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4.17: Lord Walter’s vampire-bride turns on his children! — Varney’s dreaded visitor. — The ghostly businessman on the train. — The noble generosity of a fierce lion!
Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of old London!
PART I: “The HALF-CROWN CAMPIES” segment: 0:00 — 32:00:
- 01:20: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE; or, THE FEAST OF BLOOD, Chapter 31: We open the scene on Sir Francis Varney is in his home. He is awaiting a visitor, whom he dreads. We learn from his nervous mutterings that this visit occurs once a year, at which the visitor exacts a price which Varney must pay “for that existence, which but for him had been long since terminated.” Who can this visitor be, who fills the fearsome and dreadful Varney the Vampyre with such terror and loathing?
- 26:02: BROADSIDE BALLAD: A jocose street song about a silly prophecy that London would be hit with a tremendous earthquake.
- 30:15: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: The story of a noble lion who, after running amok in Venice, treated a dropped baby with great care.
PART II: "THE SIXPENNY SPOOKIES," 32:45 — 1:09:45:
- 33:00: EARLY VICTORIAN GHOSTLY SHORT STORY, TO-WIT: Wake Not the Dead, by Ernst Raupach, Part 3 of 4: In which:: Walter’s castle daily grows more empty and desolate, as everyone with children takes them away to save them from the vampire’s curse. All that remains are old people, whose tired blood Brunhilda considers unsuitable; and, of course, Walter’s two children. Walter, enthralled by her spell, doesn’t even notice. Brunhilda is like a magic sex robot — loving and passionate with him, cold and distant to everything else, but fueled by young blood, which she obtains by making herself charming to her victim before lulling him or her to sleep and draining from his or her young bosom the purple tide of life. She now sets out to charm and slake herself with Walter’s children….
- 54:00: A SHORT GHOST STORY from the scrapbook of Charles Lindley, Viscount Halifax: The story of a traveler who, murdered for the cash with which he was traveling, appeared in ghost form the following week to bring his murderer to justice.
- 1:00:30: A BONUS GHOST STORY from the Terrific Register (1825): A legend of a ghostly character that appeared to Napoleon Bonaparte and foretold his fall.
- 1:07:45: A FEW SQUEAKY-CLEAN DAD JOKES from the early-1800s' most popular joke book: "Joe Miller's Jests; or, The Wit's Vade-mecum."
*The Barony of Dunwitch is located in a deep forest glade west of Arkham (where, as H.P. Lovecraft put it, “the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut; there are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight.”) Actually it is a good 3,000 miles west of Arkham. It is not to be confused with Dunwich, the English seacoast town that fell house by house into the sea centuries ago, or Dunsany, the home until 1957 of legendary fantasy author Edward J.M.D. Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany.
GLOSSARY OF FLASH TERMS USED IN THIS EPISODE:
- NATTY LADS: Young well-dressed pickpockets.
- LIVELY KIDDIES: Funny fellows.
- KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows wandering amok in meadows and ditches, trying to stagger home.
- CORINTHIAN: A fancy toff or titled swell. Used here as a reference to Corinthian Tom, the quintessential Regency rake depicted in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (usually referred to as "Tom and Jerry").
- CHAFFING-CRIB: A room where drinking and bantering are going on.
- CLANKERS: Pewter drinking pots.
- ENGLISH BURGUNDY: Strong ale or barleywine.
- AUTEM BAWLERS: Preachers.
- BABES OF GRACE: Puritanical sanctimonious-looking persons, especially if they are drunk. Think of Mr. Lupin from Sweeney Todd.
- VADE MECUM: Latin for "hand book."
There are more! But we’re out of space here. A full glossary of all the flash-cant terms used in this episode is at https://pennydread.com/discord in the "#season-4-episodes" thread.
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By Finn J.D. John/ Pulp-Lit Productions
4.4
99 ratings
Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of old London!
PART I: “The HALF-CROWN CAMPIES” segment: 0:00 — 32:00:
- 01:20: VARNEY THE VAMPYRE; or, THE FEAST OF BLOOD, Chapter 31: We open the scene on Sir Francis Varney is in his home. He is awaiting a visitor, whom he dreads. We learn from his nervous mutterings that this visit occurs once a year, at which the visitor exacts a price which Varney must pay “for that existence, which but for him had been long since terminated.” Who can this visitor be, who fills the fearsome and dreadful Varney the Vampyre with such terror and loathing?
- 26:02: BROADSIDE BALLAD: A jocose street song about a silly prophecy that London would be hit with a tremendous earthquake.
- 30:15: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: The story of a noble lion who, after running amok in Venice, treated a dropped baby with great care.
PART II: "THE SIXPENNY SPOOKIES," 32:45 — 1:09:45:
- 33:00: EARLY VICTORIAN GHOSTLY SHORT STORY, TO-WIT: Wake Not the Dead, by Ernst Raupach, Part 3 of 4: In which:: Walter’s castle daily grows more empty and desolate, as everyone with children takes them away to save them from the vampire’s curse. All that remains are old people, whose tired blood Brunhilda considers unsuitable; and, of course, Walter’s two children. Walter, enthralled by her spell, doesn’t even notice. Brunhilda is like a magic sex robot — loving and passionate with him, cold and distant to everything else, but fueled by young blood, which she obtains by making herself charming to her victim before lulling him or her to sleep and draining from his or her young bosom the purple tide of life. She now sets out to charm and slake herself with Walter’s children….
- 54:00: A SHORT GHOST STORY from the scrapbook of Charles Lindley, Viscount Halifax: The story of a traveler who, murdered for the cash with which he was traveling, appeared in ghost form the following week to bring his murderer to justice.
- 1:00:30: A BONUS GHOST STORY from the Terrific Register (1825): A legend of a ghostly character that appeared to Napoleon Bonaparte and foretold his fall.
- 1:07:45: A FEW SQUEAKY-CLEAN DAD JOKES from the early-1800s' most popular joke book: "Joe Miller's Jests; or, The Wit's Vade-mecum."
*The Barony of Dunwitch is located in a deep forest glade west of Arkham (where, as H.P. Lovecraft put it, “the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut; there are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight.”) Actually it is a good 3,000 miles west of Arkham. It is not to be confused with Dunwich, the English seacoast town that fell house by house into the sea centuries ago, or Dunsany, the home until 1957 of legendary fantasy author Edward J.M.D. Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany.
GLOSSARY OF FLASH TERMS USED IN THIS EPISODE:
- NATTY LADS: Young well-dressed pickpockets.
- LIVELY KIDDIES: Funny fellows.
- KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows wandering amok in meadows and ditches, trying to stagger home.
- CORINTHIAN: A fancy toff or titled swell. Used here as a reference to Corinthian Tom, the quintessential Regency rake depicted in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (usually referred to as "Tom and Jerry").
- CHAFFING-CRIB: A room where drinking and bantering are going on.
- CLANKERS: Pewter drinking pots.
- ENGLISH BURGUNDY: Strong ale or barleywine.
- AUTEM BAWLERS: Preachers.
- BABES OF GRACE: Puritanical sanctimonious-looking persons, especially if they are drunk. Think of Mr. Lupin from Sweeney Todd.
- VADE MECUM: Latin for "hand book."
There are more! But we’re out of space here. A full glossary of all the flash-cant terms used in this episode is at https://pennydread.com/discord in the "#season-4-episodes" thread.
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