A flowerpot and a book on Houdini's life had suddenly fallen to the ground. "But some spooky things have happened at these things.Īt a séance in Niagara Falls in the 1970s, when a medium called on Houdini to make his presence known, there was suddenly a crashing sound, Radner recalls. Radner wouldn't describe himself as a believer. Many of Houdini's greatest magic props sat in Radner's garage for more than 40 years. Sidney Radner, now 82, of Holyoke, Mass., has been holding the séances since 1940. "My opinion of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is that he is a menace to mankind," Houdini once wrote.Ī protégé of Houdini's brother - a lesser-known escape artist known as "Hardeen" - picked up the tradition. But Doyle was a true believer in the occult, and the two often clashed on the subject. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the famous Sherlock Holmes character, was a great admirer of Houdini. Several mediums came forward, but none could pass the panel's test. In 1922, Houdini even joined a panel, sponsored by Scientific American, that offered a $2,500 cash prize to any medium able to produce a true physical manifestation. The magician made headlines going from town to town, daring psychics to prove their powers onstage. He consulted with psychics to contact her, a common practice in his day, and found they were using the same sleight-of-hand and stage magic that he was using. Houdini became obsessed with the occult after his mother died. Perhaps now - with psychics preparing a séance in Detroit - the great escape artist will speak, as he promised his wife he would. This year marks the 75th anniversary of his passing. Leave it to the great showman Houdini to die on Halloween. "You hear all these claims that someone made contact with the spirit of Abraham Lincoln," he says. Beware those who claim they've spoken to famous people. Yet Fraser admits there are fakes in his field. That's when I knew there was something here." "I went to a séance, a frail old woman went into a trance, and the spirit of a man spoke through her body. "In 1978, I was a salesman for IBM," Fraser says. Sometimes the spirit will speak through the body of a séance participant. Sometimes it's a materialization - a milky white haze of the departed spirit hovers over the room. The communication can occur in many ways, he says. Through séance, Fraser says he's helped dozens of people make contact with dead relatives. "When they are dead they know that we are all spirits who can exist outside the body." "Folks like that are only non-believers when they are alive," he says. Fraser, who was ordained through a correspondence course by the National Association of Spiritual Churches, says Houdini's low opinion of clairvoyants like himself doesn't matter.
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