Victorian Christmas books

Recall the line "there'll be scary ghost stories" in that old holiday chestnut "It's the Mosto Wonderful Time of the Year"? Well, as I'm sure many of us know, that was a fact back in the Victorian era, as a tradition during Christmas was to gather around a fire and do just that... fortunately for us, many of stories still exist and you can find them in the books over found below, should you wish to Cary on the tradition yourself every season:

Move over, Charles Dickens! The author of "A Christmas Carol" may be the most famous Victorian author of Christmas ghost stories, but the king of the genre was James Skipp Borlase (1839-1909), who published dozens of them in obscure British and Australian periodicals during a nearly fifty-year span. Now for the first time, thirteen of Borlase's best tales have been unearthed from newspaper archives and compiled in a single volume for modern readers.

In "A Weird Wooing" (1898) an impecunious suitor braves a house haunted by the ghosts of plague victims in search of a legendary treasure. "The Steel-Bound Valise" (1875) tells of a horrid murder and a spectral vision that reveals the truth behind the awful deed. In "A Bride from the Dead" (1899), a man races against time on horseback to save his beloved from a forced marriage-but arrives too late to prevent an even more horrible and macabre fate. This volume showcases Borlase's wide range, featuring macabre and bone-chilling stories alongside more lighthearted pieces, all of them just as entertaining to read on a winter's night as they were more than a century ago.

The Winter Solstice. Yule. Christmas. The Holiday season has always hid horror beneath the holly and shadows behind the merriment. Long before Christianity, Christmas Eve was a night of Pagan mystery, when humanity prayed for the sun’s return, and spirits wandered snowy midnight lanes.
The Victorians popularized the tradition of telling ghost stories at this festive time of year, savoring tales of specters and otherworldly beings amidst the warmth of Holiday joy.
Editor William P. Simmons invites readers to continue this shivery tradition with a collection of the genre’s most terrifying Christmas stories.
See why the Holiday season is the most frightening time of the year with 20 rare and classic supernatural stories collected from various sources, featuring a diverse array of authors, some well-known, others unjustly forgotten.
This is the dark gift you’ve been waiting for--a fearful feast of Yule stories that merge the Christmas traditions of years past with timeless nightmares…and visitations that could happen to you.
Bone-chilling classics from Charles Dickens, Sir Walter Scott, J.S. Le Fanu, and M.R. James appear alongside rare terror tales from forgotten authors who make their first appearance here in decades, including James Hain Friswell, F. Frankfurt Moore, Ernest R. Suffling, Dick Donovan, Bernard Capes, and Grant Allen. Christmas wouldn’t be complete without a visit from the genre’s Macabre Mistresses. Mary E. Braddon, Charlotte Riddell, Elizabeth Gaskill, and Louisa Baldwin fill your stockings with tales of dread and dismay for the merriest time of the year.
Spend this Christmas with graveyard visitants and fearsome night creatures from legend and lore. Celebrate with a spectral spectacle of goblins and sprites, family curses and pagan sacrifices, doomed houses and haunted minds. Wraiths, psychopomps, demons, and the Devil himself appear to share a cup of cheer…and make you look uneasily into the shadows.

This Book of Victorian Christmas Stories Includes Stories from:
THE KIT-BAG - Algernon Blackwood
BETWEEN THE LIGHTS- E.F. Benson
THE DEAD - James Joyce
THE OLD NURSES STORY - Elizabeth Gaskell
"OH, WHISTLE, AND I'LL COME TO YOU, MY LAD" - M. R. JAMES
THE SIGNAL-MAN - Charles Dickens
THE SEARCHER OF THE END HOUSE - William Hope Hodgson
THE EYES - Edith Wharton
CHRISTMAS EVE ON A HAUNTED HULK - Frank Cowper
THEY - Rudyard Kipling
A DEAD MAN’S FACE - Hugh Conway
THE SCREAMING SKULL - F. Marion Crawford
A STRANGE CHRISTMAS GAME - Charlotte Riddell

During the Victorian era, it became traditional for publishers of newspapers and magazines to print ghost stories during the Christmas season for chilling winter reading by the fireside or candlelight. Now for the first time thirteen of these tales are collected here, including a wide range of stories from a diverse group of authors, some well-known, others anonymous or forgotten. Readers whose only previous experience with Victorian Christmas ghost stories has been Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" will be surprised and delighted at the astonishing variety of ghostly tales in this Volume.

Following the popularity of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol(1843), Victorian newspapers and magazines frequently featured ghost stories at Christmas time, and reading them by candlelight or the fireside became an annual tradition. This second volume of Victorian Christmas ghost stories contains fifteen tales, most of which have never been reprinted. They represent a mix of the diverse styles and themes common to Victorian ghost fiction and include works by once-popular authors like Grant Allen and Eliza Lynn Linton as well as contributions from anonymous or wholly forgotten writers. This volume also features a new introduction by Prof. Allen Grove.

Seeking to capitalize on the success of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1843), Victorian newspapers and magazines frequently featured ghost stories at Christmas time, and reading them by candlelight or the fireside became an annual tradition, a tradition Valancourt Books is pleased to continue with our series of Victorian Christmas ghost stories. This third volume contains twenty tales, most of them never before reprinted. They represent a mix of the diverse styles and themes common to Victorian ghost fiction and include works by once-popular authors like Ellen Wood and Charlotte Riddell as well as contributions from anonymous or wholly forgotten writers. This volume also features a new introduction by Prof. Simon Stern.

The Christmas ghost story tradition is usually associated with Charles Dickens and Victorian England, but—apparently unknown to historians and scholars—Christmas ghost stories were extremely widespread and popular in 19th-century America as well, frequently appearing in newspapers and magazines during the holiday season.

From legends of old New Orleans and strange happenings on the plains of Iowa and the Dakota Territory to weird doings in early Puerto Rico and ghostly events in Gold Rush-era San Francisco, the tales collected here reveal a forgotten Christmas ghost story tradition in a bygone America that is both familiar and oddly foreign. This collection features eighteen stories and nine poems, including entries by women and African American writers, plus extra bonus material and an introduction by Christopher Philippo.

For this fifth Valancourt volume of Christmas ghost stories, editor Christopher Philippo has dug deeper than ever before, delving into the archives of Victorian-era newspapers and magazines from throughout the British Isles to find twenty-one rare texts for the Christmas season - seventeen stories and four poems - most of them never before reprinted.

Featured here are gems by once-popular but now-forgotten 19th-century masters of the supernatural like Amelia Edwards, Barry Pain, and Florence Marryat, alongside contributions by totally obscure authors like James Skipp Borlase, a writer of penny dreadfuls who specialized in lurid Christmas horror stories, and Harry Grattan, who made history by writing the first ghost story recorded by Edison for the phonograph. Also included are an introduction and bonus materials, such as 19th-century news articles and advertisements related to Christmas ghosts.

Victorian Christmas

Most of our current Christmas traditions come from the Victorian era, but how would they have celebrated? Watch below to find out!

Regency Christmas

How would Christmas be celebrated during the Regency? Watch below to find out!

Dracula spinoff novels

Last week, I highlighted the creme de la creme of gothic classic literature, including Dracula...in that, erm, vein, here are novels I've found inspired by that iconic novel set in the 19th century, as well as a couple of Victorian vampire story anthologies:

From the shadowy banks of the river Thames to the wild and windswept Yorkshire coast, Dracula’s eternal muse, Mina Murray, vividly recounts the intimate details of what really transpired between her and the Count—the joys and terrors of a passionate affair that has linked them through the centuries, and her rebellion against her own frightening preternatural powers.

Mina’s version of this gothic vampire tale is a visceral journey into Victorian England’s dimly lit bedrooms, mist-filled cemeteries, and asylum chambers, revealing the dark secrets and mysteries locked within. Time falls away as she is swept into a mythical journey far beyond mortal comprehension, where she must finally make the decision she has been avoiding for almost a millennium. 

Bram Stoker’s classic novel offered one side of the story, in which Mina had no past and bore no responsibility for the unfolding events. Now, for the first time, the truth of Mina’s personal voyage, and of vampirism itself, is revealed. What this flesh and blood woman has to say is more sensual, more devious, and more enthralling than the Victorians could have expressed or perhaps even have imagined.

Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.

Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband's dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death.

A slave of Dracula emerges from the shadows in a terrifying reinvention of Bram Stoker’s classic novel.

 

Renfield, confined to an asylum, obsesses in his diary, pens letters of insane passion to his wife, and still answers his Master’s calling. Ordered to hunt and kill Van Helsing, Renfield complies, setting the stage for the ultimate battle between good and evil, the living and the dead. It will take him from the dark crypts of Dracula’s castle to the more personal darkness of his own descent into madness, and the shocking truth of where it all began.

Who is this magnetic, fascinating man? And how could one woman fall so completely under his spell?

Mina Harker is torn between two men. Struggling to hang on to the deep, pure love she's found within her marriage to her husband, Jonathan, she is inexorably drawn into a secret, passionate affair with a charismatic but dangerous lover. This haunted and haunting creature has awakened feelings and desires within her that she has never before known, which remake her as a woman.
Although everyone she knows fears him and is pledged to destroy him, Mina sees a side to him that the others cannot: a tender, romantic side; a man who's taken full advantage of his gift of immortality to expand his mind and talents; a man who is deeply in love, and who may not be evil after all. Soon, they are connected in a way she never thought humanly possible.
Yet to surrender is surely madness, for to be with him could end her life. It may cost Mina all she holds dear, but to make her choice she must learn everything she can about the remarkable origins and unique, sensuous powers of this man, this exquisite monster, this ... Dracula!

Anno Dracula series:

It is 1888 and Queen Victoria has remarried, taking as her new consort Vlad Tepes, the Wallachian Prince infamously known as Count Dracula. Peppered with familiar characters from Victorian history and fiction, the novel follows vampire Geneviève Dieudonné and Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club as they strive to solve the mystery of the Ripper murders.

Anno Dracula is a rich and panoramic tale, combining horror, politics, mystery and romance to create a unique and compelling alternate history. Acclaimed novelist Kim Newman explores the darkest depths of a reinvented Victorian London.

In 1899 Geneviève Dieudonné travels to Japan with a group of vampires exiled from Great Britain by Prince Dracula. They are allowed to settle in Yōkai Town, the district of Tokyo set aside for Japan’s own vampires, an altogether strange and less human breed than the nosferatu of Europe. Yet it is not the sanctuary they had hoped for, as a vicious murderer sets vampire against vampire, and Yōkai Town is revealed to be more a prison than a refuge. Geneviève and her undead comrades will be forced to face new enemies and the horrors hidden within the Temple of One Thousand Monsters…

Gothic classics, part 3

And here we come to the years 1837-1900, the most beloved and well known eras of Gothic literature:

“Carmilla” is the 1872 Gothic vampire novella by Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, a leading writer of ghost tales and horror fiction of the Victorian era. His haunting and surprisingly modern “Carmilla” was one of the first works in the vampire fiction genre and was written decades before the publication of Bram Stroker’s “Dracula” in 1897. Le Fanu’s story has been widely influential and is notable for its depiction of homosexual desire between the female vampire and her beautiful, young victims. “Carmilla” is told from the perspective of a case study by Dr. Hesselius, a medical doctor who investigates occult phenomenon. The central character is Laura, a teenager living alone with her retired father in lonely castle in the forests of Austria. Laura longs for a friend her own age and, not coincidentally, a carriage accident brings the lovely and seemingly young Carmilla to Laura’s home. Before long Laura’s health declines and she is haunted by nightmares as she becomes the latest victim of the vampire Carmilla. To save her, Laura’s father must battle the cunning and evil vampire for her life and soul. Frightening, entertaining, and hauntingly romantic, Le Fanu’s Gothic adventure remains a classic of vampire literature.

First published in 1886, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” is Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of man’s inner struggle between good and evil. The story revolves around the investigation by John Utterson, a lawyer, concerning the association between Dr. Henry Jekyll and the morally corrupt Edward Hyde, to whom Jekyll has recently willed his estate. Through the use of a magic serum Jekyll is transformed into Hyde which he does so in order to indulge in the darker side of his character. After a time Jekyll finds that he is involuntarily turning into Hyde and must use the serum, which is running low, to turn back. Stevenson from early on in his career was interested in the impact of personality on human behavior and how he could incorporate it into his stories. In “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” we have a classic examination of the duality that exists within man, which is ultimately a tale of the tragic consequences that can occur when the darker elements of one’s character are let out.

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is the novel that introduced the fictional creature known as the vampire to millions. It is considered by many as the single most important work in the gothic vampire horror genre. “Dracula,” while not the first appearance of the vampire in literature, is certainly the work that is most readily identified with the vampire genre and has spawned countless imitations and references. The novel is set sometime in the late 19th century and begins by being told from the perspective of Jonathan Harker, a young English legal practitioner who is traveling to the castle of Count Dracula, in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Transylvania, to perform some legal services for the Count. Harker upon meeting Count Dracula finds him a strange and eerie man, one with a dark secret. Dracula needs the help of Harker to execute his plan to relocate to England in order to find new blood and spread the curse of the undead. The only thing standing in his way is a small group of people led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing, who know what he secretly is and have vowed to stop him.

Oscar Wilde’s only full-length novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” was first published in 1890 and is the classic tale of the moral decline of its title character, Dorian Gray. While Dorian has his portrait painted by Basil Hallward he is lectured to by Lord Henry Wotton, who espouses a hedonistic world view. Dorian is drawn to Wotton’s belief that beauty and sensuality are the only things in life worth pursuing and wishes that he would stay young while his portrait changes instead. In the years that follow Dorian pursues a life of vice and debauchery, committing unspeakable acts along the way. With the passage of time, Dorian’s wish comes true, as his age and withering moral character are reflected in his portrait instead of himself. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is arguably one of Wilde’s most popular works, which caused quite a scandal in Victorian England when it was first published, for its glorification of decadency. A chilling tale, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is at once both an intricate character study and a sharp criticism of the improprieties of the Victorian age.

Gothic classics, part 2

More great October reads from 1800-1837

Delve into the thrilling narrative of 'The Vampyre,' an iconic novella by John William Polidori that continues to captivate readers with its gripping exploration of darkness, desire, and the supernatural. Originally published in 1819, The Vampyre is considered to be the first work of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's Dracula for nearly 80 years.This edition of Polidori's seminal work, often acknowledged as the progenitor of the romantic vampire genre, is a must-read for all enthusiasts of gothic literature and vampire lore.

'The Vampire' unfolds the chilling tale of Lord Ruthven, a suave, mysterious nobleman with a sinister secret. As the story spirals into the macabre, Polidori masterfully explores themes of horror, transgression, and the darker sides of human nature.

John William Polidori, known not only as a writer but also as Lord Byron's personal physician, penned 'The Vampire' following that fateful summer in 1816 known as the 'Year Without a Summer.' His chilling narrative continues to influence modern vampire literature, making it an essential part of any horror or gothic literature collection.

Whether you're a fan of classic gothic literature, studying the origins of the vampire genre, or looking for a thrilling read, 'The Vampire' by John William Polidori remains a timeless masterpiece.

The timeless collection that introduced Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, and the Headless Horseman

Perhaps the marker of a true mythos is when the stories themselves overshadow their creator. Originally published under a pseudonym as The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories gave America its own haunted mythology. This collection of larger-than-life tales contains Washington Irving’s best-known literary inventions—Ichabod Crane, the Headless Horseman, and Rip Van Winkle—that continue to capture our imaginations today.

Gothic classics part 1

The novels that started a genre...these three classics are perfect October reads:

First published in 1764, Horace Walpole’s “The Castle of Otranto” is generally regarded as the first gothic novel, a work which blended supernatural and fantastical elements with realistic characters and events. Heralding in a new and immensely popular literary style, the novel purports to be the true story of Manfred, lord of the Italian Castle Otranto during medieval times, who out of concern for carrying on his lineage attempts to marry off his son to the young and beautiful Princess Isabella. When a tragic and supernatural accident kills his son on his wedding day, a desperate Manfred will stop at nothing to wed Isabella himself and ensure the continuation of his line. The innocent Isabella flees Manfred’s foul clutches and is aided by the poor and honorable Theodore, who is not what he seems to be. Many of the elements that would come to define the gothic genre are present here in exciting abundance: secret passages, ghostly interventions, hidden identities, frightening coincidences, and violent confrontations. “The Castle of Otranto” is a chilling gothic masterpiece that has inspired countless writers and thrilled readers for generations since its first appearance.

With The Mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Radcliffe raised the Gothic romance to a new level and inspired a long line of imitators. Portraying her heroine's inner life, creating a thick atmosphere of fear, and providing a gripping plot that continues to thrill readers today, The Mysteries of Udolpho is the story of orphan Emily St. Aubert, who finds herself separated from the man she loves and confined within the medieval castle of her aunt's new husband, Montoni. Inside the castle, she must cope with an unwanted suitor, Montoni's threats, and the wild imaginings and terrors that threaten to overwhelm her.

‘Few could sustain the glance of his eye, at once fiery and penetrating’

Savaged by critics for its supposed profanity and obscenity, and bought in large numbers by readers eager to see whether it lived up to its lurid reputation, The Monk became a succès de scandale when it was published in 1796 – not least because its author was a member of parliament and only twenty years old. It recounts the diabolical decline of Ambrosio, a Capuchin superior, who succumbs first to temptations offered by a young girl who has entered his monastery disguised as a boy, and continues his descent with increasingly depraved acts of sorcery, murder, incest and torture. Combining sensationalism with acute psychological insight, this masterpiece of Gothic fiction is a powerful exploration of how violent and erotic impulses can break through the barriers of social and moral restraint.

Victorian mourning books

The first in weekly installments of books for the Halloween season...I have a love of the elaborate, some may say morbid, but somehow beautiful and iconic symbols of Victorian era mourning rituals. Here are a few I've found:

During the 19th century, death shadowed daily life. A high infant mortality rate, poor sanitation, risk during childbirth, poisons, ignorance, and war kept 19th-century Americans busy practicing the ritual of mourning. The Victorian era in both Europe and America saw these rituals elevated to an art form expressing not only grief, but also religious feeling, social obligation, and even mourning fashion. Complete with period illustrations, Widow's Weeds and Weeping Veils explores how Victorians viewed death and dying as a result of the profound historical events of their time. This concise, informative work is ideal for students of Victorian-era culture and Civil War enthusiasts.

Chris Woodyard, author of the The Ghosts of the Past series, digs through long-buried newspapers and journals, for this fascinating look at the 19th-century obsession with the culture of death. The Victorian Book of the Dead unearths extraordinary tales of Victorian funeral fads and fancies, ghost stories, bizarre deaths, mourning novelties, gallows humor, premature burial, post-mortem photographs, death omens, and funeral disasters. Resurrected from original sources, these accounts reveal the oddities and eccentricities of Victorian mourning. Packed with macabre anecdotes, this diverting, yet gruesome collection presents tales ranging from the paranormal and shocking to the heartbreaking.

Happy Valentines' Day!

May today be a day of love of any kind for you all! Here's some links to help set the mood, classical style!
AccuRadio: A Classical Valentine
99 Most Essential Romantic Masterpieces
100 Best Romantic Classics
100 Best Romantic Piano Classics

Seasonal Barbies

Some holiday themed Barbies I found...enjoy!

19th Century
Holiday Ball
Holiday Caroler
Victorian Elegance
Victorian Holiday
Victorian Holiday Barbie and Kelly

The Nutcracker
Flower Ballerina
Marzipan
Peppermint Candy Cane
Snowflake
Sugar Plum Fairy

Classical Holiday Music

Here's a few I'd like to share...enjoy and may you and your have a happy and safe holiday season!

Harmonia Episodes:
The Ghosts of Harmonia Past
Traditions Series: Christmas
The Noel: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque
Holidays with Anonymous 4, Stile Antico, and Montserrat Figueras
Holiday CD Sampler
Seasonal Settings And Angelic Appearances
Music For the Holiday Season
Christmas Carols, Chant And Legend
A blog post on Saint Nicholas.


Classical Holiday Stations:
AccuRadio.com: Classical Christmas (orchestral and vocal solo)
AccuRadio.com: Classical Christmas Choral
AccuRadio.com: Classical Christmas Instrumental
AccuRadio,com: Classical Christmas Vocal (choral and solo)
AOL: Classical Holiday
Got Radio: Heavenly Holidays
Slacker: Classical Holiday

Like what you hear? Here's some choices from Amazon's 99 Most Essential collection:
Christmas Masterpieces
Christmas Piano
New Year's Classics

Some slightly different takes:
99 Must Have Christmas Classics
99 Must Have Christmas Meditation Classics
100 Best Carols

Classical Musique Macabre

Recently, I was on Itunes looking up an album called Classics From the Crypt when I found an album called The 50 Darkest Pieces of Classical Music for $5.99. Seeing this made me very happy as it was both "dark" and under six bucks (I had $6 and some change left to spend on there), so I snapped it up and have been quite pleased with my find. Among the tracks are a few of my faves, such as Carmina Burana: O Fortuna by Carl Orff, Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor for Piano, Op. 35: III. Marche funébre (Funeral March): Lento by Frederic Chopin, and The Valkyrie: Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner and many others from several different composers like Mozart, Beethoven, Handel and Vivaldi. For even more, Amazon has The 99 Darkest Pieces Of Classical Music and I plan on adding the ones I didn't get from here when I can. Another album Amazon recommends is The Most Frightening Music in the Universe which also seems pretty good, then there's 99 Must Have Halloween Classics and The Darkest Classical Piano Pieces. All these albums are perfect for this time of year, and if you're into the darker side of classical like I am, I highly reccomend adding them to your collection!