Steele Alexandra Douris is an author, artist, and Victorianist, specializing in Victorian crime, gothic fiction, and spiritualism. She is a PhD candidate in the English department at Stanford University, where she has taught courses on Victorian spiritualism, ghost stories, and the gothic novel. She holds an MA in English from Stanford University and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin. The author of Spirits, Seers & Seances: Victorian Spiritualism, Magic & the Supernatural, Steele splits her time between foggy NorCal and sunny South Texas.