My Victorian Nightmare

Episode 75: Tower Ghosts, Rabid Brides, and Razor Maniacs

Host: Genevieve Manion
Date: December 29, 2025

Episode Overview

In this year-end episode, Genevieve Manion celebrates her 75th show by inviting listeners into a chilling compendium of true Victorian-era nightmares. She explores a ghoulish mix of haunted locations, macabre superstitions, shocking crimes, and tragic oddities—everything from a ghostly bear in the Tower of London to the horrifying fate of a "rabid bride," to razor-wielding maniacs and bizarre masquerade mishaps. The episode is delivered in Genevieve’s signature blend of dark humor, historical curiosity, and genuine empathy for the era’s outcasts and victims.

Main Themes & Purpose

• Dive deeper than the well-known Victorian gothic tropes to reveal lesser-known, true stories of horror and intrigue.
• Analyze cultural fascinations with death, spiritualism, madness, and the blurred line between superstition and science.
• Critique Victorian (and at times, modern) approaches to crime, mental illness, gender roles, and the sensationalizing of tragedy.
• Entertain and unnerve listeners with anecdotes, commentary, and historical context laced with sardonic wit.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Anecdote: The Borg in 4D (Vegas Horror)

[03:22–06:29]

• Genevieve recounts a panic-inducing experience at a Star Trek-themed restaurant in Vegas.
• The discomfort of people in costume, compounded by a surprise visit with a famous person, leads to total mortification.
• Memorable quote:

  “Any hope that I had of trying to look cool in front of this famous person was dash—cats out of the bag. I am not cool. I am a hurricane of conditions.” [05:28, Guest]

• Provides comic relief and a segue into the night’s true horrors.

2. With Their Own Eyes: Tower of London Ghost Stories

[06:36–14:15]

• Retells a chilling 19th-century account (“Tower Ghost,” Sydney Mail, 1870) of a supernatural shadow and a bear’s specter in the Tower of London.
• Several hauntings detailed:
  • Ghostly cylindrical apparition seen by Edmund Lenthal Swift, Keeper of the Crown Jewels, 1817
  • The infamous ghost bear who frightened a sentry to death
  • Traditional sightings of Guy Fawkes, Anne Boleyn, Henry VI, and Sir Walter Raleigh—with signature ghostly features like Anne’s headlessness or Raleigh’s tobacco scent.
• Genevieve’s skeptical take on ghost identification:

  “I wonder how they can be so sure it was him specifically. Many people died in that terrible way in that terrible place…” [11:43, Guest]

• Margaret Pole’s “identifiable scream” after a botched execution prompts dark reflection on Victorian violence.

3. The Welsh Fasting Girl and Victorian Starvation Chic

[14:31–19:10]

• Story of Sarah Jacob, “fasting girl” who died after being publicly watched by doctors to prove she abstained from food and water.
• Interplay of mesmerists, spiritualists, and public fascination with self-starvation:
  • Claims of supernatural sustenance through “magnetism”
  • Cultural glamourization of sickly, ethereal women (“tuberculosis chic”)

  “They or their families would make these claims, and they would invite journalists… All of them were frauds. Many were proven frauds while being watched... But one, Sarah Jacob, died…” [16:05–16:29, Genevieve]

• Critique of gendered beauty ideals and media complicity in dangerous trends.

4. Victorian True Crime Parade (from The Illustrated Police News)

[19:19–39:00+] A series of morbid vignettes, each dissected with critical, often sardonic commentary:

• Rabid Bride

[19:23–23:07]

• A young bride develops hydrophobia and aggressive, biting behavior after an untreated dog bite—biting her new husband on her wedding day before dying.
• Genevieve explains rabies symptoms and the real-life compulsion to bite:

  “It is very common to feel compelled to bite other people... the virus attacks the central nervous system...” [22:10–23:02, Genevieve]

• Profound horror at the consequences of untreated rabies:

  “It’s literally like becoming a zombie.” [23:02, Guest]

• A Truant Wife and Victorian Sex Work Accusations

[23:26–26:22]

• Story of Charles Creamer tracking his wife to a “house of ill fame,” with speculation about whether the narrative was manufactured for divorce proceedings.
• Analysis of Victorian courts/press weaponizing “morality” against women:

  “This article reads like a hit piece to me... accused in court by their ex husbands as such so that they could get out of paying them alimony.” [25:18–26:02, Genevieve]

• Murder and Arson: The Bentley Case

[26:26–27:33]

• Grisly description of a couple murdered and burned for money, presumably to cover up the crime.
• Case left unsolved; Genevieve’s attempts to find more info underscore the cold case’s sadness.

• Razor Maniacs: The Purdy Family Tragedy

[27:49–33:13]

• Epileptic, “temporarily insane” farmer violently attacks his mother and two sisters, wielding a shovel and razor, setting the house on fire.
• Remarkable survival story:

  “She did indeed survive having her throat slashed all the way to the tongue, which jumping Jehoshaphat crumbs and carrots… I have yet to faint on my own show…” [32:56–33:13, Guest]

• Reflection on mental illness, family violence, and the inadequacies of the era’s intervention methods.

• Attempted Murder at a Christening

[33:31–35:24]

• Family feud culminates in a cousin stabbing the host at a christening party.
• Recap of the chaotic, bloody scene and aftermath:

  “God, you know that family for the rest of that kid’s life probably told that story about when cousin Timmy stabbed his dad at his christening.” [35:52–36:02, Guest]

• Arson for Love: The Spurned Maiden

[36:17–39:00]

• Lizzie Rhode tries to burn her ex-lover alive, endangering the entire boarding house.
• Commentary on the harshness of the legal and social consequences faced by women:

  “In all probability this will confirm her to a life of shame and villainy...” [37:39, Genevieve]

• Fatal Masquerade: A Costume’s Deadly Consequence

[39:09–40:16]

• Man’s masquerade costume scares his ill mother to death; paper laments “practical joking” as if it’s a criminal act.
• Genevieve laughs at Victorian moral panic over “French balls” described as “orgies.”
• Notable closing:

  “If you enjoyed this podcast…join the fan coven to directly support my show…be kind to yourselves and I will see you in your nightmares.” [40:16, Genevieve]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Any hope that I had of trying to look cool in front of this famous person was dash—cats out of the bag. I am not cool. I am a hurricane of conditions.”
  — Guest, [05:28]

• “I wonder how they can be so sure it was him specifically. Many people died in that terrible way in that terrible place…”
  — Co-host/Guest, [11:43]

• “They or their families would make these claims, and they would invite journalists… All of them were frauds. Many were proven frauds while being watched... But one, Sarah Jacob, died…”
  — Genevieve, [16:05–16:29]

• “It’s literally like becoming a zombie.”
  — Co-host/Guest, [23:02]

• “This article reads like a hit piece to me…”
  — Genevieve, [25:18]

• “She did indeed survive having her throat slashed all the way to the tongue, which jumping Jehoshaphat crumbs and carrots… I have yet to faint on my own show…”
  — Co-host/Guest, [32:56–33:13]

• “God, you know that family for the rest of that kid’s life probably told that story about when cousin Timmy stabbed his dad at his christening.”
  — Co-host/Guest, [35:52–36:02]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [03:22–06:29] Personal Borg Horror Story
• [06:36–14:15] Tower of London Ghosts
• [14:31–19:10] The Welsh Fasting Girl & Mesmeric Supernaturalism
• [19:19–23:07] Rabies: The Rabid Bride
• [23:26–26:22] A “Truant Wife” and Victorian Divorce Tactics
• [26:26–27:33] Murder & Arson in Indiana: The Bentley Case
• [27:49–33:13] Razor Maniac: The Purdy Family
• [33:31–35:24] Attempted Murder at a Christening
• [36:17–39:00] Arsonous Revenge: Lizzie Rhode
• [39:09–40:16] Fatal Masquerade Prank

Tone & Style

Genevieve mixes morbid curiosity and scholarly analysis with comedic asides and contemporary references, often breaking the fourth wall with:

• Dark, dry wit
• Unapologetic speculation (always flagged as such)
• Empathetic consideration for historical victims
  She is openly critical of Victorian mores, tabloid reporting, and the society’s failure to distinguish rumor from reality.

Summary Takeaway

Episode 75 is a perfect showcase of My Victorian Nightmare: haunting history with an irreverent, insightful voice. Genevieve’s curation of stories disturbs and entertains in equal measure, shining new light on how the macabre intersected with everyday life in the Victorian era and inviting listeners into a tradition of finding comfort in the eerie and the bizarre.