Harry Houdini and Halloween

Harry Houdini was an enormously successful and responsible magician and performer. He died on October 31, 1926, in Detroit #hometownpride. Houdini wanted to believe in communication with the dead. He also went on a crusade do expose fraudulant psychics, mediums and fortune tellers who defrauded bereaved people out of their money by claiming they could indeed communicate with their deceased loved ones.

Fun Fact: Johnny Carson felt the same way about phony psychics. Have you ever seen the clip when Carson castrates Uri Geller (the spoon bender) on The Tonight Show?

Houdini told his wife that if anyone could come back from the dead and communicate, it would be him. He told her that if he died first he wanted Bess to try and contact him with a séance. They agreed on a secret code word that would prove contact.

As it turns out Houdini did die first and Bess kept true to her word. She hosted séances on the anniversary of her husband’s death — every Halloween.

Bess continued the tradition and on the 10th anniversary, or deathaversary, it was held on the rooftop of Hollywood's Knickerbocker Hotel. This is back when it was a luxury hotel. (Now it’s a home for cranky old people who don’t like it when the Dearly Departed Tours vans drive by. We are not there for you. You are not that interesting.)

You can listen to this dramatic seance if you click on Mrs. Houdini's picture. "Haddyyyy! Hadddyyyy!"

Popular myth: It rained that evening ONLY above the Knickerbocker. There was no rain anywhere else in LA. This is an article that was published the next day in The New York Times. No mention of rain. Go figure.

This Halloween we’re carrying on that tradition and holding a vigil for Harry Houdini. We even got a REAL psychic that I believe Houdini himself would approve of—Jill Marie Morris. At 7pm we will gather at our shop at 5901 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles. We’re excited to pick up where Bess left off and see if Houdini is still hanging around. If you’d like to join us, click the link here.

Houdini’s real name was Ehrich (“Erik”) Weisz. His family was from Budapest and his father, Mayer Samuel Weisz, was a rabbi. When the family arrived in the United States, the family name was later changed to Weiss.

Houdini became obsessed with magic in childhood and practiced card tricks during dinner at the family table.

There are ruins of a mansion on Laurel Canyon Blvd known as the “Houdini Mansion.” It's now a party venue called, amazingly, The Houdini Estate. Go Figure. Most everybody believes that Houdini lived there. He never did. Never. FAKE NEWS!!

One of Houdini’s big “tricks” was that he could withstand any punch to the stomach. It was this stunt that would ultimately kill him. To prepare for the punch, Houdini would brace himself and his abominal muscles. This time however, when Houdini was on Montreal, a man named J. Gordon Whitehead tested Houdini, but he did it so quickly that Houdini never had a chance to prepare. Harry buckeled in pain

Houdini thought for sure he’d recover—he’d recovered from everything else he’d done—but it was not to happen. He continued performing in pain but within a few days, he died in Detroit of peritonitis, the result from a ruptured appendix. Blame Canada. It's so easy.

Bess Houdini never revealed the secret code that Harry had given her for their post-mortem communication.

Harry and Bess are not buried together. Houdini was Jewish and she was Catholic. So there.