The Gothic Dispatch

I don't believe in ghosts but I am afraid of them.
A view of the front porch of Saint-Maclou Church. Flamboyant gothic stylings climb the façade, giving the appearance of a church on fire.

Saint-Maclou Church and the breakout of flamboyant gothic architecture

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There’s little risk of being burned as you explore flamboyant gothic architecture. But I do consider it my duty to warn you that you do risk being burned if you’re seen exploring it with me.

Greetings from Saint-Maclou Church, a significant spark in the outbreak of flamboyant gothic architecture in France. Find out why art historians cite it as one of the finest, fiercest examples of the style. Hear of the French and English who continued to argue as the flames rose around them. And wonder at the power of fire, as ruinous as it is purifying, in gothic architecture and beyond.

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In a display case in Toledo’s museum of witchcraft in Spain is a handwritten recipe book surrounded by obscure plants preserved in jars.

The wise healer becomes the evil witch in Toledo’s Brujeria Museum

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Just as superstition and misunderstanding have ruined the reputation of this writer, so they ruined the image of the witch in 15th century Europe.

Greetings from the Brujeria Museum, a cabinet of curiosities collecting the history of witchcraft in Spain – and her fall from wise healer to wicked heathen. Learn why witchcraft was safer practiced in the south of Spain. Read the handwritten recipe books for spells of transformation, invisibility and more. And help keep the image of the wise witch alive – even if you can’t save the other.

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The interrogation chair, a torture device of the Spanish Inquisition, in Toledo’s Museum of Torture. Iron spikes on all surfaces leave little to the imagination.

The Museum of Torture and the “painful questions” of the Spanish Inquisition

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So, you’ve been accused of heresy in 15th century Spain. What’s next? I won’t keep you in the dark. That, after all, is the job of the Spanish Inquisition.

Greetings from the Museum of Torture, a collection of “painful questions” put to the accused during the reign of Fernando II and Isabella I. Look back with regret at the events leading up to accusation and incarceration. Browse the cruel and merciless methods used to extract confessions from enemies of the state. And ask yourself if, maybe, you were better off kept in the dark.

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A corner of the courtyard of Saint-Maclou Aître. The timber-framed gallery features funereal wooden carvings while stone pillars are carved with the characters of the danse macabre.

Saint-Maclou Aître, the ossuary that swallowed an entire French parish

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The Black Death arrived in Rouen by boat and, in no time at all, wiped out three quarters of the population. I arrived by rail and, to the best of my knowledge, went comparatively unnoticed.

Greetings from Saint-Maclou Aître, location of the remains of Rouen’s plague ossuary and, indeed, many of its residents. Discover the funereal decorations builders carved into the beams of the medieval courtyard. Join the dance of death before its characters are worn to dust. And learn the fate of all those homes left empty when the Black Death disembarked.

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The Parkland Walk spriggan leans out from under a railway arch. All around, wild vines creep and hang – against the dark stone, colourful graffiti.

The Parkland Walk spriggan, guardian of the wilderness

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Under the castle ruins, among the standing stones and in the barrows under England, the old world is sleeping. One magical creature, however, had the misfortune to draw the night shift.

Greetings from Parkland Walk, once a battlefront of industrialisation, now reclaimed by the wilderness and its spriggan guardian. Join me as I walk the three-mile path through London. Pay tribute to the powers at work here – whether of our world or another. And follow the Gothic Dispatch if only to keep me from being led maliciously astray.

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The white exterior of Strawberry Hill House as seen from the gardens. Gothic battlements, towers and spires cluster as though for warmth; windows and finials fight for space.

Strawberry Hill House, Horace Walpole’s gothic plaything

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Few things suggest hereditary power in England like gothic castles – although receding hairlines come close. Fortunately, Horace Walpole chose to poke fun at the former.

Greetings from Strawberry Hill House, Horace Walpole’s “little gothic castle” and inspiration for the first gothic novel. Join me to discover the ironic origins of gothic literature’s essential inversion – that of the dominator and the subordinate. And peek behind the walls of England’s greatest castles to find power as flimsy as cardboard.

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The reading room of Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris. Wooden bookshelves and marble and iron busts line the walls while students and visitors study on grand tables lit by lamps.

Tracking Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” through Paris

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Edgar Allan Poe never set foot in Paris. He wrote about it anyway. But can “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” serve as a guide to the darker side of the city of light?

In this dispatch, join me between the pages and passageways of Poe’s gothic detective story. Hone your ratiocination in the footsteps of C. Auguste Dupin. Walk among volumes rare and remarkable in the city’s grand libraries. Search for the grotesque mansion in which the mystery unravels. And perhaps find an answer to one of the story’s biggest questions: Is the Rue Morgue a real place?

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Iron pillars hold up the roof of an old arcade in central Paris. A cobbled path leads through and, on the other side, the green of trees hints at a local square.

Dancing with death at the former site of Holy Innocents’ Cemetery

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Remember that war, plague or famine could carry us to the grave at any instant. So, let’s just try and enjoy ourselves before that.

In this dispatch, visit the former site of Holy Innocents’ Cemetery and the first visual example of a danse macabre. Search high and low for what remains of the cemetery – not least its reputation for depravity. And join me in learning that, whether you want to visit a country’s monuments or assassinate one of its monarchs, it’s best to seize every moment.

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A cobbled stone path winding through Père Lachaise Cemetery. Enormous stone tombs, protected by iron doors, line the path. Bright green foliage hangs overhead.

Making famous friends in Père Lachaise Cemetery

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Welcome to Père Lachaise – where there’s plenty of room for the living but the dead face stiffer entry requirements.

In this dispatch, join me as I search among more than one million residents for the best company in the afterlife. Meet the great French writers Molière and Jean de La Fontaine. Pay tribute to lovers Abelard and Heloise. And find out how they came to be buried here and how I might hope to, too. Because, while I have plenty left to do, see and lose in this life, one can never be too prepared.

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A grainy black and white photo of Reims Cathedral from the south-west corner. The towers, excessively decorated, reach into the clear sky and out of the top of the frame.

Losing my way in the labyrinth of Reims Cathedral

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Greetings from Reims Cathedral. While supposedly not an allusion to the disorienting and processional nature of ruling, this site of French coronations was once home to a labyrinth.

In this dispatch, follow me through the winding streets of the city and try not to get lured off-course by the art deco architecture. Lose all sense of scale as you gaze at the 15-foot statues of previous monarchs that line the cathedral’s towers. And discover why a labyrinth that held four masons and an archbishop has become a symbol of France’s historical monuments.

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