ONCE UPON A
Slime Kate Cherrell embraces ‘Ectoplasm’ in the Age of Cheesecloth
hen Peter Venkman whimpered in a hotel hallway in 1984 that ‘he slimed me’, what constituted ‘actual physical contact’ for the Ghostbusters, was not so different to the spiritualists that preceded them, one hundred years before.
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Spiritualism laid its roots with the Fox Sisters in Hydesville, New York in 1848. As the young girls claimed to communicate with spirits through ‘rappings’, their fame and short-lived fortune was inevitable. Yet, as Spiritualism developed into an enormous religious movement, separate from the Fox Sisters’ trickery, increasing claims of fantastical spiritual ability were inevitable. The movement snaked across the western world, developing in theory, in scientific interest and brought hope and reassurance to thousands. The work of 19th and early 20th century spiritualists helped the movement find a home in churches, homes, and public arenas. It also developed and sculpted methods of séance as we know them today. As fascinating, academic, and culturally important as Spiritualism may be, at its peak, it was full of sex, drugs, and more orifices than you can shake a Ouija board at. It was beautiful, intriguing, and brought purpose to many.
It was also, at times, utterly ridiculous. It brought together level-headed people with Martian kings, ancient pirate spirit guides and undead artists.
As spiritualism developed its own methodologies and experimented with different ways of contacting spirits, many mediums entered a level of one-upmanship never seen before. When one medium could contact the dead and pass on messages verbally or through automatic writing, another could bring the dead person into the room, ready to reintroduce themselves to their family. Some spirit guides became famous, sending their respective mediums into superstardom…at least until a sitter thought to grab hold of the not-so ghostly apparition. Many mediums in a search for fame and success understandably needed to validate their status as a channeler or spiritual catalyst. However, as the 19th century rolled on, fraudulent mediums were exposed with increased frequency and much of the trust that had been built within the movement was at breaking point. - 28 HAUNTED MAGAZINE
In response, the focus of mediumship - particularly performance mediums who sought fame, infamy, or financial gain through their seances – switched to the legitimacy of the individual, not the relative enormity of their claims. As such, after exhausting itself with the grandiosity of its manifestations, mediumship, and spiritualism, still very much in its infancy, refined and shrank its claims. As the Victorian age ended, one of the most popular ways to demonstrate one’s supposed mediumistic abilities was through the production of ectoplasm. Much like yo-yos and Pokémon cards, ectoplasm was a powerful trend that tore through the schoolyards of spiritualism. The ectoplasm that readily appeared in seances of the 20th century was a little different to Slimer’s own gloop but was equally as shocking and exciting to the investigators who observed it. It must be said that much like any trend, not everyone was a participant or believer in the legitimacy of ectoplasm. As many mediums dismissed ectoplasm as celebrated it.
