Tales From the Crypt

Writing a bio feels a bit like writing your own obituary, but I want to honor my past selves before the future ones take over. Will be updating this post as new adventures unfold!

Kristen J. Sollée (she/her) is a sorceress with words exploring the crossroads of myth, history, and occulture. She began her career as a music journalist, nightclub door girl, art gallerist, occasional synth player, and glam metal DJ before founding the feminist occult blog Slutist in 2013. Soon after, Kristen began teaching undergraduate gender studies courses at The New School. Her signature college course, The Legacy of the Witch, examined the witch archetype in history, pop culture, and politics and sparked the writing of her first book, Witches, Sluts, Feminists: Conjuring the Sex Positive.

Kristen’s debut was published by ThreeL Media in 2017 to rave reviews and snarky critiques. The New York Public Library included Witches, Sluts, Feminists in its list of “Essential Reads on Feminism for Adults,” The Guardian described it as “a whirlwind history of the witch in America,” BUST declared it a “must-read,” and one disgruntled Amazon reviewer said reading it made him feel like “pumpkin spice latte is now coursing through my veins.”

The two-year book tour that followed the release included a hybrid mix of academic talks, music festivals, film screenings, art shows, and burlesque performances, which raised funds for RAINN, Planned Parenthood, and SWOP. Many of these events were in collaboration with Jacqueline Frances, AKA Jacq the Stripper, and Kristen was blessed with the experience of being showered with singles as she read a passage from her book onstage at the legendary Cheetahs Hollywood. Kristen also produced and released the Slutist Tarot in 2017, a groundbreaking deck designed and created by frequent co-conspirator Morgan Claire Siréne that centers sex workers and femmes.

Kristen’s second book, Cat Call: Reclaiming the Feral Feminine, was published by Weiser Books in 2019 with a glowing foreword graciously crafted by Pam Grossman. “No one writes about the subjects of sexuality, desire, the shadow, and diabolism with such relish, and when I read her words I feel both smarter and less afraid of my own ‘tabooed’ feelings and thoughts,” Pam opined. The book was deemed an “agile, clever study” by Publisher’s Weekly and “the cat lover’s modern epic poem” by Lisa Marie Basile—and garnered Kristen many adorable photos of readers and their cats in her inbox.

Kristen’s third book, Witch Hunt: A Traveler’s Journey through the Power and Persecution of the Witch, was published by Weiser Books in 2020. Esteemed British historian Ronald Hutton called it “a real pleasure…extensive, well-written, well-informed and good humored.” In 2021, Witch Hunt was voted Outstanding Historical Book of the Year by the Witchcraft and Occult Media Awards. As of 2025, Kristen’s books have been translated into French, Polish, Turkish, and Japanese, and Witches, Sluts, Feminists is a mainstay on university syllabi.

Over the past decade, Kristen’s words and work have also appeared on NPR and in National Geographic, Teen Vogue, The Times Literary Supplement, Atlas Obscura, Cunning Folk, NYLON, Rue Morgue, and Dazed, among others. She has lectured in London, Stockholm, and Prague, and at MCA Chicago, GW University, USC, the University of Alabama, SVA, and inside a yurt in Wales. She is currently ensconced in a rural writer’s crypt working on occult fiction under the watchful eye of a British Shorthair named Cherie.

‍