Herbal Tinctures as Poison

Plant tinctures have been used as herbal remedies for millennia. Tinctures are concentrated herbal extracts made by soaking the bark, berries, leaves (dried or fresh), or roots from one or more plants in alcohol or vinegar. The alcohol or vinegar pulls out the active ingredients in the plant parts, concentrating them as a liquid.

Some plants have proven health benefits, while the effects of others are less clear and may even be poisonous.

Theodora in “Sweet Revenge,” (see the September 2026 issue of Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction) uses a mild tincture of the nightshade plant to charm her husband:

That was the evening he gave me a long-necked vial of eye drops. Said an apothecary showed him how to make a tincture from the purplish-black berries of the nightshade plant. After putting the drops in my eyes, he caressed my lips, and with shallow rapid breaths, he said, “Your eyes look bottomless, like I want to drown in them.” And then that hunger came over him, and he called me Thea. Hearing that sweet name on his tongue intoxicated me. Afterward, I watched him sleep, savoring his warm cinnamon breath.

I’m not sure whether Theodora knew then that a stronger dose would be deadly, but she certainly made use of that information later. To see how, click here.