Editions

Servants of the Supernatural

  • Imprint: Arrow

  • ISBN: 9780099478867

  • Length: 320  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 20mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 224g

  • RRP: £12.99

Servants of the Supernatural

  • The Night Side of the Victorian Mind

Born of the so-called Victorian 'pseudo science' of mesmerism, the séance enjoyed a late 19th century golden age that ministered to the Victorian obsession with science, religious doubt, and entertainment.

Mediums, psychics and somnambulists were investigated by amateur sleuths and by scientists like Faraday and Darwin; their performances imitated and exposed by magicians, denounced by clerics, satirised in the press. Yet the popularity of spiritualism and the séance endured - and does so to this day.

  • Imprint: Arrow

  • ISBN: 9780099478867

  • Length: 320  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 20mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 224g

  • RRP: £12.99

Reviews

  • Servants of the Supernatural takes us on a joyously weird circuit of the Victorian obsession with the supernatural... Riotously enjoyable.

    Judith Flanders

  • Fascinating... brings to life the wonderfully flamboyant cheats and frauds of the 19th century medium trade... His tale stands beautifully as a reminder to choose one's beliefs carefully

    Deborah Blum, author of Ghost Hunters

  • Lustrous... the heyday of the Victorian séance in all its table-trembling, tambourine-tapping glory.

    Word Magazine

  • [An] engrossing account of séances, mesmerism and mediums.

    Scotland on Sunday

  • The story of the Victorian obsession with séances, spirit writing, communing with the dead and all the showmanship that went with it...Melechi tells it well and wittily.

    Express

About the Author

Antonio Melechi

Antonio Melechi is a Visiting Fellow at the University of York in Sociology. His main areas of interest include the clinical and literary histories of dream 'science', mental illness, parapsychology and self-experimentation. His most recent books include Fugitive Minds: On Madness, Sleep and Other Twilight Afflictions and Servants of the Supernatural: The Night Side of the Victorian Mind.

Antonio Melechi

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience. For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.

Analytics

Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.

Preferences & Features

Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.

Targeting / Advertising

Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.