I just read these two articles and thought they might be of interest to folks here.

The first is a brief history of spiritualism in the form of a review of three recent books: "Supernatural Entertainments: Victorian Spiritualism and the Rise of Modern Media Culture," by Simone Natale; "The Witch of Lime Street: Seance Seduction & Houdini in the Spirit World," by David Jahe; "Mr. Splitfoot," by Samantha Hunt.

http://www.publicbooks.org//multigenre/h......m-spread

The other is a short article by Luc Sante about spirit photographs, which contains this amazing description:

"Spirit photographs never fail to be eerie, if only because of their tawdriness. Like most, this one is indifferently composed; the lighting is garbage even under the circumstances; the sitter, who seems aware that she is not the subject, wears her at-home dyspeptic face, touched with apprehension. If you could see the backdrop it would be oppressive wallpaper. And then there is that thing hovering above her head, a scrambled egg with a face in it. It is all redolent of clammy houses, coal stoves, lumpy upholstery, dust in the corners, digestive biscuits, weak tea, rice powder, Florida water barely masking perspiration, ticking mantelpiece clock, air being gradually pumped out of the room, the atmosphere turning into gelatin. In such a setting, ectoplasm seems not only unsurprising but inevitable."

http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/07/12/o-death/