Spirits, Seers & Séances

Steele Alexandra Douris is an author, artist, and Victorianist, specializing in Victorian spiritualism, crime fiction, and the gothic novel. She is a PhD candidate in the English department at Stanford University, where she has taught courses on 19th-century spiritualism and ghost stories. She holds an MA in English from Stanford University and a BA in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Contents

List of Exercises xi

Introduction: An Invitation to the Night-Side 1

Part 1: The Soul of Spiritualism: Core Beliefs and Practices
Chapter 1: Séances and Spirit Communication: The Heart of Spiritualism 11
Chapter 2: Mesmerism, Channeling, and Hypnotism: The Power of Trance 33
Chapter 3: The Automatic Arts: Pens and Planchettes 45
Chapter 4: Spirit Photography: Capturing the Invisibles 57
Chapter 5: Paranormal Investigations: Psychical Research and Occult Detectives 75

Part 2: The Invisible World: Shades of the Victorian Supernatural
Chapter 6: Ghost-Seers and Ghostlore: From the Night- Side to the Ghost World 91
Chapter 7: Fairies, Flowers, and Folklore: Natural Enchantments 107
Chapter 8: Fortune-Telling: A Subtle and Stigmatized Craft 123

Part 3: Magic in Victorian Media
Chapter 9: The Victorian Gothic: Literary Phenomena 141
Chapter 10: Pre-Raphaelite Art: Seers and Sorceresses 155

Part 4: Seasonal Spirits and Superstitions
Chapter 11: Hallowe'en Celebrations: Ghosts, Goblins, and Grooms 177
Chapter 12: Christmas Ghost Stories: The Spirits of Midwinter 189

Conclusion 199

Glossary 201

Recommended Reading 203

Bibliography 205