Chris Woodyard, author of the Ghosts of the past series, digs through long buried newspapers and journals for this fascinating look at the 19th-century obsession with the culture of death. The Victorian Book Of The Dead unearths extraordinary tales of Victorian funeral fads & fancies, ghost stories, bizarre deaths, mourning novelties, gallows humor, premature burial, post-mortem photographs, death omens, & funeral disasters. Packed with macabre anecdotes, this diverting yet gruesome collection presents tales ranging from the paranormal & shocking to the heartbreaking.