Episode 7 explains how the Victorian-era fascination with Spiritualism, science, and the supernatural influenced entertainment, early psychology, and the horror genre. Social conditions such as the American Civil War, high infant mortality, and popular Gothic literature—especially works by Edgar Allan Poe and Sheridan Le Fanu—helped fuel widespread interest in communicating with the dead, inspiring phenomena like spirit photography and stage illusions. One of the most famous technological spectacles was Pepper's Ghost, popularized by John Henry Pepper from an invention by Henry Dircks, which used angled glass and lighting to create realistic ghostly apparitions on stage, influencing theater, film, and even modern attractions like The Haunted Mansion. At the same time, intellectual interest in the paranormal led to the founding of the Society for Psychical Research, whose members—including figures like William James and Frederic W. H. Myers—studied hypnosis, hallucinations, and telepathy, contributing to the emerging field of psychology. These cultural currents also shaped early filmmakers such as George Albert Smith, whose background in mesmerism, stage performance, and visual spectacle—along with the work of collaborators like actress Laura Bayley—helped bridge Victorian theatrical illusion, psychical research, and the development of cinematic storytelling.

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