| Culture Shift is a weekly newsletter curated by the HuffPost Culture writers and editors. No images? Click here.  This week we’re talking about haunted houses, the "Hamilton" documentary, why all women are witches, how the dictionary became the hilarious watchdog we needed, macabre nonfiction to read this fall, the "Bridget Jones's Baby" novel, the #nastywomen of art history, and our book of the week.  Inside The History Documentary Every ‘Hamilton’ Fan Will Want To See  Just over three years ago, filmmaker Alex Horwitz decided to make a documentary. He didn’t know exactly what he was documenting ― at that point, it could have been a concept album or maybe a show. But Horwitz did know that whatever his college pal Lin-Manuel Miranda was cooking up in 2013, he wanted to be the one behind the camera capturing it all. Fast forward to today, and Horwitz’s “Hamilton’s America” film, produced by Radical Media, is the behind-the-scenes passport musical fans have been waiting for. It does indeed follow Miranda as he perfects the songs and performances that make up “Hamilton,” the theater phenomenon that’s arguably become the center of gravity for pop culture in 2016. It moves from backstage on Broadway to the research actors embarked upon to craft their characters. But it’s hardly, as Horwitz was quick to point out in an interview with The Huffington Post, a typical making-of. (Read more here.)  When Haunted Houses Turn The American Dream Into A Nightmare Ghostland constantly circles back to the real estate of hauntings. The book motors along like a road trip tracing a map of creepy Americana: the House of Seven Gables, the Winchester Mystery House, the Lemp Mansion, the Biltmore Hotel, and on and on. As he wends his way through the landmarks and their histories, Dickey thoroughly and convincingly explores the many underpinnings of ghost stories and hauntings ― as manifestations of our collective guilt, anxieties, obsessions and historical losses; and as practical schemes for money-making, land acquisition, or controlling groups of people. But the value of property resonates with particular force in this American history of hauntings. What’s more American, after all, than owning your own house? (Maybe upgrading to a bigger house, with a two-car garage.) From Salem to Brooklyn, from the Reconstruction-era South to contemporary New Orleans, hauntings have been and continue to be remnants of, or wielded in the battle for, land. One of the earliest, most iconic ghost stories by an Anglo-American author, The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne, centers on a real mansion in Salem, which he imbued with a lurid, fictional backstory: Colonel Pyncheon wants the land, but it’s owned by Matthew Maule. Pyncheon disposes of this impediment by accusing Maule of witchcraft. Maule is executed, Pyncheon takes the land, and the mansion is built ― and haunted by vengeful spirits. At its heart, the haunting of the House of Seven Gables is the residue of a real-estate dispute. (Read more here.)  Book Club Suggestion of the Week! Marcy Dermansky’s The Red Car takes on rocky affairs and intergenerational friendships. (Read more here.)  All Women Are Witches According To This Gory, Feminist Fairy Tale “The Love Witch” is the chick flick meets revenge fantasy women have been waiting for. (Read more here.)  The ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ Novel Proves Rom-Com Franchises Are A Mistake In a genre that’s all about a hilarious romp toward love and happiness, what’s a sequel got to do? (Read more here.) How The Dictionary Became The Hilarious Election Watchdog We Needed Merriam-Webster has become the unlikely ― and, at times, hilarious ― election watchdog we never knew we needed. Its Twitter account churns out commentary before, during and after debates, dissecting lexicon and reporting online look-up spikes as they happen. If you wondered what Mike Pence meant when he used the word “feckless,” Merriam-Webster saw you. If you wondered whether or not Trump said “bigly” or “big league,” Merriam-Webster was there for you. But who, exactly, is the public face of Merriam-Webster? Who is the evil genius behind its tweets? (Read more here.) 8 Macabre Nonfiction Books To Sink Your Teeth Into This Fall Stare death in the face by reading about it. (Read more here.) Netflix recommendation of the week!Need help figuring out what to watch on Netflix? Here's what our editors have to say about "Black Mirror": A dark look at technology’s unintended side effects, “Black Mirror” might make you want to put your phone down. New season up now!   Follow HuffPost Arts & Culture on Facebook and Twitter |
Inside the "Hamilton" documentary every fan needs to see
