My Victorian Nightmare

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. Instagram Post For Today's Episode: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSvme5Zjvd5/?igsh=MTliYThpZDMyajl6OA== 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Thank you to today's sponsor, Lumi Gummies! Go to LumiGummies.com and use code: VICTORIAN for 30% off your first order! Instagram Post For Today's Episode: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSc6zghjr3L/?img_index=1 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/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Instagram Post For Today's Episode: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSIx7cZEfye/?igsh=Zm1ubjB1eGdnaDl5 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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Instagram Post For Today's Episode: https://www.instagram.com/p/DR5gvLlDh41/?igsh=ZzhtdWxuaGk1MzI= Live Performance of Chopin's Raindrop Prelude: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DP6OKEwDUgX/?igsh=MXF3MWQ3cWg2MHpmZg== 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Thank you to today’s sponsors, Choomi Naturals and Rula! Go to http://choominaturals.com and use coupon code “VICTORIAN20” for 20% off your order. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts at Rula who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/victorian. Today’s Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DRngoGBDum3/?igsh=MTNqM2w5czJ5cndhaQ== 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices