The World of Begotten: Séances, Ghosts And Gothic Fiction With Dr Kate Cherrell

What happens when the dead won’t stay silent—and the past refuses to rest? In today’s hauntingly atmospheric episode of Haunted History Chronicles, I’m delighted to be joined by Dr Kate Cherrell: paranormal historian, researcher of Victorian spiritualism, and now, debut novelist.

Kate has long been a familiar voice in the world of the weird and wonderful, known for her meticulous historical research and insightful writing on the occult, death culture, and the Victorian fascination with the afterlife. Today, she joins me to discuss her journey into the paranormal, and to lift the veil on her brand new gothic horror novel, Begotten.

Set in the crumbling, fog-soaked county of Duncain, Begotten immerses readers in a world of seances, secrets, and ghostly visitations. It’s a chilling tale where grief warps into obsession, and the line between the living and the dead becomes perilously thin. We’ll explore the inspirations behind this richly layered story—from the spiritualist craze of the 19th century to the silencing of women’s voices, and how ghosts might just be the shadows of our own deepest fears.

We talk gothic tropes, unreliable narrators, haunted houses, and what it really means to live alongside your ghosts—whether you’re a Victorian widow or a modern-day paranormal investigator. Plus, Kate shares some of her own unexplained experiences, the reality behind filming paranormal TV, and why the stories we tell about the dead say so much about the living.

If you’ve ever lit a candle on a stormy night and dared to peer beyond the veil, this is an episode for you.

My Special Guest Is Dr Kate Cherrell 

Kate Cherrell holds a PhD specialising in 19th Century Gothic. She lectures widely on Victorian mourning cultures and the Spiritualist movement and has work featured in several international publications, including Haunted Magazine for which she is a staff writer. She is a freelance writer, author, consultant, and editor and holds a keen interest in cemeteries, spooky history and memorials which she documents on her website.

In this episode, you will be able to: 

1. Take a deep dive into Begotten: gothic horror, psychological tension, and ghostly inheritance

2. Discover the eerie reality of Victorian seances and how spiritualism shaped an era

3. Understand why ghosts remain a mirror to the fears we can’t explain

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