Podcasts about Victorian gothic

Nestled in the quiet hills of Proctor, Vermont stands a Victorian-Gothic mansion that looks like it was plucked straight from a European fairy tale—but Wilson Castle holds far more than architectural wonder. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Send us a textWelcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 344 - Leaving Me TremblingHope you are doing well, and I will just jump right into it -One of the most explicit passages in Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla that hints at lesbian desire, within the constraints of Victorian Gothic literature, is as follows:"Sometimes after an hour of apathy, my strange and beautiful companion would take my hand and hold it with a fond pressure, renewed again and again; blushing softly, gazing in my face with languid and burning eyes, and breathing so fast that her dress rose and fell with the tumultuous respiration. It was like the ardor of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet overpowering; and with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, 'You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.' Then she has thrown herself back in her chair, with her small hands over her eyes, leaving me trembling”.  Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Poe.

On this episode, Tony Brueski digs into the haunting history of Toronto's iconic Keg Mansion. From its origins as a stunning Victorian Gothic home to its transformation into one of the city's most popular dining spots, this mansion carries more than just the weight of history—it's said to host lingering spirits.   Join Tony as he delves into the chilling tale of a heartbroken maid, unexplained footsteps, and shadowy figures that continue to unnerve visitors. With a critical lens on both paranormal and rational explanations, we explore the mysteries that make this landmark a hotspot for ghostly intrigue.

On this episode, Tony Brueski digs into the haunting history of Toronto's iconic Keg Mansion. From its origins as a stunning Victorian Gothic home to its transformation into one of the city's most popular dining spots, this mansion carries more than just the weight of history—it's said to host lingering spirits.   Join Tony as he delves into the chilling tale of a heartbroken maid, unexplained footsteps, and shadowy figures that continue to unnerve visitors. With a critical lens on both paranormal and rational explanations, we explore the mysteries that make this landmark a hotspot for ghostly intrigue.

What lives in the dark? For each of us, the sun, waning as it is through days of autumn rain, weakening, becoming paler, more obscure – the sun is a lifeline. Yet, each night, that lifeline vanishes. The hours of darkness grow longer, the cold dominion of night stretching out, growing larger, growing stronger.And each of us has an opposite. A dark-craving beast of shade. We know they're there, though don't care to acknowledge them.As the veil between this world grows thin enough to disappear, and the night world claims equal status with our own, don't pretend, just because you choose not see them, that those counterparts are not in the shadows even now, watching you.Because, it's Three Ravens Haunting Season, and in this episode we're staring right into that darkness, wondering if we're ever really alone at all...In this installment of the miniseries, Martin's playing with shadows, and Eleanor can only listen and watch in horror...As with each of this month's episodes, our opening pair of tales are both winning entries to this year's Three Ravens Ghost Story Writing Competition.The first comes from James Davies-Jones, whose story "Alone" speaks to that feeling most of us know, when we move into a new home and think something about it might be off. The second comes from Libby Justice, whose story "The Pipsqueak" follows a young Victorian heir on a day spent with his father, all while the children in the trees encourage him to join them...Lastly, Martin rounds out Haunting Season 2024 with his chilling tale "Edwin's Catterall's Shadow," a slice of good ol' fashioned Victorian Gothic epistolary fiction, after which your perceptions of darkness might just be changed forever,,,We'll be back on Thursday - Halloween itself - with a new Something Wicked bonus episode about Jack The Ripper, and, if you're a Patreon supporter, our new Three Ravens Film Club episode about John Carpenter's Halloween, so speak to you again then!The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prepare to be captivated by M.E. Braddon's "The Shadow in the Corner," a masterpiece of Victorian Gothic fiction that will send shivers down your spine. This chilling tale follows the arrival of Maria, a young servant girl, at the foreboding Wildheath Grange. As she settles into her new role, Maria becomes increasingly aware of a mysterious presence that seems to haunt the very walls of the ancient house. Braddon's expert prose builds an atmosphere of creeping dread, blending psychological tension with hints of the supernatural. More than just a ghost story, this narrative offers a compelling glimpse into the social dynamics of 19th-century England, touching on themes of class, gender, and the unseen burdens carried by those on society's margins. Let our narration transport you to a world where the line between reality and the unknown grows ever thinner, and where the shadows in the corner may be more than mere tricks of the light. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the field of Gothic literature, from the Penny Dreadful and Chapbook through the Penny Bloods and novels. whether it a classic like Bronte or something less well known, there are many ways in which the female characters may as monstrous.We explore the landscape of 'mad', murderous and shape-shifting women with Gothic scholar Dr Nicole C. Dittmer, author of 'Monstrous Women and Ecofeminism in the Victorian Gothic'.After listening to this episode, seek out Story 4 of 'Stories from the Hearth', our storytelling show, in your podcast feed for a reading of 'The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains' narrated by Nicole.To support our work creating free folklore-related content, please visit www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast

Basil Copper, born on February 5, 1924, in London, and passing away on April 3, 2013, was an English writer who initially pursued a career in journalism and newspaper editing before transitioning to full-time authorship in 1970. Beyond his literary pursuits, Copper cultivated diverse interests, including swimming, gardening, travel, sailing, and collecting historic films. Notably, he established the Tunbridge Wells Vintage Film Society and actively participated in esteemed film organizations in London. Basil Copper spent a significant portion of his life in Sevenoaks, Kent, and he was survived by his wife Annie, with whom he entered matrimony in 1960. Basil Copper's literary journey embarked with his inaugural short story, "The Curse," published at the age of 14. His professionally published debut, "The Spider," emerged in the Fifth Pan Book of Horror Stories in 1964. Venturing into novels, Copper made his mark with the Mike Faraday series, beginning with "The Dark Mirror" in 1966. Widely recognized for his series of Solar Pons stories, paying homage to Sherlock Holmes, Copper's association with editor August Derleth resulted in publications through Arkham House. Among his notable works are "Necropolis" (1980), a crossover between Victorian Gothic and detective fiction, and "The Great White Space" (1975), a novel influenced by Edgar Allan Poe and Lovecraft. Copper's macabre tales, including "The Academy of Pain" and "Beyond the Reef," underscored his mastery in horror fiction. His significant contributions earned him a Locus Award nomination in 1981, and in 2009, "Basil Copper: A Life in Books," a biographical work, received the British Fantasy Award for Best Non-Fiction. Basil Copper's literary impact endures, resonating through the realms of horror and detective fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Built in 1870 in a Victorian Gothic and French Second Empire Architectural style the Perth Town Hall was designed by Architect Richard Roach Jewell and James Manning. It is the only Town Hall in Australia built primarily by convict labour.

Happy Halloween! In this Halloween special episode, I'm joined by Katie Godman, author of Gothic Fashion: The History to talk all about her wonderfully Gothic book, as we trace Gothic fashion history from barbarians to haute couture and delve into the long, fascinating and sometimes unexpected evolution of all things Gothic. How Gothic fashion has evolved from its ancient roots to the Victorian Gothic, all the way to the Goth subculture movements of more recent history.Katie's book Gothic Fashion: A History is published by Unicorn Publishing and available to buy through their website. Katie can also be found on Instagram from @kittiecostume as well as via Blandford Fashion Museum socials.Join the Behind The Seams family to support the podcast and gain access to bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/silhouettespodcastThanks for listening, and stay fab everyone.Follow the show on Instagram @Silhouettespodcast for more updates Become an aCast+ subscriber to support the podcast and gain access to bonus content: https://plus.acast.com/s/silhouettes-a-fashion-history-podcast-1. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Halloween special episode, I'm joined by Katie Godman, author of Gothic Fashion: The History to talk all about her wonderfully Gothic book, as we trace Gothic fashion history from barbarians to haute couture and delve into the long, fascinating and sometimes unexpected evolution of all things Gothic. We discuss just how Gothic fashion has evolved from its ancient roots to the Victorian Gothic, all the way to the Goth subculture movements of more recent history. Katie's book Gothic Fashion: A History is published by Unicorn Publishing and available to buy through their website. Katie can also be found on Instagram from @kittiecostume as well as via Blandford Fashion Museum socials. Join the Behind The Seams family to support the podcast and gain access to bonus content: www.patreon.com/silhouettespodcast Thanks for listening, and stay fab everyone. Follow the show on Instagram @Silhouettespodcast for more updates --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/silhouettes/message

Boo! Are you ready for a spine-tingling journey through time? - This week on "History For Weirdos," we delve into the eerie and enchanting history of Halloween. We start at the ancient Celtic fields of Samhain, where the veil between worlds was thin and spirits roamed free. Discover how these pagan rituals, filled with omens and bonfires, evolved under Christian influence into All Hallows Eve. We'll unearth the roots of jack-o'-lanterns, costumes, and why we whisper tales of the supernatural on this mystical night. - Then, hold onto your witch's hat as we fly through the centuries to modern times, exploring how Halloween transformed from a solemn remembrance into a festival of frights and fun. We'll dissect how American cultural cauldrons mixed Irish and Scottish traditions with a dash of Victorian Gothic to conjure the Halloween we know and love today. From haunted attractions to trick-or-treating, find out how this ancient festival became a night where we embrace our deepest fears and become the monsters we used to hide from! - ✈️ Get all the details & reserve your spot here for the HFW trip to Italy! - Thank you for listening Weirdos! Show the podcast some love by rating, reviewing, subscribing and sharing it today. Your support means so much to us. Let's stay in touch

Frankie and Sarah are getting spoooooky with the delightful Louise Davidson, author of the chilling Victorian Gothic ghost story The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond.Buy the books that Louise has written and recommended in this episode here: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/books-written-and-recommended-by-louise-davidsonFollow Louise on Twitter and Instagram at @louisedwriter.Want to talk books? Email us at readandburiedpodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Instagram and Threads: @readandburiedpodcastFollow us on Twitter: @readburiedpodFollow us on Bluesky: @readandburiedpodWe Made This on Twitter: @we_madethis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch/Listen to this and all episodes ad free by joining the ITBR Patreon for only $5 a month! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ivorytowerboilerroom Animation Director and Writer, Sage Cotugno enters the ITBR to discuss their new graphic novel series “The Glass Scientists: Volume One." Sage discusses taking inspiration from the 1886 novella “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” written by Robert Louis Stevenson and Mary Shelley's “Frankenstein” in depicting gothic characters who have rather complex nuances.   Sage and Andrew discuss the opposing forces between Sage's characters in “The Glass Scientists…” between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as they both represent near perfect foils of each other. Dr. Jekyll represents good morals and Mr. Hyde represents evil ones. Sage admits that their adaptation differs because they display Dr. Jekyll as not all good but also not all bad displaying an “imperfect Jekyll vs this perfectly evil Hyde." Finally, Sage and Andrew discuss the 2022 Horror/Mystery film “Talk to Me” where Sage praises the movie for being “more moderate…more secular” denoting the film's distance from traditional horror ghost style genres that follow religious affiliations. And, they also get into a riveting discussion about vampirism and all things "Dracula." This episode is for all who love queer monstrosity (shout out to Joseph Federico for this phrase)! Purchase your own copy of "The Glass Scientists: Volume One" at https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/702473/the-glass-scientists-volume-one-by-s-h-cotugno/ Follow Sage on Instagram ⁠@arythusa⁠, on X (formerly Twitter) ⁠@arythusa⁠ and TikTok ⁠@arythusa⁠ Read more of the ongoing web comic "The Glass Scientists" at https://www.theglassscientists.com/ Be sure to follow The SoapBox on Instagram, ⁠@thesoapboxny⁠ and call or message them to get your hands on their Four For Fall products! To subscribe to The Gay and Lesbian Review visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠glreview.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Click Subscribe, and enter promo code ITBR50 to receive 50% off any print or digital subscription. Head to Broadview Press, an independent academic publisher, for all your humanities related books. Use code ivorytower for 20% off your⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ broadviewpress.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠order. Order from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mandeemadeit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, mention ITBR, and with your first order you'll receive a free personalized gift! Follow That Ol' Gay Classic Cinema on Instagram, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thatolgayclassiccinema⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow ITBR on IG, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@ivorytowerboilerroom⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, TikTok, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@ivorytowerboilerroom⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and X (formerly Twitter), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@IvoryBoilerRoom⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Thanks to the ITBR team! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Andrew Rimby⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Host/Director), ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mary DiPipi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Chief Contributor), and our Fall 23 interns (Jonathan and Sara) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ivorytowerboilerroom/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ivorytowerboilerroom/support

Pflanze „frisst“ Sonne, Tier frisst Pflanze, Tier frisst Tier. So kennen wir das, so soll das sein. Dass die Biologie so ist, wie sie ist und sich nicht an solche Regeln hält irritierte schon Carl von Linné, seines Zeichens Biologie-Superstar, vor über 250 Jahren. Erst 100 Jahre später wagte sich Charles Darwin — ebenfalls Biologie-Superstar — wissenschaftlich fundiert zu postulieren: „Pflanze frisst Tier“ ist sehr wohl möglich. Mittlerweile zweifelt keiner mehr daran, dass es Pflanzen gibt, die sich von Tieren ernähren. Aber warum ist das so? Was bringt einen Organismus, der seine Energie aus der Fotosynthese gewinnt dazu, aufwendige Fangmethoden zu entwickeln, um Tiere zu erbeuten? Wir tauchen in dieser Folge tief in die Grundlagen des Stoffwechsels ein und beleuchten die Biologie der faszinierenden fleischfressenden Pflanzen, die viele von uns sicherlich schon im Kinderzimmer stehen hatten. Warum hinter diesen Organismen mehr steckt als ein nettes Geschenk für Kinder, welche grandiosen Fangmethoden sie entwickelt haben und inwiefern von ihnen Gefahr für uns ausgeht: Darum gehts in Folge bp42. QuellenSpencer, Edmund (26–28 April 1874). "Crinoida Dajeeana, The Man-eating Tree of Madagascar" (PDF). New York World.Rost, K., & Schauer, R. (1977). Physical and chemical properties of the mucin secreted by Drosera capensis. Phytochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(00)88783-XCatapulting Tentacles in a Sticky Carnivorous Plant (Videos der Katapult-Tentakel): https://naturedocumentaries.org/5072/catapulting-tentacles-carnivorous-plant-hartmeyer-2012/Suda, H. et al. (2020). Calcium dynamics during trap closure visualized in transgenic Venus flytrap. Nature Plants. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-020-00773-1Forterre, Y. et al. (2005). How the Venus flytrap snaps. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03185Chase, M. W.  et al. (2009). Murderous plants: Victorian Gothic, Darwin and modern insights into vegetable carnivory. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.01014.xCross, A. T. et al. (2022). Capture of mammal excreta by Nepenthes is an effective heterotrophic nutrition strategy. Annals of Botany. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcac134BildquellenCoverbild: NoahElhardt, Drosera capensis bend, CC BY-SA 3.0Sonnentau: Denis Barthel, DroseraPeltataLamina, CC BY-SA 3.0Kannenpflanze: Alex Lomas, Nepenthes maxima × sanguinea (2943627683), CC BY 2.0Saugfallen: Liliane ROUBAUDI, Utricularia australis traps (03), CC BY-SA 2.0 FRVenusfliegenfalle: Tippitiwichet, Venus Flytrap 020, CC BY 2.0Support the show--------------Wer uns unterstützen möchte (Danke!), hat hier die Möglichkeit dazu: support.biophonpodcast.de

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer born on August 28, 1814, in Dublin, Ireland. He was the third son of a Protestant family with French origins.Le Fanu received his early education at Trinity College, Dublin, but left before finishing his degree to pursue a career in journalism. He quickly established himself as a successful writer, publishing stories in various magazines and newspapers.In the 1840s, Le Fanu began to focus more on fiction writing, and his works began to gain wider recognition. His most famous novel, "Uncle Silas," was published in 1864 and is considered a classic of Victorian Gothic literature. Other notable works include "In a Glass Darkly" and "Carmilla."Le Fanu's writing style was characterized by a strong sense of atmosphere and suspense, often incorporating supernatural elements. He was known for his ability to create vivid and memorable characters, particularly his strong female protagonists.Despite his success as a writer, Le Fanu's personal life was marked by tragedy. He lost his wife and infant daughter to childbirth complications, and his health began to decline in the late 1860s. He died on February 7, 1873, at the age of 58, leaving behind a legacy as one of Ireland's most important literary figures.New Patreon RequestBuzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREESupport the showVisit us here: www.ghostpod.orgBuy me a coffee if you're glad I do this: https://ko-fi.com/tonywalkerIf you really want to help me, become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/barcudMusic by The Heartwood Institute: https://bit.ly/somecomeback

On The Literary Life Podcast this week, our hosts Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks sit down for a special conversation with Jason Baxter, author of The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis. Jason is a speaker, writer, and college professor who writes primarily on medieval thought and is especially interested in Lewis' ideas. You can find out more about him and his books at JasonMBaxter.com. Our hosts and Jason discuss a wide range of ideas, including the values of literature, the sacramental view of reality, why it is important to understand medieval thought, the “problem” of paganism in Lewis' writings, and how to approach reading ancient and medieval literature. Be back next week when we will begin digging into Bram Stoker's Dracula together and learning more about this late Victorian Gothic novel. It's not what you might think! Get the latest news from House of Humane Letters by signing up for their e-newsletter today! Commonplace Quotes: My part has been merely that of Walter Scott's Old Mortality, who busied himself in clearing the moss, and bringing back to light the words, on the gravestones of the dead who seemed to him to have served humanity. This needs to be done and redone, generation after generation, in a world where there persists always a strong tendency to read newer writers, not because they are better, but because they are newer. The moss grows fast, and ceaselessly. F. L. Lucas It is the memory of time that makes us old; remembering eternity makes us young again. Statford Caldecott It is my settled conviction that in order to read old Western literature aright, you must suspend most of the responses and unlearn most of the habits you have acquired in reading modern literature. C. S. Lewis, from “De Descriptione Temporum” What then is the good of–what is even the defense for–occupying our hearts with stories of what never happened and entering vicariously into feeling which we should try to avoid in our own person?…The nearest I have yet got to an answer is that we seek an enlargement of our being. We want to be more than ourselves…[In] reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do. C. S. Lewis Victory by C. S. Lewis Roland is dead, Cuchulain's crest is low, The battered war-rear wastes and turns to rust, And Helen's eyes and Iseult's lips are dust And dust the shoulders and the breasts of snow. The faerie people from our woods are gone, No Dryads have I found in all our trees, No Triton blows his horn about our seas And Arthur sleeps far hence in Avalon. The ancient songs they wither as the grass And waste as doth a garment waxen old, All poets have been fools who thought to mould A monument more durable than brass. For these decay: but not for that decays The yearning, high, rebellious spirit of man That never rested yet since life began From striving with red Nature and her ways. Now in the filth of war, the baresark shout Of battle, it is vexed. And yet so oft Out of the deeps, of old, it rose aloft That they who watch the ages may not doubt. Though often bruised, oft broken by the rod, Yet, like the phoenix, from each fiery bed Higher the stricken spirit lifts its head And higher-till the beast become a god. Book List: Beauty in the Word by Stratford Caldecott An Experiment in Criticism by C. S. Lewis The Discarded Image by C. S. Lewis The Art of Living: Four Eighteenth Century Minds by F. L. Lucas Transposition by C. S. Lewis The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis Til We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis The Divine Comedy by Dante Nicholas of Cusa The Life of St. Francis of Assisi by St. Bonaventure The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius Confessions by St. Augustine Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

This week, we're joined by English Heritage Senior Properties Historian Dr Michael Carter and Dr Mary Going, a Research Associate at the University of Sheffield, to discuss how the dramatic ruins of Whitby Abbey in North Yorkshire played their part in inspiring Bram Stoker's Gothic novel Dracula. Discover what brought Stoker to the abbey, how the author developed his famous story and the Guinness World Record attempt inspired by the 125th anniversary of the publication of the book. To find out more about Whitby Abbey and Dracula, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/whitby-abbey/history-and-stories/dracula

On this week's episode of The Literary Life Podcast, our hosts wrap up their series on Hard Times by Charles Dickens. Angelina opens the conversation about the book by highlighting Dickens' masterful ability to tie up all the loose ends in his stories. They cover not only the major plot points here at the end of the book, but talk about the craft of Dickens and continue to teach us how to read this type of story. We see each character's full arc and the positive changes that come when people choose repentance versus the fate of those who remain stubbornly on the road to destruction. Join us next time for a special conversation with Jason Baxter, author of The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis. After that, we will be digging into Bram Stoker's Dracula together and learning more about this late Victorian Gothic novel. It's not what you might think! Head over to MorningTimeforMoms.com to get signed up for Dawn Duran's webinar on “A Reasoned Patriotism,” taking place later this week! Get the latest news from House of Humane Letters by signing up for their e-newsletter today! Commonplace Quotes: It is not the business of poetry to go about distributing tracts. Andrew Lang The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing people of very ordinary literary ability that they could write excellent continuations of The Screwtape Letters. Fred Sanders In the Bible, the opposite of Sin, with a capital ‘S,' is not virtue – it's faith: faith in a God who draws all to himself in his resurrection. Robert Farrar Capon Reviewers who have not had time to reread Milton have failed for the most part to digest your criticism of him, but it is a reasonable hope that of those who heard you in Oxford, many will understand henceforward that when the old poets made some virtue their theme they were not teaching but adoring, and that what we take for the didactic is often the enchanted. C. S. Lewis Say not the Struggle nought Availeth by Arthur Hugh Clough Say not the struggle nought availeth,       The labour and the wounds are vain,  The enemy faints not, nor faileth,       And as things have been they remain.  If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;       It may be, in yon smoke concealed,  Your comrades chase e'en now the fliers,      And, but for you, possess the field.  For while the tired waves, vainly breaking       Seem here no painful inch to gain,  Far back through creeks and inlets making,       Comes silent, flooding in, the main.  And not by eastern windows only,       When daylight comes, comes in the light,  In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly,       But westward, look, the land is bright.     Book List: The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis Between Noon and Three by Robert Farrar Capon A Preface to Paradise Lost by C. S. Lewis The Gifts of Reading by Robert MacFarlane North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

Welcome to the Indie Writer Podcast where we talk about all things writing and indie publishing. Today we are excited to talk about Jamieson Ridenhour and David Allen Voyles. Jamieson Ridenhour is the writer and producer of the popular audio drama Palimpsest, the author of the werewolf murder-mystery Barking Mad, and writer and director of the award-winning short horror films Cornerboys and The House of the Yaga. His ghost play Grave Lullaby was a finalist for the Kennedy Center's David Cohen Playwriting award in 2012. Jamie's short fiction and poetry has appeared in Strange Horizons, Andromeda Spaceways Magazine, TheNewerYork, Across the Margins, Mirror Dance, and Architrave, among others, and has been podcast on Pseudopod, Cast of Wonders, and Radio Unbound.  His newest play, Bloodbath: Victoria's Secret, premiered in October of 2021. Jamie has a Ph.D. in Victorian Gothic fiction. In addition to publishing scholarly articles on Dickens, LeFanu, and contemporary vampire film, he edited the Valancourt edition of Sheridan LeFanu's Carmilla (2009) and wrote a book-length study of urban gothic fiction, In Darkest London (Scarecrow, 2014). He has taught writing and literature for over twenty years, currently at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC. Some of the tales in David Allen Voyles' collections of original horror stories, The Thirteenth Day of Christmas and Tales from the Hearse were those he told while conducting tours for his ghost tour company, Dark Ride Tours in Asheville, NC. Having taught literature for thirty years, Voyles is no stranger to weird tales and horror fiction in general. His lifelong obsession with Halloween ensured that it was just a matter of time before he published his own tales of terror. In addition to publishing his stories in various anthologies, he is also the creator of the horror podcast, Dark Corners with David Allen Voyles.     KEEP UP WITH OUR GUESTS!   Jamieson Ridenhour: Twitter - @jmridenhour Instagram - @jamiesonridenhour Facebook - JamiesonRidenhourWriter http://www.jamiesonridenhourwriter.com/   David Allen Voyles:  Twitter - @DavidAVoyles Instagram - @DavidAllenVoyles Facebook - DavidAVoyles13 https://davidallenvoyles.com/   RESOURCES/BOOKS MENTIONED: Podbean Audacity (free) Adobe Audition ________________________ Check out the following books by our Patrons!  Deadly Declarations by Landis Wade Mission 51 by Fernando Crôtte Want to see your book listed? Become a Patron! 

The gang discuss tales of having-your-wiener-stomped-on-repeatedly-in-a-victorian-era-nightmare as Devon leads the discussion on one of his all time favourite video games - Bloodborne

In this episode I'm joined by Laura Demaude, who is currently finishing her MA dissertation on gaslighting and the Gothic. We discuss how gaslighting is represented in Victorian and Neo-Victorian texts written by female authors (such as Bronte's Jane Eyre). We also note how physical gaslighting was used to influence this effect, especially in the film Gaslight. Our discussion also focuses on the importance of discussing literary representations of gaslighting, especially in the light of the #metoo movement.About my guest: Laura is an MA research student at the University of Lincoln, focusing on how gaslighting and physical lighting work together to oppress women and ‘make' them into freaks in Gothic literature. She is fascinated by crowd psychology and the ways in which literature can, and does, influence the way we think, as well as in how these influences include and precede the Victorian era.For more information on Laura's work, check out the details below:Twitter: @lattepoweredEmail: ldemaude@lincoln.ac.ukCheck out Laura's suggestions:Sarah Waters' worksLaura Purcell - The Silent CompanionsThe Alienist (TV series) Episode Credits:Episode Writer, Editor and Producer: Emma CatanMusic: Burning Steaks (by Stationary Sign) - obtained via EpidemicSoundCheck us out at the following social media pages and websites!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victorianlegaciespodcastTwitter: @victorianlegac1Instagram: @victorianlegaciespodcastWebsite: https://emmacatan.wordpress.com/victorian-legacies-podcast/Email: victorianlegacies@gmail.com

7 February 2022 | St. Romuald | Menlo Park, Calif. Returning after a two-week break, I share my reactions to a friend's priestly ordination, some thoughts on Dickens' genre-crossing and the role of ghost stories in the Pickwick Papers, and one more practical suggestion on prayer. Plus: why do we do so many things three times in the Roman Rite? Opening music: “Gospodi pomiluj,” arr. Grigory Lvovsky, sung by Choeur d'hommes Phoneomen, dir. Roman Imamutdinov, 2011. All rights reserved. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/in-your-embrace/message

In this episode with Jonathan Greenaway (Theology, Horror and Fiction: A Reading of the Gothic Nineteenth Century & The Horror Vanguard podcast) we arrive at the New Flesh while peeling back the layers of a nightmarish society in stasis. We get into: necro-neoliberalism, depressive hedonia, unspent energy mutating into a gothic maw, our struggle to be and remain human, nostalgia neutralizing hope/fear instead of bringing us closer to history, the internet as a profoundly haunted and haunting device, Paul tells a dumb story about seeing Beyond the Black Rainbow on acid and the glorious weirdness of "Titane" Jon Greenaway is an academic, writer and teacher based in the North of England. He's currently working on a PhD that focuses on philosophy, theology and the gothic literature of the nineteenth century. He's also behind @TheLitCritGuy, a social media project that aims to bring critical and cultural theory away from it's academic enclave and to the widest possible audience. He writes for a variety of publications online and blogs at thelitcritguy.com. He tweets @thelitcritguy. Find Jon on Youtube at Jon the Lit Crit Guy Theology, Horror and Fiction: A Reading of the Gothic Nineteenth Century Surpassing scholarly discourse surrounding the emergent secularism of the 19th century, Theology, Horror and Fiction argues that the Victorian Gothic is a genre fascinated with the immaterial. Through close readings of popular Gothic novels across the 19th century – Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Dracula and The Picture of Dorian Gray, among others – Jonathan Greenaway demonstrates that to understand and read Gothic novels is to be drawn into the discourses of theology. Despite the differences in time, place and context that informed the writers of these stories, the Gothic novel is irreducibly fascinated with religious and theological ideas, and this angle has been often overlooked in broader scholarly investigations into the intersections between literature and religion. Combining historical theological awareness with interventions into contemporary theology, particularly around imaginative apologetics and theology and the arts, Jonathan Greenaway offers the beginnings of a modern theology of the Gothic. Theme music by Joseph E. Martinez of Junius Follow us on social at: Twitter: @WakeIslandPod Instagram: @wakeislandpod David's Twitter: @raviddice --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wake-island/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wake-island/support

This week I have the absolute pleasure of catching up with Kate Cherrell. Kate is a writer, editor and lecturer in all things gothic and spooky. Having studied to PHD level on these subjects she's more than over qualified to come talk to me about what makes these subjects so engaging. Why we have a fascination with the dead and burial culture and for me to learn more about seance and the history of ghost hunting.It's a merry old ride through the winter of January and a topic which seems ever more prevelant in our society so strap in and put on your best lace had as we talk all things spooky. Kate has many projects but you can find her mainly on https://burialsandbeyond.com/https://burialsandbeyond.com/support-me/https://www.instagram.com/burialsandbeyond/Also available:Youtube:https://youtu.be/Rozst4ujCzcItuneshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/yelling-at-concrete/id1238765054Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/3T2OhYE07edgaBDXrm86saAcasthttps://shows.acast.com/yellingatconcreteYou can support the show and Graham by visitingwww.instagram.com/yellingatconcretewww.yellingatconcrete.bigcartel.comwww.ko-fi.com/yellingatconcrete See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Continuing our Christmas chiller in the classic Victorian Gothic manner. Homeless Mary has been offered shelter in Doctor Ewan Craigie's isolated house on the Island of Arran. It seems a Christmas dream come true, overshadowed only slightly by a mysterious snowman that almost seemed to move in the moonlight, and by the revelation that, three Christmases ago, the good Doctor lost his wife and children. Now, encouraged by a sympathetic Mary, he decides to tell his story.... (previously heard on ArranSound radio - arransound.com)

It's time to return to The Dreaming! This week, we're discussing the third and fourth volumes of Neil Gaiman's celebrated series. Come for the one-off stories of Dream Country, and give the devil his due when we cheer Lucifer's epic trolling of Dream in Season of the Mists.  ----more---- Episode 17 Transcript Jessika: [00:00:00] I just, I like have had five sets of teeth in my life. They just keep growing bigger and bigger each set I got,   Hello, and welcome to Ten Cent Takes, the podcasts where we morph from delight to delirium one issue at a time. My name is Jessica Frazier and I'm joined by my cohost, the blasphemous baker, Mike Thompson.  Mike: I am full of carbs and caffeine. How are you doing? Jessika: Oh, I am somewhat of both as well. Could use a little more sleep, but I have a day off tomorrow, so I will be doing that,  Mike: I'm jealous.  Jessika: Dude. I work nine hours a day. Don't be too jealous. It's those nine hours that get me that day off.  Mike: Oh man. I've been pulling [00:01:00] like 10 to 12 hour days for a couple of months and I'm just,  Jessika: Oh shit. Nevermind. Goodness. Well, the purpose of this podcast is to study comic books in ways that are both fun and informative. We want to look at their coolest, weirdest and silliest moments, as well as examine how they're woven into the larger fabric of pop culture and history. If you'd like to support us, be sure to download rate and review on Apple podcasts or wherever you live.  Mike: Yeah, that really helps with discoverability. We know that we are not a large podcast, but the support that we've gotten from everybody has meant a lot to us. And we're hoping that we can continue to reach more people. If you like, what you're hearing, do us a favor and invite your friends to like our pages, every little bit helps.  Jessika: Yeah, well, today we're continuing on. with the second episode of our book. As we discuss volumes three and four of the Sandman series. But before we jump into [00:02:00] that, Mike, what is one cool thing that you've read or watched lately?  Mike: Something actually that you mentioned on the last book club episode that we did was that there is a Sandman Audible book right now. As much as I don't like giving Amazon my money, if I don't have to, I've had an Audible membership for like a decade. And that means I have access to their Audible originals, which is what this audio book is. And then one of my friends, hi, Darren, also recommended that I listen to the audio book after I told them that we were doing a Sandman book. So I finally downloaded the audio book and started listening while I walked the dogs. And it's legit incredible, like all-star cast. It feels like an audio play complete with like all these incredible production values. Neil Gaiman is serving as the narrator and then they have all of these incredible actors voicing characters and it actually, you know, Neil [00:03:00] Gaiman rewrote it. And so it feels like what he wanted the Sandman, the first volume Preludes and Nocturnes to be, with the hindsight of 30 plus years. Jessika: Nice.  Mike: Yeah, it's great.  Jessika: And he's such a good orator.  Mike: he is he's done a couple of his other audio books that I've listened to over the years. He did The Graveyard Book, which was The only way I can describe it as a Victorian Gothic version of the Jungle Book. And then he also did Coraline. I think he did Coraline. I'm pretty sure he did, but every time that I've listened to him, narrate stuff, it's always been just fantastic,  But, yeah. Jessika: Great.  Mike: How about you? Jessika: Well, I grabbed another $1 image teaser comic. , this time it was Kill or Be Killed by Ed Brubaker. Sean Phillips and Elizabeth Breittwiser. It was okay.  It didn't grow. It followed the first person account of how a man was driven to be an assassin. He basically attempted to die by suicide by jumping off a roof, ended up not dying, but [00:04:00] being visited by what appears to be a demon who tells him , that he now owes him for the life. He tried to waste or something, a life for a life, kind of a such and the rubric for killing being , someone basically like bad and it's not very well defined. So he goes from this guy who can't fathom killing someone to being ready to kill. So he doesn't die. The whole reason he wanted to die was over a woman that chose his roommate over him, by the way, like his best friend. And it was this whole pining love thing. It was just a little just had, really bad incel vibes. You know what I mean?  Mike: Yeah, Jessika: I don't know. It just felt very strange. Like his whole motive was very, contrived it felt,  Mike: Yeah. Brubaker does a lot of good stuff, but he writes a lot of, kind of the modern equivalent of pulp noire.  Jessika: Mm.  Mike: Everything that you've described sounds very much like a Brewbaker story. You got to find the right thing. He writes some really good stuff. Like he's the guy who actually created the winter soldier for the Captain America Comics. Jessika: [00:05:00] Okay.  Mike: Yeah. He did a couple of other kind of like noire-ish stories for image that they were hit or miss for me, but when he's good, he's really good. And then other times it's just, it's not my vibe. Jessika: Okay. That's fair.  Mike: Yeah. Jessika: So, honestly though, again, it was one of those $1 Image teaser situations.  Mike: I love how they do that.  Jessika: I didn't feel like I really lost anything.  Mike: No, I think that's a really great strategy of theirs where it's just kind of the entry-level pilot. Jessika: Yeah, well, let's mosey on to our main topic.  Mike: Yes. Jessika: So last episode, just to recap, we covered an overview of the history and places you can read, watch and listen to the Sandman series. And if you haven't already listened to episode 15, we highly recommend you check out that episode for that. And our discussion on the first two volumes of the Sandman series, because from here, we are going to be discussing [00:06:00] volumes three and four. I don't really have many tidbits per se for us this episode. Really? We're just going to look at the plot and then talk about what we thought.  Mike: I actually have a couple of tidbits. Believe it or not, not many, but a couple. Jessika: Mike has tidbits everyone. I love it. I didn't even know. Well, awesome.  Mike: All right. So should we kick things off?  Jessika: Let's do it. Volume three is titled Dream Country and it was published in 1990 and only included issues 17 through 20. And what made up a four-story anthology. It was, of course, written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Kelly Jones, Malcolm Jones III, Charles Vess, and Colleen Duran. We start with the story of Calliope, the youngest Greek muse, who has been imprisoned by Erasmus Fry to be his own personal muse. Super gross. [00:07:00] She'd been captive for closest 60 years. So Erasmus gives Calliope to Richard Maddick, who is a writer who has one successful novel but now has hit a patch of writer's block. And unfortunately for Calliope, he's a greedy motherfucker who only cares about his own success. So he takes Calliope who has been left without clothes in a room alone. And of course, immediately rapes her. This one was really hard for me. You can already tell, as I'm trying to get through this description.  Mike: Yeah, it's an uncomfortable issue to read now. Even now it's, mean, it was really uncomfortable when I first read it when I was, I don't know, 18 or so. And it's just gotten increasingly gross as time goes on, especially now, post me too in the entertainment industry. Jessika: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, definite correlations there.  Mike: Oh yeah. Oddly prescient. Jessika: Yes. So Richard of course gets gains from this whole [00:08:00] situation and enjoys a few years of very good success. He writes more hit novels, some award-winning poetry, and even gets into Hollywood with writing and directing. So here we are again with the correlation situation and of course winning awards in that area. And this is all happening while Morpheus is still in prison, by the way, until he isn't any longer. And one thing we need to know about Calliope is that she and Morpheus have history. In fact, they have a child together. So Calliope calls out to him in desperation. After being told by her visiting muse sisters, that they were unable to help her and help Morpheus did. The author wanted ideas, then he was inundated with them. So many that they were causing him to have an actual breakdown seemingly with psychological effects. In the end, Richard sends someone to release her where he only finds Erasmus Fry's book in the room where she should have been.  Mike: And doesn't it [00:09:00] originally start out with Morpheus trying to free Calliope, but Richard doesn't want to, because he needs the ideas she gives him when he rapes her? Jessika: Yeah Mike: Yeah. And that's when Morpheus sits there and basically punishes him with an overflowing chalice of ideas. Jessika: Yeah. It's, definitely a fitting punishment. In my opinion  Mike: Yeah.  Jessika: story, number two was super fun. I think you and I can probably agree. And this story was about a cat speaking to a crowd of cats in a graveyard. And this cat told the story of having kittens and having them taken away by the people that owned her. And of course, the guy was super level-headed about the whole thing and took the kittens to a shelter and they were adopted by loving families and, oh wait, never mind. He put them all in a bag, tied the bag to a large rock, and threw it in a body of water. I just can't with people. Like, honestly, I can't,  Mike: It's a safe assumption that people are going to be terrible throughout this series. Jessika: I mean, it's true, [00:10:00] but I would love to have them all adopted. So the cat naturally is super upset but also looking for some sort of vengeance or something. And that night she has a dream where she goes on a long and difficult dream quest to see what is ultimately Meowpheus the cat.  Mike: Meowpheus I like that.  Jessika: So basically a Meowpheus tells her that cats used to rule. They were larger and humans were basically the pets. Instead, cats choosing to hunt humans for food and sport and keeping them to feed and groom them. One day, humans banded together and with participation from only 1000 humans, they were able to dream the same dream together and basically manifest humans being the alpha in the world, instead of the cats. And this went back into time where the power of the collective dream actually rewrote history in favor of humans, making the cat subservient. Instead. [00:11:00] The cat in the graveyard was basically preaching a gospel, asking all the cats in the graveyard to dream the same dream. That she was trying to get 1000 cats to help her so that, they could all pull a Cher and turn back time to be in power once again. I enjoyed the partying quippy remark from one of the listener cats, which was effectively good luck getting multiple cats to do anything at the same time. Mike: Uh, yeah. Accurate. Jessika: And while it was really sad and cruel I like the idea that cats have an attitude for a reason.  Mike: Yeah, I thought it was cute. It was just, it was a very, I mean, we'll get into this later on, but it was, I thought it was very. Jessika: Yeah. The third step. Told us, the creation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream wherein Morpheus has actually requisitioned the play in specific terms and asks Billy Shakes and his troop to perform in the middle of an empty field. Well, kind of. That field is not empty for a long as [00:12:00] Titania, Oberon, Puck, and all the other characters from the fairy realm have arrived through the portal, which Morpheus opens for them. It's mentioned during the dialogue between Titania and Morpheus, that this is probably the last time the mortal realm would allow them to enter, that they were feeling the hostility from Gaia upon their entry. During the play puck steps in for the actor playing himself and kills of course, and Titania is very strangely fascinated with Billy's 11 year old son Hamnett and is like trying to entice him. And then in the end, everybody, but Puck leaves the realm. And it's mentioned at the end of the issue that Hamnet died later that same year. So like, did Titania finally get Hamlet to go with her?  Mike: You know, it's left a little bit open, but it's playing into that whole idea of the changeling child and, you know, the mortals who go over into the very realm, as children, which I really liked that I thought it was a nice ending that was very bittersweet. Jessika: Yeah. I thought so too. And the fourth and final story [00:13:00] of this volume is called Facade and it is about a woman named Rainey who we learn has been given a gift by the sun, God Ra, which makes her a metamorph. Meaning that she can change her physical appearance, physically change faces, skin, everything. But this also means that she no longer has a normal human appearance. Her skin is scaly and multicolored. Her hair has turned of violent shade of green and her face is withered and her nose is almost completely gone. We find Rainie living a very solitary life, getting a monthly disability check and only interacting with the worker assigned to her, but disability case she's depressed and has suicidal ideations. Probably the scariest part of the story is when an old friend who works for the same company that Rainey was working for, when Ra messed her up, who invites her to lunch, Rainie sucks it up, puts on a face literally and meets [00:14:00] at the restaurant. Where her entire face falls off into a plate of spaghetti. I don't, I don't know about you like that. I thought it was super terrifying. Mike: Yeah. I mean, it goes back to that very human emotion of seeing someone that you haven't seen forever. And you're trying to do as much as you can to make sure that they don't see that you've changed too much.  Jessika: Yeah.  Mike: You and I are at that age now where it's like, people from high school want to get in touch and we're all older. You know, some of us are. And so you see these people and you still want to seem like the person that they knew, because you don't want to, you don't want them to comment on how you've changed. You don't want to acknowledge it. And I read it as she'd been working for like the CIA or an intelligence agency because they call it “The Company.” They don't ever refer to it as anything else. Jessika: I think it was something of that nature kind of checking out sites, et cetera.  Mike: Yeah.[00:15:00] But yeah, and then the whole thing is that because she can change her body into elements. She's, she's a sidekick from the old Moetamorpho series in the sixties. I didn't really know much about her, but I did a little digging cause I couldn't remember a lot. And so Metamorpho is a DC hero who is part of the justice league and his whole thing is that he can't. Basically change his body into any element that he wants. And so that was the whole thing where she's talking about, oh, like it's not hard for me to change the color of my hair. I I just turned it into copper and, and then she basically grows a kind of silica over her face, but she was saying that after roughly a day it gets stiff and, it falls off. And unfortunately, that's what happened with her, at her lunch with her friend. Jessika: Yeah. it was definitely a bummer. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: So of course, Rainey goes home crying where she has to break into her own house by melting the handle because she forgot her purse with her keys and breaks down crying. Death appears having been visiting one of Rainey's neighbors who fell off a stepladder and talks with Rainie, advising that she should [00:16:00] ask rah nicely to take away her gift, or at least giving us an option. She looks into the setting sun and becomes what I'm assuming is a pile of Ash. It looks like death didn't actually take her. So I'm not sure if Rainie is supposed to be just with the world. You know, just one with the world as it kind of seemed like she fear being  Mike: You know, I read it as like she was, she had her immortality taken away from her because she seemed so happy when she turned into, I don't know if it was ash or glass or something. It was kind of hard to tell what the art, and then it cracked and fell apart. And then Death answers the phone and says something along the lines of like, no, she, she can't come she's gone away or something to that effect. And, death isn't this cruel being or anything like that. I think death helped her move on. I'd like to think that she did. Jessika: Okay. Okay. Yeah. it was Fe usually. she like wanders away with the person [00:17:00] she's like low key reaping. Mike: Usually. Yeah. I don't know. I think maybe it was just a little bit, it, it was for the sake of narrative in this case,  Jessika: That's fair. That's fair.  Mike: But yeah. Urania was this, so her full name is Urania She was a side character for a few issues in Metamorpho's sixties series. And then she wound up basically giving herself the same powers that he had, and it was delivered via device called the Orb of RA. So it's really interesting because, Metamorpho is always a science character, because it's all about the elements of what he can turn himself into. But at the same time, there is in his background. is this like, you know, mystical quality to it. And so I liked that they kind of tapped into that mythology a little bit, and really they did a nice job with a character that I think most people had forgotten existed. Jessika: So, Mike, did You have a favorite [00:18:00] character part of the story? What did you dig from this?  Mike: This volume in particular, I really like, because it feels. Like a breather from the main narrative. And honestly, I think that's something that we needed because I mentioned last time, how I always am a little bit surprised at how dark the early stories are. They're very much horror stories with a little bit of fantasy kind of softening the blows a little bit, but there's a couple of moments in those first couple of volumes where I feel like I need to pack a flashlight. it's dark. but yeah, this collection is just, a much-needed change of pace just for a little bit. My least favorite story is the one with the cats. And it's not because I think it's bad. I just don't connect with it that much. Part of it is because we've got a rescue cat, we treat her better than the kids. Let's be honest. I can't fathom throwing kittens into a pond. It was just, it feels a little bit too mustache-twirly. You know, especially in this day and age where like, if people find out [00:19:00] about that you get tracked down on social media and just annihilate it. But it was cute. The whole bit where at the end, it's like, oh, it must be, it's dreaming, you know, it's chasing something and, you're like, oh, okay. Yeah. So it's, it's dreaming of hunting humans. Cool. Jessika: [laughs],  Mike: And it's funny, cause I was actually in a production of Midsummer Night's Dream when I first read this collection. So I loved everything about that specific issue. I loved how it tapped into fairy lore it showed this kind of weird, strange relationship with Titania and Oberon. And how absolutely sinister pock seemed not to mention how there's that dangling plot thread, where he basically gets loosed on earth afterwards  Jessika: mm.  Mike: I don't know. It's just, it's very different than any other portrayal I'd seen up until then. And, , it's interesting because they brought those characters specifically back in a number of different ways across the vertigo comics later on, like to Tanya actually had her origin explained in the Books of Faerie, which was in itself a series that [00:20:00] spun off of another comic that Neil Gaiman wrote called the Books of Magick, where eventually it's revealed that the main character from the Books of Magick, Tim Hunter, who was like the next great magician of the age, he's like our version of Merlin. It is very. They always leave it a little bit up in the air, but Titania''s his mother, because she was a human who was brought into the world of Fairie. And then eventually he got married to Oberon and then she had an affair with a human that was in service to Oberon.  Jessika: Okay.  Mike: She becomes a major part of the lore in her own right. Which I thought was really cool. And Puck shows up again later in the series. I, like I still squirm when I read that story of Calliope, especially where we are like sitting on the other side of me too, and the ongoing flood of stories about successful men in the arts, just being abusive, assholes to those who aren't as powerful as they are. Like when we're recording this, there's a whole flood of stories coming out of Activision [00:21:00] blizzard, if you're not in video games, they make Warcraft and a bunch of other stuff. it turns out that that was a really toxic place for women. And I spent almost a decade working in video games with various companies and yeah, it's not surprising, but it's just, these stories need to be told that at the same time, they're always super uncomfortable to read. Jessika: Yeah.  Mike: Um, yeah. And then, the facade story, I really liked, I really appreciate how gaming does this amazing job spinning out a story that's focused on loneliness and how harmful it is. and then I thought it was kind of neat that it arguably has a happy ending, though the main character dies. Jessika: Yeah. I can see that.  Mike: Same question back at you. What about you? Jessika: So, you know, I really enjoyed the cat story.  Mike: You don't say. Jessika: I did. I mean, I get it though. Like cats are, are super intense and honestly they make [00:22:00] me a little nervous. I heard some horror stories about cats, just going bananas on people and them just like getting super fucked up, like missing part of an ear and shit. Like I've heard some stories. That's just like a regular house cat. Oh, I don't think so  Mike: Well, and then you've met our cat. Jessika: Yeah. Well, yeah. You know that's but I don't, I didn't fear your cat right away. There are some cats I go into someone's house and I'm just like, oh, I got to watch my back.  Mike: We have a dog and a cat's body. Jessika: Yeah. Your cat's sweet.  Mike: No, she... she's fat and lazy and she knows who feeds her. So she's like, I'm good. I don't need to get out. I don't need to be now. Jessika: I'm strictly a dog household, so I just don't really truly get them to be honest with you. And I honestly, I'm kind of glad I have allergies as an excuse, not to have to get one. So did you have a favorite art moment in this volume? Like was there a panel or cover that really stood [00:23:00] out to you or hit you in some kinda way?  Mike: Yeah. That final sequence in the Midsummer issue, so that one was illustrated by Charles Vess and he's this really he's this artist that has this really beautiful illustration style that feels very old school storybook. Sarah loves this British artist named Arthur Rakim and Vess always kind of reminds me of his work, but the closing monologue by Puck is I gotta be at that closing monologue is kind of terrifying, especially with the way that it's illustrated. I also liked how this felt almost like, well, I mean, it was in certain ways, it was a sequel to men of good fortune, that issue that we talked about last time with Hob Gadling and the mortal that keeps on meeting up with Morpheus.  Jessika: Yeah.  Mike: Yeah, you remember during, the last book club episode, how I mentioned that Sandman won the World Fantasy Award. Yeah. So it was for this issue specifically, you know, and then they got all grumpy about it and they [00:24:00] changed it so that you could no longer win a world fantasy award with a comic book. So. The only comic book to ever win a world fantasy award, Jessika: extra salty,  Mike: extra salty. Jessika: Hate to see it.  Mike: what about you? Like, I'm actually curious. What did you think about Vess's illustration style? Because we haven't seen, I don't think we've really seen much of his artwork in the series up until now. Jessika: We haven't, and that's actually this, this was my favorite art volume as well, or art issue as well. I mean, it just, it was beautiful. It used color in a really interesting way that went from playful to dark and serious. I mean, it just with the same type of illustration and the color would just change the whole.  Mike: Yeah. Jessika: Which was super cool just by adding shadows, moving the colors. Plus you got to love a good donkey head and you know, okay. I was musing and you have to go with me on this journey. They had to have used a taxidermied donkey's head. Right.  Mike: [00:25:00] No, they, I  Jessika: Please. Come on, come on, go with me on this journey.  Mike: Ugh no. Hmm.  Jessika: Ah,  Mike: Like, like that's a whole element in that American Horror Story series, like where  they make a mandatory by putting a bull's head on a dude. Like, no, no, Jessika: I am going horror with this one. Mike: Well, have fun going down that road. I'm not there with you. Jessika: Okay. Well, that's good. I suppose we are on volume four  Mike: I suppose  Jessika: Volume Four!. Alright.  Mike: What accent is that? Jessika: I don't know, I do a lot, don't I? Mike: A little bit?  Jessika: I think it's my 1920s.  Mike: Okay.  Jessika: I don't know. It's like my newscaster, I used to have an old-timey newscaster kind of an accent that I did.  And I think I'm combining, I'm combining my Virginia [00:26:00] Montgomery Prescott, the third Esquire.  Mike: It's, that so proper American that it's almost English kinda like that very Northeastern accent.  Yeah.  Jessika: Yes. Yeah.  Mike: Yeah. All right.  Jessika: All right. Volume four is titled season of the mists and came out between 1990 and 1991 and included issues 21 through 28. Story as always was written by Neil Gaiman and illustration was done by Kelly Jones, Malcolm Jones, the third Mike Drigenberg, Matt Wagner, Dick Giordano, George Pratt, and P Craig Russell. Volume four begins with our introduction to destiny. Ooh. While wandering his realm is visited by the fates, the three sisters that we have seen previously, the sisters inform him that he needs to call a [00:27:00] reunion of all his siblings of the eternal realm. So off, he goes to the family gallery where he goes up to each portrait of his sibling and they appear out of the portrait. When summoned the siblings are a mix of characters we have seen. And one that is new to this issue. Death who is told to change her outfit, even though no one else was, I thought that was kind of rude.  Mike: Yeah, Destiny's a stickler for formality. Jessika: Yeah. Well, the other one's got to wear nimble to CWA. They got to wear whatever  Mike: Hmm. Jessika: I, whatever. I don't know. It makes me angry. So don't tell women they have to change. They are not a distraction. Death has followed by Dream and then the twins, Desire and Despair, and lastly Delirium who we come to find out, used to be Delight. So during their reunion, desire calls out Dream's treatment of lovers who have spurned [00:28:00] him, leading him to ask for validation of his actions from Death. And Death instead agrees with. Prompting dream to plan, to travel to hell in order to remove queen nada from her torturous captivity, who was, that was the subject of their whole conversation.  Mike: Yeah. And we actually saw that whole story in the previous volume to  Jessika: Yes,  Mike: saw what happened to. Jessika: exactly. so destiny closes out the reunion basically stating that the actions that needed to be put into motion had been accomplished by dream deciding to go back to. hell.  Mike: Yeah. Jessika: The next issue gives us a taste of what hell looks and feels like. So back in the dream realm, Dream is saying his goodbyes and makes a big announcement to those living in his realm. He tells them about Nada, how he had been unjust and how he had to rectify his actions and that he may not return as he is not on good terms with Lucifer. So [00:29:00] he sends Cain to Hell as a messenger to let loose for know that dream will be visiting whether he approves or not basically. So that was fun.  Mike: Well, he knows that he can't kill Cain because Cain is protected by the mark of Cain from, the Cain and Abel story. He knows about that.  Jessika: oh yeah. Yeah, for sure.  Mike: That's why dream sent Cain it's because he knows that Cain can't be killed. Jessika: Exactly. Exactly. Lucifer clearly is still really salty about being embarrassed. The last time dream was there and he makes an announcement to his, his demonic minions reminding them that he is the oldest and strongest bad-ass lets them know that dream will be returning and implies very strongly. That the day that Dream returns will be very memorable. Kane delivers the response to Dream. And on the last stop of his farewell tour, Dream also visits Hippolyta whose husband [00:30:00] was the pho dream king superhero thingy from one of the other stories while he was enslaved or, you know, captive.  Mike: Yeah. she and Hector the previous Doctor Fate were being used by Brute and Glob to basically create kind of like an island for them to operate outside of the dreaming the dreams of a kid who was being abused.  Jessika: Exactly.  Mike: And then, Dream is on her shit list because he sent her ghost of a husband on to wherever he got sent onto, but she was pregnant at the time. And so there's a connection between Dream and the baby because she carried the baby to term mostly in dreams, Jessika: Well, the baby was in gestation for like that, like 30, 30, 40 years or something more than that. I mean, it was like 60 years? I don't  remember how many it was like however long or  Mike: I,  Jessika: or was it just the kid timeframe? Mike: I think it was just the kid timeframe. So I think it was only for a couple of years, but still it was in gestation injuries for a long time compared to. Jessika: Oh, I can't even imagine [00:31:00] being pregnant once, let alone for like two years straight. Holy crap. And she was like really pregnant. That's not comfortable.  So Morpheus advises Hippolyta to take good care of the kid that had been gestating in the dream realm, because he will take it someday. So. Cool. Thanks, Dream. That's awesome.  Mike: Really endearing us to you, buddy. Jessika: Yeah. serious. Oh, he also gives her the name Daniels because she had kind of been struggling with a name for him.  Mike: Yeah.  Jessika: So that's the kid's name now? I guess. So Dream makes his way to hell anticipating a fight with Lucifer, but what He finds is an eerily empty hell with Lucifer in the process of locking all the gates. And when asked about this loose advises that he's, he's done, he's quitting and he is no longer the ruler of hell. He's freed everyone and everything that was locked up. And he's not really sure what happened to them or where they all went, whether it was to earth or other realms or what, but he just [00:32:00] knows they're no longer in hell Mike: Yeah. He likes straight up. Does not care.  Jessika: Oh, zero fucks. None.  Mike: They're his favorite kind of problem. Not his. Jessika: Then he goes, Yeah. think I'm bluffing. Hey, here's a knife. Why don't you cut off my wings? Just see, just, just go ahead and see. And, and Dream does. And then as a parting gift, he hands the key to hell Dream stating basically Like Hey, this is your problem now. Mike: Yeah.  Jessika: that's some high-level trolling.  Mike: Dream was prepared for just about every outcome except that one. It is. Jessika: Exactly. We are then introduced to Oden who travels to the cavern where Loki is being held captive and has been enduring an eternity of torture until Ragnarok, the end times in which the Asgardian realms would be destroyed. Odin [00:33:00] frees low-key from his situation and asks him to help him as he wants to take over the Hell situation since Lucifer abdicated and Loki agrees to help, then we cut back to dream because he's not really sure what to do. So he calls on his sister death for advice. And she has like, no time. First of all, she has no time for him in that issue. She's like, what do you need? I'm super busy. She pretty much says, this is your problem. Also, he knows things are going to go down and he hides, frustrated his castle basically. And then he just starts getting visited by all these different parties, all wanting the keys to hell. So you have the Asgardians, Azazzle and a demon Envoy who're like “That's my house. I just want to live in my house again.” Mike: Yeah.  Jessika: Yeah. Anubis and Bastet who are like, yo, [00:34:00] you know, who does a good job with death with underworlds let me show you.  Mike: it's a really eclectic mix of mythological figures because you also have. The Lords of chaos and order send their envoys, Shivering Jemmy from the Lords of chaos who... I really like her. I think she's a great,  Jessika: did too.  Mike: and then the Lords of order send their representative and it's a cardboard box that basically spits out ticker tape  and  Jessika: Which  Mike: And, then you get the elves, a ferry at one point. And they have, a really unique proposition, which is that the lands of Faerie had a tie to hell where every seven years they had to send over a certain number of , their best and brightest as a sacrifice. And they wanted, basically begging dream, not to let hell reopen. Jessika: And we did. We establish that That was still a thing when all the other shit went down.  Mike: That specific deal? Jessika: yeah.  Mike: Oh yeah. It's still a deal. And actually, that was a whole thing in the books of [00:35:00] magic. They have a whole thing with ferry and hell going into conflict with each other, because I think it has been almost 20 years since I read this last. But if I remember right, it was, I think Faerie refused to pay the tithe anymore anymore. And as a result, they basically straight up, went to war with hell. and it was, oh man, it was cool. I remember liking that storyline. I don't remember it enough to really talk about it a lot though, because it's  been so long.  But it's, it's good. It's in one of the collected volumes of the Books of Magick that they did, they only collected the first 50 issues, 50 through 75 aren't collected anywhere. Jessika: Hmm.  Hmm. So we also had Suzan O No Mikto  Mike: Yes.  Jessika: Oh, and a couple of angels who were there just to be voyeurs to the situation  Mike: Yeah. Jessika: and Dream finally lets them into the castle. [00:36:00] After he stopped sulking and he advises that he'll be hosting a banquet and having accommodation set up and they could discuss the key to the realm the next day, basically. And we start seeing the consequences of hell's release through a boys boarding school where one solitary boy is staying over during the holidays while his father, as a prisoner of war in Kuwait  and all hell returns. When boys and staff who used to attend the school, start to show back up  Mike: yeah. Jessika: Along with the headmasters previously deceased mother.  Mike: Yes. It's... that issue. It's really interesting because I really didn't like it originally. And I've come to appreciate it more because it feels like a very Gothic or story kind of like the Hunting of Hill House from Netflix.  Jessika: I can see that. Yeah.  Mike: yeah.  Jessika:  It was wild.  Like all of them had reasons that they were in hell.  Mike: Yeah. That [00:37:00] issue is really interesting and it's really weird because it's drawn by Matt Wagner, who has a very interesting style. All of his own Wagner himself is famous for creating a couple of different characters on his own. Like he created a character called the Grendel, who is this assassin and wound up becoming a cult property, had a long run with Dark Horse, if I remember right. But this story in season at the mist is really creepy because the whole thing is that the dead are coming back to earth and all sorts of unexpected ways. And then there were a bunch of boys who were really awful, Who come back and they start tormenting Charles, because he's the only living soul there. And he's also, you know, he's a sweet, sensitive little kid, like who is just an easy target for people like that. And the thing is, is like, that was me when I was at that age was I was that sensitive kid who was just an easy target for bullies. And so it was really hard to read it when I was younger. And, I've got a little different perspective now, [00:38:00] but it's, still tough. Anyway, go on. Jessika: Oh, that's okay. So yeah, Charles, unfortunately, he got tortured by that trio of boys. And apparently those boys had murdered another school boy as an offering to Lucifer. So joke's on them, the offering didn't save them from the torture of damnation,  Mike: Yeah. Jessika: so Charles ends up being physically tortured and then starves to death. And his only companion was that other boy who had been killed on the premises that boy, that, those,  that trio allegedly sacrificed. Edwin. Yeah. So death rolls up to pick them up and Charles says “Yeah, no thanks. I'm gonna hang out with, uh, Edwin and deaths. Like you don't, I don't, I don't have time for this. Like literally every one is coming back. Like I literally don't have time. I will come back for you.  Mike: I loved that she was in early nineties, jogging paraphernalia, like  Jessika: Yeah.  Mike: I thought it was fantastic. Jessika: was ready for it.  Mike: [00:39:00] I may be misremembering this, but I thought it was really funny how it was like, I think it was like pink and purple too. Like it was very colored. Jessika: I think it did have some color to it.  Yeah. Oh, funny. So back in the dream realm, two more guests from the theory realm, those two that we had talked about, they arrive and the banquet in. And each of the guests eats and drinks, their desire delicacies, cause , poof we're in dreamland and shenanigans ensued due to the differences of the attendees. And one by one, they basically corner Morpheus requesting a private conversation and he provides each of them with a signal stadium that he'll meet with them after the banquet and entertainment have concluded Cain and Abel show up as the entertainment we're able dies,by being cut in half and then being made into sausage in a magic act  Mike: which. That is a, that is a recurring theme with Cain and Abel in, in the Sandman comics.  Jessika: Yeah, I've noticed.  Mike: But, [00:40:00] Cain was the host of another horror series called the house of misery. And he always had this kind of macabre sort of sense of humor. I know Abel eventually showed up in the house mystery series. I don't know if Cain murdered him every time. I wouldn't be surprised. Jessika: Fair enough. So this is this tracks apparently, each of the guests go off to their respective quarters to wait to be summoned. And they each go to Morpheus, either offering something they think he would want or threatening him in order to turn over control the key to hell. And he advises each one of them that he will announce his decision in the morning. And once in the privacy of his own quarters, he ruminates on the pressure of the weight of his responsibility that was dropped on him.  Mike: Yeah. What was your favorite bargaining tactic? I've got mine. I'm curious about yours. Jessika: I didn't like the whole trading people thing. I don't know. Cause they were all so good in different ways. Like order and chaos were both really interesting to me. I think chaos just being like, [00:41:00] we will find you  Mike: Chaos was my favorite Jessika:  I was going to say like, but Shivering Jemmy was just so funny to begin with.  Mike: Well,  Jessika: was just such an interesting.  Mike: you know, they play, they play with this a lot because, Dr. Fait is one of the Lords of order, DC comic books. And so there's always been this presentation that, order is, the right way to go. And what I kind of enjoyed is that this very much embodies, no order is a dull little box in chaos is chaos. It's not what you expect. And so they send this, hobo girl with a red balloon and  Jessika: like, uh, like a clown face.  Mike: yeah, and she's like, speeding. Almost like toddler English, like it's much younger phrasing than you would expect from a kid who looks like they're 10 or 11. And then, turns into this monstrous thing, delivering ungodly threats to the Lord of dreams. And then, you know, it turns back into the little kid again, after when it was like,[00:42:00] byeeeee. Yeah, I can get behind this. Jessika: So good. She just ate ice cream for dinner too, which I loved.  Mike: Oh yeah. It was so good. I, again, I think she shows up in the books of magic later on, but I can't remember for that one. Jessika: That's amazing. So I really did like her as a character.  Mike: it was good. Jessika: So the next morning. As Morpheus, still struggles to decide to whom he will grant the key. He is visited by the voyeur angels who tell him they have a message for him from the creator who dictates that the two angels will now run hell and guess what guys, you're not allowed back to the silver city Remiel. Oh, Remiel was not happy about this situation. He did not take this well.  Mike: No, he did not it was very much implied that he was about to rebel, like Lucifer. Jessika: Yup. He's like fuck the shit. [00:43:00] Why do I have to go down there? And he had that. He was like, this is your fault. I was like, whoa, damn, you need to go calm down. Your silent homie is not the enemy. there was some salt. This issue.  So Morpheus hands over the key after Remiel takes a chill pill and Morpheus still has the task of telling the other as the outcome of his decision and lets them know the decision was really made for him that if the creator of hell wanted angels to run it, who was he to decide differently from what the creator of that thing wanted to do with it. And most of his guests took this. Okay. I liked orders response of this? This is logical.  Mike: Yeah. And then chaos is like, man, it's fine. We just didn't want order to get it. It's fine. Whatever. Jessika: Exactly.  Mike: And then  Jessika: was even better.  Mike: doesn't she give Morpheus her balloon afterwards?  Jessika: Yeah.  Mike: Yeah, I thought that was great Jessika: She's like, oh, well,  I didn't really want this anyway. [00:44:00] but Azazel was especially upset about this whole situation  Mike: Embodiment of bitter party of one. Jessika: Yes. yes. Table for one. Absolutely. And he pretty much said that he was going to consume the souls of Nada as well as his companions from hell, because he had actually kidnapped her.  Mike: Yeah, and we should note that one of his companions from hell was actually, the demon who had Morpheus's helm before. it was a honied offer of him sitting there and saying, well, I will give you the woman that you're searching for, but then I'll also let you enact punishment of this guy who challenged you and to make you look bad in front of all of hell. Jessika: That makes sense. I was kind of wondering why he was like, why would he care about this one, dude? But that makes way more sense. I forgot about that, dude.  Mike: Yep.  Jessika: There's a lot. There's a lot to remember in this.  Mike: You know, I can't remember everything and I've read this series multiple times. It's a dense story. And I always feel like. I probably caught things before, but, I always [00:45:00] find things that I feel like I'm discovering for the first time with each reread. Jessika: Oh, that's so cool. I'm so glad I picked up the trade paperbacks.  Mike: Yeah. I'm glad that you, I'm glad you're spearheading this. This is a really fun series to talk about. Jessika: Thank you. So Azazel tells Morpheus, basically, I'm going to consume the souls of Nada and my other companion, unless Morpheus could jump into the abyss of space of teeth,  the abyss of his Azazel's teeth, which he's just like space with teeth. Like that's what he is.  Mike: And eyes.. Jessika: And eyes. Yeah, that's right. He does have eyes too, but he's just like a bunch of Maltz mostly. Yeah. So Morpheus does it. He does the thing and jumps in, finds them, captures his Azazel  after he tries to go back on his word of letting them go. If he'd have found his company. And then asks his Raven friend, Matthew, to tell Nada that he needs to talk with her because he has some apologizing to do,  Mike: Mm Jessika: The inhabitants of hell [00:46:00] begun to return as the new angel leaders look on and dream meets with nada and makes a pitiful attempt at half-apology and Nada slaps him and in doing so extracts an actual apology, which it shouldn't take that much. But Dream seems to realize how he's in the wrong.  Although he almost immediately negates that understanding by once again, asking her to be the queen of the dream realm.  Mike: Yeah.  Jessika: Bro. She was, and she was like, bro, we've done this already. I don't want to do this. I already said no to you once. And  I meant it.  Mike: I really appreciate that gaming does not make dream this infallible being, he very much shows like, no, he is. A flawed dude  Jessika: Yeah.  Mike: and he doesn't always get things immediately. Jessika: Yeah, That was really interesting. [00:47:00] That piece of it, I mean, dream has to concede, but he he basically says, let's go discuss your future.  Mike: yeah,  Jessika: Which is really neat, cause he's taken her whole life away and, and then some, and he's in a, he's a negative said this blank she's for thousands of years been tortured in hell. Like how do you even make that up?  Mike: Exactly. And that was actually something that I was curious about the first time I read it, I'm like, how do you make this right? cause that's, that is so much red in the ledger. Jessika: That's What I was thinking too. It's like, oh, okay, well, what are you going to do now, dude, aspire flowers and be like, well, babe,  Mike: What about you chocolates? I only ate half of them. Jessika: right? It's Valentine's day it's. This is what we do. Right. So, so Loki who was supposed to have been taken back to his cave of acid dripping wonder  Mike: His torture cave, Jessika: his torture cave with a snake and a woman. And torture.  Mike: where he is [00:48:00] bound in the entrails of his own son and his wife catches venom dripped from a snake's fang. And then occasionally when she empties the cup, that's catching the phenom. It causes him to shake the earth and agony. And that's why we get earthquakes. Norse mythology is a thing.  Jessika: Yes. And so Loki though has switched places, the little trickster he is with Suzano No-Ol-Mikoto who was sent back to the cavern to be forever tortured, which is rough. He didn't do anything. And then he tries to cut a deal with dream, to not get them sent back.  Mike: he, he does like, he actually cuts a deal with him. Jessika: I mean, he does cut a deal He does, which. Guy, are you at least get a, go get the other homie from the blade? He doesn't, he doesn't even go other homes. Mike: yeah, he does  Jessika: like he does.  Mike: Yeah, he does. He says what I'll do is, as I will, I will basically create , an illusion of you in that tormented space.  Jessika: Okay. I must have missed that part because I  was just like guy. [00:49:00]  Mike: it's a throwaway line. It's he basically sits there and he says like, but if I do that, you owe me a favor.  Jessika: Okay. I mean, I got that part of it. I was like, you're getting out of this, but like, whoa,  Mike: I have a lot of favorite moments in this, in this volume, but that was one of my favorites where dream asks him and he's like, why did you choose Susano No O Mikoto, but Loki basically just says, yeah, I just really don't like thunder gods. And I was like,  Jessika: Which all  Mike: also I love how much of just a turd Thor is throughout the entire time that he appears he's such a gross dude.  Like there's  Jessika: gross.  Mike: the bit where he's trying to hit on bass and he's like, do you want to touch my hammer? It gets bigger when you play with it. I'm like, blech Jessika: it was so bad. And that he's just trashed. He's just like,Ugh.  Mike: Well, I think bast actually scratches up his face too, which I thought was great.  Jessika: Yup. Yup. Mike: but it's funny because I read this in the nineties, give or take my only exposure to Thor in comic [00:50:00] books before that had been Thor, the superhero, and this was such a wildly different take on him. I was like, this is amazing cause Thor was awful and mythology. Jessika: Yeah. Oh Yeah. there were definitely some, questionable stories that I have read. Yes.  Mike: Anyway, I really enjoyed that.  Jessika: yeah. So we also find out that Nuala that was one of the two ferries is being left in the dream realm, even though the ferry deal was not the one that panned out her bros, just like, see ya. I, I wasn't ever supposed to bring you back. You're staying regardless.  Mike: Yeah. You're, a gift from the court to dream.  Jessika: Which, and he's just like, okay. And he's like, oh, by the way, I don't dig glamour here. So you can just drop the glitz. You're glimmering right now. And then she's just this little petite, mousy hair, smaller elf looking, which, you know what I did not, I didn't like the whole idea that, she had to be, [00:51:00] that,  That she felt like she had to glamour to begin with. And that, that was a whole thing.  Mike: I don't know what part of mythology it is, but, but one of the European pieces of mythology is that the elves have an ability to wrap themselves in illusion. in that they're actually these kinds of weird, gross little things. So that, that was tying into kind of the European folklore. But yeah, it's a thing. I don't remember if she shows up in later issues. I think she does, but I don't remember. Jessika: I mean, that would suck to just be like, by the way you live in the dream realm now oh and we're never featuring you again. Double rough.  Mike: yeah,  Jessika: Yeah. So after dream is like, nah, you gotta be you, boo. He goes and puts not a soul into a newborn child basically. So it's assumed that she will get to live the life that dream took from her so many centuries ago.  Mike: Yeah. He basically, he, he gives her the opportunity to live life again, kind of wiping the slate clean, which is, mean, let's be honest. That's probably the best offer that [00:52:00] he can give her. Jessika: He also puts her in a male body, which like, talk about like leveling up,  Mike: Yeah.  Jessika: Come on. You're already doing better. Mike: Yeah. And then he has that really nice moment where he says something along the lines of I will remember you and love you matter what body wear. And you will always be welcome in the dream realm. I have my quibbles with, with Dream, especially with this whole storyline. But I feel like that was arguably the best solution he could have come up with. Jessika: Oh I agree. Yeah, when I did see that, that was the solution. I mean, you can't provide somebody with multiple lifetimes, but you can take away the pain of knowing that that happened and provide them with a new life that you don't interfere with. I thought it was a good, a good deal. I guess. All things considered.  Mike: Yeah. Jessika: We then cut to Lucifer, wingless, chilling on a beach, looking at the sunset where he is approached by an older man who walks [00:53:00] over and make small, talk about the sunset with him and stay till, see him tomorrow. If he's still there and Lucifer admitting that the sunset is actually really beautiful, goddammit and giving some credit to the creator. And we end the volume with the two new leaders of hell going around and making quote unquote changes  Mike: yeah. Jessika: the way things are. Basically, they're still going to be torture, but it's supposed to be phrased differently as a rehabilitation, but the angels don't quite understand the meaning of the tortures of hell, which makes it even worse.  Mike: Yeah. It's so uncomfortably abusive where they're like, no, we're doing this because we love you. And one day you'll thank us for it. Jessika: Yeah.  Mike: you're just like, woo.  Jessika: It's it was a gross abuser situation.  Mike: Yeah. And then there's that bit where one of the souls is like, no, you don't understand that makes it worse. Jessika: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Oh Yeah. And unfortunately the angels start to embrace their [00:54:00] roles in the endless pain and suffering.  Mike: Yeah. And that's actually, that's something that is, brought back to the forefront in Lucifer, the series that Mike Carey wrote in the late nineties to early odds, which I've talked about this before, but like that series is also, I think just as good as Sandman. It's really great, we also see a lot of pantheons of different gods getting pulled into Lucifer's machinations and there's a whole thing where he makes things difficult for the angels running hell. Jessika: Oh, I'm excited to see it  Mike: It's very good. Jessika: Well what were your overall impressions of the story and who were your favorite or least favorite characters or events of this?  Mike: It's actually hard to sit there and talk about just a couple of favorite moments because I really love this collection. I loved it when I first read it. I still love it. I love the strange sadness of the overall story and the original takes on the gods. And also, I really love the twist that heaven takes over [00:55:00] the running of hell. We talked about how I really enjoyed Dream kind of, spoiling the plot twist about Loki, having switched places with Susano. And, I really soured on Dream as a character in these early issues over time. I dunno it, like, when I read this as a kid, I was like, oh, okay. He feels bad about his actions. And is going to rescue this woman that he loves from hell and now I'm like, motherfucker, you put her in hell. And she details how awful her time there was like, come on, dude, you condemned her there for millennia just because she wouldn't marry you?Like, get fucked. Jessika: And then you said, I guess I did something bad if that's how you feel.  Mike: it wasn't even, you didn't even come to this realization  on your own. You had to be told by multiple people that you fucked up. Like a mediocre white guy in his thirties, you sat there and dug your heels and went no, no. Well,  maybe Jessika: “I don't think that's right.”  Mike: maybe. All right, fine. [00:56:00] It's like, whatever, Jessika: Oh, no.  Mike: like that. I'm coming down harsher on dream than you are. Jessika: No, but that's how I felt about it too. I mean, you're just doing all the work. I'm just going to sit back and ride this ride because I'm like, I'm there with you, but I'm like passenger seat. I'm chilling. Like I don't need to be the navigator. We have maps now we have Google maps. It's fine.  Mike: I'm sitting there swinging my arms and getting all mad and getting the cardio. Jessika: Oh yeah. And I'm doing the pumping our movement of the trucks next to me. You know, I'm just along for this ride. No, I agree. He's a shit heel and a lot of these, and I'm like, I have had more than a few moments where I think to myself, how am I supposed to feel about this character? But then I think to myself, no, that's a good character. But then I think to myself, no: That's a good character. That's a good character, because that means it's complex. It's more realistic because that's what people.  Mike: Yeah. To be honest, he is that privileged male character who has never had to really stop and think about his [00:57:00] actions really not have things go his way.  And we are now at the part of tonight's program where we are finding out after having fucked around for a while. Jessika: Fucked around so hard. So Well, I really enjoyed the banquet and I really liked the different interactions between the different mythologies and how they behaved and what they ate. And it was really funny, but I also thought it was very thoughtful. In the way that it was done. And similarly with the way that each party had a different way and signal to meet with dream, it just really showed his understanding and empathy by adapting to each of his guests needs.  Mike: Yeah.  Jessika: Or perhaps he's just used to doing this for each individual's dreams.  Mike: Well, it's a little bit open to interpretation because in other episodes you see his appearance changed. Like there was, you know, he was Meowpheus. Jessika: Yep.  Mike: So my take on him is that his appearance. Doesn't change. It's just, we [00:58:00] perceive them in different ways. And because we are, you know, people reading the story, we are seeing him in his siblings manifest as people.  Jessika: That's very astute, sir.  Mike: But yeah, I mean, like you looked at like the different art styles that came into play when he was meeting with the different gods. And I mean, I, I still think about how doesn' het have like a tea ceremony with Suzano when they're, when they're talking. And then I feel like it's much darker and moodier when he meets with Odin. And then again, the art style changes again when he meets with Bast.  Jessika: Yeah. Well, speaking of art, did you, did you have a favorite art moment in this volume?  Mike: Yeah. okay. So you remember how last time we talked about how I have this, one defining moment where in Men of Good Fortune hob has these three panels where his face changes?  Yeah. There's a couple of different images throughout the series that I always just kind of have pop up in my head when I think about it. And one of them is from this volume and it's the bit where he's inside a Zazzle and [00:59:00] he's like prying open the mouse and the empty space and he's floating around it feels kind of more traditionally action comic booky, and the way that it's drawn, that's not a bad thing. It's just, for some reason it feels that way. And I, I think it's really good. and I also really liked how at the end of it, he reveals that he is trapped. Azazel in a jar. It's very in keeping with how Gaiman would resolve conflict in ways that could be a giant battle, but instead they're very clever. , it was like when they had the battle between him and Dr.Destiny, and then afterwards you get the field of white and then it turns out he's just sitting in the Palm of dream's hand. Jessika: Yes. Yeah.  Mike: Yeah.  Jessika: So good.  Mike: I'm curious, you're approaching this with fresh eyes because this is the first time you've read through this. So I'm wondering, do you have the same moments or are they different? Jessika: I actually thought Morpheus had a lot of really good billowing robe moments.  Mike: Yes. Jessika: Like, I mean, they didn't have, I think they may have had like one semi-full page of like a billowy robes situation. But there were quite a few shots of him, like floating into [01:00:00] hell and he was just making an entrance  Mike: yeah. I was just thinking that Jessika: here for it. Yeah.  Mike: he's got his helm  Jessika: Yeah.  Mike: the bit where  Jessika: dressed up. This is the met gala. He is here.  Mike: Yes. And then what I really liked about that was there's that moment where Lucifer is like, are you afraid of me? And more visas? Like, yes. And I'm like, all right. Not, your difficult comic book. All right. Cool. Jessika: Just being real between you and I. Absolutely.  Mike: That was great. Jessika: Yeah. So I really like, again, to your point about what you really enjoyed was the kind of feeling of movement of probably him floating through space and having that action feeling. That's what I really liked about the billowy ropes. Was it just, I could almost see them moving,  and I could feel the movement of him floating down, which was so neat. Yeah. Well, let's move along to our brain wrinkles. [01:01:00]  Mike: All right. Jessika: So this is the one thing comics or comic-related. That has just been sticking in our noggin since the last time we spoke. So, what is it for you?  Mike: Well, Sarah and I had our anniversary this week, and she got me this really cool book called American Comic Book Chronicles, the 1990s by Jason Sachs and Keith Dallas. Do you remember those American century books from time life? They were those prestige format  photo history books, and they would document major moments in America and world history from across the 20th. Jessika: I do. Yup.  Mike: I feel like every school library had a complete volume.  Jessika: Exactly.  Mike: So this is like that except for Comics. And so it's really cool. And nobody should be surprised at this point to hear that I particularly love comics from the eighties and nineties. And as I'm reading through this book, it's reminding me about how absolutely insane the early nineties were when it came to the comic book industry and [01:02:00] also just comic collecting in general. So I think we're going to have to do an episode where we talk about something related to that topic sooner or later, probably sooner. it has been rattling around my head for the past couple of days where I just reread I've read the stuff that some of it, I knew some of it I didn't and all of it's insane. Jessika: well, let's definitely talk sooner rather than later, because let's go back to childhood.  Mike: All right. You talked me into it. We're going to do a nineties episode at some point. It's fine. FINE! Jessika: Twisted his arm. There's no violence on this podcast. I'm a pacifist. God dammit.  Mike: Uh, but yeah, that's me. What about you? Jessika: Well, Mike, you told me about the podcast Bitches on Comics, which, okay. I'm not going to lie to you. I've binged the first 45 episodes since you told me about it less than a week ago, you haven't, it hasn't been a week.  Mike: I can't remember. I know it's been about a week. [01:03:00] I really like that show. Jessika: It's been about a week. Okay. It's so good. And they have their, I mean, they're very queer, which are, you know, a hundred percent I'm here for, and I got to tell you, they,  Mike: Like more queer fans of comic books. Oh, no. Jessika: Oh, no. Well, and they have this thing in there where they're. There aren't a lot of queer podcasts about comic books and I'm like, wait, we're here now, here we are. Pick us.  Mike: Yeah, exactly. I'm like, oh, can we come talk to, you want to have us on, or do you want to come on our show? Like, whatever you want to talk about, it's fine.  Jessika: I, will awkwardly approach them with my bag lunch and ask if I can sit with them.  Mike: Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. They're great. their Mojo episode, I thought was really interesting and I wound up tweeting with them for a little while because they pointed out that there really aren't many characters like mojo. And I think I made a good point with him. I mentioned how Superman's bill and Mr. Mxyzptlk might be another equivalent character[01:04:00] where he's all about throwing shit up in the air and, disrupting everything but no, they, they were great. Jessika: So good. Well, they, in episode three, they introduced me to the novel, the refrigerator monologues, which delves into the, the idea of women in comics being fridged or killed just for entertainment sake, or to drive a plot narrative, or to make the, the main hero sad, or, basically as a plot tool and the refrigerator monologues delves into it as first-person accounts of female superheroes and how they had been used. And I went and listened to it because you can find it. I kept it on hooplah actually. So I listened to it for free and it was an audiobook.  It was very, very good. And he talked about them not having autonomy or storylines of their own. it got me thinking about the way that we write characters and who we are allowed to succeed in [01:05:00] any given situation. I don't know, I just, I highly recommend this book and I highly recommend listening to Bitches on Comics because they have got me just like thinking about shit.  Mike: Yeah, you and I should talk about a Hawk and Dove from DC in the 1980s and how they just did the most egregious fringing of Dove in a 1991 crossover in a way that was really bad. it's one of those things where I still talk about it. I've been talking about it for 20 years because it's so wild. Jessika: Man. Well.I guess we'll have a really uplifting conversation about that later. I'm sure I'm going to have no zero opinions about that.  Mike: No. Jessika: I tell you, I commit now. No opinions. I can't commit to that. Everyone knows I'm

The Changeling concerns an esteemed New York pianist/composer named John Russell (George C. Scott) who accepts a lectureship position in Seattle for solitude and restoration following the deaths of his wife and daughter in a roadside accident. Claire Norman (Trish  Van Devere), a volunteer at the local Historical Preservation Society, moves him into a massive old Victorian-Gothic mansion located outside the city that hasn't had anyone living in it in at least twelve years. Russell soon discovers that the house isn't as uninhabited as he thought, as things begin to occur (banging noises, bathroom water taps, a boy's image is glimpsed within the water) though it could also be his grief-fueled imagination. He's told that the house has a history and doesn't want people living in it. Later, Russell senses the house wants to tell him something. He discovers a locked secret room that resembles a nursery, containing a rusty wheelchair and an antique music box that plays a song he'd been composing since he entered the house. Claire tries to help, digging into the sordid history of the house, including a revealing seance that leads them to make contact with the spirit within who provides more clues to the 70-year-old mystery that must be solved to find peace.

Simon Baatz, John Jay College historian of crime and science in the 19th and early 20th century, on Jefferson Market Library, the Victorian Gothic courthouse in Greenwich Village.

Today, Sara and Chelsey discuss chapters 1-26 of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. We've each read this Victorian Gothic novel multiple times, learning something new with each reread. In today's conversation, we reflect on past reading experiences and dive into analysis. We share our thoughts on the early coming of age chapters, Jane and Rochester's romance, and what's going on in the attic at Thornfield. We'll give you a heads up for major spoilers, but we think this is a great episode to listen to before, during, or after you read Brontë's iconic novel.    We'll discuss Part Two on September 21st. For more bonus episodes, nerdy classes, and extra book talk,  join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com.   Connect with us  on Instagram or Twitter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info. Get two audiobooks for the price of one from Libro.fm. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS and support independent bookstores.   Books mentioned: Thank you for supporting the show by shopping our affiliate links!  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter   Also mentioned: Charlotte Brontë biography Sorry, but Jane Eyre Isn't the Romance You Want It to Be, from JSTOR Daily Bluebeard fairytale    Picks of the week: Chelsey - The Rom Pod series “On Eyre” Sara - Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Take THAT, Bembridge scholars! Cian is delighted to welcome Lauren the Gothic Bookworm to the cabin for an awesome chat about all things Mummy, curses, and of course, Victorian Gothic! So many of our favourite writers, books, historical topics and more appear, including but not limited to: -the mummy in comparison to other 'classic' monsters -The Victorian/Edwardian fascination with Egypt and mummies; colonialism & orientalism -Victorian 'invasion' literature -early Victorian mummy fiction -Arthur Conan Doyle's mummy & curse stories -HR Haggard's mummy and Egypt in his fiction -The British Museum unlucky mummycase -Favourite mummy movies, including the 1959 and 1999 mummies Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wideatlantic Gothic Bookworm https://www.instagram.com/gothicbookworm/ Mummy Mania Mondays https://www.instagram.com/mummymaniamondays/ The Anatomy Shelf https://Theanatomyshelf.substack.com The Mummy's Curse, Roger Luckhurst https://www.bookdepository.com/Mummys-Curse-Roger-Luckhurst/9780199698714 Other sources: Nicky Nielsen: Egyptomaniacs Bob Brier: Egyptomania & Mummies Jasmine Day: Mummymania

Laura Eastlake's Ancient Rome and Victorian Masculinity (Oxford University Press, 2019) examines Victorian receptions of ancient Rome from the French Revolution to the First World War, with a specific focus on how those receptions were deployed to create useable models of masculinity. Romans in Victorian literature were at once pagan persecutors, pious statesmen, pleasure-seeking decadents, and heroes of empire. These manifold and often contradictory representations were used as vehicles equally to capture the martial virtue of Wellington and to condemn the deviance and degeneracy of Oscar Wilde. In the works of Thomas Macaulay, Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, H. Rider Haggard, and Rudyard Kipling, among others, Rome emerges as a contested space with an array of possible scripts and signifiers which can be used to frame masculine ideals, or to vilify perceived deviance from those ideals, though with a value and significance often very different to ancient Greek models. Using approaches from literary and cultural studies, reception studies, and gender studies, and ranging across the topics of education, politics, empire, and late Victorian decadence, this volume offers the first comprehensive examination of the importance of ancient Rome as a cultural touchstone for nineteenth-century manliness and Victorian codifications of masculinity. Dr. Laura Eastlake is a senior lecturer in English literature at Edge Hill University in the UK, with degrees in the Classics, classical reception, and Victorian literature, with additional research interests in sensation fiction, Victorian humour and substance-use, and the late-Victorian Gothic. Check out her exhibition at The Atkinson museum: Fatal Attraction: Lilith and Her Sisters. Carrie Lynn Evans is a PhD student at Université Laval in Quebec City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Eastlake’s Ancient Rome and Victorian Masculinity (Oxford University Press, 2019) examines Victorian receptions of ancient Rome from the French Revolution to the First World War, with a specific focus on how those receptions were deployed to create useable models of masculinity. Romans in Victorian literature were at once pagan persecutors, pious statesmen, pleasure-seeking decadents, and heroes of empire. These manifold and often contradictory representations were used as vehicles equally to capture the martial virtue of Wellington and to condemn the deviance and degeneracy of Oscar Wilde. In the works of Thomas Macaulay, Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, H. Rider Haggard, and Rudyard Kipling, among others, Rome emerges as a contested space with an array of possible scripts and signifiers which can be used to frame masculine ideals, or to vilify perceived deviance from those ideals, though with a value and significance often very different to ancient Greek models. Using approaches from literary and cultural studies, reception studies, and gender studies, and ranging across the topics of education, politics, empire, and late Victorian decadence, this volume offers the first comprehensive examination of the importance of ancient Rome as a cultural touchstone for nineteenth-century manliness and Victorian codifications of masculinity. Dr. Laura Eastlake is a senior lecturer in English literature at Edge Hill University in the UK, with degrees in the Classics, classical reception, and Victorian literature, with additional research interests in sensation fiction, Victorian humour and substance-use, and the late-Victorian Gothic. Check out her exhibition at The Atkinson museum: Fatal Attraction: Lilith and Her Sisters. Carrie Lynn Evans is a PhD student at Université Laval in Quebec City. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/italian-studies

Laura Eastlake’s Ancient Rome and Victorian Masculinity (Oxford University Press, 2019) examines Victorian receptions of ancient Rome from the French Revolution to the First World War, with a specific focus on how those receptions were deployed to create useable models of masculinity. Romans in Victorian literature were at once pagan persecutors, pious statesmen, pleasure-seeking decadents, and heroes of empire. These manifold and often contradictory representations were used as vehicles equally to capture the martial virtue of Wellington and to condemn the deviance and degeneracy of Oscar Wilde. In the works of Thomas Macaulay, Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, H. Rider Haggard, and Rudyard Kipling, among others, Rome emerges as a contested space with an array of possible scripts and signifiers which can be used to frame masculine ideals, or to vilify perceived deviance from those ideals, though with a value and significance often very different to ancient Greek models. Using approaches from literary and cultural studies, reception studies, and gender studies, and ranging across the topics of education, politics, empire, and late Victorian decadence, this volume offers the first comprehensive examination of the importance of ancient Rome as a cultural touchstone for nineteenth-century manliness and Victorian codifications of masculinity. Dr. Laura Eastlake is a senior lecturer in English literature at Edge Hill University in the UK, with degrees in the Classics, classical reception, and Victorian literature, with additional research interests in sensation fiction, Victorian humour and substance-use, and the late-Victorian Gothic. Check out her exhibition at The Atkinson museum: Fatal Attraction: Lilith and Her Sisters. Carrie Lynn Evans is a PhD student at Université Laval in Quebec City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Laura Eastlake’s Ancient Rome and Victorian Masculinity (Oxford University Press, 2019) examines Victorian receptions of ancient Rome from the French Revolution to the First World War, with a specific focus on how those receptions were deployed to create useable models of masculinity. Romans in Victorian literature were at once pagan persecutors, pious statesmen, pleasure-seeking decadents, and heroes of empire. These manifold and often contradictory representations were used as vehicles equally to capture the martial virtue of Wellington and to condemn the deviance and degeneracy of Oscar Wilde. In the works of Thomas Macaulay, Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, H. Rider Haggard, and Rudyard Kipling, among others, Rome emerges as a contested space with an array of possible scripts and signifiers which can be used to frame masculine ideals, or to vilify perceived deviance from those ideals, though with a value and significance often very different to ancient Greek models. Using approaches from literary and cultural studies, reception studies, and gender studies, and ranging across the topics of education, politics, empire, and late Victorian decadence, this volume offers the first comprehensive examination of the importance of ancient Rome as a cultural touchstone for nineteenth-century manliness and Victorian codifications of masculinity. Dr. Laura Eastlake is a senior lecturer in English literature at Edge Hill University in the UK, with degrees in the Classics, classical reception, and Victorian literature, with additional research interests in sensation fiction, Victorian humour and substance-use, and the late-Victorian Gothic. Check out her exhibition at The Atkinson museum: Fatal Attraction: Lilith and Her Sisters. Carrie Lynn Evans is a PhD student at Université Laval in Quebec City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Laura Eastlake’s Ancient Rome and Victorian Masculinity (Oxford University Press, 2019) examines Victorian receptions of ancient Rome from the French Revolution to the First World War, with a specific focus on how those receptions were deployed to create useable models of masculinity. Romans in Victorian literature were at once pagan persecutors, pious statesmen, pleasure-seeking decadents, and heroes of empire. These manifold and often contradictory representations were used as vehicles equally to capture the martial virtue of Wellington and to condemn the deviance and degeneracy of Oscar Wilde. In the works of Thomas Macaulay, Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, H. Rider Haggard, and Rudyard Kipling, among others, Rome emerges as a contested space with an array of possible scripts and signifiers which can be used to frame masculine ideals, or to vilify perceived deviance from those ideals, though with a value and significance often very different to ancient Greek models. Using approaches from literary and cultural studies, reception studies, and gender studies, and ranging across the topics of education, politics, empire, and late Victorian decadence, this volume offers the first comprehensive examination of the importance of ancient Rome as a cultural touchstone for nineteenth-century manliness and Victorian codifications of masculinity. Dr. Laura Eastlake is a senior lecturer in English literature at Edge Hill University in the UK, with degrees in the Classics, classical reception, and Victorian literature, with additional research interests in sensation fiction, Victorian humour and substance-use, and the late-Victorian Gothic. Check out her exhibition at The Atkinson museum: Fatal Attraction: Lilith and Her Sisters. Carrie Lynn Evans is a PhD student at Université Laval in Quebec City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Laura Eastlake's Ancient Rome and Victorian Masculinity (Oxford University Press, 2019) examines Victorian receptions of ancient Rome from the French Revolution to the First World War, with a specific focus on how those receptions were deployed to create useable models of masculinity. Romans in Victorian literature were at once pagan persecutors, pious statesmen, pleasure-seeking decadents, and heroes of empire. These manifold and often contradictory representations were used as vehicles equally to capture the martial virtue of Wellington and to condemn the deviance and degeneracy of Oscar Wilde. In the works of Thomas Macaulay, Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, H. Rider Haggard, and Rudyard Kipling, among others, Rome emerges as a contested space with an array of possible scripts and signifiers which can be used to frame masculine ideals, or to vilify perceived deviance from those ideals, though with a value and significance often very different to ancient Greek models. Using approaches from literary and cultural studies, reception studies, and gender studies, and ranging across the topics of education, politics, empire, and late Victorian decadence, this volume offers the first comprehensive examination of the importance of ancient Rome as a cultural touchstone for nineteenth-century manliness and Victorian codifications of masculinity. Dr. Laura Eastlake is a senior lecturer in English literature at Edge Hill University in the UK, with degrees in the Classics, classical reception, and Victorian literature, with additional research interests in sensation fiction, Victorian humour and substance-use, and the late-Victorian Gothic. Check out her exhibition at The Atkinson museum: Fatal Attraction: Lilith and Her Sisters. Carrie Lynn Evans is a PhD student at Université Laval in Quebec City.

Laura Eastlake’s Ancient Rome and Victorian Masculinity (Oxford University Press, 2019) examines Victorian receptions of ancient Rome from the French Revolution to the First World War, with a specific focus on how those receptions were deployed to create useable models of masculinity. Romans in Victorian literature were at once pagan persecutors, pious statesmen, pleasure-seeking decadents, and heroes of empire. These manifold and often contradictory representations were used as vehicles equally to capture the martial virtue of Wellington and to condemn the deviance and degeneracy of Oscar Wilde. In the works of Thomas Macaulay, Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, H. Rider Haggard, and Rudyard Kipling, among others, Rome emerges as a contested space with an array of possible scripts and signifiers which can be used to frame masculine ideals, or to vilify perceived deviance from those ideals, though with a value and significance often very different to ancient Greek models. Using approaches from literary and cultural studies, reception studies, and gender studies, and ranging across the topics of education, politics, empire, and late Victorian decadence, this volume offers the first comprehensive examination of the importance of ancient Rome as a cultural touchstone for nineteenth-century manliness and Victorian codifications of masculinity. Dr. Laura Eastlake is a senior lecturer in English literature at Edge Hill University in the UK, with degrees in the Classics, classical reception, and Victorian literature, with additional research interests in sensation fiction, Victorian humour and substance-use, and the late-Victorian Gothic. Check out her exhibition at The Atkinson museum: Fatal Attraction: Lilith and Her Sisters. Carrie Lynn Evans is a PhD student at Université Laval in Quebec City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/british-studies

Laura Eastlake’s Ancient Rome and Victorian Masculinity (Oxford University Press, 2019) examines Victorian receptions of ancient Rome from the French Revolution to the First World War, with a specific focus on how those receptions were deployed to create useable models of masculinity. Romans in Victorian literature were at once pagan persecutors, pious statesmen, pleasure-seeking decadents, and heroes of empire. These manifold and often contradictory representations were used as vehicles equally to capture the martial virtue of Wellington and to condemn the deviance and degeneracy of Oscar Wilde. In the works of Thomas Macaulay, Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, H. Rider Haggard, and Rudyard Kipling, among others, Rome emerges as a contested space with an array of possible scripts and signifiers which can be used to frame masculine ideals, or to vilify perceived deviance from those ideals, though with a value and significance often very different to ancient Greek models. Using approaches from literary and cultural studies, reception studies, and gender studies, and ranging across the topics of education, politics, empire, and late Victorian decadence, this volume offers the first comprehensive examination of the importance of ancient Rome as a cultural touchstone for nineteenth-century manliness and Victorian codifications of masculinity. Dr. Laura Eastlake is a senior lecturer in English literature at Edge Hill University in the UK, with degrees in the Classics, classical reception, and Victorian literature, with additional research interests in sensation fiction, Victorian humour and substance-use, and the late-Victorian Gothic. Check out her exhibition at The Atkinson museum: Fatal Attraction: Lilith and Her Sisters. Carrie Lynn Evans is a PhD student at Université Laval in Quebec City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Laura Eastlake’s Ancient Rome and Victorian Masculinity (Oxford University Press, 2019) examines Victorian receptions of ancient Rome from the French Revolution to the First World War, with a specific focus on how those receptions were deployed to create useable models of masculinity. Romans in Victorian literature were at once pagan persecutors, pious statesmen, pleasure-seeking decadents, and heroes of empire. These manifold and often contradictory representations were used as vehicles equally to capture the martial virtue of Wellington and to condemn the deviance and degeneracy of Oscar Wilde. In the works of Thomas Macaulay, Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, H. Rider Haggard, and Rudyard Kipling, among others, Rome emerges as a contested space with an array of possible scripts and signifiers which can be used to frame masculine ideals, or to vilify perceived deviance from those ideals, though with a value and significance often very different to ancient Greek models. Using approaches from literary and cultural studies, reception studies, and gender studies, and ranging across the topics of education, politics, empire, and late Victorian decadence, this volume offers the first comprehensive examination of the importance of ancient Rome as a cultural touchstone for nineteenth-century manliness and Victorian codifications of masculinity. Dr. Laura Eastlake is a senior lecturer in English literature at Edge Hill University in the UK, with degrees in the Classics, classical reception, and Victorian literature, with additional research interests in sensation fiction, Victorian humour and substance-use, and the late-Victorian Gothic. Check out her exhibition at The Atkinson museum: Fatal Attraction: Lilith and Her Sisters. Carrie Lynn Evans is a PhD student at Université Laval in Quebec City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies

In Chapter 8 of Deadly Doses podcast we chat to academic "porn nerd" and Sylvestor Stallone loving Dr Laura Helen Marks a Professor of English at Tulane University in New Orleans and author of Alice in Pornoland: Hardcore Encounters With the Victorian Gothic.Looking at the manner in which her love of eighties B movies has informed much of her early experiences with horror and her present research within Pornography and the Gothic we will be looking at three of her favorite horrors including →I spit on Your Grave(Dir.Meir Zarchi, 1978)→Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (also known as The Imp) ( Dir. David DeCotea, 1988) →Candyman (Dir. Bernard Rose, 1992)

Your going to want to leave all the lights on for this one! Join Deborah for a trip deep into the forests of upstate New York on a missing person's cold case. And then off to Romania to visit possibly the original primordial haunted forest. Next we trek the misty moors and forests of the English countryside in search of a gigantic black dog with blazing eyes sprung from the pits of Hell! And finally for a stroll through an old and overgrown Victorian Gothic cemetery in the heart of London that is so haunted it inspired Bram Stoker! Get comfy and grab your security blanket, because you're gonna need it!!

Dr Emma Liggins is an expert on Victorian Gothic literature. She joined me on the pod to examine how great female writers of the 19th century - such as Elizabeth Gaskell and the Brontes - responded to the impact of fatal diseases on their home lives. How did their literary perspective influence their views on contagion and quarantining? We also discussed Emma's work on haunted houses, and how the nightmarish terrors of a deadly fever distorted the domestic space.Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dr Emma Liggins is an expert on Victorian Gothic literature. She joined me on the pod to examine how great female writers of the 19th century - such as Elizabeth Gaskell and the Brontes - responded to the impact of fatal diseases on their home lives. How did their literary perspective influence their views on contagion and quarantining? We also discussed Emma's work on haunted houses, and how the nightmarish terrors of a deadly fever distorted the domestic space.Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundreds of history documentaries, as well as every single episode of this podcast from the beginning (400 extra episodes). We're running live podcasts on Zoom, we've got weekly quizzes where you can win prizes, and exclusive subscriber only articles. It's the ultimate history package. Just go to historyhit.tv to subscribe. Use code 'pod1' at checkout for your first month free and the following month for just £/€/$1. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The solace of a nice hot bath, the protective power of rosebud wallpaper, and the unspeakable deviousness of Ethan Blake. Victorian Gothic redux. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to February! It's a divisive episode this week on HPP! Did this Victorian Gothic horror love story amalgamation almost break up the podcast? (no) What about bring Anthony and Alix's friendship together? (also no, they fight the Most in this episode) But you know where they do agree? David Bowie is the GOAT and Edgar Allen Poe is the Goth GOAT. It's the return to Guillermo Del Toro and that's the only saving grace that saved this movie from Anthony's wrath. Alix explains she has two types, and they're both in this movie. She also fondly recalls years of San Diego Comic-Con's past. Listen now so your questions on these weird statements are answered! Give us 5 stars to keep us from being overthrown by The Algorithm! Classic Horror 2 by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Cardiff Castle (Welsh: Castell Caerdydd) is a medieval castle and Victorian Gothic revival mansion located in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. The original motte and bailey castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top of a 3rd-century Roman fort. The castle was commissioned either by William the Conqueror or by Robert Fitzhamon, and formed the heart of the medieval town of Cardiff and the Marcher Lord territory of Glamorgan. In the 12th century the castle began to be rebuilt in stone, probably by Robert of Gloucester, with a shell keep and substantial defensive walls being erected. Further work was conducted by The 6th Earl of Gloucester in the second half of the 13th century. Cardiff Castle was repeatedly involved in the conflicts between the Anglo-Normans and the Welsh, being attacked several times in the 12th century, and stormed in 1404 during the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr. After being held by the de Clare and Despenser families for several centuries, the castle was acquired by The 13th Earl of Warwick and Comte de Aumale in 1423. Lord Warwick conducted extensive work on the castle, founding the main range on the west side of the castle, dominated by a tall octagonal tower. Following the Wars of the Roses, the status of the castle as a Marcher territory was revoked and its military significance began to decline. The Herbert family took over the property in 1550, remodelling parts of the main range and carrying out construction work in the outer bailey, then occupied by Cardiff's Shire Hall and other buildings. During the English Civil War Cardiff Castle was initially taken by a Parliamentary force, but was regained by Royalist supporters in 1645. When fighting broke out again in 1648, a Royalist army attacked Cardiff in a bid to regain the castle, leading to the Battle of St Fagans just outside the city. Cardiff Castle escaped potential destruction by Parliament after the war and was instead garrisoned, probably to protect against a possible Scottish invasion. In the mid-18th century, Cardiff Castle passed into the hands of the Stuart dynasty, Marquesses of Bute. John, 1st Marquess of Bute, employed Capability Brown and Henry Holland to renovate the main range, turning it into a Georgian mansion, and to landscape the castle grounds, demolishing many of the older medieval buildings and walls. During the first half of the 19th century the family became extremely wealthy as a result of the growth of the coal industry in Glamorgan. However, it was The 3rd Marquess of Bute who truly transformed the castle, using his vast wealth to back an extensive programme of renovations under William Burges. Burges remodelled the castle in a Gothic revival style, lavishing money and attention on the main range. The resulting interior designs are considered to be amongst "the most magnificent that the gothic revival ever achieved".[2] The grounds were re-landscaped and, following the discovery of the old Roman remains, reconstructed walls and a gatehouse in a Roman style were incorporated into the castle design. Extensive landscaped parks were built around the outside of the castle. In the early 20th century, The 4th Marquess of Bute inherited the castle and construction work continued into the 1920s. The Bute lands and commercial interests around Cardiff were sold off or nationalised until, by the time of the Second World War, little was left except the castle. During the war, extensive air raid shelters were built in the castle walls; they could hold up to 1,800 people. When the Marquess died in 1947, the castle was given to the City of Cardiff. Today the castle is run as a tourist attraction, with the grounds housing the "Firing Line" regimental museum and interpretation centre. The castle has also served as a venue for events, including musical performances and festivals. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/allthingsplantagenet/support

Pornography is often talked about as this abstract alien “thing” that has no connection to the real-world experience of any “decent” or “good” person. The thinking goes that since pornography is this anti-feminist and morally damaging abstraction, it must originate from a dark place consumed with hate and misogyny. But what if I told you that, in fact, there’s a whole spectrum of pornography dedicated to paying homage to the most cherished children’s stories and beloved horror classics like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1965), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr, Hyde (1886), and Dracula (1897)? And how would your opinions of pornographers change if you knew that they loved these books as much as you do? Well, that’s part of the story being told by professor Laura Helen Marks in her book: Alice in Pornoland: Hardcore Encounters with the Victorian Gothic. Unsurprisingly, Laura’s academic background is in English, and this book is a product of her attempt to unite Victorian era gender and sexual politics with contemporary pornographic narratives. While many people don’t consider pornographic narratives too deeply, Laura argues that many pornographic tropes that we are familiar with today, including notions around a loss of innocence, the bisexual erotic undercurrents of Dracula biting both men and women, and the dual personality traits of pornography viewers themselves, originate from Victorian literature. While we often think of pornography as a medium indulging shamelessly in all types of sexual practices, pornography still needs to establish some type of taboo within their narratives for one of their characters to subversively upend sexual norms. Incorporating conventions from Victorian literature within these pornographic narratives provides both the cultural norms—and characters willing to subvert those norms—all within one book! Additionally, the obvious tension within Victorian novels where sexuality is alluded to with metaphor, is finally liberated within pornographic narratives where the underlining sexuality of these books are realized within pornography. Laura’s creative approach to pornography studies has quickly made her one of the most essential voices in contemporary pornography studies. Alice in Pornoland is one of the most unique pornography studies books you’ll ever read because of the ways it makes you rethink both classical literature and pornography itself. This is a special episode of the Porno Cultures Podcast because it’s our first live episode recorded at Babeland (ironically, another Victorian era reference!) in Seattle Washington. Both Laura and I were in Seattle for the annual Society for Film and Media Studies conference, and I thought that this would be a great opportunity to have a live episode where a bunch of pornography scholars could come together to not only celebrate Laura’s amazing book, but also honor the history of one of the country’s most important sex shops, Babeland!  Laura Helen Marks’ website  Laura’s twitter  “#Following: Laura Helen Marks”  Laura’s Porn Studies article from Feminist Media Histories  Laura’s Rialto Report feature on Jeff Stryker  “Merry XXX-mas: A Brief History of Yuletide Smut”  “The Duce: Porn, Nostalgia and Late Capitalism”  Alice in Wonderland: An X-Rated Musical Comedy & Fantasy (1976)  “Alice in Wonderland (1976): What Really Happened?”  buy or rent Dracula Erotica (1980)  Rare photos from Dracula Exotica found by the Rialto Report.  Shaun Costello’s open letter To Lauran Helen Marks about Dracula Exotica.  Interview with Vanessa Del Rio  Dr. Jerkoff and Mr. Hard (1997)  “Still Alice Director: Escaping a Religious Cult, Making Porn and Celebrating Julianne Moore’s Oscar”  buy Fuckenstein (2012)  adultdvdtalk.com  upcoming events at Babeland in Seattle   facebook.com/AcademicSex @PornoCultures Help Support the Podcast! More info about Brandon Arroyo

Christine Trent's addictive mysteries edge into the dark and Gothic – Victorian England through the eyes of Violet Harper, the undertaker heroine of the Lady of Ashes series, or the nightmare of the Crimea as seen by Florence Nightingale. Hi there, I'm your host Jenny Wheeler and today Christine talks about the mentor who inspired her to write, and where's she's performing Lady of the Lamp, her one-woman show on Florence Nightingale's life.. Six things you'll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: Why Christine says she's been 'lucky' as a writerHow British kindness helped her survive Sept 11 Queen Victoria's role in making mourning "high fashion"Bringing Florence Nightingale to life in books and on stageThe passion she shares with Thomas JeffersonThe best lesson she's learned  as an author Where to find Christine Trent:  Website: http://www.christinetrent.com/books.html Facebook: @ChristineTrentBooks What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions. Jenny: But now, here's Christine. .  Hello there Christine and welcome to the show, it's great to have you with us. Christine:  Thank you for inviting me! Christine Trent - Mystery author Jenny:    Beginning at the beginning – was there a “Once Upon a Time” moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction??  And if so what was the catalyst for it? Christine: Well I actually do have a story like that. I have always been a reader - as a young child, I was a big reader. In fact, my mother used to get so annoyed having to read to me all the time that she taught me to read very early just so I could leave her alone and go and read my own books! But writing had never occurred to me until much later in life. I had gone to a University book store, and there was a sad little box of books sitting on the floor. It said “any book $1”. Inside that box of books, there was a cover that attracted me. It was very royal, it looked like a palace on the front of it. I picked it out and it was a book called To Dance With Kings by an author going by the name of Rosalind Laker. It was just a lovely book- it was historical, it was romantic; it was just wonderful. Very few books make me cry, but that book made me cry. I was actually inspired to try and find that author. Fortunately I've got a sister in law who works as a librarian, and she tracked down that author's agent. As it turned out, she lived in the UK and I wrote to that author - I had never done such a thing in my life. Then the author wrote back to me, and that started a friendship whereby my husband and I travelled to the UK and visited her. Christine and her mentor, Rosalind Laker I just got inspired to write by sitting with her and talking with her. She had had a long career herself with probably 25 books; that was actually the inspiration to begin writing myself. Jenny: What a lovely story! Now from that, you've got two historical mystery series, Lady Of Ashes and Florence Nightingale and you've got some historical romance “standalones” as well. Why did you choose historical fiction for a start, and then mystery secondly? Christine:  Well as I mentioned, Rosalind Laker - whose real name was Barbara Ovstedal  - most of her books were historical romance. She did write some modern things, but most of them were historical romance. I adored them. Just from picking up her books, I had always read historical type books because it always interested me. I think a lot of historical readers out there would agree that it's a fun way to learn history, especially when it's done well and done right. That was really what got me started on historical in general. But the reason I got into historical mystery was because of my fourth book, Lady of Ashes. I actually wrote that as a piece of stand alone historical fiction, and then my editor came back to me and said “I think this idea of a Victori...

In this episode of The Gotham Center podcast “Sites and Sounds,” Simon Baatz, an historian of crime and science in late 19th and early 20th century America, talks about the Jefferson Market Library in Greenwich Village. Formerly a courthouse, this beautiful Victorian-Gothic landmark was also one of the first architecturally notable buildings to distinguish the rising New York City metropolis among the great cities of the world. You’ll also hear from the CUNY John Jay scholar about some of the notorious cases that made it famous. For more podcasts like this, and for more Gotham Center programming, visit us at GothamCenter.org and sign up to our mail list. Thanks for listening.

Happy Halloween or Samhain or Day of the Dead or whatever you may be celebrating this time of year. And we have a show that’s apropos this time around. Dacre Stoker and JD Barker are in the house. They are the co-authors of the recently released novel Dracul, the official Stoker-family endorsed prequel to the original Dracula story. Very cool, very excited to have them here for our annual Halloween episode. As you will hear in the chat, Dacre is the great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker, the author of that original Dracula story. Dacre is a former teacher and athletics coach; he even coached for Canada during the Olympics. But he’s made the transition to full-time writer and speaker. He gives presentations about Bram and Dracula, takes folks on tours of sites related to the Dracula mythos as well as the real-life inspiration for the character, Vlad the Impaler. And, along with his wife, manages the Bram Stoker Estate. JD is an international best-selling author whose work has been broadly described as suspense thrillers, often incorporating elements of horror, crime, mystery, science fiction and the supernatural. His first novel Forsaken was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Best Debut Novel and won a handful of others including a New Apple Medalist Award. Any occult fans out there would definitely enjoy that novel. And that Bram Stoker nomination is what led to this Dracul collaboration. So let’s close our eyes and hope that this vampire thing is just imagination, but something tells me sooner or later you’ll hear that creature creepin’ up behind. And when it does--well, no mere mortal can resist.   PATREON EXTENSION Listen at patreon.com/occulture The importance of eyes and eye colors in Dracul and the work of James Joyce The Hellfire Club’s inclusion in the story Scrying as a scientific method of locating people Bram’s view of the occult The roots of traditional vampires and vampire tropes Capturing the Victorian/Gothic aesthetic and atmosphere on the page The pacing of the book mirroring the lure of the vampire   RESOURCES Dracul on IndieBound Dracul on Amazon Dacre’s website Dacre on Twitter Dacre on Instagram JD’s website JD on Facebook JD on Twitter JD on Instagram   DONATE If recurring monthly support via Patreon isn’t your thing, we do accept one time-donations via PayPal, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple. Every little bit helps. Click here if you’re interested.   MERCH We recently released new merch! Check it out on our website or at our Etsy shop.   SOCIAL Twitter Instagram Facebook Tumblr   MUSIC Vestron Vulture - “I Want to Be a Robot (Tribute to Giorgio Moroder)” Nightmare Before Christmas - “This Is Halloween (Ponzoo Trap Remix)” Rezo - “Horror Music Mashup Remix - Halloween Special”   PRODUCTION & LICENSING This podcast is produced in the Kingdom of Ohio and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International. Executive Producers: Mike K., Carter Y., Mauricio G., Alyssa S., Daniel R., Kelly C., Kaleb H., Bruce H., David B., Corey T., David G., Jeremy V., Marcelo T., Christopher B., Leonidas, Timothy W., Caleb C., VH Frater RC’s Hermetic Study Group, Nick F., Michael Q., Jamaica J., Mute Ryan, John W., Paul S., Andy E., James B., Colleen F., Ed O.   REMINDER Love yourself. Think for yourself. Question authority.

In Episode 29, we interview professor Laura Helen Marks and discuss her new book, Alice in Pornoland: Hardcore Encounters with the Victorian Gothic, which explores Victorian and Gothic literature’s connection to past and present pornography. We also talk about her tortoise, and her thoughts about anti-porn feminism.

Some interesting "weird news" items this week, 50,000 year old carved stone heads found in Texas and Pleistocene Buttflappers used the Distraction Dance on Giant Sloths when hunting them, for example. Some obligatory ridicule of the paradigm here as well.   Russ reads an article about the strange "Cicada 3301" superpuzzles that have appeared online, leading thousands of some of the most intelligent and knowledgeable people on the planet through a bewildering crypto-labyrinth where Mayan numerology, Victorian Gothic poetry, and obscure magical grimoires from the Middle Ages are just a few of the many things that people are required to have knowledge of in order to solve the puzzles and acquire the clues for locating more, until eventually the people at the head of the game, the ones solving it better and faster than everyone else, are whisked away into the shadows, never to be heard from again; like they got hired to be MiB or something. There is also mention of the similar strange metagame from KanyeQuest, that leads one toward "Ascension" for an as-yet unknown goal, that Russ participated in briefly and helped solve a few of the puzzles and decipher a clue or two. In the second half of the show, for the first segment we discuss Episode 045, the interview with Mr. Spriggs about the Missing 411 mystery, and what our developing thoughts are on that whole topic. The final segment is spent talking philosophical concepts concerning the primacy of frequency in the material realm, and how some of it seems to originate from some other, perpendicular non-material realm. Kyle describes his thoughts about musical instruments and how they seem to be in some ways transducers of emotion into actual physical form. It's a good show. Enjoy.  

Synopsis: Author Theodora Goss discusses her Victorian/Gothic mashup, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, as well as why we keep revisiting the same monster stories, their hidden feminism, and the trials and tribulations of writing historical fiction. As a bonus for NaNoWriMo, Theodora’s “Five Lessons Learned” mini-episode, normally a perk only for Patreon members at the $5 level, will be available to everyone. If you enjoy this content and would like to support the show AND receive a cool bonus with each episode, please consider pledging $5 or more. This episode of COVERED is sponsored by: Nacht Sound Engineering: Streamline the process of delivering high-quality shows to your audience and focus on what you love. Feedpress: Blog and podcast analytics starting at $4 a month, podcast hosting starting at just $8 a month. Use promo code COVERED to get 10% off your first year. Duration: 01:04:51 Present: Harry C. Marks, Theodora Goss The Guest Website Twitter The Book The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss Audiobook Books/Articles Discussed Dracula by Bram Stoker Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Mosses from an Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 by Alan Moore Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore “Hilary Mantel: Women Writers Must Stop Falsely Empowering Female Characters in History” | Telegraph Follow your host and the show on Twitter @HCMarks @COVERED_fm @HologramRadio for more podcasts to listen to! Subscribe to Covered! Get Covered on iTunes, or via RSS. Support the show! Become a patron! Check out our new show, LEARN ME SOMETHING! A new podcast from Aaron Stewart and Rich Plumb that celebrates our ignorance as the beginning of the search for Truth. SUBSCRIBE! Please take a moment to rate our show in iTunes, even if it’s just a star rating. It really does make a difference in helping us reach a wider audience. Download: Episode S4E5: Theodora Goss, THE STRANGE CASE OF THE ALCHEMIST’S DAUGHTER

SUNLESS SEA is a top-down exploration game, where you are the captain of a ship exploring the vast unknown of Fallen London - a sunken world The game was released in Feb 2015, but was recently re-released on ioS. You have to carefully manage your food, fuel and terror, as you find new islands, shipwrecks and cities. Intricate storytelling and backstories of your crew are revealed as you play (and die) repeatedly, as you explore the Neath. Will you leave a legacy of sea captains? Or will your ship vanish into the depths of the ocean, remembered by no one. Fight sea monsters. Die repeatedly. And never, ever look too closely at the zea below. RSS Feed Subscribe via iTunes Join the Game Club Facebook Group Game Club on Stitcher Show your thanks to Non-Fiction Gaming for this episode by becoming a Non-Fiction Gaming Patron at Patreon.com/nfglive. It will help ensure Game Club continues far into the future! In this Episode – Sunless Sea Intro – 0:00 Nerd Week – 1:43 Gaming News – 11:08 Sunless Sea Discussion – 28:13 Game Recommendations – 55:15 Quiz – 57:01 Next Week on Game Club – 1:02:00 Sunless Sea is Available From: Steam  GOG (PC) iTunes (iPad) Nerd Week Catherine Research into Magic.. like spells and curses. Charles Star Wars Destiny, Came third in a tournament Building a board game from scratch Warhammer 40k 8th Edition. Daniel Playing Playerunknown Battlegrounds Watching Twitch Streamers Gaming News Daniel SNES Mini Classic Charles Massive refunds for RUST on Steam. Catherine More classic games with Sega Forever. About Sunless Sea Take the helm of your steamship and set sail for the unknown! Sunless Sea is a game of discovery, loneliness and frequent death, set in the award-winning Victorian Gothic universe of Fallen London. If the giant crabs, sentient icebergs and swarms of bats don’t get you, madness and cannibalism certainly will. But that old black ocean beckons, and there’s loot for the brave souls who dare to sail her. Betray your crew, sell your soul to a Devil, marry your sweetheart. Survive long enough and you’ll achieve your life’s ambition. You will die, but your legacy will live on… Genre: Adventure, Indie, RPG Developer: Failbetter Games Publisher: Failbetter Games Release Date: 6 Feb, 2015 Sunless Sea Discussion:   Game Recommendations Catherine Fallen London Don't Starve The Banner Saga Daniel FTL: Faster Than Light Charles Rimworld Reach out to Game Club on Twitter: Tweet to us using #GameClubCast Follow Daniel – @nfgDan Encourage Charles to Tweet – @CharlesBryers Read Catherine’s scripts – @CSMcMullen Next Time on Game Club: Papers Please

This week we talk with the multi-talented Theodora Goss, whose forthcoming novel, The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, draws not only from her own doctoral research in late Victorian Gothic fiction, but from her earlier story "The Mad Scientist's Daughter." By focusing on a group of women characters drawn from classic tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Robert Louis Stevenson, H.G. Wells, and Mary Shelley—and bearing the familiar names of Jekyll, Hyde, Moreau, Rappaccini, and Frankenstein—Goss gives a voice to the largely invisible figures from classic works of terror. We also touch upon her recent story, “Come See the Living Dryad”—is it fantasy or not?-- as well as the reasons behind the appeal of monsters and the monstrous, and the delights of playing with genre. As always, we'd like thank Dora for making time to talk to us, and we hope you enjoy the episode. Note: We experienced some technical difficulties with this episode. There were issues with the audio (Dora drops out occasionally). We think the episode is interesting enough to release, but do apologise for the problems and hope you'll persevere.

Hooray for Gallifrey! The Three Who Rule are back for their ninth(!) trip to Gallifrey One, the real happiest place on Earth, and for the sixth(!!) year running, it has been their honour to help launch the convention in style with their very own live show. This year, Paul McGann, Philip Hinchcliffe, Roger Murray-Leach, Rachael Stott, and Nick Abadzis were the guests, and a grand time was had by all. Listen in and enjoy! Guests:  – Paul McGann – Philip Hinchcliffe – Roger Murray-Leach – Nick Abadzis – Rachael Stott Links: – Gallifrey One: 28 Days Later

Nick Payne talks to Anne McElvoy about his play Incognito and the man who stole Einstein's brain. New Generation Thinker Fern Riddell reviews Sky Atlantic's Penny Dreadful and our fascination with Victorian Gothic. Helen McCarthy and Pauline Neville-Jones discuss female diplomats. Plus another New Generation Thinker, Jules Evans, reports on the Reader Organisation's Conference at the British Library, the recent campaigns against the prison book ban and our relationship with reading.

Dorée gives us a glimpse into the troubled minds of Victorian horror writers, and their pathological fears of, well, pathology. Chemists's Shop, Blist Hill Victorian Town, Ironbridge by Calotype46 Send feedback and comments to show@scienceoffiction.co.uk.