My Victorian Nightmare

Here you’ll find mysterious deaths, morbid fascinations, disturbing stories, and otherwise spooky events from the Victorian Era. If you consider yourself an enthusiast of creepy Victorian history, you probably already know about the age of spiritualism, the grizzly murders, the grave robbers, twisted pseudo psychotherapy, and memento mori – But I try to dig a little deeper. This was a time full of lace corsetry, romantic poetry, and a deep reverence and affection for the dead. It was a culture of shared sorrow, ornament and elegance, prudishness and scandal, bone chilling children’s stories, and for whatever reason, I just feel at home there. There’s something strangely comforting about the heebie jeebies this era gives me. If you find yourself equally enchanted by things that most people would find horrifying, this podcast is probably for you. Join the community Instagram @myvictoriannightmare

Ep. 26 - The Grave Trains of London

In today’s episode, Genevieve will discuss the grizzly history of the graveyard that is London, and the subterranean train system built in the Victorian era within and around the final resting places of literally millions of tightly packed Londoners. References for today’s episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enon_Chapel https://gizmodo.com/how-corpses-helped-shape-the-london-underground-1493312117 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-66507599 https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/london-crossrail-bedlam-big-dig https://www.timeout.com/london/news/londons-victorian-necropolis-railway-station-is-for-sale-060424 https://www.mylondon.news/news/nostalgia/london-underground-station-built-right-21001175 https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/where-we-go/blog/the-forgotten-story-of-london-necropolis-railway https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/the-forgotten-men-of-the-london-underground/

01-20
41:13

Ep. 25 - Murder, Blackmail, and Raving Maniacs

On today's show, Genevieve has a robber who becomes a raving maniac in prison, a very shocking confession followed by a very grizzly request, a woman poisoned by laudanum and nearly frozen to death, a footrace between a phrenologist and a zippy young lady, a thief who nearly blows his own head off, a wife’s vengeance with a pen knife, murder, blackmail, and an unfortunate sled accident on an historic Boston Street, among a few others. References for today's episode: https://www.murderbygaslight.com/2015/06/the-murder-of-pet-halsted.html https://pages.vassar.edu/realarchaeology/2017/03/05/phrenology-and-scientific-racism-in-the-19th-century/ https://www.schenectadyhistory.org/families/hmgfm/shields.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Exposition

01-13
38:56

Ep. 24 - Welcome to the Murder Castle

In this week's episode, Genevieve gives a full, very dramatic review of Nosferatu, and dives into the truly diabolical murders of H.H. Holmes. References for todays episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes https://www.newspapers.com/image/668069816/?terms=h.h.%20holmes https://www.history.com/news/murder-castle-h-h-holmes-chicago https://www.ranker.com/list/hh-holmes-origin-story/hannah-gilham https://www.bustle.com/p/quotes-from-hh-holmes-memoir-provide-insight-into-the-american-ripper-69194 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/enduring-mystery-hh-holmes-americas-first-serial-killer-180977646/

01-06
53:24

Ep. 23 - Hatchets, Razors, Narrow Escapes, and Nosferatu

Today, Genevieve will discuss a Lunatic Asylum escapee in a washtub boat, a steamboat slaughter, a tragic murder on a lovely evening, a clergyman’s narrow escape from certain death, a fit of apoplexy, hatchets, razors, insanity, and a somewhat tragic ice skating accident that luckily has a meet-cute happy ending. References for Today's Episode: https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2022/11/nellie-bly-blackwells-island/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultana_(steamboat) https://genealogytrails.com/ill/woodford/tradgies.html

12-30
40:24

Ep. 22 - Sweet Messages of Calm Decay

On today's episode, we’re still celebrating the Holiday season with some weird, wonderful, and downright irresponsible Victorian Christmas traditions! References for today's episode: https://www.history.com/news/christmas-tradition-ghost-stories https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/652043/victorian-christmas-traditions https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/dec/12/shock-of-the-old-11-murderous-and-macabre-victorian-christmas-cards https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-34988154 https://historycollection.com/strange-and-delightful-holiday-traditions-of-the-victorian-era/ https://www.marthastewart.com/1097532/decorative-past-tradition-christmas-pickle-ornament

12-23
32:25

Ep. 21 - A Chamber of Horrors

Today's episode is Christmas themed! Genevieve will be discussing a family hatchet fight, an assault with a pot roast, an assault with a teapot, a fruit and nut plundering, an insane chimney sweep, a grizzly Christmas day murder, A tragic Christmas Day train disaster, a Chamber of Horrors, and a few more truly horrific Christmas day events. References for today's episode: https://www.measuringworth.com/blog/?p=256 https://www.postalmuseum.org/blog/victorian-christmas-boxes/#:~:text=These%20tokens%20were%20known%20as,form%20of%20money%20or%20alcohol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_railroad_accidents https://sites.dartmouth.edu/toxmetal/arsenic/arsenic-a-murderous-history/#:~:text=Beginning%20in%20the%20eighteenth%20century,common%20in%20the%20market%20place

12-16
38:02

Ep. 20 - They'll Be Scary Ghost Stories

In today's episode, Genevieve keeps with Victorian Christmas tradition, and tells a terrifying ghost story: The Signal Man, by Charles Dickens.

12-09
43:08

Ep. 19 - Killed By a Coffin

On today's episode, Genevieve dives back into the salacious, at times terrifying, at times, grizzly, at times charming Illustrated Police News Law Courts and Record, from which she will read about Bleecker Street harpies punching cops in the face, some discomfiture of an older gentleman who gets a parasol stuck in his mouth, a madhouse ax murder, a man on a smashing spree, a saloon slaying, a murderously jealous lover, and a man killed by a coffin. References for today's episode: https://cemeteryclub.wordpress.com/2020/03/02/killed-by-a-coffin/ https://www.loc.gov/item/ca07000366/

12-02
34:23

Ep. 18 - Until You Are Dead

In today's episode, Genevieve digs deep into the murder trial of Mary Ann Mailman at the hands of her husband, Peter Mailman in 1873. The trial was full of salacious accusations of affairs, jealous husbands, heartbreaking testimony, flagrant slut shaming from the defense, and details of the murder that shook Nova Scotia to the core.The Trial of Peter Mailman:https://ia600201.us.archive.org/10/items/cihm_09620/cihm_09620.pdf

11-25
46:42

Minisode 3 - The Miniest of Sodes

In this very short episode Genevieve waxes on the current state of affairs. We will return to the 1800s next week, and especially in 2 months.

11-11
11:44

Ep. 17 - Marvelous and Alarming Madness

On today's episode, Genevieve pulls out a few articles from the Illustrated Police News Law Courts and Record: volumes between 1871 and 1875. She'll provide you with your Weekly Dose of Blood, a very concerning case of 2 men either infected with rabies, or turning into werewolves - it’s a bit unclear, a Frenchman nearly eaten alive by rats, a grizzly wedding party, a blood-thirsty maniac, a woman melting down exquisitely on stage, and a damsel giving an impromptu acrobatic performance on the streets of Chicago

11-04
32:50

Bonus Episode! - A little Hallowe'en Candy

On today's minisode, Genevieve reads her 3 favorite spooky Victorian Halloween poems! Edgar Allan Poe's, The Raven, Lake of the Dismal Swamp by Thomas Moore, and The Broomstick Train or the Return of the Witches by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

10-31
24:55

Ep. 16 - Happy Hallowe'en!

Today’s episode will contain absolutely delightful, bone-chillingly fascinating Victorian Halloween traditions, as well as a few more creepy-eepy Victorian house histories and hauntings.References for today's episode:https://gaslampfoundation.org/victorian-halloween-traditions-now-thats-scary/https://www.grunge.com/1056548/what-victorian-halloween-was-really-like/https://mix108.com/is-this-home-the-most-haunted-estate-in-minnesota/https://www.huntingdondailynews.com/daily_herald/news/spooktacular-stories-the-haunting-of-baker-mansion/article_7370709e-6ff2-5d04-a92a-9853bc26b288.htmlhttps://hauntedhouses.com/minnesota/forepaughs-restaurant/

10-28
36:51

Ep. 15 - Among the Dead Men

In today's episode, Genevieve will be diving back into your favorite grizzly, hideous, at times very witty, and fabulously illustrated Victorian publication - The Illustrated Police News Law Courts and Record. She'll discuss a creepy German law, Revolutionary war skeletons found in walls, coffins for lifeboats, and a journalist’s detailed report on what it was like to walk around a surgical school in the middle of the night in 1871.

10-21
38:19

Ep. 14 - Mannequins in the Attic

On today's episode, Genevieve discusses the creepiest Victorian haunted house she could find: The Villisca Axe murder house. She talks about both the chilling backstory and the hauntings. References for today's episode:https://adelaidehauntedhorizons.com.au/haunted-villisca-ax-murder-house-ghosts/https://murderhouse.com/https://www.reddit.com/r/Ghosts/comments/eldrm7/stayed_the_night_at_the_villisca_axe_murder_house/https://usghostadventures.com/haunted-places/villisca-ax-murder-house/https://villisca.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=moore&i=f&d=06011912-12311929&m=between&ord=k1&fn=the_villisca_review_usa_iowa_villisca_19120613_english_6&df=1&dt=10https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villisca_axe_murdershttps://coronertalk.com/28

10-14
39:17

Minisode 2 - Coffin-Shaped Boxes and Unbearable Cliffhangers

On today's episode, Genevieve will discuss coffin-shaped boxes in mysterious huts, a case of suspended animation, a struggle in an elevator with a lunatic, and some other disturbing, little “Items of interest” as they’re called in the 1878 volume of The Illustrated Police News Law Courts and Record which are indeed very interesting items. We’ll also enjoy a pumpkin smash.

10-07
23:47

Ep. 13 - The Most Haunted House in America

On today's episode, Genevieve discusses "America's most haunted house®" - The Whaley House of San Diego California. She'll dive into the bone chilling back story, as well as the spooky hauntings that delight (and seriously creep out) visitors today. References for today's episode include:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaley_House_(San_Diego,_California)https://yourtahoeguide.com/2021/07/gold-rush-vigilantes-jim-ugly-and-yankee-jim/https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Whaley-1836https://www.kcghosts.com/california-whaley-househttps://sdghosts.com/the-whaley-house/https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2017/jul/03/history-san-diego-1850/https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDDU18850820.2.29&srpos=26&e=-------en--20-SDDU-21--txt-txIN-thomas+Whaley-------

09-30
37:37

Minisode 1 - Broad Blown as Fresh as Hell

In today's (first!) minisode, Genevieve reads articles from the "Weekly Dose of Blood" in an 1873 volume of The Illustrated Police News Law Courts and Record publication, as well as a spooky little article about a thieving somnambulist.

09-23
17:22

Ep. 12 - Morbid Curiosity and Murderous Spirits

In today's episode, Genevieve will discuss Mediums getting attacked by spirits, men drinking their own blood, live burials, nuns getting struck with lightning and rising from the dead – it’s going to be a spooky rollercoaster.

09-16
41:23

Ep. 11 - Horrors of the Victorian Circus

In today's episode, Genevieve talks about Victorian circus horrors. References for today's episode:https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/freak-showshttps://www.neh.gov/humanities/2011/septemberoctober/statement/the-circus-you-never-knewhttps://victorian-era.org/victorian-era-circus-performances.htmlhttps://boroughsofthedead.com/barnum-museum-fire-july-13-1865/https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/greatest-show-earth-freak-shows-pt-barnum-tom-thumb/https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=DMST18851009.2.46&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------https://www.historyireland.com/the-wee-est-little-man-that-ever-was-general-tom-thumb-in-ireland/https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-lost-original-madison-square-garden.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_mermaidhttps://jvc.oup.com/2021/05/20/lost-circuses-of-victorian-leeds/

09-02
38:57

andrew ward

reggae music. love the show. this is all some devil shit. casino drug bomb

11-15 Reply

andrew ward

yum

10-25 Reply

andrew ward

lovely

10-15 Reply

Recommend Channels