When I think Victorian Gothic, I immediately think of those old posed pictures from the era - the ones that are posed and no one looks particularly happy. I find them perfect for sneaking into party decor for this type of theme. I'm wondering if you can work it into your invitation somehow... one year I got a number of old mirrors and shaved off some of the back and put the pictures behind, so they looked like regular mirrors, but when you looked in it, you saw your own reflection as well as the "ghost" in the mirror. I'm wondering if you could do something like that for your invitation... is that the sort of vibe you're going for?