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My Victorian Nightmare

My Victorian Nightmare

Genevieve Manion

History

4.6900 Ratings

Overview

Here you’ll find mysterious deaths, morbid fascinations, disturbing stories, and otherwise spooky events from the Victorian Era. If you consider yourself an enthusiast of creepy Victorian history, you probably already know about the age of spiritualism, the grizzly murders, the grave robbers, twisted pseudo psychotherapy, and memento mori – But I try to dig a little deeper. This was a time full of lace corsetry, romantic poetry, and a deep reverence and affection for the dead. It was a culture of shared sorrow, ornament and elegance, prudishness and scandal, bone chilling children’s stories, and for whatever reason, I just feel at home there. There’s something strangely comforting about the heebie jeebies this era gives me. If you find yourself equally enchanted by things that most people would find horrifying, this podcast is probably for you. Join the community Instagram @myvictoriannightmare

43 Episodes

Ep. 39 - In a Malicious and Diabolical Manner

On today’s episode, Genevieve will discuss a ghost sighting of the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, an insane hatchet murder, a brass burglar blown away by a buckshot, a demented opera singer’s stalker, a lamp light disaster, a gory game of cards, a nearly naked man frozen to death in a sinkhole, and much, much more! References for today’s episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Lady_of_Raynham_Hall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Nilsson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_laundry https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/history-of-vaccination/history-of-smallpox-vaccination “Murder at Louisville” - The Oregonian, January, 10th 1872. “A Swedish Horror” - The Sioux City Journal, September 25th, 1885. "Mother in Lawlessness" - The Illustrated Police News, January 4th, 1872. "A Burglar Killed by a Trap Gun" - The Illustrated Police News, January 4th, 1872. "Miss Nilsson's Demented Lover" - The Illustrated Police News, January 4th, 1872. "A Life of Shame Quickly Ended " - The Illustrated Police News, January 4th, 1872. "An Affecting Scene"- The Illustrated Police News, January 4th, 1872. "A Gory Game of Cards" - The Illustrated Police News, January 4th, 1872. "A Doctor Insane with Smallpox Freezes to Death on an Iowa Prairie"- The Illustrated Police News, January 11th, 1872. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 21 April 2025

Ep. 38 - The Richmond Murderess

On today’s episode, Genevieve will discuss the case of “The Richmond Murderess,” Kate Webster. This story has everything: a brutal murder, a dismembering, mysterious skulls, ghost nuns, cutting edge execution techniques and Sir David Attenborough intricately knitted into the very fabric of this bone chilling saga. References for today's episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Julia_Martha_Thomas https://www.theregister.com/2011/07/06/barnes_mystery/ https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-14374296#:~:text=Nowadays%20it%20would%20seem%20almost,crime%20in%20England%20and%20Wales. “Influence of Kate Webster” - The Illustrated Police News, August 23rd, 1879. “The Richmond Murder” - Daily News, July 4th, 1879. “The Richmond Murder, Trial of Catherine Webster” - The Guardian, July 4th 1879. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 14 April 2025

Ep. 37 - They Died With Their Boots On

On Today’s episode, Genevieve will have a number of love-sick murderers, bad words that we’re allowed to use, so many gun fights, so many brains, a corpse concealed in a glen, Rasputin’s favorite sex cult, waxed mustaches, a dead robber baron at a seance, and much more. References for today's episode: https://www.murderbygaslight.com/2022/07/dr.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Fisk_(financier) “Matricide and Self-Murder” - The Illustrated Police News, November 30th, 1871. “Bad Tom” Smith - The Illustrated Police News, July 6th, 1895. “It’s Not Use Trying to be Good” - The Illustrated Police News, May 20th, 1875. “Criminal Capers” - The Illustrated Police News, July 6th, 1876. “A Married Man, After Cohabiting with a Young Lady, Kills Her With Poison” - The Illustrated Police News, November 30th, 1871. “A Father Taken At His Word - What Whisky Did for a Young Man in Kansas” - The Illustrated Police News, November 16th, 1871. “How the Liquor Law is Enforced in New Bedford, Mass.” - The Illustrated Police News, December, 7th 1871. “A Lovesick Sunday Superintendent Blows His Brains Out” - The Illustrated Police News, November 23, 1871. “Mysteries of Spiritualism” - The Illustrated Police News, January 4th, 1872. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 7 April 2025

Ep. 36 - Victorian Cults: Messiahs, Manipulation & Custom Tea Blends

Ep. 36 - Victorian Cults: Messiahs, Manipulation & Custom Tea Blends On today’s episode, Genevieve is talking about Victorian era cults: the bonkers beliefs, the scandals, manipulation, devil children, corpses in bath tubs, custom tea blends, and what inspired these cults to come about in the first place. References for today’s episode: https://medium.com/@pau1morgan/the-lampeter-brethren-a-victorian-sex-cult-e318213d7b7f https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agapemonites https://www.utopia-britannica.org.uk/pages/abode%20of%20love.htm https://headstuff.org/culture/history/terrible-people-from-history/henry-james-prince-john-hugh-smyth-pigott-agapemonite-messiahs/ https://digitalcommons.hamilton.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/acsq/article/1490/&path_info=ACSQ_2021.02_130.pdf https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreshan_Unity https://floridatraveler.com/koreshan-state-park/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/917741876/?match=1&terms=Agapemonite https://medium.com/illumination/blurred-lines-how-our-culture-echoes-cult-like-patterns-181bcb9b600a https://conflicttransformation.substack.com/p/responding-to-cults-as-a-social-conflict Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 31 March 2025

Ep. 35 - Where the Dead Delight to Help the Living

On Today’s episode, Genevieve will have a deathbed confession, the accidental death of a horse fancier, a horrific elevator accident, a horrific mowing machine accident, naughty picture book advertisements, a butchered brother in law, a case of Victorian cat fishing, a hairbreadth escape, and more! References for today’s episode: “The Avondale Horror. A Deathbed Confession” - The Illustrated Police News, November 30, 1871. “A Bottle of Horse Medicine Kills a Horse Fancier” - The Illustrated Police News, December 21, 1871. “A Chambermaid Crushed by an Elevator” - The Illustrated Police News, December 14, 1871. “A Man Butchers his Brother In Law in Tippecanoe, Ohio - Tragical Result of a Whisky Quarrel” - The Illustrated Police News, November 9th, 1871. “Marrying By a Photographic Proxy - An innocent Nebraskan Ensnared by a Touched-Up Picture” - The Illustrated Police News, December 28, 1871. “A Truly Terrible Death - A mowing machine Literally Slices a Man to Pieces” - The Illustrated Police News, August 29th, 1873. “Affray Between Two Ladies of Fashion in the Streets of St. Louis” - The Illustrated Police News, December 7, 1871. “A Saddening Story” - The Illustrated Police News, January 4th, 1872. “A Hairbreadth Escape - A Mississippi Girl Saves a Drowning Man in a Curious Manner” - The Illustrated Police News, August 28, 1873. https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2022/09/fifth-avenue-hotel-opulence-atop.html https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2010/10/i-sit-on-your-grave-new-yorks-hidden.html https://wynninghistory.com/2019/03/04/avondale/ https://thetroyhistoricalsociety.org/obits/John%20Aston.htm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 24 March 2025

Ep. 34 - Coffin Torpedos for Body Snatchers

On tonday’s episode, Genevieve will discuss the repugnant trade of body snatching in the Victorian era, she’ll discuss the ways families fought back, she’ll introduce you to the 2 most infamous body snatchers of all time; Burke and Hare, and we’ll run into a few friends along the way. References for today’s episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_and_Hare_murders https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.24794 https://www.civilwarmed.org/bodysnatching/ https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/coffin-torpedos https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028490/1881-01-20/ed-1/seq-8/ https://wellcomecollection.org/stories/beating-the-bodysnatchers https://99percentinvisible.org/article/grave-guns-coffin-torpedoes-vintage-defenses-aimed-foil-grave-robbers/ https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=history https://history.utk.edu/from-grave-robbing-to-giving-your-own-body-to-science-a-short-history-of-where-medical-schools-get-cadavers/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 17 March 2025

Ep. 33 - Talk to Dead People with Your Friends

On Today’s’s episode, Genevieve is diving back into the Illustrated Police News Law Courts and Record: everyone’s favorite bananas, blood-soaked, spooky little tabloid from the 1800s. She will have a hat-wafting seance, a thrilling search for a dead body, wax necks, jealous husbands, mayhem, a shocking discovery in a penitentiary, an alarming growth of intoxication among young ladies, and more! References for Today's Show: https://www.magicianmasterclass.com/post/how-do-magicians-levitate#viewer-aqfts “The Last “Thing” in Fashion, The Wax Neck” Illustrated Police News, January 4th, 1872. “Spiritual Manifestations at a Seance in Boston on New Year’s Eve” Illustrated Police News, January 4th, 1872. “Thrilling Search for the Body of a Murdered Man in MacDonald Co, Mo.,” Illustrated Police News, January 4th, 1872. “A Young Lady Outraged and Then Murdered in Arkansas,”  Illustrated Police News, Dec, 28 1871. “A Leap to Death in Cincinnati - An Unknown Unfortunate Jumps From a Bridge to Eternity,” Illustrated Police News, August, 28 1873. “Taking a Farmer’s Wife, Baby and Potatoes to Market,” Illustrated Police News, Dec 7th, 1872. “How a Jealous Husband in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Returned Home and What He Found There,” Illustrated Police News, Dec 7th, 1872. “Alarming Growth of Intoxication Among Young Ladies - Sad Scene in a New Jersey Ferry Boat,” Illustrated Police News, Dec 7th, 1872. “Extra Penance in a Penitentiary,” Illustrated Police News, Nov 30th, 1871. “Mayhem,” Illustrated Police News, July 6th, 1876. “A New Jersey Cannibal Gormandizes a Policeman’s Cheek,” Illustrated Police News, Dec 21st, 1871. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 10 March 2025

Ep. 32 - The Ripper: Part 2

On todays episode, Genevieve will return to 19th century London to discuss the Jack the Ripper murders case. She'll discuss the timeline, the victims, the suspects, and a few little known facts about the still open Whitechapel murders case. She’ll also discuss a very courageous photo shoot, and give her fairly coherent review of “The Monkey.” References for today's episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper https://www.jack-the-ripper.org/kate-eddowes-last-night.htm https://www.jack-the-ripper.org/jack-the-ripper-victim-elizabeth-stride.htm https://www.jack-the-ripper.org/mary-kelly.htm https://www.jack-the-ripper.org/suspects.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Eddowes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Stride https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jane_Kelly "Bolton Spiritualists Vision of the Whitechapel Murderer "- The Bolton News, Oct 8, 1888 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 3 March 2025

Ep. 31 - The Ripper : Part 1

On todays episode, Genevieve will dive deep into the Jack The Ripper case and guide you down the cold, damp, cobblestone streets of 19th century Whitechapel. She'll discuss the timeline, the victims, the suspects, and a few little known facts about the still open Whitechapel murders case. References for today's episode: https://www.science.org/content/article/does-new-genetic-analysis-finally-reveal-identity-jack-ripper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper https://www.jack-the-ripper.org/emma-smith.htm https://www.jack-the-ripper.org/martha-tabram-jack-the-ripper-victim.htm https://www.jack-the-ripper.org/life-and-death-of-mary-nichols.htm https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/jack-the-rippers-victims-were-not-prostitutes-says-historian-who-claims-sexist-victorian-policemen-unfairly-labelled-them/JSQ3BCTKULMV7LZVZTCVGEAISQ/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Elizabeth_Smith https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Tabram https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Nichols Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 24 February 2025

Ep. 30 - Welcome to the Cabaret of Death

On today’s episode, Genevieve will be discussing the very macabre ways in which French Victorians would entertain themselves: the death-themed cabarets, horror shows in old gothic chapels, and the very upsetting and morbid curiosities that Parisians would literally trample over each other to get a glimpse of. References for today's episode: https://daily.jstor.org/the-cabarets-of-heaven-and-hell/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Guignol https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/paris-morgue-public-viewing https://dianamarin.com/tag/the-uncanny-cabaret-du-neant/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabaret_de_L%27Enfer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabaret_du_Ciel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 17 February 2025

Ep. 29 - Butchery with Banjos and Vinegar Valentines

On today's episode, we will have butchery with banjos, naked maniacs decapitating people, Lesbians, more butchery, some charming insults that Victorians liked to send to one another on Valentines day, and a very special love poem. References for today's episode: “A Naked Man's Horrible Deeds,” Illustrated Police News, December 18, 1880 "Butchered" With a Banjo,” Illustrated Police News, July 3, 1880 “Bloody Butchery,” Illustrated Police News, January 31, 1880 https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/misogyny-created-a-space-for-women-to-f-ck-in-the-19th-century-d32f6ab34e48 https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/misogyny-created-a-space-for-women-to-f-ck-in-the-19th-century-d32f6ab34e48 https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/victorian-same-sex-valentines-day Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 10 February 2025

Ep. 28 - Horrors of the Victorian Lunatic Asylum

On today's episode, Genevieve takes you on a tour of the Victorian Lunatic Asylum. She'll discuss the history of the institution, surprising and spine-chilling facts, as well as her very own terrifying experience of the time she broke into the Overbrook Asylum in New Jersey. References for today's episode: https://cpp-college.netlify.app/programs/education-blog/victorian-mental-health-and-women-part-one-american-asylums https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/victorian-mental-asylum https://www.theatlantic.com/sponsored/netflix-2017/how-victorian-women-were-oppressed-through-the-use-of-psychiatry/1607/ https://www.talkspace.com/blog/history-inhumane-mental-health-treatments/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Bly https://usghostadventures.com/haunted-places/americas-most-haunted-hospitals-and-asylums/overbrook-asylum/ https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/8bcb0263e26f4ceeb6d41a00cfc72b7a?item=1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 3 February 2025

Ep. 27 - Curious Capers and Spiritual Speculations

On today's episode, Genevieve will discuss the 5 Points slum, a church lunatic, a woman that takes investment advice from her dead husband, a cannibalistic affair between 2 ladies, the curious caper of an unruly cow, a locomotive disaster, mayhem, mysterious tragedies and a man who saved an entire New Hampshire town because he loved his girlfriend a little too much. References for today's episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Our_Lady_of_the_Scapular%E2%80%93St._Stephen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Points,_Manhattan#:~:text=The%20local%20politics%20of%20%22the,racial%20integration%20in%20American%20history Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 27 January 2025

Ep. 26 - The Grave Trains of London

In today’s episode, Genevieve will discuss the grisly history of the graveyard that is London, and the subterranean train system built in the Victorian era within and around the final resting places of literally millions of tightly packed Londoners. References for today’s episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enon_Chapel https://gizmodo.com/how-corpses-helped-shape-the-london-underground-1493312117 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-66507599 https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/london-crossrail-bedlam-big-dig https://www.timeout.com/london/news/londons-victorian-necropolis-railway-station-is-for-sale-060424 https://www.mylondon.news/news/nostalgia/london-underground-station-built-right-21001175 https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/where-we-go/blog/the-forgotten-story-of-london-necropolis-railway https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/the-forgotten-men-of-the-london-underground/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 January 2025

Ep. 25 - Murder, Blackmail, and Raving Maniacs

On today's show, Genevieve has a robber who becomes a raving maniac in prison, a very shocking confession followed by a very grisly request, a woman poisoned by laudanum and nearly frozen to death, a footrace between a phrenologist and a zippy young lady, a thief who nearly blows his own head off, a wife’s vengeance with a pen knife, murder, blackmail, and an unfortunate sled accident on an historic Boston Street, among a few others. References for today's episode: https://www.murderbygaslight.com/2015/06/the-murder-of-pet-halsted.html https://pages.vassar.edu/realarchaeology/2017/03/05/phrenology-and-scientific-racism-in-the-19th-century/ https://www.schenectadyhistory.org/families/hmgfm/shields.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Exposition Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 13 January 2025

Ep. 24 - Welcome to the Murder Castle

In this week's episode, Genevieve gives a full, very dramatic review of Nosferatu, and dives into the truly diabolical murders of H.H. Holmes. References for todays episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes https://www.newspapers.com/image/668069816/?terms=h.h.%20holmes https://www.history.com/news/murder-castle-h-h-holmes-chicago https://www.ranker.com/list/hh-holmes-origin-story/hannah-gilham https://www.bustle.com/p/quotes-from-hh-holmes-memoir-provide-insight-into-the-american-ripper-69194 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/enduring-mystery-hh-holmes-americas-first-serial-killer-180977646/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 6 January 2025

Ep. 23 - Hatchets, Razors, Narrow Escapes, and Nosferatu

Today, Genevieve will discuss a Lunatic Asylum escapee in a washtub boat, a steamboat slaughter, a tragic murder on a lovely evening, a clergyman’s narrow escape from certain death, a fit of apoplexy, hatchets, razors, insanity, and a somewhat tragic ice skating accident that luckily has a meet-cute happy ending. References for Today's Episode: https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2022/11/nellie-bly-blackwells-island/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultana_(steamboat) https://genealogytrails.com/ill/woodford/tradgies.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 30 December 2024

Ep. 22 - Sweet Messages of Calm Decay

On today's episode, we’re still celebrating the Holiday season with some weird, wonderful, and downright irresponsible Victorian Christmas traditions! References for today's episode: https://www.history.com/news/christmas-tradition-ghost-stories https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/652043/victorian-christmas-traditions https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/dec/12/shock-of-the-old-11-murderous-and-macabre-victorian-christmas-cards https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-34988154 https://historycollection.com/strange-and-delightful-holiday-traditions-of-the-victorian-era/ https://www.marthastewart.com/1097532/decorative-past-tradition-christmas-pickle-ornament Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 23 December 2024

Ep. 21 - A Chamber of Horrors

Today's episode is Christmas themed! Genevieve will be discussing a family hatchet fight, an assault with a pot roast, an assault with a teapot, a fruit and nut plundering, an insane chimney sweep, a grizzly Christmas day murder, A tragic Christmas Day train disaster, a Chamber of Horrors, and a few more truly horrific Christmas day events. References for today's episode: https://www.measuringworth.com/blog/?p=256 https://www.postalmuseum.org/blog/victorian-christmas-boxes/#:~:text=These%20tokens%20were%20known%20as,form%20of%20money%20or%20alcohol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_railroad_accidents https://sites.dartmouth.edu/toxmetal/arsenic/arsenic-a-murderous-history/#:~:text=Beginning%20in%20the%20eighteenth%20century,common%20in%20the%20market%20place Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 December 2024

Ep. 20 - They'll Be Scary Ghost Stories

In today's episode, Genevieve keeps with Victorian Christmas tradition, and tells a terrifying ghost story: The Signal Man, by Charles Dickens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 9 December 2024

Ep. 19 - Killed By a Coffin

On today's episode, Genevieve dives back into the salacious, at times terrifying, at times, grisly, at times charming Illustrated Police News Law Courts and Record, from which she will read about Bleecker Street harpies punching cops in the face, some discomfiture of an older gentleman who gets a parasol stuck in his mouth, a madhouse ax murder, a man on a smashing spree, a saloon slaying, a murderously jealous lover, and a man killed by a coffin. References for today's episode: https://cemeteryclub.wordpress.com/2020/03/02/killed-by-a-coffin/ https://www.loc.gov/item/ca07000366/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 2 December 2024

Ep. 18 - Until You Are Dead

In today's episode, Genevieve digs deep into the murder trial of Mary Ann Mailman at the hands of her husband, Peter Mailman in 1873. The trial was full of salacious accusations of affairs, jealous husbands, heartbreaking testimony, flagrant slut shaming from the defense, and details of the murder that shook Nova Scotia to the core. The Trial of Peter Mailman: https://ia600201.us.archive.org/10/items/cihm_09620/cihm_09620.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 25 November 2024

Minisode 3 - The Miniest of Sodes

In this very short episode Genevieve waxes on the current state of affairs. We will return to the 1800s next week, and especially in 2 months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 11 November 2024

Ep. 17 - Marvelous and Alarming Madness

On today's episode, Genevieve pulls out a few articles from the Illustrated Police News Law Courts and Record: volumes between 1871 and 1875. She'll provide you with your Weekly Dose of Blood, a very concerning case of 2 men either infected with rabies, or turning into werewolves - it’s a bit unclear, a Frenchman nearly eaten alive by rats, a grizzly wedding party, a blood-thirsty maniac, a woman melting down exquisitely on stage, and a damsel giving an impromptu acrobatic performance on the streets of Chicago Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 4 November 2024

Bonus Episode! - A little Hallowe'en Candy

On today's minisode, Genevieve reads her 3 favorite spooky Victorian Halloween poems! Edgar Allan Poe's, The Raven, Lake of the Dismal Swamp by Thomas Moore, and The Broomstick Train or the Return of the Witches by Oliver Wendell Holmes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 31 October 2024

Ep. 16 - Happy Hallowe'en!

Today’s episode will contain absolutely delightful, bone-chillingly fascinating Victorian Halloween traditions, as well as a few more creepy-eepy Victorian house histories and hauntings. References for today's episode: https://gaslampfoundation.org/victorian-halloween-traditions-now-thats-scary/ https://www.grunge.com/1056548/what-victorian-halloween-was-really-like/ https://mix108.com/is-this-home-the-most-haunted-estate-in-minnesota/ https://www.huntingdondailynews.com/daily_herald/news/spooktacular-stories-the-haunting-of-baker-mansion/article_7370709e-6ff2-5d04-a92a-9853bc26b288.html https://hauntedhouses.com/minnesota/forepaughs-restaurant/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 28 October 2024

Ep. 15 - Among the Dead Men

In today's episode, Genevieve will be diving back into your favorite grisly, hideous, at times very witty, and fabulously illustrated Victorian publication - The Illustrated Police News Law Courts and Record. She'll discuss a creepy German law, Revolutionary war skeletons found in walls, coffins for lifeboats, and a journalist’s detailed report on what it was like to walk around a surgical school in the middle of the night in 1871. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 21 October 2024

Ep. 14 - Mannequins in the Attic

On today's episode, Genevieve discusses the creepiest Victorian haunted house she could find: The Villisca Axe murder house. She talks about both the chilling backstory and the hauntings.  References for today's episode: https://adelaidehauntedhorizons.com.au/haunted-villisca-ax-murder-house-ghosts/ https://murderhouse.com/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Ghosts/comments/eldrm7/stayed_the_night_at_the_villisca_axe_murder_house/ https://usghostadventures.com/haunted-places/villisca-ax-murder-house/ https://villisca.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=moore&i=f&d=06011912-12311929&m=between&ord=k1&fn=the_villisca_review_usa_iowa_villisca_19120613_english_6&df=1&dt=10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villisca_axe_murdershttps://coronertalk.com/28 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 14 October 2024

Minisode 2 - Coffin-Shaped Boxes and Unbearable Cliffhangers

On today's episode, Genevieve will discuss coffin-shaped boxes in mysterious huts, a case of suspended animation, a struggle in an elevator with a lunatic, and some other disturbing, little “Items of interest” as they’re called in the 1878 volume of The Illustrated Police News Law Courts and Record which are indeed very interesting items. We’ll also enjoy a pumpkin smash. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 7 October 2024

Ep. 13 - The Most Haunted House in America

On today's episode, Genevieve discusses "America's most haunted house®" - The Whaley House of San Diego California. She'll dive into the bone chilling back story, as well as the spooky hauntings that delight (and seriously creep out) visitors today.  References for today's episode include: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaley_House_(San_Diego,_California) https://yourtahoeguide.com/2021/07/gold-rush-vigilantes-jim-ugly-and-yankee-jim/ https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Whaley-1836 https://www.kcghosts.com/california-whaley-house https://sdghosts.com/the-whaley-house/ https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2017/jul/03/history-san-diego-1850/ https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDDU18850820.2.29&srpos=26&e=-------en--20-SDDU-21--txt-txIN-thomas+Whaley------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 30 September 2024

Minisode 1 - Broad Blown as Fresh as Hell

In today's (first!) minisode, Genevieve reads articles from the "Weekly Dose of Blood" in an 1873 volume of The Illustrated Police News Law Courts and Record publication, as well as a spooky little article about a thieving somnambulist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 23 September 2024

Ep. 12 - Morbid Curiosity and Murderous Spirits

In today's episode, Genevieve will discuss Mediums getting attacked by spirits, men drinking their own blood, live burials, nuns getting struck with lightning and rising from the dead – it’s going to be a spooky rollercoaster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 September 2024

Ep. 11 - Horrors of the Victorian Circus

In today's episode, Genevieve talks about Victorian circus horrors. References for today's episode: https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/freak-shows https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2011/septemberoctober/statement/the-circus-you-never-knew https://victorian-era.org/victorian-era-circus-performances.html https://boroughsofthedead.com/barnum-museum-fire-july-13-1865/ https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/greatest-show-earth-freak-shows-pt-barnum-tom-thumb/ https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=DMST18851009.2.46&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- https://www.historyireland.com/the-wee-est-little-man-that-ever-was-general-tom-thumb-in-ireland/ https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-lost-original-madison-square-garden.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_mermaid https://jvc.oup.com/2021/05/20/lost-circuses-of-victorian-leeds/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 2 September 2024

Ep. 10 - Body Snatchers and Women on the Rampage

In today’s episode, Genevieve dives back into the Illustrated Police News from 1871 - the insane Victorian publication full of grisly murders, body snatchers, mice in donuts – it was a publication full of complete chaos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 19 August 2024

Ep. 9 - Dangerous and Deadly Victorian Fashion

In today's episode, Genevieve discusses how Tuberculosis influenced fashion, hazardous beauty routines, deadly hatpins, the dangers of corsets, and strange, kind of gross beauty trends, as well as some really weird and intriguing facts about Victorian fashion.  References for today's episode: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-tuberculosis-shaped-victorian-fashion-180959029/  https://www.thecollector.com/tuberculosis-art/  https://thevictorianhistorian.com/beauty-fashion/  https://nyamcenterforhistory.org/2015/05/29/did-corsets-harm-womens-health/  https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-leeds-mercury-death-of-matilda/30613252/?locale=en-US  https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hatpins-mashers-self-defense-history-women-hats-fashion  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheele%27s_green  https://hyperallergic.com/329747/death-by-wallpaper-alluring-arsenic-colors-poisoned-the-victorian-age/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 7 August 2024

Ep. 8 - Coffin-Shaped Tables

Today’s episode is going to be a little different. Genevieve will be reading horrifying stories from the Illustrated Police News from 1871, and giving context to the stories.  References for today's show: https://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-875?d=%2F10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780199329175.001.0001%2Facrefore-9780199329175-e-875&p=emailAamzPoP9dB6io  https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/266/oa_monograph/chapter/3065998#:~:text=This%20doctrine%2C%20called%20%E2%80%9Cspiritual%20affinity%2C%E2%80%9D%20swept%20the%20ranks%20of%20spiritualism%20in%20the%20early%201850s.&text=As%20sages%20of%20this%20world%20and%20the%20next%20one https://time.com/6107025/victoria-woodhull-free-love-movement/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 29 July 2024

Ep. 7 - The Dawn of Victorian Spiritualism

In today's episode, Genevieve dives into the spine tingling world of Victorian Spiritualism. She'll talk about where it all began, what a Victorian materializing seance would entail, the ways mediums would trick people into believing they were talking to dead people, and the history of the Ouija board.  References for today's episode: https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-john-brown-was-queen-victorias-channel-to-alberts-ghost https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-fox-sisters-and-the-rap-on-spiritualism-99663697/ https://www.grunge.com/665457/the-strange-truth-about-ectoplasm-explained/ https://www.ranker.com/list/victorian-medium-seance-tricks/olivia-pasquarelli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualism_(movement) https://husheduphistory.com/post/653477933416120320/calling-the-unknown-by-name-helen-peters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 15 July 2024

Ep. 6 - The Wild World of Victorian Vampires

In today’s episode, Genevieve will discuss the wild world of Victorian vampires. She'll discuss vampire panic and vampire autopsies of the 1800s, real vampires - or at least, folks who were believed to be real vampires, and the inspirations for everyone's favorite vampire, Dracula.  References for today's episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_vampire_panichttps://www.cdc.gov/tb/worldtbday/history.htm https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/vampire-myths-originated-real-blood-disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Westenra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Paolehttps://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/dracula-bram-stoker-inspiration https://lithub.com/on-the-victorian-science-and-prejudices-behind-bram-stokers-dracula/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 8 July 2024

Ep. 5 - The Life and Times of Typhoid Mary

On today's episode, Genevieve talks about the life and times of a Ms. Mary Mallon, otherwise known as Typhoid Mary – much to her chagrin.  References for today's show: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Mallon https://the-line-up.com/north-brother-island https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/north-brother-island https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2019/03/28/are-victorian-diseases-making-a-comeback/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/typhoid/letter.html https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/typhoid Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 1 July 2024

Ep. 4 - The Horror of Victorian Children’s Stories

In today's episode, Genevieve talks about the deeply disturbing world of Victorian Children’s stories and the twisted origins of some nursery rhymes of the time that we still enjoy today. References for today's episode: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2019/04/the-creepy-and-harsh-lessons-of-early-childrens-books/ https://news.ufl.edu/archive/1996/10/todays-scary-stories-are-tame-compared-to-victorian-age-tales.html https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/penny-dreadfuls-victorian-children-literacy https://www.representingchildhood.pitt.edu/victorian.htm https://writingtoberead.com/2023/04/26/dark-origins-the-creepy-true-story-behind-alice-in-wonderland-darkorigins-aliceinwonderland/ https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/meet-springheeled-jack-the-leaping-devil-that-terrorized-victorian-england Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 24 June 2024

Ep. 3 - The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe

In today's episode, Genevieve covers the life and mysterious death of beloved gothic fiction writer, Edgar Allan Poe. My Main References:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Edgar_Allan_Poe https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/a45782209/edgar-allan-poe-death-mystery/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/still-mysterious-death-edgar-allan-poe-180952936/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 17 June 2024

Ep. 2 - The Victorian Cult of Death

In this week's episode, Genevieve talks about elaborate Victorian funeral traditions, what was, and was not, acceptable mourning fashion of the day, Queen Victoria’s obsession with her dead husband that sparked the trends, the hardship and power of 19th-century widowhood, as well as the almost fetishistic keepsaking of the deceased. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 10 June 2024

Ep. 1 - The Legend of Octavia Hatcher

In this episode, Genevieve covers the mysterious death of Octavia Hatcher – a women who died in 1891 who, according to legend, was buried alive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 3 June 2024

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