In the April 21, 1877, issue of Vanity Fair, the British magazine, readers were prompted to resolve a dilemma faced by a timid ghost hunter. It was that week’s challenge in “Hard Cases,” a regular feature that posed problems in proper behavior — proper, that is, for members of England’s upper-crust. The “cases” ranged from meeting for tea to extramarital relationships, and readers sent in their best advice. Responses “adjudged correct” (presumably by a member of the editorial staff) were printed the following week. That week in April, the topic managed to blend paranormal investigation with courtship:
The next week, the “right” responses are so contradictory that the smitten yet shivering “A” wouldn’t know what to do. Several readers advise him to muster the courage to sleep in the haunted chamber. Others agree, but add that he not do so alone: share the investigation with Miss C and her mother, a friend, “a couple of bottles of port,” or a bribed butler. On the other hand, a few readers tell A to confess his fears. The implication is that he might offer to share a bedroom with someone rather less deceased.
That same week, the editors raised the stakes by tacking on the “Second Incident”:
The replies chosen to appear in the May 5, 1877, issue are just as varying. Be brave! Solve the mystery! Throw something at the ghost! Throw a pillow at it! Throw the butler at it! Strike a match! Touch the ghost! Ring the bell! Yell!
While two or three of the readers treat the case as silly — telling A to hide under the blankets or to “[a]sk the ghost to kiss him” — most of the readers respond with some seriousness. These can be placed on a spectrum between sceptics and believers. Interestingly, several readers strike a balance and bid A to test the authenticity of his observation. For instance, the reader who suggests ringing the bell — and “violently,” no less — wants A to summon another witness for verification.
The sceptics seem to make up the majority, though. Working on the assumption that ghosts can’t be real, they advise A to debunk the situation. Some recommend he threaten the hoaxer with a pistol. The reader who suggests he throw his pillow at the apparition explains that, if the pillow passes through it, there’s proof that “his imagination is merely distorted by his nervous system having been over-taxed by the narration of the ghostly tale.” If the pillow bounces off the apparition, “it will prove that A is either the victim of a practical joke, or that he has to deal with a somnambulist.” In other words, the vision is either a full-fledged mental delusion or a misinterpretation of something entirely physical, such as a sleepwalker. No ghosts need apply.
Only a few approach the problem on the assumption that the ghost is real. The most sympathetic of these writes: “A should speak to the ghost, and find out why it troubles the house so pertinaciously.” Well, that might be a lot to ask of our trembling suiter, but it reinforces something all ghost hunters should remember: not all specters want to spook us.
Had I’ve known about this curious exchange earlier, I would have considered including it in The Victorian Ghost Hunter’s Casebook. Hmmm. Maybe it doesn’t really fit there. But it does give us a glimpse into how the Victorians understood — and disagreed on — proper procedure for dealing with ghostly phenomena.
–Tim
BROM BONES BOOKS 