Episode 26: Spectres of Empire. The Tale of Father Ioann Solov’ev

About this episode

This episode explores the haunting experiences of Father Ioann Solov'ev and other ghost stories from the late Russian Empire.

A ghost was plaguing the household of Father Ioann Solov'ev, the parish priest of the tiny hamlet of Lychentsy, in November 1900...floating objects, strange fires, disembodied voices, fleshy masses materialising in beds. Exorcisms, guards, the police...nothing seemed to work. In this special Halloween episode, we look at other haunted house stories from the late Russian Empire, explaining their prominence and popularity with reference to both popular demonology and the new craze for spiritualism and the occult sweeping urban populations. Source J. Mannherz, Modern Occultism in Late Imperial Russia (DeKalb: NIU Press, 2012) Voice credit Ekaterina Boltaeva as the voice of Marfa Larionova

People in this episode

Host: James White

Guest: Ekaterina Boltaeva

Topics covered

• haunted houses
• spiritualism
• occult
• demonology
• late Russian Empire

Keywords

• ghost stories
• Father Ioann Solov'ev
• haunting
• spiritualism
• occult
• demonology
• Lychentsy
• late Imperial Russia

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Modern Occultism in Late Imperial Russia

Places: Lychentsy

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