VictorianGothik

@VictorianGothik@mastodon.world

All things Victorian Gothic.

PhD on Gothic lit & journalism @ University of Glasgow / University of Stirling.

Co-host of Wicked Readings postrgad+ fantasy horror reading group.

Run by Georgina Gale (she/her)

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VictorianGothik, to fantasy

“A spirit! A ghost! You don’t mean it! Say you are only playing Christmas on me, Aunt Martha” - 'The Vicar's Ghost', Lucy Farmer (1890)

Christmas is a time to indulge in food, drink and tales of beyond the grave. Join me celebrating the holidays the old-fashioned way 📚🕯️#GothicAdvent

#GothicFiction #gothic #fantasy #horror #horrorbooks #HorrorCommunity #bookstodon #histodons #literature #victorian

GIF of an old-fashioned bedroom, where we see a door and a vanity desk. The room is lit up by lightning, and as the light hits the mirror, a skull appears then disappears.

VictorianGothik,

For those new to my page: each year I join in #GothicAdvent, sharing a line from different spooky 19thc. stories every day. Tune in each morning to see what's behind the door, and perhaps you'll find a new favourite

VictorianGothik,
  1. VIY, Nikolai Gogol (1835)
    "something in these features…appalled him; a terrible depression seized his heart, as when in the midst of dance and song someone begins to chant a dirge. He felt as though those ruby lips were coloured with his own heart's blood." #GothicAdvent

#GothicFiction #gothic #fantasy #horror #horrorbooks #HorrorCommunity #bookstodon #histodons #literature #victorian

GIF from the 1967 film 'Viy'. It shows the camera looking down from above a dark statue of Christ on the cross. Below, a vigil is set up, with a beautiful pale, dark haired girl in white laid in a coffin, which is surrounded by candles and flowers. By her side, an older man looks over her corpse.

VictorianGothik,
  1. THE EBONY FRAME, Edith Nesbit (1891)
    "I hope I shall never again know a moment of terror as blank & absolute…Either all the known laws of nature were nothing, or I was mad. I stood trembling…while the black velvet gown swept across the hearthrug towards me." #GothicAdvent

#GothicFiction #gothic #fantasy #gothicfantasy #horror #horrorbooks #HorrorCommunity #horrorfiction #bookstodon #victorian #histodons #literature #ghoststory

Photo of a large fire burning in the night.

VictorianGothik,
  1. TO BE READ AT DUSK, Charles Dickens (1852)
    "The face of a dark, remarkable-looking man, in black, w. black hair & a grey moustache…Not a face she ever saw, or at all like a face she ever saw. Doing nothing in the dream but looking at her fixedly out of darkness" #GothicAdvent

#GothicFiction #gothic #fantasy #gothicfantasy #horror #horrorbooks #HorrorCommunity #horrorfiction #bookstodon #victorian #histodons #literature #ghoststory

VictorianGothik,
  1. THE WITCH, Mary E. Coleridge (1908)
    "My hands are stone, and my voice a groan,
    And the worst of death is past.
    I am but a little maiden still,
    My little white feet are sore.
    Oh, lift me over the threshold, and let me in at the door!" #GothicAdvent

Caspar David Friedrich's painting 'Abbey in the Oakwood'. It shows the ruins of an abbey surrounded by barren trees reaching up against a foggy sky. Below, graves are scattered about and covered in snow, and the shadow of a forest is visible behind.

VictorianGothik,
  1. THE SECRET OF GROWING GOLD, Bram Stoker (1892)
    "Before his horror-struck eyes the golden-hair from the broken stone grew…as it increased, so his heart got colder & colder, till at last he had not power to stir, & sat with eyes full of terror watching his doom" #GothicAdvent

Black and white photo showing a spiral, stone stairway leading to darkness.

VictorianGothik, to random

Felt it was time for a makeover for #GothicAdvent. Note the name change, as you may not find me by searching for 'Gothic Girl' anymore (alas, I feel too old to call myself that now...)

VictorianGothik, to fantasy

In 'Ken's Mystery' (Julian Hawthorne, 1888), an American visiting Ireland meets a vampire who seems to bend the laws of time. The only evidence of his encounter is his new banjo, which suddenly looks ancient after their strange affair
1/4

Black and white photo of a forest.
Black and white photo of a woman in profile. She has long, dark hair and turns her head away from the camera, looking down.

VictorianGothik,

The story is set on Halloween and based on Irish folklore, specifically the tale of the Kern of Querin, which is included in a book by Lady Jane Wilde (mother of Oscar Wilde) called 'Ancient legends, mystic charms, and superstitions of Ireland'.

You can learn more about it in this 🧵on 🐦 (it has some spoilers, though): https://twitter.com/VictorianGothik/status/1454765410834960384 2/4

Title page of Lady Wilde's book.

VictorianGothik,

"cold as the lips of death...the warmth of my own seemed to revive them...She drew fuller breath, as one who recovers from a long lethargy. Was it my life that was feeding her? I was ready to give her all."

– 'Ken's Mystery', Julian Hawthorne (1888)

3/4

Black and white photo of a misty forest.

VictorianGothik,

Fancy reading this chilling story about the vampiric fae of Ireland hunting on Halloween? You can find a copy of 'Ken's Mystery' (1888) in the Victorian Gothic Library here:

https://victorian-gothic.co.uk/vampire

4/4

#WyrdWednesday #GothicAdvent #BookChatWeekly #gothic
#fantasy #victorian #bookstodon #histodons #history #library #openaccess

GIF of a hand coming out a coffin to open the lid.

VictorianGothik, to history

#FairyTaleTuesday In Mary E. Braddon's 'My Wife's Promise' (1868), an explorer on a rescue mission in the arctic sees the ghost of his wife. Before leaving home, she made a promise to him which he thought was impossible to keep, and is heartbroken to find she kept her word.

#history #gothic #bookstodon #Victorian #horror #fantasy #readmorewomen

Serafino Macchiati's painting 'Une Discorde' (1908). It shows a woman in an elegant white dress walking solemnly away from a man, looking back at him. The man is seated and twists round to watch her go.

VictorianGothik,

Having promised her for a long time that he would never leave her as she was his "pole-star", the explorer could not resist joining the effort to find his old crew, who had set off and disappeared, feared to be dead. Knowing his love of adventure, his wife releases him from his promise, but did not revoke her own one to him: that she would be sure to follow him if he ever returned to the arctic, visiting him spiritually when she dreamed, and her spirit flying to him if she died
2/3

VictorianGothik,

He dismisses this as "her weird Scottish superstition", ignoring her claims that "There must be some magnetic chain between two beings so closely united as we are". Sadly, standing in the frozen wasteland and seeing her spirit before him, he realises she was right
3/3

VictorianGothik,

You can find a link to an original, illustrated copy of this story (and many more) in the Victorian Gothic Library: https://victorian-gothic.co.uk/all-texts What better time of the year to indulge in some chilling ghost stories?

#gothic #fantasy #victorian #bookstodon #histodons #history #library #openaccess

GIF of candles flickering in the dark.

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