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Seances, ghosts and things that go bump in the night
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Posted by twobigdogs (My Page) on Mon, Oct 19, 09 at 6:40
| Hello friends,
I just posted on the October "what are you reading" thread about a light fun mystery by Victoria Thompson entitled, "Murder on Waverly Place". It was #14 in a series and the most recent book by this author. But the intriguing part for me is that the muder took place during a seance. Now I want to know more.
More what?
The Victorian Era was known for an interest in all things spiritual. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was one famous person who believed in the spirit world. But what am I looking for? I think what I am looking for is more info on this aspect of Victorian Life - both in the US and England - for these are the two countries in which I know spiritualism was quite popular. But anywhere a book takes me is fine.
And what a bonus to be looking for such books during the month of October with Halloween around the corner and the night descending earlier and earlier each evening. The types of books I am most interested in reading at the moment would be bios of mediums, well-researched historical fiction and non-fiction. Ghost stories are fun too but I am really interested in the non-fiction side of this cultural phenomenon... how did it start? What tricks were used? What was the typical seance really like? And so on.
Thanks so much for any titles!
PAM |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Seances, ghosts and things that go bump in the night
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| I haven't read any NF related to this, but there's probably plenty of it out there. For historical fiction, there's Sarah Waters' novel, Affinity (can't remember whether you've read this one or not). |
RE: Seances, ghosts and things that go bump in the night
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| There are two books by Paul Gallico on this subject. The hero of the story is someone called Alexander Hero, and he spends his life debunking ghosts. They are not his best books, by any means, but they are not bad. The books are Too Many Ghosts and The Hand of Mary Constable. |
RE: Seances, ghosts and things that go bump in the night
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| The spiritualist movement in the U.S. is a fascinating study. Two things immediately spring to mind. The Fox sisters of New York were instrumental in spreading spiritualism. They produced rapping sounds, apparently by cracking their toes, as well as other phenomena. Their lives were pretty interesting, from what I have read. I haven't any books to recommend, as I have only read occasional magazine articles. But they should be easy to search for, and if you are a library user I would bet you can find a lot there. Harry Houdini, when he wasn't escaping from straitjackets and handcuffs, devoted a great deal of his life to debunking spiritualists. I particularly enjoyed Houdini!!! The Career of Erich Weiss by Kenneth Silverman. One of those non-fiction books that reads like a novel. This is a very interesting subject - you could easily spend the next year reading up on it. |
RE: Seances, ghosts and things that go bump in the night
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| There are a ton of books out there about Edgar Cayce. He was big when I was a kid and perhaps smoothed the path to "New Age" spiritualism. My BFF was seriously into this stuff and we had lots of seances in her mother's very drafty house (good for getting candles to flicker.) Somehow the good stuff never happened when unbelieving I was there. You might enjoy a very early Barbara Michaels a.k.a. Elizabeth Peters, Ammie, Come Home which involves a couple of seances. All of the Gothic novels written as Barbara Michaels are a bit spooky. |
RE: Seances, ghosts and things that go bump in the night
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| Twobigdogs, if you want to go straight to the source of the spiritualist movement I would suggest reading about the ill-fated Fox sisters. I recommend Nancy Rubin Stuart's The Reluctant Spiritualist: The Life of Maggie Fox. The author argues the Fox sisters were talented fakes, bullied by a controlling elder sister bent on fame and money. The results were tragic as both sisters led unhappy lives. Another interesting book which touches on the topic of spiritualism is The Gates Ajar by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. The author sets out her spiritualist beliefs in a thinly-veiled novel about a young woman coming to terms with the death of her brother during the Civil War. The book sounds weird, but is surprisingly accessible and interesting. |
RE: Seances, ghosts and things that go bump in the night
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| Her Fearful Symmetry-Ausrey Niffenegger. This is fiction, I have just finished it, this young lady also wrote The Time Traveller's Wife. Fiction or not it does have a real ghost in it and seances. Another fiction with some ghostly doings, (which I like) are two of Salley Vicker's books Miss Garnett's Angel and Mr.Golightly's Holiday, both great reads. |
RE: Seances, ghosts and things that go bump in the night
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| Peters' last book written as Barbara Michaels was Other Worlds. In it she retold three ghost stories that already existed. It is my least favorite of her books, but you might want to look at it. Most (maybe all) of the Michaels books include some things that go bump in the night. It's been a while since I read them, but I loved Ammie, Come Home. The so-called "ballad novels" by Sharon McCrumb also deal with the supernatural. I really like her. |
RE: Seances, ghosts and things that go bump in the night
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| Ammie Come Home is good creepy. Like Turn of the Screw is good creepy. |
RE: Seances, ghosts and things that go bump in the night
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| An interesting book that explores the worlds of psychics and mediums is "Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife" by Mary Roach. I read it a couple of years ago. She talks about the Fox sisters and others. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Spook
RE: Seances, ghosts and things that go bump in the night
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I have purchased but not as yet read the book
More To Life Than This. The story of Jean Cull, the medium.
By Robert Cull.
It should be interesting. |
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