Encores! High Spirits

SÉANCE
A meeting at which people attempt to make contact with the dead, especially through the agency of a medium. (p. 10)

POLTERGEIST
A ghost or other supernatural being supposedly responsible for physical disturbances such as loud noises and objects thrown around. (p. 25)

APPARITION
A ghost or ghostlike image of a person. (p. 25)

ECTOPLASM
A supernatural viscous substance that is supposed to exude from the body of a medium during a spiritualistic trance and form the material for the manifestation of spirits. (p. 25)

MEDIUM
A person claiming to be in contact with the spirits of the dead and to communicate between the dead and the living. (p. 52)

EXORCISM
The religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, djinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. (verb: EXORCISED, p. 56)

BLITHE
Showing a casual and cheerful indifference considered to be callous or improper. (p. 64)

ASTRAL PLANE
A non-physical, spiritual realm believed to exist between the physical world and higher spiritual worlds (p. 75)

OUIJA
A flat board with letters, numbers, and words ("yes," "no") used with a heart-shaped pointer (planchette) to spell out messages believed to come from spirits (p. 81)

HEMLOCK
Any of several poisonous herbs related to the carrot and having finely divided leaves and small white flowers (p. 102)

“LITTLE TOMMY TUCKER...”
An English language nursery rhyme (p. 18)

GRAMOPHONE
Old-fashioned term for record player. (p. 19)

BRAHMS
Johannes Brahms was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. (p. 19)

RACHMANINOFF
Sergei Wassilievitch 1873–1943, Russian pianist and composer (p. 19)

OVALTINE
A brand of malted drink mix, named from its original Swiss name, Ovomaltine, combining Latin "ovo" (egg) and "malt," (p. 25)

BEATNIK
a young person in the 1950s and early 1960s belonging to a subculture associated with the beat generation. (p. 46)

OPIUM
A reddish-brown heavy-scented addictive drug prepared from the juice of the opium poppy, used as a narcotic and in medicine as an analgesic. (p. 47)

HEROINE
A highly addictive analgesic drug derived from morphine, often used illicitly as a narcotic producing euphoria. (p. 47)

MESCALIN
A hallucinogenic and intoxicating compound present in mescal buttons from the peyote cactus. (p. 48)

SECONAL
A barbiturate drug used as a sedative and hypnotic. (p. 48)

BENZEDRINE
A form of the drug amphetamine. (p. 49)

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
The senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England (p. 59)

MATADOR
A bullfighter whose task is to kill the bull, traditionally in Spain (p. 68)

AXLE GREASE
A heavy-duty lubricant, a thick, semi-solid mixture of oil and a thickener (like soap), specifically designed to reduce friction and wear in vehicle axles and wheel bearings. (p. 75)

BUDLEIGH SALTERTON
A charming, genteel seaside town in East Devon, England, known for its pebble beach (p. 87)

THE MIKADO
The Mikado is an operatic satire of late 19th century British institutions, society and politics. (p. 87)

CAPTAIN BRACEGIRDLE
A fictional naval officer from C.S. Forester's Hornblower (p. 87)

LUCREZIA BORGIA
a prominent Italian Renaissance noblewoman, daughter of Pope Alexander VI (p. 88)

EMILY BRONTE
An English writer best known for her 1847 novel, Wuthering Heights. (p. 91)

KIPLING
An English journalist, novelist, poet and short-story writer, some of his best-known work include Captain Courageous, The Light that Failed, and The Jungle Book (p. 91)

CAMELOT
The site of King Arthur's palace and court (p. 101)

MERLIN
A fictional character who appears in many stories about King Arthur, a legendary king of ancient Britain (p. 102)

SOCRATES
Ancient Athenian philosopher (p. 102)

CAURSO
Enrico Caruso was an Italian operatic tenor, who sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas

SALOME
Herodias's daughter, famous for her dance that led to John the Baptist's beheading, symbolizing temptation and danger; and Salome the disciple, a follower of Jesus who witnessed his crucifixion and resurrection, representing faith and devotion, derived from the Hebrew word for "peace"

BERNINI
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian sculptor, architect, painter and city planner

CELLINI
Benvenuto Cellini was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the Cellini Salt Cellar, the sculpture of Perseus with the Head of Medusa,

BROTHERS ADAM
Robert, John, James, and William Adam who developed with Adam Style of architecture, later known as Neoclassical

FREUD
Sigmund Freud was an Austrian physician and neurologist who revolutionized the understanding of the human mind and behavior through his development of psychoanalysis.

CAIN AND ABEL
In the Bible, Cain, the firstborn, was a farmer, and his brother Abel was a shepherd. The brothers made sacrifices, each from his own fields to God.

BARNUM & BAILEY
Phineas Taylor (P.T.) Barnum was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

OSCAR WILDE
An Irish author, poet and playwright.

JULIUS CEASAR
A Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war.

PROUST
Marcel Proust was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist best known for his novel À la recherche du temps perdu, which was published in seven volumes between 1913 and 1927.

ST THERESA
Teresa of Ávila OCD, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Carmelite nun and prominent Spanish mystic and religious reformer.

DISRAELI
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, was a British statesman, Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

HOMER
Homer is the name given to the ancient Greek author of the epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey, which are considered foundational works of Greek literature.

JOAN OF ARC
A patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War.

ARISTOTLE
An ancient Greek philosopher and polymath who made significant contributions to science and philosophy

THE KING OF PRUSSIA, I CALL HIM FREDDY
Frederick II was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia

MARY BAKER EDDY
An American religious leader and author, who in 1879 founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, the Mother Church of the Christian Science movement

AIMEE SEMPLE
Aimee Elizabeth Semple McPherson, also known as Sister Aimee or Sister, was a Canadian-born American Pentecostal evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and '30s, famous for founding the Foursquare Church. (p. 90)

DR CRIPPEN
Hawley Harvey Crippen, colloquially known as Dr. Crippen, was an American homeopath, ear and eye specialist and medicine dispenser.

LIZZIE BORDEN
An American woman who was tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892, axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts.

ATTILA
Attila, frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453.

KEATS AND SHELLEY
John Keats (1795-1821) and Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) were major English Second-Generation Romantic poets, known for their lyrical, emotional, and imaginative works focusing on beauty, nature, mortality, and social reform.

BOTTECELLI
An Italian painter and a key figure in the Early Renaissance

MARTIN LUTHER
A German theologian and religious reformer who initiated the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.

CASANOVA
A man known for seducing women and having many lovers.

GERTRUDE STEIN
An American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector active during the 1920s

DELILAH & SAMSON
A biblical story about betrayal

ROBIN HOOD
A legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema.

MOSES
The Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the Exodus from Egypt.

PRESENTIMENT
An intuitive feeling about the future, especially one of foreboding. (p. 16)

BUNG HO
Extremely enthusiastic, eager, or zealous, often in an unrestrained or overly eager way, (p. 17)

HEIGHO
Used typically to express boredom, weariness, or sadness or sometimes as a cry of encouragement (p. 18)

LONG IN THE TOOTH
Rather old. (p. 18)

“GOOD SHOW”
Used to express approval. (p. 20)

DRAW A BLANK
Elicit no successful response; fail. (p. 21)

MAD AS A HATTER
Wildly irrational or out of touch with reality, like the Mad Hatter character in Alice in Wonderland. (p. 26)

RAVING MAD
Someone who is completely crazy, irrational, or wildly angry (p. 26)

DRAUGHT
British spelling of draft/ a current of cool air in a room or other confined space. (p. 26)

GUTTERSNIPE
A scruffy and badly behaved child who spends most of their time on the street. (p. 31)

ABERRATION
A departure from what is normal, usual, or expected, typically one that is unwelcome. (p. 36)

LEER
Look or gaze in an unpleasant, malicious, or lascivious way, an unpleasant, malicious, or lascivious look. (p. 36)

SHREW
A woman who is argumentative, nagging, and ill tempered. (p. 37)

TWEEDY
Of a refined, traditional, upscale character. (p. 38) 

SEEDY
Sordid and disreputable. (p. 38)

N’TH DEGREE
To the utmost (p. 48)

COIN A PHRASE
Said ironically when introducing a banal remark or cliché (p. 52)

QUACK
A person who dishonestly claims to have special knowledge and skill in some field, typically medicine. (p. 53)

SOURBETTE
An actress or other female performer playing a lively, flirtatious role in a play or opera. (p. 53)

SUIVEZ-MOI
Follow me (p. 65)  

UNSCRUPULOUS
Having or showing no moral principles; not honest or fair. (p. 86)

FECKLESS
Lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible. (p. 87)

BOWL YOU OVER
To greatly impress, surprise, or overwhelm someone (p. 91)

IT’S A GAS
Something that is fun, excellent, awesome, or hilarious (p. 91)