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chriswoodyard.bsky.social
Chris Woodyard
@chriswoodyard.bsky.social
1.7K followers 200 following 1.4K posts
Author A is for Arsenic: An ABC of Victorian Death, The Victorian Book of the Dead, 10 books on ghosts in Ohio and elsewhere. Death, mourning, costume, ghosts, Forteana. Podcast: Boggart and Banshee https://thevictorianbookofthedead.wordpress.com: Blog
thevictorianbookofthedead.wordpress.com
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chriswoodyard.bsky.social
Chris Woodyard @chriswoodyard.bsky.social · 13d
New episode! Possessed Possessions: Haunted, Cursed, and Hoodoo Furniture
Simon tests haunted chairs and shuns cursed seats. Chris tells of bouncing beds from brothels and a murderer's trunk. Can furniture weirdly influence us or do spirits possess possessions?
www.buzzsprout.com/1859647/epis...
Chicken headed creature with claws and wings follows a running child hiding its face down the hall.
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Reposted by Chris Woodyard
atcherleyons.bsky.social
Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 14h
#31DaysOfGraves Day 14: Inside

Brasses taken from tombstones on the floor of St Michael’s church in my #OnePlaceStudy of Waters Upton in #Shropshire, and mounted on the South wall when the church was rebuilt in 1864. Transcriptions on my website: waters-upton.uk/memorial-ins...
Photo of a tablet on a wall, bearing five monumental brasses. An explanatory sign mounted at the foot of the tablet reads: "These brasses were taken from Tombstones which were on the floor of the aisle of the old Church 1864".
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Reposted by Chris Woodyard
fakehistoryhunter.net
The Fake History Hunter @fakehistoryhunter.net · 12h
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Reposted by Chris Woodyard
katestrasdin.bsky.social
Kate Strasdin @katestrasdin.bsky.social · 12h
I’m not sure of the exact terminology of what we are calling this but I am going with feathery peplum. Some early #1960s Givenchy whose skirt is demure and quiet whose bodice is having a proper party @metmuseum.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡
A side by side image that shows a sleeveless evening dress consisting of a long ivory satin skirt and a bodice decorated all over with pink beads, sequins and feathers
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Reposted by Chris Woodyard
cerihoulbrook.bsky.social
Ceri Houlbrook @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social · 14h
What a brilliant event at the beautiful @toppingsbath.bsky.social. A full house, including a former student, lovely staff & the very talented @skullsandsheets.bsky.social. Look at all those copies of #Folklore lined up 😍 (hand cramp from signing my name too many times is a wonderful problem to have)
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Reposted by Chris Woodyard
vickmickunas.bsky.social
Vick Mickunas @vickmickunas.bsky.social · 14h
Cindy Fazzi!
cindyfazzi.bsky.social
Cindy Fazzi @cindyfazzi.bsky.social · 14h
I'm on the radio! Have a listen to @vickmickunas.bsky.social & yours truly on Book Nook. It was a blast. All my thanks Vick & WYSO❤️
#newpodcast #podcast #booksky #radio #newbooks
vickmickunas.bsky.social
Vick Mickunas @vickmickunas.bsky.social · 15h
@cindyfazzi.bsky.social

www.wyso.org/podcast/book...
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holundra.bsky.social
Holundra 🐌 @holundra.bsky.social · 20h
Tag 14 • Inside / Innen

Alt-Bülker Begräbnis
📍 Kirche Dänischenhagen

Mehr Fotos und Infos: holundra.de/2025/06/kirc...

#31DaysOfGraves #cemetery #graveyard
Mausoleum with 30 different styled coffins, The window can be opened to have a look into the room.
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Reposted by Chris Woodyard
landisblair.bsky.social
Landis Blair @landisblair.bsky.social · 15h
Inking…
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scotchurchestrust.bsky.social
Scotland's Churches Trust @scotchurchestrust.bsky.social · 17h
Day 14 of #31DaysOfGraves - Inside

Here are just two monuments from the extraordinary assemblage of 14th-15th century graveslabs that are now housed within the reroofed former Prior's house within the ruins of the Augustinian priory on the island of Oronsay.

These were most likely MacDuffie chiefs
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Reposted by Chris Woodyard
churchmonuments.bsky.social
Church Monuments Society @churchmonuments.bsky.social · 15h
Today in #31DaysofGraves is Inside - so here's the crypt at Llanblethian, closed off for centuries and found during repair work in late C19, full of skeletons (they are now reburied in the churchyard).
Church crypt with light through ground-level windows Light through crypt window
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drlindseyfitz.bsky.social
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 18h
Today’s the day! @tealcartoons.bsky.social & I are here to (delightfully) spook your kids with medical history 👻🩺

DEAD ENDS is officially out in the world. If you’d like to support us, every bit helps: buy a copy, request it at your local library, and leave a quick review online.

shorturl.at/FS3nd
The cover of DEAD ENDS depicting a cartoon man in a coffin being zapped to life A cartoon of Robert Liston holding severed limbs and a knife in his teeth. A cartoon of a person peering through a ribcage.
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Reposted by Chris Woodyard
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Suzanne Karr Schmidt @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social · 19h
Boo!
Happy looking ghost annotation at the top right of a printer page.
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Reposted by Chris Woodyard
hookland.bsky.social
hookland.bsky.social @hookland.bsky.social · 17h
No wraith way, no corpse lane is ever less than ghost-crowded. Yet just as roads to market or the races are thronged on certain days, as we approach Allhallowtide they become congested by spirits. From distant villages to the boneyard gates and lychgate termini a rush of spectres walk. – #CLNolan
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physiognom.bsky.social
Nordlicht @physiognom.bsky.social · 1d
#31DaysOfGraves

Das 14: Inside / Innen

Kolumbarium
Friedhof Wilmersdorf, Berlin
Das Schwarz-Weiß-Foto zeigt einen schlichten, rechteckigen Raum mit glatten Steinfliesen und einer Bank in der Mitte. An den Wänden sind zahlreiche kleine Gedenktafeln, Urnen und Blumenkränze angebracht. Das Licht fällt von oben herein und erhellt die Szene gleichmäßig.
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Reposted by Chris Woodyard
stjohnsgraveyard.bsky.social
stjohnsgraveyard.bsky.social @stjohnsgraveyard.bsky.social · 2d
#31DaysOfGraves Day 13 Skeleton

Right order! Nothing to see here!

All our skeletons are in their appropriate place, underground, and no amount of trick or treating is going to bring them out.

Here's a lovely shot of the long avenue instead.

St John's #Graveyard, #Nelson, #Lancashire.
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chriswoodyard.bsky.social
Chris Woodyard @chriswoodyard.bsky.social · 18h
It has the look of the cloth I've seen in other hair lockets, used as backing for the hair. (But I haven't personally examined it.)
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chriswoodyard.bsky.social
Chris Woodyard @chriswoodyard.bsky.social · 18h
#TheVictorianBookoftheDead 1895 mourning bonnet, the crape stitched and crimped into wave patterns, with a sheer silk voile veil with crape border.

collectie.museumrotterdam.nl/detail.php?n...
mourning hat of black crape in wave patterns and net veil with crape border
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chriswoodyard.bsky.social
Chris Woodyard @chriswoodyard.bsky.social · 18h
#TheVictorianBookoftheDead
A "smart black mourning costume," 1895 paired with an 1895 dress worn as a "Second Day" or "Going Away" dress after a wedding. [Missouri Historical Society] Ambiguous as to whether it's actual mourning or fashionable black; the styles are very similar.
Black costume for mourning 1895 black dress with big sleeves, long skirt and wide, pointed lapels.
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chriswoodyard.bsky.social
Chris Woodyard @chriswoodyard.bsky.social · 19h
#TheVictorianBookoftheDead Mourning brooch of black enamel set with a pearl forget-me-not. The reverse contains a hair locket, although it looks like that is just a cloth backing, rather than plaited hair, behind the glass.
Former eBay listing
gold and black brooch with scrolled border, pearl-inlaid flower back of gold brooch showing glassed-in compartment
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chriswoodyard.bsky.social
Chris Woodyard @chriswoodyard.bsky.social · 19h
An appropriately seasonal cake for #NationalDessertDay
1914 #Halloween cake trimmed with cat and witch cut-outs.
cake trimmed with cutout cats and witches.
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fowarristoncem.bsky.social
Friends of Warriston Cemetery @fowarristoncem.bsky.social · 19h
#31DaysofGraves 14: Inside. Warriston Cemetery's historic catacombs & vaults. I seem to use the word "sadly" a lot, but again, sadly these were badly vandalised & have been sealed off for many years. The b&w photos were taken by the council in the 1980s. #Edinburgh #Warriston #Catacombs #Vaults
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chriswoodyard.bsky.social
Chris Woodyard @chriswoodyard.bsky.social · 19h
#31daysofhalloween #spookybook #booktober #ghosts
Minor Hauntings: Chilling Tales of Spectral Youth, edited by Jen Baker, one of the superlative British Library Tales of the Weird series.
Black and purple book cover Minor Hauntings, showing a pair of spectral boots standing on a landing, a hand holding a jump-rope and a body at the bottom of the stairs.
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chriswoodyard.bsky.social
Chris Woodyard @chriswoodyard.bsky.social · 19h
#31daysofgraves #14 Inside
The crypts at Elyria Mausoleum in (I'm assuming) Ridgelawn Cemetery, Elyria, Ohio. c. 1915-1920 Photographed by Frank A. Day.
Personal collection
#TheVictorianBookoftheDead
A black and white photograph of two men standing inside a mausoleum. There are wreaths and bouquets at a couple of the crypts.
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Reposted by Chris Woodyard
englishassociation.bsky.social
The English Association @englishassociation.bsky.social · 1d
A pleasing headline here🤗⬇️
mercedessheldon.bsky.social
Mercedes Sheldon @mercedessheldon.bsky.social · 1d
Fab editorial by @umnenglish.bsky.social faculty.
"Majoring in English is by no means a bad investment of a student’s time and tuition dollars. ... While graduates with English degrees may start out earning less than peers in other fields, they out-earn them in the second half of their careers."
Counterpoint | Actually, English majors are thriving at the University of Minnesota
"As the chair of the English department, past English chair, and assistant dean of curriculum and instruction at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, we often find reports of the demise of ...
www.startribune.com
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jdmccafferty.bsky.social
John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 1d
13 Oct 1014: Translation of the body Coloman/Colmán an #Irish pilgrim mistaken for a spy & hanged at Stockerau near #Vienna on 16 July 1012 to the Abbey of Melk #otd
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