Name: A Victorian Séance Experience
Start: 2024-10-24T22:30:00+00:00
End: 2024-10-28T01:20:00+00:00
Location: Mabry-Hazen House

Description

As the evenings grow darker and the first hint of winter hangs in the air, the western world enters the season of the dead.

It is a time when ghost stories, dark tales, and mysterious happenings rise up to help us understand death and the unexplained. Along with the historic house museum and family history, Mabry-Hazen House also preserves this darker history of Americans' experiences with death, burial, and Spiritualism. For the seventh year, Mabry-Hazen House will exhibit those macabre, yet fascinating cultural moments during their immersive A Victorian Séance Experience.

With start times ranging from 6:30pm-9:20pm on October 24, 6:30pm-10:30pm on October 25 and October 26, and 6:30pm-8:50pm on October 27, 2023, Mabry-Hazen House will host A Victorian Séance Experience inside the front parlors of the 1858 historic house.

Under the guidance of a Victorian medium, the séances will reenact a nineteenth-century Spiritualist seance filled with “mysterious and startling wonders.” Joining their Victorian host, sitters will judge historic “demonstrations” of mediumship. Relying on primary sources from the nineteenth century, these sessions recreate a Victorian séance and give you an immersive experience to investigate them. Whether true manifestations of spirits or clever parlor tricks, sitters at the séances will experience this eerie, yet ubiquitous aspect of nineteenth-century American life.

Séances occur every 20 minutes starting at 6:30 pm and last showing starting at 9:20pm (Thur), 10:30pm (Fri-Sat) or 8:50pm(Sun). Guests select a specific date and time to reserve a seat at the table. Each session is limited to 7 guests, it is strongly recommended tickets be purchased in advance, and all sitters must be 10 or older.

Tickets are $25 per person ($20 per person for Mabry-Hazen House Members) and $15 for ages 10-17. Sitters should arrive at least 15 minutes before their reservation.

These sessions use the traditional tools of the Victorian séance to educate about the history of Spiritualism. These séances are for educational and entertainment purposes. This is not a demonstration of mediumship or a way to contact the deceased. It is not recommended for the recently bereaved.

This project is being supported in part by federal award number 21.027 awarded to the City of Knoxville by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Arts & Culture Alliance

Date & Time

Oct 24 - 27, 2024

Venue Details

Mabry-Hazen House

1711 Dandridge Avenue
Knoxville, Tennessee 37915

Mabry-Hazen House

The Mabry-Hazen House Museum, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is located atop Mabry's Hill in Knoxville, Tennessee. Built in 1858, three generations of the same family resided in the Italianate-style home overlooking downtown Knoxville, the Tennessee River, and Great Smoky Mountains. Furnished and decorated in the style of several decades, Mabry-Hazen gives a rare view into 130 years of Knoxville history. The museum showcases one of the largest original family collections in America with over 2,500 original artifacts on display. Learn about the origins of Knoxville's iconic Market Square, the bitter divisions of the Civil War, the infamous 1882 Gunfight on Gay Street, a mountain city in the New South, the scandalous 1934 breach of promise and seduction trial, and much more through the rich, colorful lives of the Mabry and Hazen families.

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