
We’re back and we’re glowing. While we’re only too happy to ascribe this to good diet and healthy living, all this phosphorous oil we keep splashing on ourselves may also play a part. It really helps you stand out in the dark, although it does make it a bit harder to creep around and do all the other sneaky stuff that goes into a good séance. At this rate, we’re going to need a real spirit guide to help pull this off.
Main Topic: Victorian Spiritualism part 2
This is the conclusion of our two-part look at the origins and evolution of Spiritualism in the gaslight era. In the first part, we examined the origins of Spiritualism. This time, we explore how Spiritualism became so popular in Victorian Britain, as well as some of the key figures of Victorian Spiritualism and the strange techniques they used to fake séances.
These episodes gloss over many of the details of séances themselves. We aim to cover those properly in an upcoming episode.
Links
Things we mention in this episode include:
- Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances by Lisa Morton
- The Table-Rappers: The Victorians and the Occult by Ronald Pearsall
- Medical Meddlers, Mediums and Magicians: The Victorian Age of Credulity by Dr Keith Souter
- Spiritualism
- Maria B Hayden
- Darwinism
- The Gothic movement
- The Enlightenment
- Phantasmagoria
- Magic lanterns
- Public visits to Bedlam
- Nightmare Alley (2021)

- Theosophy
- Women’s Suffrage
- Free Love in Victorian Britain
- Annie Besant
- Bryant & May match girls
- The Fox Sisters
- Francis Ward Monck
- Nevil Maskelyne
- The Vagrancy Act of 1824
- Helen Duncan
- The Witchcraft Act of 1735
- Blake’s 7
- Phosphorous oil
- “Herbert West – Re-Animator” by HP Lovecraft
- Davenport Brothers
- Spirit cabinet
- Harry Houdini
- John Mulholland
- Escapology
- Florence Cooke
- Spirit guide
- Daniel Dunglas Home
- Robert Browning
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- The First Psychic by Peter Lamont
- William Stainton Moses
- Séance
- Walker in the Wastes
- MK-RPG
- Electromagnetic hypersensitivity
- Better Call Saul
- Serjeant Edward William Cox
- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
- Spirit writing
- Spirit trumpet
- Ectoplasm
- Phossy jaw
- Tom Waits
- Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham
- Cold reading
- Barnum statements
- Rainbow ruse
- Hot readings
- Mary Showers
- Sacraments of Evil
- World of Darkness
- Isles of Darkness LARP
- The Prestige (2006)
- “Nyarlathotep” by HP Lovecraft
News
The Blasphemous Tome issue 11
The next issue of The Blasphemous Tome will soon be entering layout, ready to creep its way across the globe in June. This is the fully licenced Call of Cthulhu fanzine we produce for Patreon backers of the podcast. Issue 11 features a gorgeous full-colour cover from John Sumrow and a brand-new Call of Cthulhu scenario from our own Scott Dorward.
Paul at UK Games Expo
Paul will be attending the UK Games Expo in Birmingham between Friday the 2nd and Sunday the 4th of June 2023. While there, he will take part in a panel discussion with members of The Grognard Files, Orlanth Rex’s Gaming Vexes, and the Frankenstein RPG Podcast.
A Weekend With Good Friends
The next Weekend With Good Friends is approaching fast! This is the online RPG convention organised by our lovely listeners and hosted on our Discord server. While the main source of information is our Discord server, we also have a web page with important details and links. We will update this as things progress.
GM signups open a little over a week after this episode goes out. If you would like to offer a game and have it listed in the programme, please check out the AWWGF page between the 2nd and 15th of June. Don’t worry if you miss the cut-off, however — there will be pickup games running throughout the weekend.
The important dates are:
- Friday 2nd – Thursday 15th June — GM signups
- Friday 23rd – Thursday 29th June — Player signups
- Friday 30th June — Lottery results announced
- Friday 7th – Sunday 9th July — AWWGF
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