PF TV's video: A GHOST STORY Phantasmagoria Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll could tell quite a ghost story! We're happy to have found this fantastical poem for our collection. Lewis Carroll published Phantasmagoria and Other Poems in 1869. Delightfully creepy "Thing" illustrations by Arthur B. Frost. "Inscribed to a dear Child; in memory of golden summer hours and whispers of a summer sea." This is how the story goes: iconic shock-goth-glam-rock darling Marilyn Manson once tried to make a film about Lewis Carroll and Alice’s Wonderland tales, but so outraged were the public by the trailer alone that the project died a suitably scandalous death. The film was to be called Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll, and the combination of spooky bad-boy Manson and the cherished Victorian tale should have been a commercial slam dunk – cinematic catnip for anyone under forty who had ever donned black nail polish while feeling tragic and beautiful. But, for better or for worse, it never happened. Curiouser and curiouser. It’s easy to see why Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland stories have been so tightly embraced by gothic subcultures across the globe: if ever there were twisted literary adventures that championed the sensation of not fitting in, these were it. Manson – whose real name is Brian Warner – is not the only visual artist who has been drawn to the gothic potential of Carroll’s tales. The video game American McGee’s Alice (2000), Mari Terashima’s Lolita film Alice in the Underworld: The Dark Marchen Show!! (2009) and Tim Burton’s 2010 adaptation are all immediate peers when it comes to texts that emphasise the dark side of Alice. Combine that with Carroll’s signature Victorian aesthetic, and goths and Alice were a match made in heaven. So, when it was announced in 2006 that Manson was going to make his feature directorial debut with this particular project, few were surprised. Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll is a psychological horror film written and directed by Marilyn Manson. Anthony Silva and Geoff Cox assisted with the production, which was primarily handled by Wild Bunch.[1] The film had an estimated budget of $4,200,000, and would have been Manson's first high-profile directorial effort. Lily Cole portrayed the lead female role for the film, opposite Manson[1] – Tilda Swinton, Evan Rachel Wood and Angelina Jolie were rumored to be among the cast as well. Phantasmagoria was announced at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2006,[2] and after several delays, the film was shelved as a result of poor reception to a leaked trailer.[3] The film's title is taken from Phantasmagoria and Other Poems, a famous collection of Lewis Carroll poems published in 1869.