3D Victorian Horror: The Diableries; Eposode 10 of The Midnight Archive

A new episode of The Midnight Archive--the web-based documentary series centered around Observatory--has just been uploaded and can be viewed above. In this episode we learn about--and view in graphic and gorgeous detail!--the Diableries, Victorian hand-colored stereo views depicting daily life in hell and peopled with skeletons, lovely ladies, and the devil himself, and in infernal colors and glorious 3D.

The creator of The Midnight Archive--Film-maker and many-time Observatory lecturer Ronni Thomas--says about this episode:

This episode brings this whole series and experience full circle. In a lot of ways, the topic here--‘Death and Devils in 3D’--is what brought me to this even bigger world. A few years back, I’d given my first ‘lecture’ at Observatory at the request of my friend Joanna. Assuming nobody would show up, I agreed and was promptly shocked and inspired by just how amazing the turnout had been. All to see my collection of 19th century 3D devil tissues... And more than that--the crowd was a delightful mixed bag. From Mensa to Princeton to the street punks and dregs, from the curious to the satanic... Truly inspiring. And so here is my own entry into the archive--please be kind--I hate being on camera but, what the “Hell”... I’m particularly proud of the way we treated the slides. The idea was to give more of the 3D/color effect to the Diableries than simple scans would give you. My ultimate dream is to film the entire series in 3D and set it to music (wink wink at the Real Tuesday Weld)--kept it brief and informal--I am aware of a very comprehensive book currently in the works on the series being done in part by Brian May (Queen’s guitar player and avid stereoscopic fan) so keep your eyes opened! Enjoy!

For more on the series, to see former episodes, or to sign up for the mailing list and thus be alerted to future uploads, visit The Midnight Archive website by clicking here. You can also "like" it on Facebook--and be alerted in this way--by clicking here. You can find out more about Observatory by clicking here. You can find out more about Roni Thomas by clicking here.