My Victorian Nightmare

Author: Genevieve Manion

Here youll find mysterious deaths, morbid fascinations, disturbing stories, and otherwise spooky events from the Victorian Era. For ad-free listening, witchy content, Victorian True Crime Extras and Dark Poetry, join The Fan Coven! If you consider yourself an enthusiast of creepy Victorian history, you probably already know about the age of spiritualism, the grisly murders, the grave robbers, twisted pseudo psychotherapy, and memento mori But I try to dig a little deeper. This was a time full of lace corsetry, romantic poetry, and a deep reverence and affection for the dead. It was a culture of shared sorrow, ornament and elegance, prudishness and scandal, bone chilling childrens stories, and for whatever reason, I just feel at home there. Theres something strangely comforting about the heebie jeebies this era gives me. If you find yourself equally enchanted by things that most people would find horrifying, this podcast is probably for you. To listen ad-free, visit myvictoriannightmare.com and join my Patreon.
Be a guest on this podcast

Language: en

Genres: History

Contact email: Get it

Feed URL: Get it

iTunes ID: Get it

Get all podcast data

Listen Now...

Ep. 109 - The Fascinating Funeral Industry of the 19th Century
Monday, 24 August, 2026

In this episode, Genevieve will discuss the funeral industry of the 19th century and a few of her favorite death-centered professions that are no longer in high demand today, but were positively fascinating: funeral cookie bakers, corpse-watchers, mutes and professional mourners. Thank you to today’s sponsor, Alloy!Try the original estrogen-powered M4 skincare from Alloy. Visit myalloy.com and use code VICTORIAN for $20 off your first order!Subscribe to the Newsletter!Subscribe to the Patreon free trial for ad-free listening!Help Yourself to MVN Merch!Today’s Instagram PostMy Problematic Award-Winning Video Welcome to HeavenReferences:https://funeral.com/blogs/the-journal/funeral-biscuits-in-the-1800s-what-they-were-why-they-were-served-and-how-to-make-them-today?srsltid=AfmBOorry4RZkCYT3pQ2iGryb0LGfYJ-xZYnlhN6e4pYP5dl7Jb_SHwohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin-eaterhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleventh_edition_of_the_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannicahttps://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/england/englishness-funeral-food.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funeral_biscuithttps://www.victorianlondon.org/death/characteroffunerals.htmhttps://austins.co.uk/blog/the-history-of-the-victorian-mute/https://thevictorianbookofthedead.wordpress.com/tag/professional-mournershttps://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/alma%3A99127049613408651https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/15792/pg15792-images.htmlhttps://thevictorianbookofthedead.wordpress.com/category/buried-alive/“Prematurely Buried” - Kilmore Free Press, Jan. 18th 1883.“Narrowly Escaped Burial Alive” - The Clinton Independent, Thursday Feb. 18th, 1892.