Victorian Spirit Photography

Séance conducted in Bristol, England by Victorian medium, John Beattie, in 1872 - via Wikipedia Commons

Greetings, my dears! We thought we'd touch upon one of the most interesting (to us) spooooky bits in THE DARK PORTAL - the Victorians' preoccupation with the spirit world - contacting it through séances, or capturing it on film with "spirit photography." Lucky for me, the talented video mavens of the Ghost Watching channel on Youtube have already put together a little video showing a collection of authentic (?!) Victorian Spirit Photography. I think you'll really enjoy it!

As you may recall from our previous blogs (like this one on Real Steampunk Inventions that we did for JAKE AND THE GIANT), photography was still quite new and the technology was improving every year. People got to a point where they started figuring out little tricks that they could do to create illusions....but who knows! Some of these pictures might just have a real ghost in them, so look closely!

And now, here's a special little treat for you, because I know our readers love strange, weird, and wonderful things. A little old-timey horror music on the theremin, originally known as the Aetherphone. Here's the inventor explaining it. He starts playing your classic haunted house spooky music 15 seconds in so be patient. You'll laugh! Until next time...