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The Other Side is a dimension of the deceased that is superimposed with the world of the living. Within it are also some form of gateways appearing as black shimmery doors that lead into the unknown. It may be a dimension where the dead temporarily linger before moving on to another; however, no concrete findings support the theory [1]. Lucy describes the sensation of exiting it as feeling very sick and very disoriented due to the lack of light or stimulus.
Dark London is a colloquial term used by a number of characters in reference to the Other Side. Additionally, a book titled "Dark London, an Interim Cartography" is in the possession of the Orpheus Society. [2]
Some members of ghost cults and followers of the old religions referred to the Other Side by other terms.
The Skull claimed to Lucy Carlyle to know little of what was on the Other Side, having turned its back on it, remaining tied to its Source.[3]
Description[]
The Other Side physically resembles the living world, like a replica, with a few differences.
The place is deadly cold. All surfaces are covered by sheets of ice which quickly envelop a surface that had its icy cover brushed. Mists drift over the land and move independently. All movements, except if made by a visiting living person, do not produce any sound. Wind and water does not exist; therefore, areas where bodies of water should have been are empty. Even animals are nowhere to be seen. The walls of buildings are warped and cracked and, either by delusion or reality, seem to bend inward towards you. Any iron structures, such as streetlamps, are altogether missing from the Other Side, and flares and rapiers don't have the same effects on ghosts.
Permanent dimness, dark as nighttime, consumes the place. The sky, a flat expanse, is empty of stars or the moon. No light, electrical or natural in the living world, is replicated there. Faint illumination comes seemingly from nowhere. Electric light coming from a visiting living person's torch is dimmed down and flickers.
Time becomes fluid. A few hours spent there could in reality have been a day missing from the living realm.
All over the Other Side are vague black yet shimmery portals that are described differently (by different characters) to be like black doors, pools, or curtains. These things are the gateways that take the ghosts to another yet unknown place. George theorizes it's another version of London, golden and glowing with light.[1]
To top it all off, it is filled with the dead - the lost souls whose voices can be heard by anyone with or without a Talent [4]. During Marissa Fittes' time, souls who were ready to cross through the black portals were also trapped in the Other Side due to the barbed iron fences she erected.
As the world of the living may be visited by the dead through Sources, the Other Side may be visited by the living. They must pass through a gate created by a large number of Sources grouped together.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Empty Grave, VI: The Beginning, Ch. 28: " Theorized by George Cubbins: “Getting back to my theory ,” George went on, “I think the spirit passes through those door things—however you want to call them—and reaches yet another London, but this one’ s shining with light….”"
- ↑ The Empty Grave, III: A Body in the Street, Ch. 15
- ↑ The Empty Grave, II: La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Ch. 7
- ↑ The Empty Grave, IV: The Siege of Portland Row, Ch. 22: " "The spirits could not speak, but that didn’t stop them calling out to us, hooting and crying like owls. As a Listener , I’m used to such stuff, though it was strange to hear it in the silence of the Other Side. It disturbed the others more than me. To their surprise, they found they could hear it, too.""