By KD Press
Trying to find eerie conspiracy theories about enigmatic serial killers or dead celebrities requires hours peering through message boards, the dark web, or outdated websites with arguably great HTML. Thankfully, we have Heinzfeller Nileisist: a NYC-based publisher who explores these topics and packages them into concise, lightweight books that are quite effective at piquing one’s depraved interests.
Publishing experimental and conceptual literature with little to no editing, Heinzfeller Nileisist (pronounced “nihilist”) features books written by women who have radical feminist agendas. The result? A bibliography that re-writes the history of controversial figures in order to impart nuanced information, raise consciousness, and critical thinking. This is not to say Heinzfeller Nileisist or Bennett want their readers to empathize and/or sympathize with criminals and psychopaths, rather, think about them beyond newspaper headlines. Think“gonzo” psychoanalysis but without the dull, clinical jargon.
Heinzfeller Nileisist was started by Frank Haines (Christeene, Witch Hotline), after he had a chance encounter with Alissa Bennett at a party. Haines began publishing what were essentially Bennett’s writings on Instagram about dead movie stars, forensics, and the criminally insane. Bennett’s posts functioned like “text turned art.” Today she has published five books with Heinzfeller Nileisist and isn’t stopping. She’s increased her scope and now covers the world of celebrity estate auctions (e.g., Kurt Cobain’s Unplugged performance cardigan, Marilyn Monroe’s benzo prescriptions, Little Richard’s wig). For her, ephemera is art and she investigates the history behind such pieces for sale. If you ever wanted a financial and historical look at dead celebrity estate auctions, check out @westwood_village_mortuary_
We compiled a primer on Heinzfeller Nileisist’s most prurient feminist selections for your choosing:
DEAD IS BETTER (2016)
Written by Alissa Bennett, DEAD IS BETTER is a book that examines the mysterious, tragic, and bizarre circumstances of dead celebrities with anecdotes, recollections, and in-depth research from primary sources. From River Phoenix to Whitney Houston, each chapter includes a sort of eulogy by Alissa Bennett, whose tone is like a teenage girl writing in her diary, but rest assured: she thoroughly manages to highlight aspects of famous people dying that one would have never known about.
PRETEND YOU’RE ACTUALLY ALIVE (2020)
Written by Alissa Bennett, PRETEND YOU’RE ACTUALLY ALIVE surveys cases of lustmord, tales of twins, con artists, accidental duplications, fraudulent identities, and female perps who have been labeled with the “C-word,” you know C-R-A-Z-Y. I do not even want to type it because it is a nasty slur that we should stop using, actually wait, what am I saying? Bennett writes about Anna Stubblefield, who was legit crazy (like, let me show you the STATE HOSPITAL). If anything, this book justifies when and how to use the word “crazy.”
BAD BEHAVIOR (2019)
Written by Alissa Bennett, BAD BEHAVIOR is not about celebrities, per se, but their management and “fans.” The book provides some thought-provoking analysis about the similarities between famous people and their perpetrators that one would have probably never assumed by just reading the mainstream news (hello, media bias). It opens with a story about an allegedly drug-addled Paula Abdul pooping in Bennett’s bathroom trashcan when she was a sales rep at Alexander McQueen in NYC. From that anecdote, Bennett goes on to write about the stalkers, imposters, and maniacs who contributed to the rise and fall of icons like Versace and certain teenage internet queens from the MySpace era.
LEGALIZE CRIME (2016)
Written by Alissa Bennett, LEGALIZE CRIME is a labor of love that chronicles bizarre, jaw-dropping cases of crime from the 19th century to now— from murderous lesbian sisters to Jodi Arias’s toxic, pity-party femininity. And don’t worry that little girl who got kidnapped in Portugal or whatever (Madeline McCann??) is not mentioned. I think we should truly thank Bennett for this book, she did things like read hundreds of pages of comments about the J.LO “Selena” movie from the IMBD message board and analyzed first-hand evidence about a vampire killer who frequented industrial/EBM clubs in 90s NYC (and you thought you were goth).
TOTALLY MY ASS – BOOTLEG READER (2019)
Written by Alison M. Gingeras, TOTALLY MY ASS asks the question: “Who cares about dead radical feminists nowadays?” Filled with art crit (you wish your professor assigned) about topics ranging from Chiara Fumai and the ethical disputes between an artist’s controversial life and presenting their work in institutions (analyzed through the case of Otto Muel), to the use of fashion as a signifier for performance as opposed to “girly fascination” in the cathartic photography of Francesca Woodman.
For more on Heinzfeller Nileisist see HeinzfellerNileisist.bigcartel.com and @heinzfeller_nileisist
