Ep. 4 - The Horror of Victorian Children's Stories

In today's episode, Genevieve talks about the deeply disturbing world of Victorian Children’s stories and the twisted origins of some nursery rhymes of the time that we still enjoy today.
References for today's episode:
www.saturdayev...
news.ufl.edu/a...
www.atlasobscu...
www.representi...
writingtoberea...
www.atlasobscu...

[@HauntedScribe-sm1le]

Those Penny Dreadfuls and the furor they caused remind me of the E.C. Comics in the 40’s and 50’s.

[@TheElectricitychick]

So glad i got recommended this! Your delivery is so entertaining!

[@i.aint.1.of.ur.little.friends]

I thoroughly enjoyed this! I am going to go back and listen to your other episodes

[@SarahGreen523]

Victorian anything is my special interest, so that caught my eye. The nightmare of Victorian childbirth intrigued me. Your voice is fantastic! I'm always leery of the AI voiced videos and was relieved this isn't one of them. I think I'm gonna love your content! Subbed up for the well researched and excellent historical storytelling of this video. Bet it's all that good!

[@myvictoriannightmare]

Aww, thanks. Yeah, this podast will never be made with an AI voice. I enjoy talking too much for that!

[@RKon1995]

There is a book (Das farbige Wilhelm Busch Hausbuch) with all the German stories you mentioned. Scared the living daylights out of me when my grandma would read those stories to me as a kid, but oddly enough I love these stories now.

[@DeidreL9]

There really is something oddly comforting about the Victorian era. I’m so glad you talked about Lewis Carroll honestly. Richard E Grant is the only other person I’ve heard call Carroll out the same way. Just because they prettied it up with candy fluff words doesn’t make it any less gross. It was a strange time with this idealised view of cherubic childhood at the same time as children were chimney sweeps and miners. As an aside, I have DPDR (depersonalisation and Derealisation) which is very akin to Alice In Wonderland Syndrome. I’m learning to live with it but I’ve never watched a full film of Alice because I actually find it triggering. It’s really interesting knowing all of this. Excellent work!

[@myvictoriannightmare]

Aww, thank you so much! So sorry to hear about your condition.

[@DeidreL9]

@@myvictoriannightmare it’s not boring, that’s one thing🤭

[@kira-ej7bo]

omg please never stop, these videos are so niceeee

[@myvictoriannightmare]

[@julierobinson3633]

In the UK it's... "A ring a ring a roses, a pocket full of posies, a-tishoo, a-tishoo, we all fall down."

[@carolrios9216]

It was that damned prayer for me-- "Now I lay me down to sleep...and if I die before I wake". I curse the person who wrote that thinking it would be comforting in any way!

[@Rachel-art-and-design]

I’ve read both Alice in Wonderland books recently. I don’t think it is anything horrific, just a lucid dream of a child. I am in the middle of reading Grimms fairy tales. They are a bit gruesome considering it is for children but they are German. Father Christmas is a rather horrible figure as well. It’s a German thing. Your podcasts are fascinating. It is one of the only ones I listen to since I am more a video type of gal. I think it is because it’s about the Victorian era. That era is so different. Life was so grim.

[@Baby_Jocs]

Skip to 13:40

[@hollerbachemil7349]

I'm so happy your video found me on this gloomy evening.

[@mermaidme25]

Love that you have some sort of connection with these stories. But you're no different than Brothers Grimm or Disney. You are still doing the same thing that they are doing which is chopping up the story to fit the narrative that you are saying. Have some integrity. Say the whole story. Do the math, study the history and do the whole story if you want to tell the story or Don't