this woman she also has feelings for?
Today’s show is filled with haunting and uncanny stories.
Thaddeus Howze, Hana Baba and James Cagney
In 2025, “The Sights + Sounds Show with Jeneé Darden” celebrated Halloween with our live, storytelling event “Creepy Tales.” Several Bay Area writers brought the fun and spooky to that special night in Downtown San Francisco at our 220 Montgomery live event space. Listen to stories from three of our performers.
KALW’s Hana Baba dressed up like a witch and told a folktale about a very strange goat. Then, James Cagney’s supernatural story is about an ancestor. Thaddeus Howze kicks off the show with a creepy tale about a very hungry shipping box.
James Cagney’s latest book is “Ghetto Koans: A Personal Archive.”
Thaddeus Howze’s book “Hayward’s Reach” is available on Amazon.
Listen to KALW’s Hana Baba’s award-winning podcast “Folktales from Sudan” on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform.
Cynthia Gómez
“Muñeca,” is Spanish for doll. It’s also the title of the novella by Oakland writer Cynthia Gómez. In it, Cynthia takes readers back to 1968. She introduces us to a young, Oakland Mexican-American witch who is caretaking for a wealthy, Spanish heiress in Orinda. The heiress is bedridden, and can’t speak — almost like a doll. The young witch figures out her client has been cursed and tries to save her. There are romantic feelings brewing between the two ladies, but the heiress has a husband. There’s also a possessed doll in this story too.
“Muñeca,”is a gothic, social horror, Latina lesbian romance with a hint of erotica. Cynthia's first book is “The Nightmare Box and Other Stories.” Host Jeneé Darden spoke with Cynthia Gómez about some of the social themes in Muñeca .
