phantasmagoria
Shifting illusion sequence
Phantasmagoria originally named a type of magic-lantern show projecting shifting ghostly images onto smoke or screens.
The word now describes any dreamlike sequence of shifting imagery, especially one that feels surreal or hallucinatory: The fever produced a phantasmagoria of faces and voices.
It suggests confusion, rapid transformation, and the uncanny—reality melting into something stranger.
Spirits of the deceased
- apparitionVisible supernatural manifestation
- specterGhostly threatening presence
- wraithSpectral apparition of someone
- poltergeistDisruptive supernatural entity
haunting · seance · medium · spiritualism · ectoplasm · manifestation · visitation · otherworldly
Abstracted, pleasant daydream
- nightmareFrightening dream causing wakefulness
- visionsImagined or prophetic sights
- oneiricRelating to dreams
- tranceSemiconscious, unresponsive condition
lucid · dreamscape · somnolent · ethereal · subconscious · slumber · fevered · delirium
Oil-lit painted slide projector
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- kaleidoscopicShowing constantly changing patterns
- shiftingChanging position or form
- morphingSeamless visual transformation process
luminous · flickering · spectacle · theatrical · Victorian · shadow play · illusion · transformation
Surrealist painter's surname
- MagritteBelgian surrealist painter
- BoschGerman industrial corporation
- bizarreStrikingly unconventional
- grotesqueDistorted, bizarre figure
metamorphosis · juxtaposition · distortion · absurdity · irrational · uncanny · nightmarish · disorienting
Planned travel somewhere
- hallucinatorySeeming falsely perceived
- visionsImagined or prophetic sights
- kaleidoscopicShowing constantly changing patterns
- mescalinePsychoactive cactus alkaloid
psilocybin · ayahuasca · altered states · mind-expanding · synesthesia · swirling · pulsating · fractal
Violently rotating air column
- cacophonyHarsh, clashing sounds
- tumultNoisy, chaotic disturbance
- bewilderingCausing utter confusion
- overwhelmingIntensely excessive in force
dizzying · disorienting · frenzy · maelstrom · cascade · torrent · kaleidoscope · barrage
ghosts
Spirits of the deceased
- apparitionVisible supernatural manifestation
- specterGhostly threatening presence
- wraithSpectral apparition of someone
poltergeist · haunting · seance · medium · spiritualism · ectoplasm · manifestation · visitation · otherworldly · spectral
reverie
Abstracted, pleasant daydream
- nightmareFrightening dream causing wakefulness
- visionsImagined or prophetic sights
- oneiricRelating to dreams
trance · lucid · dreamscape · somnolent · ethereal · subconscious · slumber · fevered · delirium · hallucination
magic lantern
Oil-lit painted slide projector
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- kaleidoscopicShowing constantly changing patterns
- shiftingChanging position or form
morphing · luminous · flickering · spectacle · theatrical · Victorian · shadow play · illusion · transformation · projected
Dali
Surrealist painter's surname
- MagritteBelgian surrealist painter
- BoschGerman industrial corporation
- bizarreStrikingly unconventional
grotesque · metamorphosis · juxtaposition · distortion · absurdity · irrational · uncanny · nightmarish · disorienting · melting
trip
Planned travel somewhere
- hallucinatorySeeming falsely perceived
- visionsImagined or prophetic sights
- kaleidoscopicShowing constantly changing patterns
mescaline · psilocybin · ayahuasca · altered states · mind-expanding · synesthesia · swirling · pulsating · fractal · vivid
whirlwind
Violently rotating air column
- cacophonyHarsh, clashing sounds
- tumultNoisy, chaotic disturbance
- bewilderingCausing utter confusion
overwhelming · dizzying · disorienting · frenzy · maelstrom · cascade · torrent · kaleidoscope · barrage · swirling
- Victorianaseances, Dickens, spiritualism, Sherlock Holmes, phrenology
- Gothic horrorghost story, haunted houses, Dracula, vampires, Frankenstein
- surrealismdreamscapes, Rene Magritte, Max Ernst, automatic writing, automatism
- Victorian attractionswaxworks, panorama, diorama, magic lantern, pleasure garden
- Victorian entertainmentvaudeville, music hall, minstrel show, pantomime, melodrama
- pre-cinemazoetrope, magic lantern, kinetoscope, flip book, bioscope