We’re going to get into the spooky spirit of the holiday by listening.
This isn’t just Halloween. It’s also the anniversary of the passing of the legendary illusionist Harry Houdini.
Now despite having revealed all the hoaxes and ruses he could in the world of spirit boards and so forth, the world’s greatest escape artist apparently wanted to concoct the ultimate escape: from mortality.
So he promised his wife Bess that if he could, he’d find a way to contact her from the other side.
Bess Houdini started holding seances every Halloween, trying to pick up whatever signals her husband might be sending out from the hereafter.
These drew lots of publicity and plenty of mediums, some of whom claimed to have channeled the secret message Harry had promised to send to his wife.
Though by then the secret message had already been published, so it wasn’t exactly secret.
Nonetheless, the seances continued for the rest of Bess’s life, and friends, fans and well-wishers have continued to hold them into our time.
Harry, if you really wanted to send out a message, this podcast would be the best way to do it.
Right?
Ok, maybe next year.
Some people only want a little fright on Halloween, but for those who go all-out, we present this: easily the creepiest thing ever.
Constitution Lakes Park in Atlanta has a trail they call Doll’s Head Trail.
And it is exactly what it sounds like. A walk in the woods on Halloween… surrounded by doll’s heads and their unblinking eyes that see right through us.
Not only am I not going there, I’m running in the opposite direction as fast as I can.
The Successful Séance: Houdini May Have Spoken From Beyond the Grave, But No One Bothered to Listen (Week in Weird)
Atlanta’s Doll’s Head Trail May Be the Creepiest Hike in the Country (Mental Floss)
Nothing spooky about how this show gets made. It’s from our backers on Patreon!
Photo: Harry Houdini, 1915, via Wikicommons
