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
More episodes of Tales from Imperial Russia
- Episode 27: The Tsar of Thieves. The Tale of Van’ka Kain
- Episode 25: Defeating the Demon Drink. The Tale of Ivan Churikov
- Episode 24: City under Siege. The Tale of Rudolph Felix Bauer
- Episode 23: The Other Rasputin. The Tale of Iliodor (Trufanov)
- Episode 22: From Riches to Ruin. The Tale of Ivan Tolchenov
- Episode 21: Empire of Light and Colour. The Tale of Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii
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