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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We’re back and we’re rapping. While we’re sure we could come up with some killer rhymes, we’re letting our toes do the talking today. There’s no reason why messages from beyond can’t come with a sick beat, and creaky toes are the body’s other beatbox. Victorian Spiritualism is proving much funkier than we ever suspected.

Main Topic: Victorian Spiritualism part 1

This is the first of our two-part look at the origins and evolution of Spiritualism in the gaslight era. We look at how Spiritualism grew out of Mesmerism, how it became a religion, some of the strange phenomena that mediums produced at the behest of the spirits. This will continue in the next episode, when we examine some of the key figures of the Victorian Spiritualism movement and how many of them were exposed as frauds.

Yes, frauds. It shouldn’t be controversial to talk about how Spiritualism is rooted in lies, but its growth into a religion might make this a touchy subject. As ever, we don’t aim to denigrate people’s deeply held beliefs, but we can’t shy away from the fact that the originators of Spiritualism were admitted hoaxsters who denounced their creation later in life.

These episodes also gloss over the details of séances. We aim to cover those in more detail in a later 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
• QAnon and Conspiracy Theories
• London Fortean Society

• Mediumship
• Spirit trumpet
• The Changeling (1980)
• Automatic writing
• Henry Slade
• Nevil Maskelyne
• Harry Houdini
• James Randi
• Derren Brown

• Table-turning
• Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
• Apports
• Mrs Guppy
• Ectoplasm
• Ghostbusters (1984)
• Spirit guides
• William Stainton Moses
• Daemons
• Shadows Over Scotland
• Cthulhu Britannica: London
• Spirit photography
• William H Mumler

• Spiritualist churches
• Spiritualists’ National Union
• “The Haunter of the Dark” by HP Lovecraft
• Necromancy
• D&D
• Kult: Divinity Lost
• MR James
• Ghosts episodes
• Pepper’s ghost
• V20 Rites of the Blood
• Vampire: the Masquerade 20th anniversary edition
• Franz Mesmer
• Animal magnetism

• Seven Forbidden Arts of Divination
• Séance
• The Fox Sisters
• “The Rats in the Walls” by HP Lovecraft
• A Man Called Horse (1970)
• The Crucible by Arthur Miller
• Horace Greeley
• Splitfoot

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.

Blasphemous Tome 5a Reissued

Speaking of The Blasphemous Tome, Patreon backers can now download the PDF of issue 5a. This was previously released as issue 5, back when it was a print-only publication. It features a modern-day Call of Cthulhu scenario by Matt Sanderson, entitled “Number 22”.

People backing us on Patreon at the $3 level or higher before the end of May 2023 will receive a discount voucher for a print-on-demand copy of issue 5a.

Scott and Paul on The Miskatonic Playhouse

Scott recently joined the “Cult and Culpability” Regency Cthulhu arc on the Miskatonic Playhouse podcast for a short run, giving voice to the villainous Lord Cosgrove. Newman has also recorded an interview with Paul which should be going out on the podcast feed soon.

Paul at Chaosium Con

Paul discusses his recent visit to Chaosium Con in Michigan, where he met up with our regular contributor John Sumrow and played a game with You Too Can Cthulhu.

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