The Consumption Letters: Decomposing Correspondence: A physician makes the case that the letters of the ill or dead give off the smell of death and decomposition.
Creature Feature: A Banshee at Sea The crew of a windjammer far from land hears a “howling out of the darkness a most frightful, wailing cry, ghastly in its agony and intensity.” Was it a banshee?
Butterflies of Doom For all its reputation as a symbol of the soul, the butterfly is not often found as a death omen. Perhaps it is more a conductor of souls.
A Prolonged Wail of Horror: A Banshee in England As a rule, however, the Banshee is not seen, it is only heard, and it announces its advent in a variety of ways; sometimes by groaning, sometimes by wailing, and sometimes by uttering the most blood-curdling of screams, which I can only liken to the screams a woman might make if she were being done to death in a very cruel and violent manner….
Sad Stories of the Death of Kings Telling sad stories of the death of kings on this anniversary of the execution of King Charles I of England with three tales of portents of his sad end.
Silas Told and the Devil-Fish A ripping yarn from a Methodist convert. An intriguing tale of nameless poisons, the Devil, and a strange horned creature following the ship as a kind of marine psychopomp.
