Vote up the most strange and unnerving Victorian holiday cards.
There's something inherently twisted about Victorian culture: from creepy headless photos and exhausting courtship rituals to bone-chilling funeral portraits, the era was full of behavior and imagery that is off-putting at best and nightmare-inducing at worst. Some of the most unsettling stuff? Bizarre Victorian Christmas cards, believe it or not.
Before treacly Hallmark greetings, Shultz's schmaltzy Peanuts gang, and novelty naughty Santas became the norm, creepy Victorian Christmas cards featured devils, grotesque snowmen, homicidal frogs, goats, and a lot of dead birds. It's creepy, deeply unsettling stuff, especially if you don't like anthropomorphic animals (or impaled meat pies with wine-bottle legs). Below is just a small sample of the horror show. Happy Holidays!
