The noble dead, the Lost Generation as Gertrude Stein called them. An entire swath of the population was killed in WWI, followed by the deadly Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918. Death was everywhere. And in the midst of all the mourning, some wise people sought hope. Theosophists and Spiritualists sought to prove that there was merely a thin veil between this world and the next, and those who were willing to listen could speak to the spirits from beyond.
Images from the Library of Congress archives
Some people believe that Halloween is one night a year when the spirits can come back to wander among the living. So it would only follow that it is the best night to have a seance to try to contact the spirits. Houdini, who spent years debunking false mediums, died on Halloween night. he promised…
Part memoir, part essay, part history, Fooling Houdini is an incredibly readable book. We’re brought along as Stone remakes himself from a haughty know-it-all who is publicly disgraced to humble student who finds his master. The author had always dabbled in magic tricks and illusions. He writes: Eventually my fascination with the mysteries of magic,…
Tulpendiebe – Houdini at the Wintergarten, 1903. Ironically, April 6 is Houdini’s birthday…