Before leaving the subject of death in Victorian times entirely behind, the following is an astonishing story that encompasses two of the era’s greatest fears; namely the dread of being buried alive, and the scourge of grave robbers. The following account first appeared in The Encyclopaedia of Death and Life in the Spirit-world, by John… Read More

On a Sunday morning on 11 June 1876, a police officer had just popped into a hotel in Lafayette, Indiana, United States, called the Lahr House, for refreshment, when a chambermaid, pale and breathless, suddenly interrupted his repose. The young lady had been attending to her duties, cleaning and servicing the hotel’s guest rooms, when… Read More

To refer to Robert E. Cornish as a scientific child prodigy would be a slight exaggeration, but only just. Born in San Francisco, California, United States in 1903, he had completed high school by the age of 15 and went on to graduate from Berkley just three years later. By the age of 21 he… Read More