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Jess Joho

@jessjoho

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Journalist, critic, @atbennington MFA fiction grad working on a gothic ghost romance.
Words in @latimes, @mashable, @vice, @rollingstone 🛼🏳️‍🌈🇧🇷🇨🇭🇺🇸

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…winter arrived on campus like the Grim Reaper reuniting with an old friend…

I didn’t come back to Bennington because I missed it. I came back because it’s a place that doesn’t let you go once you’ve known it. and what an honor—to feel worthy of its possession, embraced by its mountains of indifference. you have to write about it, or risk being swallowed whole.

#bennington #darkacademia #benningtoncollege #thesecrethistory #vermont #newengland #gothic #shirleyjackson #hillhouse #hauntingofhillhouse taken in Bennington Writing Seminars by @jessjoho

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3 years ago

go read my deep dive into some of the best haunts around LA, online now or in print for the Weekend Edition cover story on Oct 27 👻

i’m so fascinated by what haunts LA—that dark and uncanny underbelly pulsating just below the surface of our balmy sunny skies. ghost stories reveal a lot about a place’s history, and the people who carry that history with them to this day. thank you to my los angeleno sources, who are the best storytellers i’ve ever had the pleasure of interviewing 🫶

I did so much reporting for this that didn’t fit or was *too* cursed for the article, so please stay tuned here and on my TikTok for more weird LA explorations throughout the month 😈💀🖤

#halloween #losangeles #scary #queenmary by @jessjoho

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2 years ago

I won the LA Press Club award for my personal essay on Little Women, sisterhood, and grief 🥺 Couldn’t make it to the ceremony because I’m caring for another family member’s illness. But more than anything, all I really wish I could do is tell the sister I wrote it in honor of—the one whose immeasurable loss reduced us to three instead of four.

So here it goes…

Dear Uschi,

Every time I doubt myself and get terrified of not living up to my big dreams, I hear your voice in my head. I remember how you bragged to anyone who’d listen about how proud you were of all I’d accomplished already, how I’d become a famous writer one day, just you wait.

I may still struggle to believe in myself. But I will always believe in you.

I miss you every day, Uschi. But I also feel you here with me each time the universe gives me these gifts, the kind of gifts that feel like a big sister looking out for the baby sister she believed deserved the world over. I know it’s you. Even if it’s just the parts of you that now live on in me, I know it’s you.

No amount of gratitude could repay all you’ve given me. But what I can do is keep my promise to you. Always.

I love you forever. Thank you for being my North Star.

Love,
Jessi by @jessjoho

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5 years ago

Rehearsal Dinner, AKA All White Party (Except for Me 😌)

Wedding Weekend Venue: @pousadapedraazul
Decorations: @flor_e_cia
Photography: @robsonmartinsfoto + various friends 35mm and digital cameras (@rebeccaroland @morgansung @ someone else i’m sure)
Bossa Band: @danielcypreste
DJ: @phillfernandes
Drink Service: @tizzi_____
Makeup: @vicbeleza
Dress: Vintage Eavis & Brown from @recessla
@rickymontgomery’s suit: @reesesvintagepieces
Planners: @luh_m_braun @paola_assessoria_cerimonial taken in Pousada Pedra Azul by @jessjoho

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11 days ago

My Brazilian Gothic Wedding 🇧🇷🥀🖤😍

For over a year, I threw my heart, soul, and energy into planning a 3-day wedding in my home country. The ambition of it all nearly killed me, with my limited Portuguese, no mother to help guide me—and a master’s program to finish. We don’t often speak of marriage as a form of ambition, or of gathering our loved ones as an act of creation. But without these rituals that bring and bind us together, our communities grow more distant, our aspirations diminish, our memories impoverish. It’s a terrifyingly vulnerable thing to do, asking friends and family to fly halfway around the world to celebrate your love. And it shocked me how many people showed up for us in ways we never could’ve hoped for. My father was my rock, supporting me doubly to make up for my absent mother. And even she defied death itself to ensure I found her veil just in time to feel as beautiful as she was on her big day. My extended family gave me their unending love and generosity, with @pattytristaocm protecting me like one of her own and @caroltris treating me like a sister when I needed it most. My maid of honor @terri__schwartz protected my peace and joy like the fierce warrior she is. My priest @morgansung and priest-in-law @rebeccaroland kept us grounded in what mattered most as they married us not once but TWICE. My gratitude is endless to the entire village that raised itself around us over a single weekend—thank you so much for going on this journey with us.

To the groom of my dreams @rickymontgomery: You learned a whole language for me and my family 😭. I will find you in every life, and spend the rest of eternity earning this perfect love you shower me in ❤️❤️❤️

This was more than a wedding to me. This was my re-rooting in a culture, in family both old and new, in friendships that will see me through everything. It was a marriage of my two halves, which had remained so irreconcilably separate my whole life. So forgive me, but you’ll be seeing a lot more posting about this whole experience. It was the longest time I’ve lived in Brazil since childhood, and dare I say, I already wish I was back 🥲.

[Vendor and team shout outs coming soon!] taken in Pousada Pedra Azul by @jessjoho

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14 days ago

te amo @jessjoho. I was just in Brazil for a month getting married to my best friend, Jess. I have so many posts to make about this day and I will be talking about it for the rest of my life. For now, here are a few selects from the big day. Please give all the credit to Jess, who did as much work as a wedding planner to make this wedding happen. I couldn’t have been happier with the outcome. Thank you to my friends and family who made the journey. This was the best weekend of my life and I can’t wait to share even more photos from it very soon 💕 taken in Pousada Pedra Azul by @jessjoho

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15 days ago

can confirm the pedra was very azul taken in Pedra Azul - Domingos Martins - ES by @jessjoho

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20 days ago

Convite em Aquarela nos tons da Pedra Azul !
@jessjoho
@rickymontgomery
@aagiftss
@paola_assessoria_cerimonial
@pousadapedraazul
@robsonmarinsfoto
#aquarela #pousadapedraazul #biacoutinhoconviteria #conviteaquarela
#papelariaaquarela

https://wa.me/5511999031264
https://www.biacoutinhoconviteria.com.br taken in Pousada Pedra Azul by @jessjoho

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a month ago

another haunting, another degree from Bennington College 🎓👻 may your dark heart haunt me always 🖤

“The reassuring bulk of the college buildings showed ahead of her, and she looked fondly up at them and smiled. As she had never been before, she was now alone, and grown-up, and powerful, and not at all afraid.“ - Hangsaman, Shirley Jackson by @jessjoho

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3 months ago

i wanna marry you over and over again 😍💍🍾

we decided last minute to make it official in 2025, expecting nothing more than a courthouse appointment. then our families flew from all around the world to watch us be married by the power vested in my priestess (aka officiant) @morgansung. thank you to everyone who turned this into the most magical night of my life to date—especially photog and event planner in chief @rebeccaroland. what an indescribable privilege it is to be loved by @rickymontgomery 🥹 what a dream to spend forever with you 💫❤️

NOW STAY TUNED FOR THE BIG SHABANG IN 2026 🎉🎬🍾🇧🇷

🌹 unbeatable florals by @floralartbymia
🍽️ amazing food and service @eatwithbacari
🎂 always on point @larkcakeshop
🪩 messiest impromptu reception @theshortstopechopark by @jessjoho

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10 months ago

til death do us part 🫀💀

thank you to EVERYONE who vowed their eternal souls to SATAN (me) before our god, the labubu piñata 👹🖤

#halloween #tildeath #gothic #thewitch #nosferatu by @jessjoho

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a year ago

cheers to the dead, and the living (aka us)

“The reassuring bulk of the college buildings showed ahead of her, and she looked fondly up at them and smiled. As she had never been before, she was now alone, and grown-up, and powerful, and not at all afraid.“ - Shirley Jackson, ‘Hangsaman’

#benningtoncollege #shirleyjackson #polaroid #secrethistory taken in Bennington Writing Seminars by @jessjoho

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a year ago