My Victorian Nightmare

On today’s episode, Genevieve will discuss women buried in wedding dresses, dismembered bodies in trunks, shawl disputes leading to knife attacks, a death by kicking written in flabbergasting detail, and a lady blitzed out of her bloomers on laughing gas, attempting all manner of gymnastics for an adoring crowd. She will also discuss Spiritualist philosophy of the 1800s and a family’s terrifying ghost encounter.

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References for today's episode:

“SPIRIT-RAPPING IN JOHN WESLEY’S FAMILY” - The Spiritualist, Dec. 3rd, 1869.

“The Philosophy of Spiritual Manifestations” - The Spiritualist, Dec. 3rd, 1869.

“A Father’s Meanness” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th 1872.

“A TRUNK HORROR IN FRANCE” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 29th, 1872.

“A Woman's Arm Cut to the Bone in a Quarrel About a Shawl in New York City” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 8th, 1872.

“John Cannon, a Railroad Engineer, Pounded and Kicked to Death by a Party of Germans in St. Louis” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 8th, 1872.

“A Highly Exhilarated Young Lady under the Influence of Laughing Gas at Cooper Institute, New York” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 8th, 1872.

https://www.geriwalton.com/nitrous-oxide-or-laughing-gas/

https://thevictorianbookofthedead.wordpress.com/2019/01/23/sewing-shrouds-19th-century-burial-clothing-2/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.funeralbasics.org/8-intriguing-funeral-customs-victorian-era/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.eterneva.com/resources/mourning-dress?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/04/queen-victoria-royal-wedding?srsltid=AfmBOoqX-HLxm4XN36H-oTzpmF0ptpI_sGjQbGe60HWQtuyLG0uh3FaN&utm_source=chatgpt.com

On today’s episode, Genevieve will discuss one of the most confounding and eery nautical mysteries of all time: The Ghost ship, Mary Celeste. This was a brigantine ship owned by Captain Benjamin Briggs that was found floating all by its lonesome in the Atlantic in 1872, with all of its crew, the captain, his wife and baby - nowhere to be found.

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The Best Scone Recipe:

https://www.shekeepsalovelyhome.com/lavender-lemon-scones-honey-butter/

Squid Attacks:

https://backyardhistory.ca/f/giant-squid-attacks-in-newfoundland

References for today's episode:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/abandoned-ship-the-mary-celeste-174488104/

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

https://www.modelerscentral.com/maritime-history/story-of-the-mary-celeste/?srsltid=AfmBOoqyF9ufbWn45U-NMst1M9JDATRjhZjSl75oqiD7dob_99CJHqiC

https://www.thecluecollective.com/single-post/2017/12/05/mystery-history-the-top-10-theories-explaining-why-the-mary-celestes-crew-disappeared

https://medium.com/the-mystery-box/the-mystery-of-the-mary-celeste-supernatural-event-or-fatal-accident-d26584c02cd4

https://www.southcoasttoday.com/story/news/2004/07/08/author-probes-maritime-mystery/50442951007/

https://ladybookdragon.com/2019/05/24/friday-poetry-29

On today's episode, Genevieve will have a series of mysterious and tragic murders in the southwest, men frozen to death, dogs playing with dead bodies in basements, nose pullers, lost wigs, and highly inappropriate sarcasm regarding incredibly violent vigilante justice. We'll also have a haunted house in 1878 with too many skeletons buried in the basement to know who's who.

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Today's Instagram Post

References:

"That Spook Roots" - The Boston Globe, Apr. 8th, 1878.

"A GHOST STORY" - Kansas City Journal, Mar. 15th, 1878.

"A FEARFUL VERDICT" - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

"Bloody Crimes at the Southwest" - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

"DRIVEN TO DESPAIR AND DEATH" - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

"PROBABLE INFANTICIDE IN CHARLESTOWN" - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 23rd, 1872.

"Dora Walsh gets her Nose Pulled by a Shoe Dealer in New York" - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 23rd, 1872.

"A WOMAN'S TONGUE CUT OUT" - The Illustrated Police News, Oct. 28th 1878.

"How a Kokomoo Church Member Lost his Wig During Service" - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

"An Old Story" - Pontiac Sentinel, Nov. 6th, 1878.

Just a little example of the kind of content posted on the Fan Coven, along with ad-free My Victorian Nightmare episodes, Dark Poetry, and weekly Victorian True Crime Extras!

Join the Fan Coven:

https://www.myvictoriannightmare.com/the-fan-coven

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On today’s episode, Genevieve will be taking you to the haunted Victorian era-built Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. She will discuss its horrifying history and its present-day spectral inhabitants. She will also discuss the Cock Lane Ghost story, as well as a 19th century, Groucho Marks-style mishap that occurred at a seance.

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References for today’s episode:

“The Cock Lane Ghost” - The Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, May 10th, 1873. 

“Reichenbach at a Spirit Circle” - The Spiritualist, Dec. 3rd, 1869.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Allegheny_Lunatic_Asylum

https://www.roadunraveled.com/blog/trans-allegheny-lunatic-asylum/

https://www.medlink.com/news/the-evolution-of-electroconvulsive-therapy-from-controversial-beginnings-to-a-safe-and-effective-treatment

https://www.uniquetravelphoto.com/trans-allegheny-lunatic-asylum/

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

https://usghostadventures.com/americas-most-haunted-trending/terrors-of-the-trans-allegheny-lunatic-asylum/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Paranormal/comments/xivpop/for_a_decade_i_was_a_paranormal_tour_guide_at_an/?rdt=32916

https://thelittlehouseofhorrors.com/trans-allegheny-lunatic-asylum/

https://midatlanticdaytrips.com/2021/10/what-lurks-in-the-halls-of-transallegheny-lunatic-asylum-at-night/

On today’s episode, Genevieve will have bullets – right between the eyes, mysterious throat slittings, diabolical plots involving corn pipes, buffalo hunters frozen to death, mysterious suicides, mangled men caught in cow-catchers and Spanish men falling out of windows, cursing all the way down. 

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References for today’s episode:

https://www.murderbygaslight.com/2022/01/i-caught-them-in-act.html

https://www.instagram.com/chrisnetzelofficial?igsh=b3NmY2hoMzQ4aTZn

"A True Ghost Story" - The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Jan. 19th, 1879.

"Solomon, King of Israel" - The Spiritualist, Nov 19th, 1869.

"One Dead, the Other Dying" - The Atlanta Constitution, Jul. 13th, 1892. 

"A Beautiful Young Kentucky Girl Cuts Her Own Throat" - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

"Effect of a Diabolical Plot to Burn a Man by Charging His Pipe With Gunpowder at Cincinnati" - The Illustrated Police News, Feb 22nd, 1872.

"A Kansas Horror" - The Illustrated Police News, Feb 15th, 1872.

"A Spaniard at Terre Haute, Indiana, Mistakes the Noise of a Serenading Party for an Earthquake and Jumps out of a Window" - The Illustrated Police News, Feb 22nd, 1872.

"Ghastly Freight on a Camden and Amboy Locomotive in Lawrence, N.J." - The Illustrated Police News, Feb 22nd, 1872.

"A Bloody Mystery in Cincinnati" - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

“Coroners Inquest” - The Cincinnati Enquirer, May 7th, 1872.

"The Brooklyn “What Is It.” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb 22nd, 1872.

On this week’s episode, Genevieve will discuss the Greenbrier Ghost; the only ghost, supposedly, who ever helped to solve her own murder. She will also discuss how to avoid becoming a Chinese hopping vampire, and exactly who, and who should not, attempt a “Dark Séance.”

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References for today’s episode:

“MONGOLIAN GHOSTS” - St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 28th, 1876.

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

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

https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2018/01/greenbrier-ghost.html

https://www.greenbrierhistorical.org/blog/the-greenbrier-ghost-reexamined

https://www.gothichorrorstories.com/gothic-travel/the-death-resurrection-and-retribution-of-zona-heaster-shue-the-greenbrier-ghost/

https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/greenbrier

https://wvexplorer.com/2024/01/20/greenbrier-ghost-zona-heaster-shue-west-virginia-wv/

On this week’s episode, Genevieve will discuss a number of brutal murders, throat slittings, girls shooting themselves in the face, sleighing accidents, smallpox in a corn-crib, horse burglars - meaning burglars who are horses - scenes from a scaffold, swallowed pen knives and so much more.

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References for today’s episode:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_supernatural_beings_in_Chinese_folklore#:~:text=to%20snatch%20babies.-,Wutou%20gui%20(%E6%97%A0%E5%A4%B4%E9%AC%BC),her%20head%20on%20the%20side

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosts_in_Chinese_culture#:~:text=Ghosts%20without%20means%20(%E7%84%A1%E8%B2%A1,distressing%20to%20themselves%20and%20others

https://www.dharmadrum.org/portal_d8_cnt_page.php?folder_id=56&cnt_id=259&up_page=1#:~:text=In%20Buddhism%2C%20the%20Yogacara%20Flaming,the%20Burning%2DMouth%20Hungry%20Ghosts

https://www.bkwaterfronthistory.org/story/unsung-builders/

https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/medical-examination-immigrants-ellis-island/2008-04#:~:text=Control%20of%20infectious%20agents%20also,Island%20and%20other%20U.S.%20immigration

“Mongolian Ghosts” - St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 28th, 1876.

“Thought-Reading and Physical Manifestations” - The Spiritualist, Nov. 19th 1869.

“Love, Murder and Suicide at Bozrah, Conn.” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

“Accidental Shooting of a Young Girl in Batesville, Arkansas” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

“Awful Fate of a Pauper” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

“A Horse Turned Burglar at New London, Conn.” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

“Peculiar Filial Love” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

“Singular Sleighing Accident to a Lady in Worcester, Mass.” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

“The Scaffold” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15th, 1872.

“Roasted To a Crisp” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 22nd, 1872.

“What Sort of a Woman will this Girl Be” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 22nd, 1872.

On today’s episode, Genevieve will be discussing The Bloody Benders, a Victorian era family of serial killers who were confirmed to have murdered at least 11 people in their Kansas home, but it’s estimated that that number was more likely closer to 20. She will also discuss a police officer’s deadly encounter with a ghost, as well as exactly how to perform a seance without a trained medium, according to a Spiritualist newspaper from the 1800s.

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References for today’s episode:

“IT SCARED HIM”- Helena Evening Herald, Mar. 1st, 1897.

(Blurb) - The Brooklyn Citizen, Mar. 28th, 1897.

“How to Form Spirit Circles” - The Spiritualist, Nov. 19th, 1869.

“Bloody Benders” - Weekly Rocky Mountain Gazette, June 4th, 1873.

“The Bloody Benders” - The Washington Post, Aug. 5th, 1880.

https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2024/10/bloody-benders/

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

https://www.wsaw.com/2024/05/29/150-years-later-archeologists-still-work-find-what-happened-alleged-violent-family-bloody-benders/

https://kansasalumnimagazine.org/magazine-article/bloody-benders-property/

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-benders/

On this week’s episode, Genevieve will discuss onion syrup poisonings, vigilante justice, razor suicides, jealous quarrels, horrible… truly horrible murders, Russian piggy-back rides and a narrow escape from death that ends in quite a significant amount of blushing. She will also discuss why executions are usually done at the crack of dawn, a little about spirit photography and why some ghosts maintain their deathly visages while others do not.

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References for today’s episode:

https://www.murderbygaslight.com/2021/10/a-great-burly-broad-shouldered-bully.html

“Two Spectral Lodgers : Ghosts in a Fourteenth-Street Boarding House” - The New York Times, Jun. 24, 1881.

"HOW MR. S. C. HALL SAW A SPIRIT!" - The Spiritualist, Nov. 19th, 1869.

"FREE LOVE AND POISON" - The Illustrated Police News, Dec. 7th 1871.

"A Man Accused of Rape Leaves the World With a Razor” - The Illustrated Police News, Jan. 18th, 1872.

“A Wife Murderer Hanged by a Mob in Richmond, KY.” - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 1st, 1872.

"Jealous Quarrels Ended by a Frail Woman's Suicide" - The Illustrated Police News, Feb. 1st, 1872.

"Reception of the Grand Duke Alexi in New York" - The Illustrated Police News, Nov. 30th, 1871.

“Another Horrible Murder” - Central Missouri Herald, Feb. 1st, 1877.

“The Last of Mabel Hall” - St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mar. 9th, 1876.

"A Lady’s Clothing Becomes Entangled in the Machinery of a Mill in Westmoreland County, Pa., and She has a Narrow Escape from Death" - The Illustrated Police News, May 20th, 1875.

"A Baker Booted in Boston" - The Illustrated Police News, Jan. 25th, 1872.