If ever there were three people I wanted to have a drink with, it would be @k8lister.bsky.social, @goingmedieval.bsky.social, and @anatomicalcat.bsky.social! This is gonna be such a great event 👇

The young squire Raskolnikov is one of Castle Pieterstein’s more enigmatic denizens, and he keeps his own counsel, but his loyalty to La Contessa is absolute. [CW snake]

Very excited to be part of this!

This table may seem odd in that there is a foot and four ears on it - but in fact the whole table top is made of petrified human remains. It was made by Efisio Marini and gifted to Napoleon III in 1867, and it can now be seen in the Musée de l’histoire de la médecine in Paris.

The Purgatory Chapel of St Michael’s Church in Untergriesbach, Bavaria displays a small collection of bones, included skulls that have been painted, usually with the name and dates of the person, sometimes their occupation, and other decoration.

Beyond the Knife is back for 2026! In a not-so-romantic pre-Valentine’s special, our Human Remains Conservator Cat Irving unpacks the fascinating history of syphilis. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. shows.acast.com/beyond-the-k...

An anatomical Christ, made in Germany - probably Bavaria - in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century

And here am I, doing one of my very successful online lectures for Romancing The Gothic.

I saw this model by Gaetano Giulio Zumbo in Paris on Saturday. He was a wax modeller who worked with a surgeon in Genoa, replicating his dissections in wax. Only two of his models survive from the end of the 17thC. I’ve posted photos of the one in La Specola in Florence before - this is the other

Giving one of my earliest talks on the 1832 Anatomy Act…

A skull peers out from a wall of long bones Skulls in the ossuary of the Church of St James, Brno, which holds the remains of more than 50,000 people

One of the catacomb saints in Ursberg,Germany - skeletons from catacombs in Rome that were sent over the Alps during the Counter Reformation to places where saints’ relics had been destroyed. Their ostentatious garments and gems were a declaration of the rewards that God gave to good Catholics

Plaster models showing eye diseases, made by French doctor Félix Thibert in the 1830s. He wanted all doctors to have access to a clinical picture of all common diseases so produced a series of models like these intended as a three dimensional encyclopaedia

Thinking back to an amazing time in Borneo

This is a wax model made in 19thC Brussels showing an enlarged heart. Also known as cardiomegaly, it can be caused by a variety of conditions such as high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, heart valves problems, or blocked coronary arteries - basically, anything that makes the heart work harder.

I always love a marble skeleton and this is one of my favourites. He’s in Sherborne, Gloucestershire. The monument dates to 1791, and is for James Lennox Dutton Esq. and his wife Jane. It depicts an angel trampling Death, and the sculptor was Richard Westmacott the Elder

I always love a marble skeleton and this is one of my favourites. He’s in Sherborne, Gloucestershire. The monument dates to 1791, and is for James Lennox Dutton Esq. and his wife Jane. It depicts an angel trampling Death, and the sculptor was Richard Westmacott the Elder

One of 22 panels in Gandino, Italy, showing an array of skeletons. Painted by Giovanni Radici between 1758 and 1771, some are prominent figures while others wear peasant garb. This skeleton, however, represents the king! Originally they were in the basilica to show that death doesn’t respect status

In the extraordinary ossuary in Sedlec in the Czech Republic…

I’ve shown anatomical models in wax, plaster, papier-mâché, plastic, and even ivory before - but this one is made from wood! It is larger than life-sized and there are over one hundred different pieces so it can be taken apart to show the anatomical layers

The Tooth Worm! People only really understood the cause of tooth decay in 19thC. Some thought worms caused this pain by gnawing into the teeth.This replica of an 18thC French Ivory of the tooth worm is in the Medical History Museum in Ingolstadt last year. Reminds me I need to go to the dentist…

As the snows fall, I’m thinking back to the skulls in Naples…

A papier-mâché model showing the anatomy of the ear massively enlarged. These structures are involved for hearing and balance, and include the smallest bones in the body.

Happy new year everyone! Hope you’re all feeling a bit more upbeat than St Jerome here. This is one of my Christmas books - looking forward to getting stuck in!

A very happy new year to you from we who linger in the cold halls of Castle Pieterstein. Raise a glass when the clocks strike thirteen!

Going into Hogmanay with my subtlest of earrings. Happy New Year folks!

Have you ever wanted to study with me? I run some great online courses through different institutions for good prices and the next ones start in January! Why not come join me? I'm putting all the details below! Come if you're interested in the Gothic, popular romance, or women's writing

Join me and the Viktor Wynd museum online 27th February as we'll still be in the thrall of Winter and I will be chatting about "minor" hauntings by child ghosts in literature & culture (access to recording for 2 weeks if you can't make it on the evening!) thelasttuesdaysociety.org/event/manife...

Less than a year until my next talk for Romancing the Gothic. Get that date in your diaries!

Happy roast potato day to all who celebrate.

Great talk with the expert and fellow Gothicist @anatomicalcat.bsky.social discussing the strange history of cadavers. #cadavers #deathstudies #graves

Delighted to have this published today in the Journal of the British Society for the History of Medicine bshm.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Spot me, circa.2000.

Superficial anatomy of the face in an eighteenth century wax model by Clemente Susini in La Specola, Florence

Tomorrow!

An arch of bones in the chapel at the side of the Igreja de Sao Sebastiao in the beautifully seaside town of Lagos in Portugal.

A modern model showing the anatomy of the mandible - featuring removable teeth with cavities!

A photo of the skull of Dante Alighieri from Fabio Frassetto’s 1933 book ‘Dantis Ossa’ (Dante’s bones). Since his death in 1321, his remains have been moved, hidden, lost, and examined. That he has had an eventful postmortem life is not unusual - and his is certainly not the strangest story.

Our Human Remains Conservator @anatomicalcat.bsky.social, will be joined by author Katherine Venables to discuss her book on her father Harry Walker’s experiences during the Burma campaign in the Second World War in our latest Dissecting the Author event. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dissecting...

Join our Human Remains Conservator @anatomicalcat.bsky.social to explore the history of Gonorrheoa and why it became commonly known as The Clap.

Appropriate decor in our hotel tonight…

Decomposition! My job is to stop it but I saw it regularly back in the days when I worked in the mortuary. This isn’t real, however, but made of wax in the late 17thC. It was produced by a Sicilian wax modeler named Gaetano Giulio Zumbo for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo de Mexico.

Am really looking forward to this - if you're interested in archive research, ghost stories or even my insane story as to how I overcame a decade of homelessness and heroin addiction to get to where I am today, please buy a ticket!

One of the absolute highlights of my trip to Ingolstadt in September was seeing the exhibition ´Ansichtssache’ (a matter of perspective) at the German Medical History Museum. It showed the knitted anatomy of Katharina Sabernig, and I can’t say how much I loved it!

Illustration of heart anatomy by Anna Maria D’Errico at the Institute of Human Anatomy of the University of Siena, during the 1960s.

Part two of my evening!

Part one of my evening!

I’m talking decomposition tonight, so I’m wearing my fly ring