I had really high hopes for this book... I love nonfiction books about the history of different cultural practices, holidays, etc. Unfortunately, this book just really missed the mark for me. I found it to be a little all over the place and the sections that addressed the history of any of the practices read more like a college essay. There were also a few sections that felt kind of random and unrelated to the topic of the book (mainly in the past few chapters). It was also a little frustrating that in the topics that I found very interesting and relevant to the topic of the book, the author mentioned that there wasn't enough time in the book to go into the topic except for a general, surface level explanation. I would have much preferred a deeper historical dive into a few topics than a general (and very short) historical background on many topics. After each section, there is also a "Try it yourself" (how-to) section about each topic, and I found that these felt about as long as the nonfiction part of the book. I wasn't really interested in that aspect of this, so that also added to my experience of this book. While that aspect was mentioned in the description, I did not realize it would be such a large chunk of the book.

I think readers who are interested in trying out some of these practices on their own might really enjoy this book. For me though (as someone who was seeking out more of a nonfiction-history like book) this one wasn't for me.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars - I loved it!

This book was a wonderful look at Victorian spiritualism, magic, and the supernatural. Douris explores the history of spiritualism, séances, automatic writing, cartomancy, spirit photography, and many other things. Douris also provides information on the history of supernaturals, superstitions, magic, and Halloween and Christmas celebrations. Not only is this book filled with a wonderful look at history, it also provides hands-on exercises to try your hand at Victorian spiritualism.

This book was a wonderful introduction to Victorian spiritualism and the many facets that it entailed. I really loved that this provides brief histories of all the different aspects because this was all new to me and gave me a well rounded look at what Victorian spiritualism entailed. The hands-on activities were a wonderful bonus that were easy to follow and mostly historically accurate. Douris also was very up front in confronting the racism of the Victorian era which I think is extremely important in this current age to discuss.

Overall, this was an absolutely fascinating and informative look at Victorian spiritualism. I learned so much from this book and will do more research on this topic in the future with the helpful recommended reading list. If you are a fan of ghost stories, séances, and spiritualism I highly recommend this book, especially if you want to learn some hands-on techniques.

Spirits, Seers & Séances is an an introduction to Victorian mysticism. It explores the foundations of what made things like clairvoyance, automatic writing, spirits and faeries, and mediumship so appealing to the Victorians. It also includes further ways to explore the topics and hands-on exercises to try out.

This book was right up my alley, and while I’ve read books on these topics before, the style of the book felt modern and fresh and I could still learn a lot. It was interesting to read about the spiritualist community’s being slightly more egalitarian and giving women and people of color like Harriet E. Wilson, a Black American spiritualist and novelist, through her popularity as a medium a platform and larger audience to deliver more political lectures. And while I wish the book had gone into further detail with many of the people it talks about, I found the portions toward the end of each chapter detailing historical figures, places of interest and art aesthetics and novels a great jumping off point to dive deeper into the rabbit hole of the reader’s choosing.

The exercises in the book were also an interesting approach to get more into the mindset of the people living at the time and try out what was being talked about. I also really appreciated the inclusiveness in these exercises as not everyone can or would enjoy approaching them the same way.

Whether you’re a Halloween girlie like me who loves all things spooky and witchy or if you’re interested in history and the Victorian era this is an interesting, informative, and at times mysterious read. It’s perfect for when the nights start getting longer and there’s a chill in the air.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Spiritualism is popular again as it was 100 or so years ago. This book gives history and common sense techniques to connect with the other side. My favorite part of this book is its divination section. Using the advice given it is possible to use a common deck of cards to really get an overview of life that is easy to do and isnt scary or out of date. Great book that is interesting and well written as well as illustrated.

Spirits, Seers and Séances is a great introduction to the victorians and spiritualism. The book talks about a wide array of topics and introduces a lot of significant people of that time.
I enjoyed reading it quite a lot and liked how it gave an interesting view into the historic aspect of Victorian spiritualism as well as a closer look into the history of topics like séances, police investigations and gothic literature. It was very interesting to see how much inspiration movies, tv shows and books take from the victorians e.g. the use of spiritualists like mediums as aid in crime investigations.
One of the most interesting topics was the conversation about how Victorian women and people of color were not welcome in most spaces and how they found acceptance and community in spiritualism instead.
I think this is a great book for you if you enjoyed the background and setting of Leigh Bardugos Ninth House and want to learn more about the supernatural aspects of Victorian life and how it still has an influence in media and culture today.

The only thing this book could've done better is to incorporate pictures, especially in chapter 4 where it talks about ghost photography and famous photographs that you end up having to look up yourself.

As someone who is always interested in the strange and mysterious, i knew i wanted to this essay a go. I really enjoyed it and finished it within basicially a night. It definatly goes into the details of spiritualism and that to me was interesting. Definatly alot of references too. Read while listening to spooky music helped too.