by Maledicta | Nov 11, 2018 | Halloween 365
Visit your local Halloween haunted house or watch a horror movie, and you’ll probably see a creepy Victorian structure that simply exudes terror. But as art historian Sarah Burns points out, in the 1870s, Victorian houses were just…houses. “Half a century...
by Maledicta | Sep 23, 2018 | Oddities and Curiosities
Yes, this is another story about those wacky Victorians and the bizarre things they did for fun. If they weren’t picnicking with the dead, they were taking photos of their dead loved ones and making jewelry out of their hair… or maybe playing potentially fatal...
by Maledicta | Sep 9, 2018 | Macabre Amusements, Oddities and Curiosities
Within the wrought-iron and stone walls of American cemeteries—beneath the shade of oak trees and tombs’ stoic penumbras—you could say many people “rest in peace.” However, not so long ago, people of the still-breathing sort also gathered there to rest – and...
by Maledicta | Aug 27, 2018 | Books, Macabre Amusements
People love to wonder “What If…” What if the South had won the Civil War? What if Hitler had beaten the Allies in World War II? What if Napoleon had a B-52 at the Battle of Waterloo or if Eleanor Roosevelt could fly? (Okay, I borrowed the last two from...
by Maledicta | Aug 20, 2018 | Oddities and Curiosities
Grieving for a loved one sometimes caused rashes, irritation… or perhaps one’s own demise. In 19th-century America, mourning the death of a family member or friend was a highly structured ritual. Following strict rules of mourning dress and...
