The Victorians were obsessed with death. And honestly…they knew how to make the holidays weird. This December, step into the Victorian parlor and discover a Christmas where mourning and merriment sat side by side.

They gathered around the fire to tell ghost stories on Christmas Eve.

They sent holiday cards featuring dead birds, murderous mice and menacing snowmen.

They delighted in images of Krampus—the half-goat, half-demon punisher of naughty children—bearing the ominous greeting, "Greetings from Krampus."

They celebrated the season while mourning their dead.

And then there was Charles Dickens, who helped turn Christmas Eve into the “witching time for Story-telling”—giving us Jacob Marley, the Ghost of Christmas Past and a holiday tradition that was far more haunted than holly-jolly.

Join a local death doula for an entertaining and thought-provoking Victorian Parlor Talk exploring the era’s extraordinary relationship with death, grief and the holidays—and what those strange traditions might have to teach us about remembrance, ritual and mortality today. The evening includes a one-hour talk, Victorian-inspired high tea, readings from spooky stories of the era, and a hands-on activity where you’ll create your own creepy Victorian-inspired holiday cards.

Led by a local death doula, this Victorian Parlor Talk invites the death curious to step beyond the syrupy sweetness of modern Christmas and into a world of haunted firesides, macabre folklore, and gleefully bizarre greetings. Because for the Victorians, the holidays weren’t an escape from death—they were another way to remember it.

Sunday, December 13, 2026 | 6:00–9:00 PM
$25 paid in advance (non-refundable deposit) and $25 paid at the door ($50 total)

Come curious. Stay for the tea. Leave with a creepy card—and a few ghosts of Christmas past.

Jennifer Cullinane is a Baltimore end-of-life doula and the founder of Cardinal Light Doula Services, LLC. Jennifer’s approach is rooted in the belief that death is a profound mystery and that each person deserves information, non-medical companionship, and emotional support as they consider what a meaningful and personalized dying experience looks like for them. You can learn more at Jennifer’s website https://cardinallightdoula.com