The supernatural

History of Spiritism in Paris: when the capital sought to contact the dead

Tables turning, mediums, scientific experiments and attempts to converse with the beyond: spiritism left an indelible mark on 19th-century Paris. From bourgeois salons to Allan Kardec, and onward to the researchers of the Belle Époque, a look back at a history where belief, curiosity and science frequently sat at the same table.

In Paris, poisonings and black masses rocked the court of the Sun King.

What was the Poison Affair really hiding? In Paris, poisonings, occult practices, and court intrigues draw La Voisin and Louis XIV’s inner circle into a sensational judicial scandal from 1679 to 1682. A look back at a case that ultimately reached the gates of Versailles.

Phantom Paris: 4 historic sites to discover for a spine-tingling fright

Ghost stories and curses are among the many legends that color Paris’s heritage. From the Palais Garnier to the Jardin des Tuileries, via Avenue Frochot and Rue de la Harpe, here are four historic sites where those tales still spark curiosity.

Did you know? This "esprit frappeur" from the Latin Quarter gave the Paris police a real run for their money.

In the summer of 1860, strange projectiles struck a dwelling on Rue des Noyers, near Rue de la Harpe in Paris. Soon the case fed the lead toward a mysterious poltergeist, with even the police dispatched to the scene said to have been targeted.