Fall is here once again. The leaves are falling. The air is crisp. Pumpkin is the go-to ingredient… It’s time to sit back, sip a warm beverage, and prepare to indulge in a spooky tale of estate planning…
Famed magician and escape artist, Harry Houdini was a supporter of spiritualism (the belief the dead, assisted by a psychic or medium, can communicate with the living).
After his mother died in 1913, Houdini attempted to make contact. … He failed.
Frustrated in his inability to reach his mother, and angered by the belief the psychics and mediums of the day were frauds, Houdini dedicated the rest of his life to studying, learning, and revealing their secrets.
Houdini put to use his estate planning, by adding a provision to his will that the books he wrote, and materials he collected debunking psychics and mediums, be given to the Library of Congress upon his death.
Despite his public crusade to expose psychics and mediums, Houdini insisted on keeping an open mind in regards to spiritualism itself. As proof, he made a pact with his wife, Bess, that whoever died first would attempt to make contact with the other.
Houdini died Thursday, October 31, 1926. … It was his birthday.
True to her word, Bess held a séance a year later. She continued to hold séances every October 31st for nearly ten years.
In 1936, Bess held the last séance for her beloved husband. The event was covered by radio and broadcast across the world.
A storm broke out as the proceedings came to a close. Thunder rumbled, lightning lit up the sky, the participants and onlookers were thoroughly drenched with rain.
The participants learned later the storm hadn’t hit anywhere else in the area; only the location of the séance.
Never the less, Houdini had yet again failed to make contact … or had he?
