My Victorian Nightmare

On today's episode, Genevieve will have little known, strange and unusual facts about Nikola Tesla, ghosts with deep and ghastly wounds, a woman smoking a pipe in a hearse, corpse flinging, pickax murders and a woman’s revenge with a rolling pin. All this and much, much more. 

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References For Today's Episode:

https://www.zillowgroup.com/news/selling-a-haunted-house/

"A HAUNTED HOUSE IN WESTMINSTER" - South Bourke and Mornington Journal, Nov. 17, 1880. 

"SCENERY IN THE SPIRIT WORLD" - The Spiritualist, Dec. 1869.

“A Quebec Woman Creates a Sensation, Riding Through St. John Street in a Hearse, Reclining on the Coffin-Bed, and Smoking a Pipe” - The Illustrated Police News, Apr. 11th, 1872.

"A GHASTLY CORPSE FLUNG INTO A NEW YORK ALLEY." - The Illustrated Police News, Apr. 11th, 1872.

"A San Francisco Wife Shoots her Husband and is Sorry she didn’t Kill Him" - The Illustrated Police News, Apr. 11th, 1872.

“A Dying Husband Witnesses the Death Struggles of his Wife and Dies from an Overdose of Laudanum, in Boston, Mass” - The Illustrated Police News, Apr. 4th, 1872.

“Two Railroad Firemen Have a Friendly Scuffle which Ends in a Murder” - The Illustrated Police News, Apr. 4th, 1872.

“Miraculous Escape From a Mistaken Murderer” - The Illustrated Police News, 1871.

“A Pickaxe Driven Through a Boy’s Intestines in New York City”  - The Illustrated Police News, Apr. 11th, 1872.

“A Kansas City Tragedy — A Strange Lady Shot and Killed in a Hotel” - The Illustrated Police News, Apr. 11th, 1872.

"A Lady of Atlanta, Ga., Ties her Husband’s Hands and Feet and Searches his Pockets for a Love-Letter" - The Illustrated Police News, Apr. 11th, 1872.

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On today's episode, Genevieve will have the tragic tale of the Donner Party, the group of 87 pioneers who became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1847, who were driven to commit acts of cannibalism to survive. She will also discuss the séances of “The Naked Medium,” Eva Carrière, as well as how the dead define “space.”

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Dark Poetry

Instagram Post For Today's Episode

References For Today's Episode:

https://www.kqed.org/news/11844011/donner-party-pt-1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Party

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ca-donnerparty/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Donner-party

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Carri%C3%A8re

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/11/22/eva-carriere-the-lying-spiritualist-ectoplasm-was-said-to-come-from-every-orifice-of-her-body/

“Spirit Wrapping in John Wesley’s Family” - The Spiritualist, Dec. 17th 1869.

“A Spirit on SPACE” - The Spiritualist, Dec. 17th 1869.

On today's episode, Genevieve will discuss astral projecting souls, an interview with a dead woman, skeletons found in a beer vat, terrible mutilations, an unexpected corpse - a number of unexpected corpses, actually, diamond studded murder weapons, and much, much more.

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References For Today's Episode:

“CHRISTMAS GHOST STORIES” - The Sidney Journal, Feb. 25th, 1870.

The Spiritualist - Dec. 31st, 1869.

“Two Dead Men Found at the Bottom of a Beer Vat in a Brewery in Baltimore, Md.” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 28th, 1872.

“ARIZONA’S HORRORS” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 28th, 1872.

“BOUGHT A CORPSE” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 28th, 1872.

“O’Connell, the Celtic Blunderer, Pulls the Wrong Tooth from Mrs. McCarty, and what He Received for His Services, at Hyde Park, - Mass” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 28th, 1872.

“A Bloody Fight in a Saloon on Mulberry Street, New York” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 28th, 1872.

“THE MURDERED PRINCESS” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 28th, 1872.

“CHARGE AGAINST A MEDICAL MAN” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 28th, 1872.

https://www.mdhistory.org/here-at-last-he-is-happy-the-death-and-burial-of-edgar-allan-poe/

On today's episode, Genevieve will discuss not one but 2 female poisoners of the 19th century. Adelaide Bartlett and Mary Ann Cotton. This episode will be dripping with chloroform and arsenic.

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References For Today's Episode:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimlico_Mystery

https://mayfairtimes.co.uk/2022/04/the-pimlico-poisoning/

https://www.historicmysteries.com/history/pimlico-poisoning/24405/

https://thethreepennyguignol.com/2024/04/17/the-impossible-case-of-the-pimlico-poisoning/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Cotton

https://www.historyhit.com/who-was-mary-ann-cotton/

https://www.wired.com/2012/02/arsenic-and-the-forgotten-serial-killer/

https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/things-to-do/cultural-history/true-crime/mary-ann-cotton

“CHRISTMAS GHOST STORIES” - The Sidney Journal, Feb. 25th, 1870.

“SEANCES AT THE SPIRITUAL LIBRARY” - The Spiritualist, Dec. 31st, 1869.

On today's episode, Genevieve will discuss the ghosts of The Tower of London, Welsh fasting girls, rabid brides, maniacs with razors, an attempted murder at a christening, a great deal of homicidal arson and a fatal masquerade.

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References For Today's Episode:

“The Tower Ghost” - The Sydney Mail, Feb. 26th, 1870.

“THE WELSH FASTING GIRL” - The Spiritualist, Dec. 31st 1869.

“A Rabid Bride” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 28th, 1872.

“A Truant Wife in a House of Ill-Fame at Washington” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

Josephine Creamer vs. Charles Creamer - Petition for Divorce - Puget Sound Dispatch, Aug. 1st 1872.

“A Man and His Wife Murdered and Burned in Indiana” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

“Struggle for Life in the Grasp of the Madman Purdy, at Newburg, N.Y.” — The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 21st, 1872.

“A Bloody Christening in Boston — Timothy Cannon Stabs His Cousin”- The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 14th, 1872.

“A Deserted Maiden of St. Louis Attempts to Burn Her Recreant Lover Alive” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 21st, 1872.

“Fatal Result of a Masquerading Joke at Millerton, New York” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 7th, 1872.

https://www.walks.com/blog/tower-of-london-ghosts/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Jacob

https://ghil.hypotheses.org/2151

On today's episode, Genevieve will discuss the Yule Cat, Krampus and the Yule Goat, as well as a few other deeply disturbing monsters that roam the countryside, looking to slice children open and replace their insides with straw and rocks every Christmas. Some of these creatures have ancient origins, but they all really shined in the Victorian era.

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Instagram Post For Today's Episode

References For Today's Episode:

“Ghost Story” - The Halifax Courier and Guardian, Nov. 19th, 1853.

“The Human “Double” - The Spiritualist, Jan. 14th, 1870.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule_cat

https://education.turpentinecreek.org/2023/12/09/the-spooky-legend-of-the-yule-cat/

https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2025/12/krampus-origins-and-development-of-a-winter-devil/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_Fouettard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knecht_Ruprecht

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%BDla

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchta

https://www.tumblr.com/themousefromfantasyland/635704522538450945/the-creatures-of-yuletide-the-yule-goat

https://www.wisfarmer.com/story/life/2018/12/20/yule-goat-holidays-and-good-crops/2369257002/

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/storey/the-yule-goat/

https://london-overlooked.com/chelsea/

https://www.curiousarchive.com/emilie-sagee-bilocation-doppelganger/

https://english.nepalnews.com/s/explainers/the-rise-fall-and-acquittal-of-nepals-buddha-boy-everything-you-need-to-know/

On today's episode, Genevieve will discuss corpse-related practical jokes, jealousy and suicide, an insane pioneer pistol murderess, a religious maniac family annihilation, men bitten by mad dogs and the madcap frolic of a cross-dressing widow in New York City.

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Instagram Post For Today's Episode

References For Today's Episode:

“A BUDGET OF GHOST STORIES” - Cheshire Observer,  Mar. 6th, 1869.

“What Is The Use of Spiritualism" - The Spiritualist, Dec. 3rd, 1869. 

"A Ghastly Practical Joke" — The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 21st, 1872.

"A Termagant Hangs Herself in Brooklyn, N.Y." - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 21st, 1872.

“Jealousy and Suicide” - The Wheeling Daily Register, Mar. 16th, 1872.

"The Pioneer Pistol Murderess Insane" - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 14th, 1872.

"A Drunkard’s Baby Gnawed by a Dog" - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 21st, 1872.

"A BLOODY DOMESTIC DRAMA" - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 21st, 1872.

"Men Bitten by a Mad Dog in Kansas" — The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 21st, 1872.

"MADCAP FROLIC OF A BEAUTIFUL NEW YORK WIDOW" - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 21st, 1872.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Harris_%28murderer%29

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madstone_(folklore)

On today's episode, Genevieve will discuss the dark, macabre, heart-wrenching and fascinating inspirations for classical music pieces from the 19th century. From Beethoven to Berlioz; romantic, brooding, frightening pieces of music that we all know, we’ve heard in movies, studied in school, or listen to every day.

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Instagram Post For Today's Episode

Live Performance of Chopin's Raindrop Prelude

References For Today's Episode:

https://www.science.org/content/article/fr-d-ric-chopins-madness-diagnosed

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21593243/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prelude,_Op._28,_No._15_(Chopin)#:~:text=Some%20of%20Op.,of%20the%20actual%20external%20sounds.

https://www.marisamusicstudio.com/a-look-at-chopins-raindrop-prelude/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_of_Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin

https://crosseyedpianist.com/2020/07/18/he-was-not-like-other-men-chopin-as-seen-by-his-contemporaries/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Lake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky#:~:text=Also%2C%20the%20medical%20opinion%20printed,had%20little%20cause%20for%20worry.

https://www.tmc.edu/news/2019/10/tchaikovskys-mental-anguish-informed-his-work/

https://www.themarginalian.org/2022/05/17/beethoven-ode-to-joy/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven

https://www.vialma.com/en/articles/266/Niccolo-Paganini-The-Devils-Violinist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Joy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven

On today's episode, Genevieve will have nearly naked women clinging to lampposts, throat-slittings, self-shootings, women choking out would-be burglars, Dante’s Hell of ice, men chopped to pieces, a man named "Chicken" sentenced to hang, and a serenading lover nearly drowned - but he’s OK, that one turns out OK, thank God.

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Today’s Instagram Post

References for today’s episode:

“John Devin, the California “Chicken,” Sentenced to be Hanged” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 14th, 1872.

“THE GHOST AT THE CHESHIRE INN” - Cheshire Observer,  Mar. 6th, 1869.

"The Medium Mr. Morse" - The Spiritualist, Dec. 17th, 1869.

“A Crazy Woman Struggles With Policemen at Midnight on Washington Bridge, Williamsburgh, L.I” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 7th, 1872.

"The Kate Slade Case Again - A Woman Who Trusts in the Gods Believes All Men Are Devils, and Will Keep Her Mouth Hermetically Sealed" - The Brooklyn Union, Feb. 24th, 1872.

“MURDER AND SELF-MURDER DOWN EAST” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 14th, 1872.

“A Plucky Woman of New Jersey Holds a Robber at Bay Until the Arrival of Her Husband” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 7th, 1872.

“JACK FROST. WINTER RENEWED WITH TEN-FOLD VENGEANCE” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 14th, 1872.

“Determined to Strangle” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 7th, 1872.

“A Man Chopped to Pieces by His Wife and Her Paramour”- The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 14th, 1872.

“A Serenading Lover Comes to Grief in Lafayette, Indiana.” - The Illustrated Police News, Mar. 14th, 1872.

https://www.weather.gov/media/okx/Climate/Almanacs/nyc/nycmar.pdf

https://www.sbnm.org/Portals/NMBAR/AboutUs/committees/Historical/Crime_and_Punishment_In%20Colonial_New_Mexico.pdf?ver=i1lIcY1_Ia45yNDeXaM9DQ%3D%3D#:~:text=Finally%2C%20the%20death%20penalty%20was,%2C%20desertion%2C%20and%20premeditated%20murder.

https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/Rpts/PubDocs/PubDocs1872-73/PD1872-73_16.pdf

https://grokipedia.com/page/Shanghaiing

https://www.executedtoday.com/tag/1872/#:~:text=For%20about%20four%20minutes%20there,yet%20be%20brought%20to%20punishment