Lore - Lore 309: Party Favors
Episode Date: June 29, 2026Parties promise us a break from the mundane or troubling. But a few celebratory gatherings in history have turned the tables, delivering something far more frightening. Narrated and produced by Aaron ...Mahnke, with writing by GennaRose Nethercott, research by Cassandra de Alba, and music by Chad Lawson. ————————— PRE-ORDER EXHUMED TODAY: aaronmahnke.com/exhumed ————————— Lore Resources: Get Ad-Free Lore: lorepodcast.com/support Episode Music: lorepodcast.com/music Episode Sources: lorepodcast.com/sources Official Lore Merchandise: lorepodcast.com/shop ————————— Sponsors: Gusto: Online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. Try Gusto today at Gusto.com/LORE, and get 3 months free when you run your first payroll. Quince: Premium European clothing and accessories for 50% to 80% less than similar brands. Visit Quince.com/LORE for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Casper: Right now, save up to 30% on the mattress you deserve at Casper.com. Chime: Chime is banking done right. Open an account in 2 minutes at chime.com/lore. ————————— To report a concern regarding a radio-style, non-Aaron ad in this episode, reach out to ads @ lorepodcast.com with the name of the company or organization so we can look into it. To advertise on this podcast please email: ad-sales@libsyn.com. Or go to: https://advertising.libsyn.com/lore ————————— ©2026 Aaron Mahnke. All rights reserved.
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She may have been Antoinette at birth, but to most people today, she's Madame Cherie.
Born in Paris in 1878, Antoinette had a humble upbringing, working as a seamstress
and a nightclub dancer. In 1909, she got married, a normal choice for a normal girl.
Or, well, so she thought. But she soon discovered that her new husband wasn't quite who he seemed
to be. No, the man that she knew as André was actually Anthony McAle.
Luso, a fugitive from the law, but Antoinette didn't run the other way. No, instead she figured,
hey, if he can fake an identity, why can't I? And so, with imagination and the art of the con
on her side, the couple left Paris and moved to the best location on earth for starting fresh,
New York City. And so, goodbye Antoinette and hello, Madame Cherie, one of the 1920s most
infamous socialites. Spitting backstories of glitz and glamour, these lovebirds wriggled among the
city's elites, and it worked. Soon that humble seamstress was designing costumes on Broadway. But as we all know,
nothing gold can stay. And when her beloved Anthony died in 1924, Madame Cherie was bereft.
She ditched New York City, vanishing into 600 acres of New Hampshire woodlands. And there, deep in mourning
and far from society, she built a castle. Half Roman ruin, half French chalet. This place was lavish,
festooned with furs and scarlet draperies, with a massive stone staircase winding up the side. It was like
a real-life fairy tale. But don't get me wrong here, just because she moved into the woods
didn't mean that she quit being a socialite. On the contrary, Madame Cherey became famous
for her opulent drunken parties thrown right there in her forest palace. All the biggest
names in the New York theater scene came to drink their way through prohibition, while
Madame Cherie reigned over it all from a cobra-backed chair she called the Queen's Throne.
Now, what did the rural New Hampshire townies think of her? Nothing flattering, that's for sure,
but she didn't care, flaunting her boa-clad, bejeweled self wherever she could. Eventually,
though, the money ran dry and the Madam's reign ended. She spent her final days in a nursing home,
surviving on welfare until passing away in 1965 at the age of 87.
But while it lasted, that mysterious party girl and her forest castle
had been one of New England's most glamorous secrets.
And, well, if the stories are to be believed, maybe it still is.
Because, you see, it's said that if you hike the public trails
in the part of Chesterfield, New Hampshire, now known as the Madame Cherie Forest,
you might just hear the sounds of a phantom party wafting through,
the trees, while a shadowy costume woman hovers just out of sight. How will you know you're in the
right spot? Oh, that's easy. Just look for a crumbling grand staircase, curving upward toward the sky.
That's right, the ruins of her castle are still there. It just goes to show, some parties linger on,
long after the final guest has left. I'm Aaron Mankey, and this is lore.
It was a time that was known as the reign of terror, and it certainly lived up to that name.
As the most notorious stage of the French Revolution, the reign of terror was a nearly year-long
stretch between 1793 and 1794 that would go down in history as one of the bloodiest times
the world has ever seen, and it was all thanks to a rather ironically titled group called
the Committee of Public Safety. Yeah, suffice to say, public safety,
not have been the most accurate title for these guys? Essentially, this revolutionary committee
put itself in charge of France, running the government as a dictatorship, and their favorite
pastime, killing any and all opposition to the revolution. And sure, that included executing
rival political leaders as well as the ruling aristocracy, like Marie Antoinette's famous
beheading. But the Committee of Public Safety murdered plenty of ordinary citizens, too. Basically,
if they decided that you weren't supporting the cause loudly and proudly enough,
well, that was it. Off with your head. In June of 1794, the committee ramped it up a notch,
announcing that people were no longer entitled to a public trial. No, the committee could kill
with impunity, and that's exactly what they did. In the next month alone, 1,400 people were
guillotined, just in the city of Paris. Now, understandably, even other revolutionaries were
starting to become a taincy bit uncomfortable with all of this unfettered head chopping.
And so the head of the committee, Robespierre, was finally toppled literally, and thus
the reign of terror came to an end. By the time the smoke cleared and the dead were counted,
16,564 people had been guillotined in France over less than a year. Another 10,000 had died in
prison while thousands more were drowned in the river at Nunt. Add to that another 2,000,
human lives subjected to mass execution in Leon via cannons loaded with grape shots,
and while the reign of terror had certainly taken its toll.
People weren't too stoked on all that bloodshed.
And in the final stages of the revolution, the cultural pendulum swung the other way.
Soon enough, the aristocrats who fled during the reign of terror started to feel safe
returning to France.
And so how, you might ask, do a bunch of rich people who narrowly escaped beheading
celebrate their homecoming? Why? By truly horrendous parties, of course. They were called
Belle de Victim, or Victim's Balls. And don't expect an invite in your mailbox anytime soon,
because these high-society guest lists were elite. Allegedly to garner a coveted invitation,
you had to either have escaped the guillotine yourself or had a family die beneath the falling silver
blade. Imagine this, though, a room of twirling dancers, all dressed in morning wear and
crepe paper armbands, symbolizing death.
A young man asks you to dance, but instead of a customary bow,
he jerks his head sharply to the side.
Looking around, you realize all the dancers are performing the same eerie greeting,
an imitation of a neck being severed.
Meanwhile, pinned to guest gowns are mementos of lost loved ones,
and I don't mean roses or brooches.
No, they've affixed blood-soaked scraps of the clothing their families had been executed in,
purchased back from the executioner.
Writing to his wife back in England,
British diplomat Henry Swinborn said,
after attending one such swaray,
that it was, as fine a ball as ever was given in days of yore.
300 of the company had lost near relations by the guillotine.
Some of the men there danced with their hats on and with red heels.
Now, to be honest, due to the extreme exclusivity of these victim's balls,
we don't know for sure whether all the rumors of what went down behind closed doors are true or not.
Some historians think reports of the balls may have been satirical exaggerations,
but honestly, given what the aristocracy was visibly doing in public during that time,
I wouldn't be surprised if things were indeed even more ghastly in private.
And I know what you're wondering, what were they doing in public?
Why, what any high society always does, flaunting the latest fashions.
For example, there was a hairstyle known,
as, I kid you not, the guillotine cut. That was all the rage among wealthy ladies. It was a short
choppy-do meant to mimic the neck-exposing haircut that execution victims were given before
beheading. And if you think that's in poor taste, wait until you hear about some of their outfits.
You see, a blood-red color known as Amaranth had become the official color of high society. To quote
fashion historian Anne Higginet, women wore Amaranth victim ribbons around their necks to commemorate
the cut of the guillotine's blade.
Goolish amaranth victim ribbons were also worn crossed over bodices or sleeves,
down the sides of dresses or twined into hairdos.
And yes, you heard that right, folks.
Rich women tied blood-red ribbons around their necks to look like they had been guillotined,
as a fashion statement.
And if that sounds familiar to you, it may be because the fashion went on to influence
a number of prominent ghost stories.
Washington Irving, the author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, wrote a piece called The Adventure of the German Students,
in which a young man visits France during the Revolution and has a fling with a French girl wearing a thick ribbon necklace,
only to later learn that she'd been dead the whole time, the victim of the guillotine.
Alexander Dumas' novel, The Woman with the Velvet Necklace,
follows a similar plot about a beheaded mistress with her head attached by a ribbon.
But you may probably know a different, more modern version of this tale.
In fact, you may have read it as a kid.
That's right, from Alvin Schwartz's In a Dark, Dark Room,
it's a little story called The Green Ribbon.
The French Victims' Balls may have been ghoulish,
but at least all the guests were alive,
which is more than I can say for this next party that will be attending,
an ocean and a century later.
Miss Betty Hun lived her summers in Delaware.
For the 24-year-old, it was a chance to escape the noise and bustle of Philadelphia
and enjoy a slower pace of life.
There were her summer friends to catch up with, cocktails to drink, swimming to be had.
She spent her days lazing around her family's summer home near Dover,
an old house called Wildcat Manor, which had belonged to the Huns for generations.
But the real star of the summer, why that would have to be the ghost hunting part.
Now, we've talked in the past about things like comet-watching parties.
Events hosted on the specific date a comet was supposed to appear so that you and your guests
could all take in the celestial site together.
And, well, Betty's annual ghost parties were a similar idea.
They too took place on a specific day, September 26th of every year, to be exact, and also
involved getting a bunch of folks together to watch a strange glowing object manifest against
the night sky.
But the big difference here, Miss Hun and her guests weren't gathering to watch a comet.
They were there to watch a ghost.
Or rather, two ghosts.
You see, according to local lore, September 26th marked the date when two women had drowned in the river right near Wildcat Manor.
Ever since then, it was said that the victim's ghosts would appear in full,
phantasmic glory, right at midnight, and remain visible for nearly an hour.
In fact, belief in the story was so prevalent, one newspaper claimed,
older residents in the area refused to leave their houses at night for fear of the ghosts.
But hey, Betty wasn't afraid of no ghosts, and so she figured, what better way to spend an
evening than by getting all her best friends together once a year, sneaking down to the river,
and trying to see a good old-fashioned haunting? And this one, that is, the ghost party of 1901,
would be the biggest one yet. Now, sure, rumors are one thing, but did two women actually drown
near Wildcat Manor, well, my researchers couldn't find any record of it. But then again,
plenty of life or death events took place at Wildcat Manor that never made the papers. Because the
thing is, while that sprawling house may have seemed like a little more than a summer playground for
a wealthy family, it was actually anything but. Wildcat Manor apparently had a double life. Long before
Betty's time there, it had been a vital stop on the Underground Railroad. You see, purchased by the family
in 1758, the property would go on to remain with the Huns for nine generations.
And during one of those generations, it was stewarded by an ancestor of Betty's named John
Hun.
Now John, like the rest of the Huns, was a devout Quaker.
As such, he was also a staunch abolitionist.
And let's just say, he put his money where his mouth was.
This guy was known for getting into full-on physical fights with slaveholders and even spent
time in the South, teaching formerly enslaved people how to reach.
But his greatest contribution of the cause,
well, that would be his unofficial title
as the architect of the Delaware Underground Railroad.
It went a little something like this.
John paid a black boat captain
to help smuggle and slave people to Delaware.
Then they would find respite and safety
at Wildcat Manor
before continuing on their journey.
Heck, local historians believe that Harriet Tubman herself
passed through the manor's doors.
All of which is to say,
given the countless dangers the Huns and their visitors,
faced, it's certainly not impossible that some unreported casualties may have taken place in the
shadow of that looming Delaware mansion, casualties like the drowning of two unnamed women, which
brings us back to September 26th of 1901, where, with that true darker history watered down by
time, Betty hunned on her finery and prepared for a ghost hunt. And slowly her guest trickled in,
20 girls all dressed in phantom white, along with just enough men to, as the newspaper put it,
protect them from the real goblins.
Up at the house, I imagine there was laughter and teasing.
Maybe the young people even shared ghost stories of their own over dancing and drinks.
But as the hours ticked by and the light began to dim, the tone changed in Wildcat Manor.
What had been a light, playful affair, began to grow serious.
Nerves kicked in.
As the newspapers would later report, although some of the girls began the adventure out of a spirit of fun,
they became alarmed until their teeth chattered in hopeless confusion.
Translation, the party may have been all fun in games at first,
but deep down the guests really believed in those ghosts.
Finally, though, just before the bell told midnight, the entire party crept down to the river.
And then, well, honestly, I wish I could tell you,
because when reporters asked the partygoers later whether they have,
in fact managed to catch a glimpse of those two dripping apparitions, while every single guest
flat out refused to answer the question. Sadly, Betty Hun became a spirit herself only 15 years
later, dying of tuberculosis in 1916. And I can't help but wonder, if one were to visit that
riverside spot some cool September evening, just as midnight neared, would they find a third
ghost shimmering on the water? After all, maybe some parties never have to
end at all. And then again, if the next
showre will attend today teaches us anything,
it's that certain shindigs should never have been hosted
in the first place. It was May of 1896,
and Russia was buzzing with excitement. A new czar was about to be crowned,
and to celebrate Moscow had promised to throw the greatest party
the country had ever seen. And this wouldn't just be for the well-to-dos.
No, the festivities would be fully open to the public,
and all of Russia was invited.
There would be circus performers and music and games, not to mention plenty of beer.
A grand orchestra would play a cantata composed specifically for the occasion,
followed by an open-air liturgy from the Orthodox Church.
And to top it all off, there would be a speech given by none other than the new Tsar himself.
But the real star of the show, well, that would be the party favors.
Because, you see, in thanks for showing up, every single attendee was promised a free,
incredibly swanky souvenir bundle.
And to be honest, I get the appeal.
The swag bag consisted of bread baked by famous Moscow baker, Philipov, half a pound of sausage,
sweets and walnuts and gingerbread imprinted with the royal couple's initials,
all wrapped up in a headscarf featuring images of the Kremlin and the new royal couple.
But there was one item in that bundle that,
outshone all the rest. It was a cup. And not just any cup. No, this ornate coronation trinket
was entwined with red, blue, and gold enamel, and emblazoned with the year, the Tsar, and the
Zarina's initials, and a double-headed eagle. And rumor had it that every single cup was supposed
to contain none other than a gold coin. Now, was this coin rumored true? Definitely not. But the
Whisper spread anyway, and even without that, the actual bundle was more than enough to entice
visitors from well outside Moscow to make the trip into the city. After all, the gifts had been
advertised far and wide, including in rural provinces where the citizens lived in poverty. This
kind of offering wasn't just symbolic. It was of real, tangible value. And so, yes, why not leave
the farm for a day? The cows can milk themselves, right? Now, the government had planned for large crowds,
but even so, let's just say that their estimates fell a little short.
Okay, more than a little.
You see, they were expecting around 200,000 attendees,
but their advertising had been too good,
and more than twice that number showed up,
flooding in from all over the country.
Although the festivities weren't supposed to kick off until 10 a.m. on May 30th,
people lined up for this thing a full day early,
like they were vying for tickets to the Erez tour.
They slept on the ground and woke up before dawn,
everyone hoping to beat the crowd and snag those sweet sweet souvenirs.
By 4 a.m., the crowd was restless.
The 150-odd booths that were set up to distribute goodies
had hardly finished getting organized,
but already the mass had begun to surge forward.
New rumors had begun to circulate as well.
You see, people were saying that despite the promises,
there wouldn't be enough of the bundles for everyone.
And, well, for thousands of Russians who had traveled miles and miles,
just to snag one of these things, that was going to be a problem.
People were getting antsy.
It was clear that 10 o'clock start time wasn't going to work out.
And so at 6 a.m., orders were given to open the booths and begin handing out the souvenirs.
And I bet you can guess what happened next.
All hell broke loose.
The 500,000-person crowd became a stampede.
People climbed over one another, crushing each other underfoot.
Human bodies were trampled beyond record.
ignition, bones protruded through flesh, and eyeballs dangled from sockets. But still, the
mob continued to storm the fairgrounds. And speaking of those fairgrounds, the event took place
on a 1.5 square mile plot called Kodinka Field. And it wasn't traditionally used for festivals.
Quite the opposite, actually. Kodinka Field was a training ground for the Russian military,
complete with over 150 training obstacles. In other words, this wasn't just an open method.
It was filled with ditches, ravines, and wells, all of which the panicked mass was tumbling into.
Heck, just one of those wells ended up drowning two dozen people.
It seemed a place designed to practice for war that become an actual battlefield.
Oh, and by the way, to make matters worse, the organizers didn't think to have any medics on site.
And by the time the ambulances did get there, it was far, far too late.
the Kodinka tragedy, as it came to be known, had taken its toll.
The official death count?
1,389.
But some estimates claim it may have been up to 3,000 human lives.
Countless more were injured, many never fully healing.
And in the wake of the bloodshed, survivors went right back to standing in line.
But not for souvenirs this time.
No, they were queuing outside the morgues, desperately hoping to find their missing loved
one's bodies. Eventually, many of the victims were buried in a mass grave,
countless limbs tangled eternally together just as they had been in those terrible final moments.
A single monument stands atop the site. It bears no names, no elegies, not even an
acknowledgement of the awful events of that day. No, all the monument says is the date.
And if you're wondering what became of the tens of thousands of commemorative cups, well,
they're still out there. Apparently while working on this episode, my writer Jenna Rose had to talk
herself down from bidding $800 for one on eBay. Hazards of the job, right? Heck, Leo Tolstoy
used to keep a coronation cup on his desk to hold loose pens, only they are no longer called
coronation cups. No, it didn't take long for these doomed party favors to be known by a different
name. The Kodinka Cup of Sorrows. When the world shows us its darkest parts,
The best antidote is to join together.
Together in community and remember that there are always things worth celebrating.
But what happens when the celebrations themselves bring the darkness,
when festivities meant to bring mirth and in calamity?
Well, the horror feels even worse then,
because to be promised fun and given death isn't only a tragedy.
It's a betrayal.
Of course, the very act of partying can be a betrayal in itself sometimes,
an eerie let them eat cake frivolity while others are suffering.
Whether it's the French aristocracy throwing macabre balls
while the working class struggled to cobble their lives back together
or teenage girls playing Ghostbusters on the spot where two women drowned,
it's a delicate line.
Sure, a party can be an act of resistance,
fighting for joy despite the world's cruelties,
but it can also be an insult,
the elite and protected, putting up blinders
while the world burns around them.
Speaking of which, you might be wondering how the new Tsar reacted to the disaster that was
supposed to be his coronation.
Well, the answer is, not great.
In the hours after the stampede, rather than help in the rescue efforts, he flounced off to
attend a lavish ball thrown by the French ambassador.
All night, he was seen glad handling and dancing, delighting at the 100,000 fresh roses
and illuminated fountains decorating the venue.
Talk about adding insult to injury, right?
And the people of Russia sure thought so.
After the Kodinka tragedy,
major distrust fell upon not only the Tsar,
but the entire system.
And I will be honest,
if I didn't know any better,
I might say the stampede
had been an ill omen of things to come.
Because that Tsar,
why his reign would not only end with his own death,
but the toppling of the entire monarchy.
That's right. The man coronated in that field of blood was none other than Nicholas II,
the final czar of Russia. And just like those doomed revelers in Kodinka, he didn't die alone.
No, he was executed alongside his wife, Alexandra, and their five children, Olga, Tatiana,
Maria, Alexi, and Anastasia. Or, as they're better known today, the Romanov's.
Thank you for being my plus one to some of the most dreaded.
social events of the season. But the festivities aren't over just yet. You see, while some
parties devolve into chaos by accident, for others that madness and mayhem is no mistake,
and I have one more tale that should explain exactly what I mean. Stick around through this
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At first, you think the chateau is on fire,
but moving closer you realize it's merely illuminated
by flickering orange floodlights,
an illusion, and, as it turns out, the first of many.
Your costume makes getting through the doorway a bit of a chore,
but once you're inside, the bulkiness of your outfits is the last thing on your mind.
Ahead of you, a grand staircase lined with butlers,
But these aren't regular butlers.
No, they're dressed and acting as cats.
One butler naps against the banister,
while another playfully bats at a third one's tail.
You climb past a butler licking a dainty paw
and reaching the top of the stairs,
finally join the other guests.
But you aren't in any old cocktail lounge.
No, you seem to have been thrust into a strange, dark maze,
decorated with cobwebs made of lace and ribbons.
To your left, a man,
with countless hands springing from his skull is trying to keep from tangling on the draperies.
To your right, a woman coated in gold leaf hands a drink to a man painted to resemble a cloud-filled
sky. All around you are more cat butlers, bearing torches to help the guests who get lost in the maze.
And finally, there ahead of you, you spot your host, Marie Helene, the queen of the ball.
At least you think it's her. It's hard to tell for sure. Because in place of Marie Helene's
head is a massive glistening stag's head with diamond tears dripping from its eyes.
Welcome to the surrealist ball of 1972.
It may sound like a cross between a fairy tale and a fever dream, but this very real, unreal party
took place on December 12th of 1972, just outside of Paris.
It was hosted by Marie Helene Rothschild, who, having married into the famous banking dynasty,
had access to certain perks.
Perks like Free reign of the Rothschild's opulent 19th century castle called Chateau de Ferrier.
And hey, if we've learned anything from Madame Chiris at the beginning of this episode,
when you have a castle on your hands, it's downright irresponsible to not throw the most
elaborate-themed party the world has ever seen.
Luckily, Marie Helene knew exactly what to do.
The guest list included 150 members of Hollywood, fashion, and literary royalty.
Everyone from Bridget Bardot and Grace Kelly to Eve Saint-Laureen were on attendance, and they all dressed the part, too.
The invitations called for, and I quote, black tie, long dresses, and surrealist heads.
And if ever, a group of people committed to the bit, this was the crew.
Perfume designer Helene Rochecheche wore an entire gramophone atop her head.
Several guests referenced famous works of art, with one wearing a green apple la Marguerite in front of her face,
and another sporting a mask made of a collage of Mona Lisa.
Audrey Hepburn arrived with her face encircled by a wicker bird cage,
dotted with miniature birds,
and to eat dinner, she had to open a tiny door in the front.
Speaking of which, up there in the ribbon maze full of cat butlers,
the guests were starting to get hungry.
So when the time came for dinner,
those butlers escorted everyone to a room of tables,
where a whole new bizarre world awaited them.
There were fur-covered plates,
taxidermine tortoises and broken baby dolls served as the centerpieces, while dead fish lay next to the forks.
And as for the seating, well, that was a whole new puzzle to solve.
Guests were handed cards indicating the name of their table, but the cards weren't much help.
It said things like dethroned queen, erection machine, soluble fish, and shoes fit to be tied.
Eventually, though, everyone did arrive at their proper places, which was good, because trust me, the meal,
was not to be missed. Offerings included dishes like, and here I'm just going to list the names of
some of the meals. Lady N. Sir Loin, the dripping things, crazy tubers, and my personal favorite,
peaches and goat cheese howling in sadness. And I hope you saved room for dessert because the
final course consisted of a nude female mannequin made entirely of sugar reclining on a bed of roses.
Now, I'll admit, if time machines existed, I might use my ticket to vans.
visit the Surrealist Ball of 1972. And I'd like to think that I would do a better job of keeping
my costume on than some of the other men in attendance. While the women kept their headdresses on
throughout the night, a few of the men had given up and shed their surrealist heads by the time
dinner arrived. As one female guest sniffed, men are simply not accustomed to suffer to be beautiful.
And for those who are curious, there seemed to be one guest who arrived without a costume at
all, which was ironic given that this same guest had actually designed several of the other
attendees' outfits himself.
I don't need a mask, he's reported to have said.
My face is my mask.
So who was this wet blanket of a party guest, you might ask?
Why, none other than legendary surrealist painter?
Salvador Dali.
This episode of lore was produced by me, Aaron Manky, with writing by Jenna Rose Nethercott,
research by Cassandra DeAlba, and music by Chad Lawson.
Just a reminder, folks, I have a brand new history book that's coming out in a little over a month.
On August 4th, it's called Exhumed, and it explores the roots of the New England vampire panic
and the story of Mercy Brown through the lens of centuries of folklore, medical advancements, and pseudoscience.
And it's available for pre-order right now, and if you pre-order the hardcover, my publisher has a web page set up
where you can submit your receipt and get a gorgeous tote bag that has artwork from the book on it.
Head over to Aaron Mankey.com slash exhumed to lock in your copy today.
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