I went to the Van Meter Visitor Festival again yesterday

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I would highly recommend because it's not bad for a small regional event. Joshua Cutchin was there talking about how our expectations can change the nature of the experience. Kevin Lee Wilson talked about haunted houses and the architecture of fear; basically why we equate Victorian architecture with ghosts. Shawn Engelmann talked about his artistic process in creating images of cryptids and paranormal events.
I picked up a couple of books there: Kevin Randle's The Best of Blue Book and Cutchin's The Inverted Path. Joshua was nice enough to sign my book.

 

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Cutchin's The Inverted Plane.

There's a thread here on that book. Let us know what you think.

 

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Kevin Lee Wilson talked about haunted houses and the architecture of fear; basically why we equate Victorian architecture with ghosts.

What did he say?

 

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EDIT NOTE: Not the same book. Cutchin's book is The Inverted Path - not Plane - ??? Yes?
'The Inverted Path: Supernatural Disorientation and Disruptions in Travel' - is that it?

You can find the thread under 'Ghost Stories' - a different book from the above.

The Vertical Plane
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What did he say?

Smaller windows give a more claustrophobic feel and make it hard to see anything that is coming toward the house. And they often had plantings around them to obscure the house even further. Victorian houses are often a maze of smaller rooms, often darkened with thick heavy curtains. Winding hallways, and their ornate nature means that if you if didn't have the means to upkeep them, they fell into to disrepair fairly quickly. Sometimes their designs give them faces with windows above the front door portal.

EDIT NOTE: Not the same book. Cutchin's book is The Inverted Path - not Plane - ??? Yes?
'The Inverted Path: Supernatural Disorientation and Disruptions in Travel' - is that it?

You can find the thread under 'Ghost Stories' - a different book from the above.

The Vertical Plane​

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You're right. I goofed. It's fixed now.

 

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Smaller windows give a more claustrophobic feel and make it hard to see anything that is coming toward the house. And they often had plantings around them to obscure the house even further. Victorian houses are often a maze of smaller rooms, often darkened with thick heavy curtains. Winding hallways, and their ornate nature means that if you if didn't have the means to upkeep them, they fell into to disrepair fairly quickly. Sometimes their designs give them faces with windows above the front door portal.

Wow, great summary. Sounds like it was interesting. I'm old enough to have been taken as a wee sprout into the houses of old Victorians themselves - people born as far back as 1880, even 1870. The one outstanding memory is the smell of dust. Everything was covered with heavy embroidered material and masses of knick-knacks (from a child's perspective). All that was covered in layers of dust unless they had the wherewithal to have a servant do some cleaning, and even then the atmosphere was very 'closed in'. And yes, not much light. Not pleasant. When I see pictures of old Victorian rooms it's my first sensory experience - dust, then a closed-in stifling atmosphere.

Interesting side point: in the 'paranormal' world it is said that ghosty 'material' soaks into fabric - like cushions and rugs etc. I won't go into the physics of it - you get the drift. The result is that in such spaces there is a high residue of 'leftover' emotions. (Not saying I believe, just reporting). It's why the standard housewife practice every spring was a total airing of the house but you can imagine as those folks aged they had less and less ability to do the yearly airing. Anyway, the 'ghosty material' does not linger with stone, tile, wood, just the cloth fabric, anything soft, which needs a thorough cleaning to be 'fresh' of all undue 'influences'.