A table in the center of the circle held items that Houdini’s spirit would be asked to manipulate: A pistol loaded with blanks, locked handcuffs that had not been unlocked since Houdini’s death, a slate and chalk, a bell, a tambourine, and a spirit trumpet. Simultaneously, 20 or more seances were being conducted around the US, Canada, and Europe.Ītop the Knickerbocker, Bess sat in the inner circle beside Dr. Edward Saint on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. The Final SeanceĪfter ten years of silence, the October 31st, 1936 seance marking the anniversary of Houdini’s death would be the last.ģ00 guests, including reporters, magicians, and spiritualists, joined Bess and seance conductor Dr.

Mediums around the world claimed to make contact with Houdini during those years, but none were ever substantiated. He died on October 31st, 1926 from a ruptured appendix.Īs they had agreed, Bess held a seance on Halloween night every year for the next ten years hoping to reach Harry in the spirit world. They agreed upon a coded message only the two of them would know, to prevent fraudulent mediums from making false claims. Houdini made a pact with his wife, Bess, that if one of them died, the other would use all known means to contact them in the afterlife. He felt spiritualists, who claimed to be able to communicate with the dead, were doing nothing more than taking advantage of grieving family members. Later in life, Houdini became devoted to discrediting the rising belief in spiritualism. The famed illusionist could escape from anything, including straight jackets and prison cells.

It was said somewhere that if anyone could have escaped the afterlife, it would have been Harry Houdini.

Escape from houdini