meet the daddy

Online, everyone calls me Haunted. Offline, everyone calls me Jesse. I'm a spooky nerd, transgender activist, tropical punk, queer writer, stoner husband, and dad joke specialist. I'm happily married to my best friend that I met on LiveJournal back when we were teens. We've got a beautiful son together that I affectionately call Bubba online. I'm in my late 30s so I'm old as balls. Being a millennial, I've seen the internet change drastically over time, so this site is also a bit of a love letter to the internet I grew up with.

Transgender???

Yep-- so I'm transgender. My pronouns are he/him, I've been out as a transman since 2011. Which is crazy to think about for several reasons, including that I don't feel like it's been over ten years but I also feel like it was centuries ago. I began HRT in 2019 and got top surgery at the end of 2023! I'm honestly an open book when it comes to my gender identity; it's important to me to be visible and take up space, to answer questions and bridge gaps wherever I can not only for myself but for other transpeople out there.

Ok, but what's your story, Haunted?

Okay, here we go-- I spent the first 9 years of my life in Rhode Island. From there, I moved to the literal island of Oahu in Hawaii where my father's side is from. My formative years were spent there, I like to say, because living in Hawaii taught me a lot about advocacy, colonialism, and caring for the land. My parents split when I was 17 and I left Hawaii with my mother to live with my grandfather in Nebraska. I went from a graduating class of over 200 students to a graduating class of 65. But it wasn't that much of a culture shock besides. Going from Hawaii to Nebraska showed me just how much everyone has in common, including ideals and hardships. My father, through his work as a unionized welder, moved to Colorado after he and my mom split and suggested that I go to college there, which I did. I got my associates degree in English Literature! I love books, I love reading, and I love stories.

You're a writer?

Yep. While I don't have a novel published publically (yet), I've been writing since first grade. Stories are the most human thing about us as a species-- I love to watch movies, listen to radio shows or podcasts, read books and articles, and more! Everything you'll find on this website has been written by me as well, except for the credit I give where it is due. I also write poetry when the mood strikes, but that's usually reserved for Mikey to read.